Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program

8/18/2007

The Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security (OKOHS) is currently drafting a Statewide Interoperable Communications Plan in order to identify interoperability gaps that exist in communications throughout the state of Oklahoma. This communications plan is the first step in applying for the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) grant and is a requirement of the United States Department of Homeland Security and the United States Department of Commerce. In drafting a Statewide Interoperable Communications Plan OKOHS must follow the guidelines established by SAFECOM and the 2007 Homeland Security Grant Program.  

OKOHS is utilizing its’ regional infrastructure through the Homeland Security Regional Councils.  Through this process, points of contacts have been identified and will become the Governance Board as required in the PSIC grant guidelines.

Public Safety agencies are invited to submit solutions, ideas, and proposals to OKOHS which will be sent to the regional representatives / Governance Board for prioritization and statewide planning. Those proposals submitted will be evaluated for inclusion into one of the up to ten investment justifications, which will be submitted by OKOHS (as the State Administrative Agency) as part of the application process.  Once submitted, the investment justifications will undergo a peer review that will be under the guidance and supervision of the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Commerce.

Proposals must be multi-jurisdictional / multi-agency related.  The PSIC grant will not support projects whose emphasis are on the internal communication needs of a single agency and will not support an interoperability project that only serves a single jurisdiction. While there is no set format for the proposals, each proposal must emphasize regional / consolidated investments; and include an estimated cost of proposal(s).

The Statewide Interoperable Communications Plan and investment justifications must be submitted to the U.S. DHS by November 1, 2007.  Due to this timeframe, it is critical that the information and proposals for your region be submitted to OKOHS before September 21, 2007.  If regional proposals are not submitted by September 21, 2007, OKOHS will not be able to consider them for the PSIC grant.  Thank you for your participation and assistance with this important but time sensitive grant project.

For more information and grant requirements, please contact the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security at OKOHS@dps.state.ok.us.