FY2017 Appropriations for the Department of Justice Grant Programs

Summary

Each year Congress provides funding for a variety of grant programs through the Department of Justice (DOJ). These programs provide funding to state, local, and tribal governments and nonprofit organizations for a variety of criminal justice-related purposes, such as programs to combat violence against women, reduce backlogs of DNA evidence, support community policing efforts, assist crime victims, promote prisoner reentry efforts, and improve the functioning of the juvenile justice system. Congress funds these programs 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.

For FY2017, the Administration requests a total of $2.361 billion for these five accounts. This includes $489 million for the Office on Violence Against Women (which includes a proposed $326 million transfer from the Crime Victims Fund); $154 million for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; $1.098 billion for State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance; $334.4 million for Juvenile Justice Programs; and $286 million for Community Oriented Policing Services. The Administration’s request for all of these accounts, with the exception of State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, is greater than the FY2016 appropriation.

The Administration’s FY2017 request for DOJ’s grant accounts includes several significant proposals. First, the Administration proposes to transfer $326 million from the Crime Victims Fund to the Office on Violence Against Women. It also proposes to eliminate funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (-$210 million), while proposing to reduce funding for other programs, such as the National Criminal History Improvement program (-$23 million), and DNA backlog reduction initiatives (-$20 million). However, the Administration also proposes increases for grants to encourage arrest policies (+$11.3 million), grants authorized under the Second Chance Act (+$32 million), and programs for children exposed to violence (+$15 million). In addition, it proposes restoring funding to the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (+$30 million), a program that was eliminated after FY2013, along with funding a variety of new programs and initiatives, such as the Byrne Incentive Grant program ($10 million), the Byrne Competitive Grant program ($15 million), and the Violence Reduction Network ($5 million).