Part I: Background Information
Summary:
Section 107(a) of Title I of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (the Act), as amended, authorizes grants to States for the purpose of assisting States in developing, establishing, and operating programs designed to improve (1) the handling of child abuse and neglect cases, particularly cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, in a manner which limits additional trauma to the child victim; (2) the handling of cases of suspected child abuse or neglect related fatalities; and (3) the investigation and prosecution of cases of child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The term "State" as used in Section 111(5) of the Act includes each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. In FY 2001, 48 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were deemed eligible for grants from funds deposited in the Crime Victims Fund during FY 2000, for a total of $ 8,500,000.
Since the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands may submit consolidated grant applications in accordance with 45 CFR Part 97, these jurisdictions need not submit an application under this Program Instruction if they choose to have their allotments included in a consolidated grant and to expend these funds under the authority of another program that is available for consolidation.
Section 1402(d)(2) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 has required that the Department of Justice transfer to the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) $8,500,000 annually to support activities carried out by ACF under the Children's Justice Act. The Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act (CAPE) legislation, enacted in March 2000, revised the allocation formula. In FY 2001 and FY 2002, $17,000,000 was available for distribution. In FY 2003, $ 17,000,000 is available for distribution.
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Purpose:
The purposes of this Program Instruction are to set forth the eligibility requirements and the grant application procedures for FY 2003 Children's Justice Act (CJA) grants and to provide the tentative State allocation table.
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Information:
Three-Year Assessment Requirement
Section 107(d) of the Act requires the State Task Force to undertake a comprehensive review and evaluation of law, policy and the investigative, administrative and judicial handling of cases of child abuse and neglect and to make training and policy recommendations in each of the three categories in Section 107(e)(1) (the three CJA categories). The State Task Force assessment (review, evaluation and recommendations) is required for an initial application and at three-year intervals thereafter.
Documentation of the assessment must include the report of the State Task Force study which includes its review, evaluation, and recommendations in all the areas required in Section 107(e) (1) (A), (B) and (C). See page 6.
States which established their eligibility and first received funding in FY 2000 and States which completed the three-year assessment requirement and received funding in FY 2000 must include in their FY 2003 application documentation that the State Task Force complied with the requirement for a State Task Force study at three-year intervals. Those States are:
| Alabama Arkansas Arizona Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Iowa Idaho Illinois |
Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Minnesota Mississippi Montana North Carolina New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada |
New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Washington |
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Fiscal Reports
Fiscal reports are required annually and are due 90 days after the close of each 12-month period within the two-year grant period. The reporting period runs 12 months from the date of issuance of the award.
Fiscal reports covering the first 12 months of a grant period are interim reports and reports covering the entire 24 months of a grant period are final reports.
Expenditures under the CJA are to be reported by the State, using a Standard Form 269 (SF-269), Financial Status Report and should be submitted directly to:
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Administration
370 L'Enfant Promeade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
ATTENTION: Joanne Moore
Grants Officer -
Program Performance Reports
Program Performance Reports are required once a year as part of the grant application. No other performance reports are required. (See instructions at C. on page 12.)
Grant Administration Regulations
The regulations which apply to the administration of these grants are contained in 45 CFR Part 92, "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments," (See Attachment 1 for a copy of the 45 CFR Part 92 revised regulations.)
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Expenditure of Funds:
A State must obligate and liquidate these Federal funds no later than two years after the end of the Federal fiscal year in which the funds are allotted. This means that FY 2003 funds must be expended by September 30, 2005. A negative grant award will be issued for any unobligated balances or unliquidated obligations reported as of September 30, 2005.
Extensions: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families may extend this period at the request of the State. A written request explaining the amount and the circumstances for such an extension must be received by Dr. Susan Orr, Ph.D., Associate Commissioner, Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 330 C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20447 at least 60 days prior to the end of the funding period, but no later than August 1, 2005.
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Availability and Allocation of Funds:
The Victims of Crime Act of 1984, as amended by the CJA and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, provides that $10,000,000 deposited in the Crime Victims Fund in any fiscal year will be made available to the Department of Health and Human Services for CJA grants to the States, except that 15% will be reserved by the Attorney General for CJA grants to Native American Indian tribes. However, with the enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act (CAPE) in March 2000, the amount transferred to ACF would increase up to a cap of $17,000,000, when the amount of money deposited in the Trust Fund increased above the FY 1998 level. In FY 2003, the total funds available for the CJA grants will be $17,000,000.
Funds have been allocated to States based on a formula similar to that used in distributing the basic child abuse and neglect State grants, i.e., a base amount of $50,000 will be awarded to each State; an additional amount will be awarded bearing the same ratio to the total funds remaining as the number of children under the age of 18 in each State bears to the total number of children under 18 in all the States.
The tentative allocation for each State is shown in Attachment 2.
Excess Funds:
Any excess funds resulting from States not meeting the eligibility requirements will be awarded to eligible States on a pro rata share basis. Supplemental information to explain the State's use of these additional funds should be submitted in the form of a letter to Ms. Joan E. Ohl, Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 330 C Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447 no later than November 30, 2003.
The use of excess funds must conform to the guidelines contained in the Program Instructions.
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Projects and Activities:
In accordance with Section 107(a) of the Act, grants awarded are to be used to develop, establish, and operate programs designed to improve:
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the handling of child abuse and neglect cases, particularly cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, in a manner which limits additional trauma to the child victim;
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the handling of cases of suspected child abuse or neglect related fatalities; and
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the investigation and prosecution of cases of child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual abuse and exploitation.
In particular grant funds should be used to implement State Task Force recommendations in the following three categories (the three categories from Section 107 (e) (1)(A),(B) and(C)):
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investigative, administrative, and judicial handling of cases of child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as cases involving suspected child maltreatment related fatalities and cases involving a potential combination of jurisdictions, such as interstate, Federal-State, and State-Tribal, in a manner which reduces the additional trauma to the child victim and the victim's family and which also ensures procedural fairness to the accused;
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experimental, model, and demonstration programs for testing innovative approaches and techniques which may improve the prompt and successful resolution of civil and criminal court proceedings or enhance the effectiveness of judicial and administrative action in child abuse and neglect cases, particularly child sexual abuse and exploitation cases, including the enhancement of performance of court-appointed attorneys and guardians ad litem for children, and which also ensure procedural fairness to the accused; and
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reform of State laws, ordinances, regulations, protocols and procedures to provide comprehensive protection for children from abuse, particularly sexual abuse and exploitation, while ensuring fairness to all affected persons.
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CJA funds should be used for programs to reform State systems and improve the processes by which States respond to cases of child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual abuse and exploitation and cases of suspected child abuse or neglect related fatalities. This will enable States to deal more effectively with both the child victim and the offender and to limit additional trauma to the child victim.
The ongoing activities of a State Task Force in monitoring implementation of its recommendations and continuing interagency collaboration in carrying out the intent of the Act may be supported with these funds. Supporting child abuse prevention programs or treatment services is not an appropriate use of CJA funds.
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