The Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security (EMRS) is accepting applications for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, a component of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Homeland Security Grant Program. EMRS is responsible for administering public safety and homeland security-related grant programs to strengthen the County’s resilience in the face of significant human-caused or natural threats and hazards. UASI is designed to assist high-threat, high density urban areas in building, sustaining and delivering capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from acts of terrorism.
While the amount of available UASI funding varies each year, EMRS assesses potential projects for consideration in the future funding cycles focused on regional impacts by completing a Notice of Funding Interest (NOFI). Compiling responses to this NOFI will provide EMRS with the general scope of UASI needs outside the City of Chicago.
The deadline to apply has closed.
Eligibility
For the purpose of this grant program, the urban area is limited to the City of Chicago and suburban communities located in Cook County. Please review the following guidelines before submitting your project.
- Confirm that your project has a distinct connection to prevent a threatened or an actual act of terrorism.
- Ensure that your project addresses a gap in one or more of the 32 core capabilities as defined by FEMA, which support the National Preparedness Goal (https://www.fema.gov/core-capabilities.)
- Designate your project as short term (expansion of existing program or shovel ready new initiative, contracts in place, immediate execution), medium term (can be fully operational or funds expended within 6-12 months) and longer-term (new program or initiative that would take more than 12 months from the date of funding receipt to be fully operational) to help plan future grant spending cycles.
Please note: Any NOFI submissions to EMRS are for informational purposes only and do not obligate EMRS to fund any requested project(s). Further, this program is driven by the availability of federal funds and selected projects may be funded on a rolling basis. Projects that are selected for funding are paid on a reimbursement basis. EMRS does not disperse any funds until the project is paid for by our partners and documentation is submitted to us attesting to this fact (e.g. purchase orders, invoices, course roster, detailed inventory, etc.).
How to Apply
Questions
Email questions to EMRS.Finance@cookcountyil.gov. EMRS will respond within 24 hours.