Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Community Assistance Program - State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) - Region 9 | DHS 19 MT 023 09 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for DHS 19 MT 023 09 01

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Community Assistance Program - State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) for FEMA Region 9 is a discretionary federal grant offered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through FEMA. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means FEMA expects active involvement beyond simply issuing funds, such as coordination on priorities, oversight expectations, and performance reporting. The central purpose of CAP-SSSE is to strengthen how states support local communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), with an emphasis on reducing flood losses by improving day-to-day floodplain management practice and compliance.

At its core, CAP-SSSE funds state-level work that helps communities in the NFIP do their jobs better and more consistently. That includes providing technical assistance to local governments on NFIP requirements and sound floodplain management activities, and also evaluating how well communities are carrying out those responsibilities. In practice, this often involves helping communities interpret and apply floodplain management rules, improving permitting and inspection practices, assisting with ordinance adoption or updates, supporting elevation and floodproofing documentation, and troubleshooting compliance concerns before they become major problems. The evaluation component focuses on community performance, meaning the state helps review whether local programs are being implemented in line with NFIP standards and whether floodplain management actions are actually happening on the ground.

A key feature of this opportunity is that it is tied directly to the formal role of the State Coordinating Agency described in federal regulation at 44 CFR 60.25. That regulation lays out the designation, duties, and responsibilities of states in supporting NFIP floodplain management. The grant is essentially a tool to help states demonstrate the commitment and capability required by those rules: maintaining minimum floodplain management criteria, showing administrative responsibility for supporting participating communities, and sustaining the expertise needed to operate as an effective partner to FEMA and local jurisdictions. CAP-SSSE is designed to build and maintain that state capacity over time, rather than relying solely on federal staff to provide support directly to every community.

The intended outcomes are practical and programmatic. FEMA frames CAP-SSSE as a way to ensure the flood loss reduction goals of the NFIP are met, which means fewer avoidable losses through better planning, smarter construction and development decisions in flood-prone areas, and stronger compliance with floodplain regulations. It also aims to build both state and local expertise, so that knowledge about flood risk management is not confined to federal guidance but is embedded in state programs and local administrative routines. Another explicit goal is leveraging state knowledge and experience working with communities, recognizing that states are often better positioned than the federal government to provide tailored assistance, understand local governance constraints, and maintain ongoing relationships with local floodplain administrators.

This particular posting applies to FEMA Region 9 and was published under Funding Opportunity Number DHS 19 MT 023 09 01. The CFDA number associated with the program is 97.023. Eligible applicants are state governments and special district governments, reflecting the program focus on state-level coordination and support functions rather than direct grants to individual municipalities. FEMA anticipated making about four awards under this opportunity. The notice lists an award ceiling of 0, which typically signals that the specific maximum award amount was not stated in the summary fields and would need to be confirmed in the full announcement or related guidance. The opportunity was created on April 15, 2019, with an original closing date of May 15, 2019.

Overall, CAP-SSSE is best understood as a capacity-building and oversight support program for the NFIP: it funds states to be strong technical partners to their communities, to monitor and improve local implementation of floodplain management requirements, and to help ensure that participation in the NFIP translates into real reductions in flood risk and flood-related losses.

• The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security - FEMA in the community development, disaster prevention and relief, education, employment, labor and training, environment, information and statistics, natural resources, regional development, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Community Assistance Program - State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) - Region 9" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 97.023.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 15, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Special district governments.

Apply for DHS 19 MT 023 09 01

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: