FY2018 Appropriations for Department of Justice Grant Programs
Released: 2018-05-08T00:00:00

E ach year, Congress and the Administration provide funding for a variety of grant programs through the Department of Justice (DOJ). These programs provide support to state, local, and tribal governments and nonprofit organizations for a variety of criminal justice-related purposes, such as combatting violence against women, reducing backlogs of DNA evidence, supporting community policing, assisting crime victims, promoting prisoner reentry, and improving the functioning of the juvenile justice system. These programs are funded through five accounts in the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations act:

Violence Against Women Programs; Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance; Juvenile Justice Programs; and Community Oriented Policing Services.

This report provides an overview of congressional actions to fund DOJ's grant programs through these accounts for FY2018. The report also provides information on FY2017 appropriations for DOJ's grant programs.

The amounts in this report reflect only new funding made available at the start of the fiscal year. Therefore, the amounts do not include any rescissions of unobligated or deobligated balances that may be counted as offsets to newly enacted appropriations.

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) was established to administer programs created under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 ( P.L. 103-322 ). These programs provide financial and technical assistance to communities around the country to facilitate the creation of programs, policies, and practices designed to improve criminal justice responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

The Trump Administration's FY2018 budget request for OVW was largely in-line with what was provided for FY2017. The Administration's budget request would have cut, relative to FY2017 funding, $2.0 million from the grant program that is designed to improve the criminal justice response to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking; $1.0 million from grants that are designed to prevent domestic violence in rural jurisdictions; and $1.5 million from grants that assist Indian tribes in planning, implementing, and exercising criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes of domestic violence or dating violence or violate certain protection orders in Indian country. The Administration's budget request would have increased funding by $1.0 million, relative to FY2017 funding, for a program to increase states' allocations under the STOP formula grant program if the state has a law that allows women to terminate the parental rights of rapists.

The Administration proposed supplementing $35.0 million in appropriations from the General Fund of the Treasury for the OVW account with a $445.0 million transfer from the Crime Victims Fund. For FY2017, Congress and the Administration supplemented appropriations from the General Fund of the Treasury for OVW with a $326.0 million transfer from the Crime Victims Fund.

The House-passed bill ( H.R. 3354 ) would have funded nearly every program under the OVW account at the FY2017 level. The House-passed bill included a $0.5 million increase for research on violence against women relative to FY2017 funding. The proposed $45.5 million increase in the OVW account relative to FY2017 funding was due to the House proposing to fund grants for victims of trafficking through the OVW account rather than the State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance account, where the appropriation for this program is traditionally provided. The House-passed bill did not recommend transferring any funding from the Crime Victims Fund to the OVW account.

The Senate committee-reported bill ( S. 1662 ) would have also largely funded programs under the OVW account at the FY2017 level. The two exceptions were $1.0 million increases, relative to FY2017 funding, for both transitional housing assistance and grants for rural domestic violence and child abuse enforcement assistance. The committee-reported bill included a $379.0 million transfer from the Crime Victims Fund to the OVW account.

Congress and the Administration provided $492.0 million for OVW for FY2018, all of which comes via a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund. FY2018 funding was $10.5 million greater than FY2017 funding and $12.0 million more than the Administration's request. In general, for FY2018 OVW programs were funded at the FY2017 level, but there were a few programs that received an increase. Congress and the Administration provided, relative to FY2017 funding, an additional $5.0 million for transitional housing assistance grants, an additional $5.0 million for grants to assist victims of domestic violence in rural areas, and an additional $0.5 million for research related to violence against women.

Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) manages and coordinates the National Institute of Justice; Bureau of Justice Statistics; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Office of Victims of Crimes; Bureau of Justice Assistance; Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking; and related grant programs.

Research, Evaluation, and Statistics

The Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account funds the operations of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), among other things.

The Administration's FY2018 request for the Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account was $22.0 million greater than FY2017 funding. The proposed increase was entirely the result of the Administration requesting funding for the Regional Information Sharing System (RISS) program under this account. For FY2017, Congress and the Administration provided funding for the RISS program under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) account. The Administration's budget request would have decreased funding for both the Bureau of Justice Statistics (-$4.5 million) and the National Institute of Justice (-$3.5 million) relative to FY2017 funding.

The House bill would have funded BJS at the FY2017 level and reduced funding for NIJ by $1.0 million relative to FY2017 funding. The House declined to adopt the Administration's proposal to fund RISS through the Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account (funding for this program was provided under the Community Oriented Policing Services account). In addition, the House bill would have eliminated funding for the forensic sciences improvement initiative.

The Senate committee-reported bill would have reduced funding for BJS by $0.5 million relative to FY2017 funding, but would have funded NIJ at the FY2017 level. The committee declined to provide funding for RISS under the Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account (funding for this program is provided under the COPS account). The committee-reported bill would have also eliminated funding for the forensic sciences improvement initiative.

Congress and the Administration funded the Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account at $90.0 million for FY2018, an amount that is $1.0 million more than FY2017 funding, but $21.0 million less than the Administration's request. The reduced funding relative to the Administration's request is the result of not funding the Forensic Science Improvement program and providing funding for RISS under the COPS account. Congress and the Administration provided increased funding, relative to FY2017 funding, for both BJS (+$2.5 million) and NIJ (+$2.5 million).

State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance

The State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance (S&LLEA) account includes funding for a variety of grant programs to improve the functioning of state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems. Programs that have traditionally been funded under this account include the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, the Drug Courts program, the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), and DNA backlog reduction grant programs.

For FY2018, the Trump Administration requested $940.5 million for the S&LLEA account, which included a proposed $73.0 million transfer from the Crime Victims Fund. The Administration's budget would have eliminated funding for SCAAP (-$210.0 million) and the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation program (-$17.5 million). The budget also included, relative to FY2017 funding, a $70.5 million reduction for JAG, $20.0 million reductions for both the DNA Analysis and Capacity Enhancement program and the Second Chance Act, and a $30.0 million reduction for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative. The Administration also proposed to eliminate funding for the Community Trust and Opioids Initiatives, though it requested funding for many of the programs funded under both initiatives as their own line items in the S&LLEA account. The Administration proposed funding grant programs to help law enforcement agencies purchase armor vests and body-worn cameras with set-asides from the JAG program. For FY2017, both of these programs were funded as their own line items in the S&LLEA account.

The Administration's budget request would have increased funding for two programs that focus on combatting violent crime. The FY2018 budget request included $70.0 million for a program to reduce gang and gun violence, also referred to as Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). For FY2017, Congress and the Administration provided $6.5 million for PSN as a set-aside from JAG. The Administration proposed changing PSN from a competitive grant program to a block grant program. The Administration also requested $5.0 million for a National Crime Reduction Assistance Network, which would have provided training and technical assistance to cities to support violence reduction strategies.

The House-passed bill included $1.189 billion for the S&LLEA account. The House declined to adopt many of the Administration's funding proposals, such as supplementing funding for the account with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund, increasing funding for Project Safe Neighborhoods, and eliminating funding for the SCAAP and Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation programs (funding for the latter is provided under the Community Oriented Policing Services account and is $7.5 million less than FY2017 funding). The House-passed bill would have moved funding for several programs—grants under the Second Chance Act, the Community Trust Initiative, and grants for community teams to reduce sexual assault kit backlogs—to the COPS account. The House bill would have generally funded most programs under the S&LLEA account at the FY2017 level, but the House bill would have reduced funding for both the Comprehensive School Safety and Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance programs by $5.0 million relative to FY2017 funding. The House bill also included, relative to FY2017 funding, a $112.0 million increase for JAG, a $20.0 million increase for SCAAP, and a $22.0 million increase for programs authorized by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA, P.L. 114-198 ).

The Senate committee-reported bill included $1.171 billion for the S&LLEA account. The committee also declined to adopt many of the Administration's funding proposals, including the proposal to supplement funding for the account with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund, increasing funding for Project Safe Neighborhoods, and eliminating funding for the SCAAP and Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation programs. While the committee-reported bill would not have eliminated funding for SCAAP, it included a $110.0 million cut to the program relative to FY2017 funding. The committee-reported bill would have generally funded all programs under the S&LLEA account at the FY2017 level, but it included increases for JAG (+$1.5 million); grants to prevent economic, white collar, and cybercrimes (+$1.0 million); grants under the Second Chance Act (+$2.0 million); the Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement program (+$0.5 million); and programs authorized under CARA (+$8.0 million) relative to FY2017 funding.

Congress and the Administration provided $1.680 billion for the S&LLEA account for FY2018. The enacted amount was $399.5 million more than FY2017 funding and $739.5 million more than the Administration's request. In general, Congress declined to adopt the Administration's funding proposals for the S&LLEA account, including supplementing appropriations from the General Fund of the Treasury with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund, eliminating funding for SCAAP and the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation program, and cutting funding for JAG, DNA initiatives, and the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative relative to FY2017 funding. Congress and the Administration did not provide funding for a National Crime Reduction Assistance Network. In addition, Congress and the Administration did not provide the $70.0 million the Administration requested for PSN, but funding for the program was increased by $13.5 million for FY2018. Several other programs received increased funding for FY2018:

Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act grants (+$132.0 million), grants for trafficking victims (+$32.0 million), drug courts (+$32.0 million), SCAAP (+$30.0 million), grants for criminal justice and mental health collaboration (+$18.0 million), Second Chance Act grants (+$17.0 million), the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program (+$16.0 million), prescription drug monitoring (+$16.0 million), veterans treatment courts (+$13.0 million), and JAG (+$12.5 million).

