Department of Early Education and Care
Grant Budget Adjustment
Introduction:
In an effort to better coordinate grant management functions for our grant recipients EEC has created this single instruction document to be used by each of our grantees. All changes to grant activities or spendingmust be approved by EEC prior to implementation. This is done by submitting a Grant Budget AdjustmentRequest Form (formerly called a Grant Amendment) to EEC by following the instructions in this document.
- Proposed budget changes: A Budget Adjustment Request Form must be filed with EEC if grantees intend to expend their budget differently than what had been originally proposed and approved as expenditure amounts. A Budget Adjustment Request Form is required if a grantee proposes to increase (+) or decrease (-) a line item more than10% within the budget.
- Proposed Programmatic changes: A Budget Adjustment Request Form must be filed if the justification for programming and implementation of the grant changes significantly, even if there is no funding change on the line items.
General Instructions:
- All sections of the Budget Adjustment Request Form must be completed, and submitted to EEC, at least 30 days priorto the proposed change and no later than 30 days prior to the termination date of the project.
- Each grant project has its own Budget Adjustment Request Form. Grant projects that require additional information for filing a Budget Adjustment will indicate so in a “Specific Instructions” tab included inthe form itself.
- Any changes to grant budgets must continue toadhere to the8% administration and oversight cap.
- Grantees may adjust their grant budget lines up to twotimes per year, not including any adjustments required by EEC.
- Budget Adjustment Requests must be approved in writing by an authorized representative of the Department of Early Education and Care prior to implementation.
- Grantees must follow the instructions in this document as well as any specific instructions that may be included in the Budget Adjustment Request Form for each specified grant program.
How to Use the Form:
Every Budget Adjustment Request Formcontains at leasttwotabs:
- The Budget Adjustment Form – this section will illustrate the proposed line item changes.
- Expenditure Parameters – this tab is for reference purposes to ensure correct fund use.
Budget Adjustment Request Forms that contain a third tab with “Specific Instructions”provide directions that pertain only to the particular Grant Program.
Budget Adjustment Form Tab:
1)Fill in (or select from drop down list if applicable) the Lead Agency Name at the top of the form.
2)Fill in the contact information for the person completing the budget adjustment form. EEC must be able to contact a grantee regarding their Budget Adjustment Request with questions that may arise.Please include all requested contact information.
3)In the # of Staff column, indicate the number of staff people who are paid out of that line item.
4)In the Total FTE column, indicate the full-time equivalency of the staff people listed in the # of Staff column. For instance, if the line item funds two (2) staff that each work half time, their FTE is 1.0.
5)Under the Original Approved Budgetcolumn, indicate your original EEC approved budget.
6)Under the Adjusted Budget (if applicable) column, indicate your most recent EEC approved budget adjustment. If this is your first adjustment request for the fiscal year, then leave this column blank.
7)Under the New Adjustment Request column, please indicate the amount by which you would like to increase (+) or decrease (-) the line item. Use whole dollars only. Do not use cents.
8)The Revised Budgetcolumn will automatically calculate the revised cumulative totals for all budget lines. Since this column is formatted to calculate using the figures the grantee has entered in previous columns, please ensure that the amounts are entered accurately.
9)Please complete the Justification column for each adjusted budget line explaining in detail the reason for the requested change. The adjustment form has been formatted to wrap the text and expand the rows so that all of the text in the justification section will show. To avoid delays, if there is an issue in the text auto-formatting please attach a narrative to the Budget Adjustment Request Form.
Important: If a signedBudget Adjustment is mailed to EEC that doesNOT show the justification text in its entirety, the adjustment cannot be approved and will have to be resubmitted, resulting in delay of proposed changes!
10)Include an original signature (in blue ink) of the authorized representative, his/her printed name and title, and the date of the adjustment request in the space provided.
Important: An unsigned Budget Adjustment Request Form will NOT be approved and will have to be resubmitted to EEC.
Expenditure Parameters Tab:
This tab is included as a reference so that grantees can ensure correct fund use as they are requesting an adjustment.
Specific Instructions Tab:
If a Specific Instructions Tab is included in the Budget Adjustment form for the grant program that you are requesting an adjustment for, then you must adhere to these instructions in addition to the general instructions listed above.
Submission Instructions*
Grantees must submit the followingdocuments when filing a Budget Adjustment Request Form:
- One (1) original and one (1) copy of completed Budget Adjustment request form. The original signature should be in blue ink.
- A copy of the approved original budget.
- Any previously approved Budget Adjustments for the current fiscal year (if applicable).
Budget adjustment requests that do not contain all of these documents will NOT be processed.
Please mail the above documents to:
Tresa Glover Smith
Department of Early Education and Care
51 Sleeper St. 4th floor
Boston, MA02210
ATTN: [InsertName of Grant Program] Budget Adjustment Request
*To avoid Budget Adjustment approval delays, please use the correct Budget Adjustment Request Form, clearly label all required documents, and send it to the correct name and address listedabove.
Approval Process
1)The“contact name” each grantee indicates on the Budget Adjustment Request Form will be notified via emailonce the request has been approved or denied.Grantees can begin to implement activities/funding changes once the approval email is received.
2)EEC programmatic staff will forward all approved Budget Adjustment Formsto EEC’s Grants Management office for fiscal processing. Grants Management will enter the fiscal adjustments into the system and mail a hard copy of the approved Budget Adjustment Request Form to the designated contact. The signedcopy of the approved BudgetAdjustment Request Form should be received within two weeks of receiving programmatic approval email.
3)If you receive the approval emailnotice that your Budget Adjustment Request Form has been approved but have not yet received a copy of the signed and approved request from EEC, contact the Grants Management office:
Cathy Depradine 617.988.2432
Gloria Hickey 617.988.2441
Important:The “contact name” each grantee indicates on the Budget Adjustment Request Formis responsible for communicating all approved budget changes to the Lead Agencygrant program coordinators and fiscal staff.
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