§ 3796gg-1. State grants

(a) General grants

The Attorney General may make grants to States, for use by States, State and local courts (including juvenile courts), units of local government, nonprofit nongovernmental victim services programs, and Indian tribal governments for the purposes described in section 3796gg (b) of this title.

(b) Amounts

Of the amounts appropriated for the purposes of this subchapter—

(1) 10 percent shall be available for grants under the program authorized by section 3796gg–10 of this title, which shall not otherwise be subject to the requirements of this subchapter (other than section 3796gg–2 of this title);

(2) 2.5 percent shall be available for grants for State domestic violence coalitions under section 3796gg (c) of this title, with the coalition for each State, the coalition for the District of Columbia, the coalition for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the coalition for Guam, the coalition for American Samoa, the coalition for the United States Virgin Islands, and the coalition for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.,^[1] each receiving an amount equal to 1/56 of the total amount made available under this paragraph for each fiscal year;

(3) 2.5 percent shall be available for grants for State sexual assault coalitions under section 3796gg (c) of this title, with the coalition for each State, the coalition for the District of Columbia, the coalition for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, coalitions for Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, each receiving an amount equal to 1/56 of the total amount made available under this paragraph for each fiscal year;

(4) 1/56 shall be available for grants under section 3796gg (d) of this title;

(5) $600,000 shall be available for grants to applicants in each State; and

(6) the remaining funds shall be available for grants to applicants in each State in an amount that bears the same ratio to the amount of remaining funds as the population of the State bears to the population of all of the States that results from a distribution among the States on the basis of each State’s population in relation to the population of all States (not including populations of Indian tribes).

Upon satisfying the terms of subsection (d) of this section, any State shall be qualified for funds provided under this subchapter upon certification that—

(1) the funds shall be used for any of the purposes described in section 3796gg (b) of this title;

(2) grantees and subgrantees shall develop a plan for implementation and shall consult and coordinate with nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services programs, including sexual assault and domestic violence victim services programs and describe how the State will address the needs of underserved populations;

(3) of the amount granted—

(A) not less than 25 percent shall be allocated for law enforcement and not less than 25 percent shall be allocated for prosecutors;

(B) not less than 30 percent shall be allocated for victims services of which at least 10 percent shall be distributed to culturally specific community-based organizations; and

(4) any Federal funds received under this subchapter shall be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be available for activities funded under this subchapter.^[2]

(d) Application requirements

The application requirements provided in section 3763 ^[2] of this title shall apply to grants made under this subchapter. In addition, each application shall include the certifications of qualification required by subsection (c) of this section, including documentation from nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services programs, describing their participation in developing the plan required by subsection (c)(2) of this section. An application shall include—

(1) documentation from the prosecution, law enforcement, court, and victim services programs to be assisted, demonstrating—

(A) need for the grant funds;

(B) intended use of the grant funds;

(D) demographic characteristics of the populations to be served, including age, marital status, disability, race, ethnicity and language background;

(2) proof of compliance with the requirements for the payment of forensic medical exams provided in section 3796gg–4 of this title; and ^[3]

(3) proof of compliance with the requirements for paying filing and service fees for domestic violence cases provided in section 3796gg–5 of this title; and

(4) documentation showing that tribal, territorial, State or local prosecution, law enforcement, and courts have consulted with tribal, territorial, State, or local victim service programs during the course of developing their grant applications in order to ensure that proposed services, activities and equipment acquisitions are designed to promote the safety, confidentiality, and economic independence of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence.

(e) Disbursement

(1) In general

Not later than 60 days after the receipt of an application under this subchapter, the Attorney General shall—

(A) disburse the appropriate sums provided for under this subchapter; or

(B) inform the applicant why the application does not conform to the terms of section 3763 ^[2] of this title or to the requirements of this section.

(2) Regulations

In disbursing monies under this subchapter, the Attorney General shall issue regulations to ensure that States will—

(A) give priority to areas of varying geographic size with the greatest showing of need based on the availability of existing domestic violence and sexual assault programs in the population and geographic area to be served in relation to the availability of such programs in other such populations and geographic areas;

(B) determine the amount of subgrants based on the population and geographic area to be served;

(C) equitably distribute monies on a geographic basis including nonurban and rural areas of various geographic sizes; and

(D) recognize and meaningfully respond to the needs of underserved populations and ensure that monies set aside to fund linguistically and culturally specific services and activities for underserved populations are distributed equitably among those populations.

(f) Federal share

The Federal share of a grant made under this subchapter ^[2] may not exceed 75 percent of the total costs of the projects described in the application submitted.

(g) Indian tribes

Funds appropriated by the Congress for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or of the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded under this subchapter.

(h) Grantee reporting

(1) In general

Upon completion of the grant period under this subchapter, a State or Indian tribal grantee shall file a performance report with the Attorney General explaining the activities carried out, which report shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of those activities in achieving the purposes of this subchapter.

(2) Certification by grantee and subgrantees

A section of the performance report shall be completed by each grantee and subgrantee that performed the direct services contemplated in the application, certifying performance of direct services under the grant.

(3) Suspension of funding

The Attorney General shall suspend funding for an approved application if—

(A) an applicant fails to submit an annual performance report;

(B) funds are expended for purposes other than those described in this subchapter; or

(C) a report under paragraph (1) or accompanying assessments demonstrate to the Attorney General that the program is ineffective or financially unsound.

[1] So in original.

[2] See References in Text note below.

[3] So in original. The word “and” probably should not appear.

U.S. Code

§ 3796gg-1. State grants