Congress and the Administration reauthorized the Matching Grant Program for School Security (commonly referred to as the "Secure Our Schools program") as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Title V of Division S of P.L. 115-141 ). The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 requires all funds provided for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative ($75.0 million) for FY2018 to be used for grants under the Secure Our Schools program.

Congress and the Administration also reestablished a line-item appropriation for tribal assistance ($35.0 million) that was eliminated under the S&LLEA account for FY2017. For FY2017, Congress and the Administration authorized DOJ to use up to 7% of the funding available under the State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, Juvenile Justice Programs, and Community Oriented Policing Services account, with a few exceptions, for tribal justice assistance programs. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, does not authorize DOJ to set aside funds for tribal assistance programs. Instead, tribal assistance will be provided through specific line-item appropriations (i.e., tribal assistance under the S&LLEA account, the Tribal Youth Program under the Juvenile Justice Programs account, and tribal law enforcement assistance under the COPS account).

Juvenile Justice Programs

The Juvenile Justice Programs account includes funding for grant programs to reduce juvenile delinquency and help state, local, and tribal governments improve the functioning of their juvenile justice systems.

The Administration's FY2018 request for Juvenile Justice Programs was $17.5 million less than FY2017 funding. The $229.5 million the Trump Administration requested for this account included a transfer of $92.0 million from the Crime Victims Fund. The overall proposed reduction in funding for this account relative to FY2017 funding was almost solely attributable to a $22.0 million reduction in funding for youth mentoring grants. The Administration's budget request included increases, relative to FY2017 funding, for Part B formula grants (+$3.0 million), Title V delinquency prevention grants (+$2.5 million), and grants to improve juvenile indigent defense (+$0.5 million).

The House-passed bill included $175.5 million for the Juvenile Justice Programs account. The House bill would have eliminated funding for Part B State Formula grants, Title V Delinquency Prevention grants, and grants to improve indigent defense for juveniles. The remaining programs would have been funded at the FY2017 level. The House did not adopt the Administration's proposal to supplement funding for this account with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund.

The bill reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations included a $13.0 million increase for the Juvenile Justice Programs account ($260.0 million). The committee-reported bill included increases for Part B State Formula grants (+$5.0 million), Title V Delinquency Prevention grants (+$4.5 million), and Missing and Exploited Children programs (+$3.5 million). The committee did not adopt the Administration's proposal to supplement funding for this account with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund.

FY2018 enacted funding for the Juvenile Justice Programs account is $282.5 million, which is $35.5 million greater than FY2017 funding and $53.0 million greater than the Administration's request. Congress declined to supplement appropriations from the General Fund of the Treasury for this account with a transfer from the Crime Victims Fund. Every program was funded at or above the FY2017 level. Congress and the Administration provided increases, relative to FY2017 funding, for youth mentoring grants (+$14.0 million), Title V delinquency prevention grants (+$13.0 million), Part B formula grants (+$5.0 million), and missing and exploited children programs (+$3.5 million). The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 also reestablished funding for the Tribal Youth program, which was eliminated in FY2017, and includes funding for a new opioid affected youth initiative.

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)

The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office awards grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States so they can hire new officers, train them in community policing, purchase and deploy new crime-fighting technologies, and develop and test new and innovative policing strategies.

The Administration requested $218.0 million for COPS for FY2018, which was $3.5 million less than FY2017 funding. The budget request would have increased funding for the COPS Hiring Program, and within this amount reestablished a set-aside for assistance to tribal law enforcement. However, the budget request would have eliminated funding for antimethamphetamine and antiheroin task forces.

The House-passed bill included $240.5 million for the COPS account, but it would have eliminated funding for many programs that are traditionally administered by the COPS Office. Most of the programs in the House bill that would have been funded under the COPS account have traditionally received funding under the S&LLEA account.

The Senate committee-reported bill included $226.5 million for the COPS account. The committee-reported bill included a $13.0 million increase for the COPS hiring program and a $2.0 million increase for antiheroin task forces relative to FY2017 funding.

Congress and the Administration funded the COPS account at $275.5 million for FY2018. This amount is $54.0 million greater than FY2017 funding and $57.5 million greater than the Administration's request. Congress and the Administration increased funding for the COPS hiring program by $31.0 million relative to FY2017 funding, and within that amount, reestablished a set-aside for tribal law enforcement assistance ($30.0 million). There is also a $22.0 million increase for antiheroin task forces relative to FY2017 funding. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, funding for the POLICE Act—which allows COPS funds to be used to provide active shooter training—is its own line item in the COPS account rather than being funded as a set-aside from the hiring program, and funding for program increased by $2.5 million for FY2018.