Welcome to the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Programmatic Performance Reporting page for providing OJP award applicants and recipients with an overview of performance reporting activities, best practices for data collection and reporting, and resources for assistance.

What is performance reporting?

Performance reporting is the grant management process where award recipients provide regular narrative and numerical updates on award activities, often through reporting on performance measures. Performance measurement is the regular collection of data to assess whether the goals, objectives, and desired results of the program are being achieved. It is a way for award recipients and OJP to know how an award is progressing quantitatively and whether any additional assistance is indicated.

Why is performance reporting required?

Applicants: Each funding opportunity, also known as a solicitation, requires applicants to provide detailed descriptions of how the required performance data will be collected. Applicants are encouraged to review the measures, which can be found in the Performance Measures section in the table of contents of every OJP solicitation. 

Recipients: After an award is made, award recipients must regularly report numerical and narrative performance data through one or more reporting systems depending upon the awarding office and the program. The Justice Grants System (JustGrants) is the OJP grants management system of record. As such, all performance reporting either happens here or is uploaded to JustGrants. 

Performance reporting adds value by: 

• Tracking grant activity and progress towards program goals. This enables OJP to respond to external requests (e.g., Congressional inquiries, media requests)
• Identifying areas of success and potential areas for improvement. Performance measures are used to share programmatic successes with external audiences. They can identify needs for training and technical assistance or changes to program design or implementation.
• Understanding how funds are being used. Results inform the budget strategic planning efforts. They are used to assess strategic plan execution.
• Responding to data requests. The media, the public, and auditors frequently request performance data from OJP.
• Complying with the law. Tracking progress through performance measurement is required by the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 and the Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR 200.301. The Evidence Act of 2018 requires federal agencies to use evidence such as performance data to support policymaking.

How should I plan to collect and report performance data?

It’s best practice to formulate a data collection plan to report your data. Steps for developing one include:

• Start early. Become familiar with the narrative and numerical performance measures for your program, the reporting frequency and deadlines, and ensure you have proper access to the correct reporting system.
• Scan current work. Consider your agency’s existing data collection activities and repositories to consider how they might assist going forward.
• Engage your partners. Share the performance measures and due dates with everyone responsible for collecting data (e.g., staff, subrecipients, partnering agencies). Determine who will report these data to OJP and when.
• Decide on a data collection method. Consider available data collection methods, such as case management systems or spreadsheets and how to extract, aggregate, and ensure the quality control of the data for reporting to OJP in a timely manner.
• Make a formal plan. After considering the relevant factors and following the above guidance, be sure to document your plan including the types of data collected, the methods and tools used for data collection, and the due dates.

Resources for Performance Reporting Systems 

OJP will contact you with account creation and log-in instructions for the appropriate reporting system. If you already have an account, your new award will appear in the system once the first reporting period opens. If you have not received these instructions by the end of the first quarter of your award period, please contact your assigned OJP grant manager for access. 

Access links to resources for both performance reporting and for system technical assistance in the chart below.