§ 10402. State grants authorized

(a) Authority of Secretary; application; requirements; approval

(1) In order to assist in supporting the establishment, maintenance, and expansion of programs and projects to prevent incidents of family violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents, the Secretary is authorized, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to make grants to States.

(2) No grant may be made under this subsection unless the chief executive officer of the State seeking such grant submits an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may reasonably require. Each such application shall—

(A) provide that funds provided under this subsection will be distributed in grants to local public agencies and nonprofit private organizations (including religious and charitable organizations, and voluntary associations) for programs and projects within such State to prevent incidents of family violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents in order to prevent future violent incidents;

(B) provide, with respect to funds provided to a State under this subsection for any fiscal year, that—

(i) not more than 5 percent of such funds will be used for State administrative costs; and

(ii) in the distribution of funds by the State under this subsection, the State will give special emphasis to the support of community-based projects of demonstrated effectiveness carried out by nonprofit private organizations, the primary purpose of which is to operate shelters for victims of family violence and their dependents, and those which provide counseling, advocacy, and self-help services to victims and their children.^[1]

(C) set forth procedures designed to involve State domestic violence coalitions, knowledgeable individuals, and interested organizations and assure an equitable distribution of grants and grant funds within the State and between urban and rural areas within such State and a plan to address the needs of underserved populations, as defined in section 3796gg–2 of this title; ^[2]

(D) specify the State agency to be designated as responsible for the administration of programs and activities relating to family violence which are carried out by the State under this chapter and for coordination of related programs within the State;

(E) provide documentation that procedures have been developed, and implemented including copies of the policies and procedure, to assure the confidentiality of records pertaining to any individual provided family violence prevention or treatment services by any program assisted under this chapter and provide assurances that the address or location of any shelter-facility assisted under this chapter will, except with written authorization of the person or persons responsible for the operation of such shelter, not be made public;

(F) provide documentation to the Secretary that the State has a law or procedure that has been implemented for the eviction of an abusing spouse from a share household; and

(G) meet such requirements as the Secretary reasonably determines are necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter.

(3) The Secretary shall approve any application that meets the requirements of this subsection, and the Secretary shall not disapprove any such application except after reasonable notice of the Secretary’s intention to disapprove and after a 6-month period providing an opportunity for correction of any deficiencies. The Secretary shall provide such notice within 45 days of the date of the application if any of the provisions of paragraph (2) have not been satisfied in such application. If the State has not corrected the deficiencies in such application within the 6-month period following the receipt of the Secretary’s notice of intention to disapprove, the Secretary shall withhold payment of any grant funds to such State until the date that is 30 days prior to the end of the fiscal year for which such grant funds are appropriated or until such time as the State provides documentation that the deficiencies have been corrected, whichever occurs first. State Domestic Violence Coalitions shall be permitted to participate in determining whether a grantee is in compliance with paragraph (2), except that no funds made available to State Domestic Violence Coalitions under section 10410 of this title shall be used to challenge a determination as to whether a grantee is in compliance with, or to seek the enforcement of, the eligibility requirements of such paragraph.

(4) Upon completion of the activities funded by a grant under this subpart,^[2] the State grantee shall file a performance report with the Director explaining the activities carried out together with an assessment of the effectiveness of those activities in achieving the purposes of this subpart.^[2] A section of this performance report shall be completed by each grantee or subgrantee that performed the direct services contemplated in the application certifying performance of direct services under the grant. The Director shall suspend funding for an approved application if an applicant fails to submit an annual performance report or if the funds are expended for purposes other than those set forth under this subpart,^[2] after following the procedures set forth in paragraph (3). Federal funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, State funds.

(5) Upon completion of the activities funded by a grant under this chapter, the State shall submit to the Secretary a report that contains a description of the activities carried out under paragraph (2)(B)(i).

(b) Indian tribes and tribal organizations; application

(1) The Secretary, from amounts appropriated to carry out this section, shall make available not less than 10 percent of such amounts to make grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations ^[3] and nonprofit private organizations approved by an Indian Tribe ^[4] for the operation of a family violence shelter on a Reservation ^[4] for projects designed to prevent family violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents.

(2) No grant may be made under this subsection unless an application is made to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by such information as the Secretary deems essential to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. Such application shall comply, as applicable, with the provisions of clauses (C) (with respect only to involving knowledgeable individuals and organizations), (D), (E) and (F) of subsection (a)(2) of this section. No entity eligible to submit an application under paragraph (1) shall be prohibited from making an application during any fiscal year for which funds are available because such entity has not previously applied or received funding under this section.

(3) In the case of a project for which the initial application for a demonstration grant under this subsection is made on or after May 28, 1992, the terms “Indian tribe” and “tribal organization”, for purposes of this subsection, have the meaning given such terms in section 450b of title 25.

The Secretary shall use funds provided under section 10409 (a)(2) of this title, for a fiscal year described in section 10409 (a)(2) of this title, to award grants for demonstration programs that provide—

(1) multisystem interventions and services (either directly or by referral) for children who witness domestic violence; and

(2) training (either directly or by referral) for agencies, providers, and other entities who work with such children.

(d) Direct payments to victims or dependents

No funds provided through demonstration grants made under this section may be used as direct payment to any victim of family violence or to any dependent of such victim.

(e) Income eligibility standards

No income eligibility standard may be imposed upon individuals with respect to eligibility for assistance or services supported with funds appropriated to carry out this chapter.

(f) Grants to entities other than States; local share

No grant may be made under this section to any entity other than a State or an Indian Tribe ^[4] unless the entity provides for the following non-Federal matching local share as a proportion of the total amount of funds provided under this chapter to the project involved: with respect to an entity operating an existing program under this chapter, not less than 20 percent, and with respect to an entity intending to operate a new program under this chapter, not less than 35 percent. The local share required under this subsection may be in cash or in-kind. The local share may not include any Federal funds provided under any authority other than this chapter.

(g) Shelter and related assistance

The Secretary shall assure that not less than 70 percent of the funds distributed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be distributed to entities for the purpose of providing immediate shelter and related assistance to victims of family violence and their dependents as defined in section 10421 of this title. Not less than 25 percent of the funds distributed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be distributed for the purpose of providing related assistance as defined under section 10421 (5)(A) of this title.

[1] So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.

[2] See References in Text note below.

[3] So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.

[4] So in original. Probably should not be capitalized.

U.S. Code

§ 10402. State grants authorized