February 24, 2014
Q.

Which federal grant programs will the five percent penalty for non-compliance affect?

A.

As described in the February 11, 2014 letter to governors regarding implementation of the National PREA Standards, in Fiscal Year 2014, there are three DOJ grant programs (or portions thereof) subject to the five percent penalty for non-compliance. Two are administered by the Office of Justice Programs: (1) the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Formula Program, and (2) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Formula Grant Program. One is administered by the Office on Violence Against Women: the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program.

Please note that legal restrictions on the uses of OJJDP Formula Grant and STOP Grant funds may make them unavailable to States for addressing certain areas of non-compliance with the PREA Standards. If a State is in full compliance with the standards as they apply to the State’s juvenile facilities, and out of compliance only with regard to adult facilities, it could not lawfully spend OJJDP Formula Grant funds to come into compliance. Because it would be impossible to use this money to come into compliance, the State would not be subject to the five-percent reduction in OJJDP Formula Grant funding. Likewise, STOP Grant funds are limited in that they cannot be used for new construction, even if that is necessary to bring a State into full compliance with the PREA Standards. If a State is in full compliance except for a deficiency that requires new construction, it could not lawfully spend STOP Grant funding to come into compliance, and the State, therefore, would not be subject to the five percent reduction in STOP Grant Funds. The PREA Standards Assurance Form, attached to the February 11, 2014 letter to governors from Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason and Office on Violence Against Women Principal Deputy Director Bea Hanson, requires governors to indicate whether either or both of these circumstances apply to their States.

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