OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

810 7th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20531 

Tel: (202) 307-0690 

TTY: (202) 307-2027 

E-mail: askOCR@usdoj.gov

Website: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ocr

MEMORANDUM

TO: COPS Grant Recipients 

FROM: Michael L. Alston

Director, Office for Civil Rights, Office of Justice Programs 

DATE: October 1, 2016 

RE: Federal Civil Rights Statutes and Regulations 

Congratulations on your recent award. In establishing financial assistance programs, 

Congress linked the receipt of federal funding to compliance with federal civil rights 

laws. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. 

Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for ensuring that recipients of financial 

assistance from the OJP, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS

Office), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) comply with the applicable 

federal civil rights laws. We at the OCR are available to help you and your organization 

meet the civil rights requirements that come with DOJ funding.

Ensuring Access to Federally Assisted Programs 

Federal laws that apply to recipients of financial assistance from the DOJ prohibit 

discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability in 

funded programs or activities, not only in employment but also in the delivery of services 

or benefits. A federal law also prohibits recipients from discriminating on the basis of age 

in the delivery of services or benefits. In the context of employment discrimination under 

applicable federal laws, the DOJ has also interpreted sex discrimination to include 

discrimination based on gender identity.

Enforcing Civil Rights Laws 

All recipients of federal financial assistance, regardless of the particular funding source, 

the amount of the grant award, or the number of employees in the workforce, are subject 

to prohibitions against unlawful discrimination. Accordingly, the OCR investigates 
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recipients that are the subject of discrimination complaints from both individuals and 

groups. In addition, based on regulatory criteria, the OCR selects a number of recipients 

each year for compliance reviews, audits that require recipients to submit data showing 

that they are providing services equitably to all segments of their service population and 

that their employment practices meet equal opportunity standards. 

Providing Services to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Individuals 

In accordance with DOJ guidance pertaining to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

42 U.S.C. § 2000d, recipients of federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to 

provide meaningful access to their programs and activities for persons with limited 

English proficiency (LEP). See U.S. Department of Justice, Guidance to Federal 

Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin 

Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons, 67 Fed. Reg. 41,455 

(2002). For more information on the civil rights responsibilities that recipients have in 

providing language services to LEP individuals, please see the website 

http://www.lep.gov. 

Ensuring the Equal Treatment of Faith-Based Organizations and Safeguarding 

Constitutional Protections Related to Religion 

The DOJ regulation, Partnerships with Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood 

Organizations, 28 C.F.R. pt. 38, updated in April 2016, prohibits all recipient 

organizations, whether they are law enforcement agencies, governmental agencies, 

educational institutions, houses of worship, or faith-based organizations, from using 

financial assistance from the DOJ to fund explicitly religious activities. Explicitly 

religious activities include worship, religious instruction, or proselytization. While 

funded organizations may engage in non-funded explicitly religious activities (e.g., 

prayer), they must hold them separately from the activities funded by the DOJ, and 

recipients cannot compel beneficiaries to participate in them. The regulation also makes 

clear that organizations participating in programs funded by the DOJ are not permitted to 

discriminate in the provision of services on the basis of a beneficiary's religion, religious 

belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a religious 

practice. Funded faith-based organizations must also provide written notice to 

beneficiaries, advising them that if they should object to the religious character of the 

funded faith based organization, the funded faith-based organization will take reasonable 

steps to refer the beneficiary to an alternative service provider. For more information on 

the regulation, please see the OCR's website at 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/about/ocr/equal_fbo.htm. 

The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (Safe Streets Act) of 1968, as 

amended, 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c), as well as other DOJ program statutes, prohibit 

discrimination based on religion in employment. A funded faith-based organization may 

under certain circumstances request an exemption to hire co-religionists; the DOJ will 

consider such requests on a case-by-case basis. Please consult with the OCR if you have 

any questions related to a religious preference in hiring. 

Using Arrest and Conviction Records in Making Employment Decisions
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The OCR issued an advisory document for recipients on the proper use of arrest and 

conviction records in making hiring decisions. See Advisory for Recipients of Financial 

Assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice on the U.S. Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission’s Enforcement Guidance: Consideration of Arrest and 

Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964 (June 2013), available at

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov//about/ocr/pdfs/UseofConviction_Advisory.pdf. Recipients 

should be mindful that the misuse of arrest or conviction records to screen either 

applicants for employment or employees for retention or promotion may have a disparate 

impact based on race or national origin, resulting in unlawful employment discrimination. 

In light of the Advisory, recipients should consult local counsel in reviewing their 

employment practices. If warranted, recipients should also incorporate an analysis of the 

use of arrest and conviction records in their Equal Employment Opportunity Plans 

(EEOPs) (see below).

Complying with the Safe Streets Act 

An organization that is a recipient of financial assistance subject to the nondiscrimination 

provisions of the Safe Streets Act, must meet two obligations: (1) complying with the 

federal regulation pertaining to the development of an EEOP (see 28 C.F.R. pt. 42, subpt. 

E) and (2) submitting to the OCR findings of discrimination (see 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.204(c), 

.205(c)(5)).

Meeting the EEOP Requirement 

If your organization is a government agency or private business and has received a single 

award for $500,000 or more and has fifty or more employees (counting both full- and 

part-time employees but excluding political appointees), then it has to prepare a 

Utilization Report and submit it to the OCR for review within ninety days from the date 

of the award. For assistance in developing a Utilization Report, please consult the OCR's 

website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/about/ocr/eeop.htm and click Complying with the 

EEOP Requirement.

If your organization is a government agency or private business and the largest single 

award it has received is $25,000 or more, but less than $500,000, and has fifty or more 

employees (counting both full- and part-time employees but excluding political 

appointees), then it has to prepare a Utilization Report, but it does not have to submit the 

report to the OCR for review. Instead, your organization has to certify that it is exempt 

from the submission requirement, that it maintains the Utilization Report on file, and that 

it will make the Utilization Report available for review on request. For assistance in 

developing a Utilization Report, please consult the OCR's website at 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/about/ocr/eeop.htm and click Complying with the EEOP 

Requirement.

If your organization has less than fifty employees or receives an award of less than 

$25,000 or is a nonprofit organization, a medical institution, an educational institution, or 

an Indian tribe, then it is exempt from the EEOP requirement. To claim the exemption, 

however, your organization must certify that it is exempt by logging onto the OCR 
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website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/about/ocr/eeop.htm and following the Certification 

Form instructions. 

If you have further questions regarding the EEOP requirements, you may contact an 

EEOP specialist at the OCR by telephone at (202) 307-0690, by TTY at (202) 307-2027, 

or by e-mail at EEOsubmisson@usdoj.gov. 

Meeting the Requirement to Submit Findings of Discrimination

If in the three years prior to the date of the grant award, your organization has received an 

adverse finding of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or sex, 

after a due-process hearing, from a state or federal court or from a state or federal 

administrative agency, your organization must send a copy of the finding to the OCR. 

If the OCR can assist you in any way in fulfilling your organization’s civil rights 

responsibilities as a recipient of federal financial assistance, please contact us.