FEDERAL AGENCY:

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

AUTHORIZATION:

Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, Public Law 101-647.

To develop model technical assistance and training programs to improve the courts' handling of child abuse and neglect cases. Facilitate the adoption of laws to protect children against the potential second assault of the courtroom proceeding; to address the present situation in which many States have adopted innovative procedures that have far outpaced Federal law, leaving those children who do enter the Federal system inadequately protected; to address the inconsistency and disparity among State laws on child abuse; to train criminal justice system personnel on up-to-date, innovative techniques for investigating and prosecuting child abuse cases; and, to promote a multidisciplinary approach to coordinating the investigations and prosecution of child abuse cases and, thereby, limiting the number of pre-trial interviews a child must go through as well as better assure the accuracy of each interview, and to increase the number of communities making use of a Children's Advocacy Center approach to the investigation, prosecution and treatment of child abuse cases. The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association provides technical assistance, information and support to local CASA programs, as well as assists communities in developing new programs, and provides support to existing and developing State organizations on issues such as the development of goals and objectives, State legislation, and State standards to strengthen local programs. Assist communities in developing child-focused programs designed to improve the resources available to children and families; provide support to non-offending family members; enhance coordination among community agencies, professionals, and provide medical support to health care and mental health care professionals involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that respond to child abuse cases. The American Prosecutors Research Institute's National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA) pursues improvement of the quality of child abuse prosecution by providing training and technical assistance in the subject area.

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:

Funds are available specifically to achieve the objectives of the Judicial Child Abuse Training, Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse Through the Criminal Justice System, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the Regional and Local Advocacy Centers.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   Eligible applicants are designated in the congressional appropriations process for judicial child abuse training, investigation and prosecution of child abuse through the criminal justice system, and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Local nonprofit agencies/organizations may apply to National Court Appointed Special Advocates (NCASA) for State CASA programs and to start or expand local court appointed special advocate programs. Advocacy centers or agencies/organizations interested in start-up of children's advocacy centers may apply to the National Children's Alliance (NCA) for funds awarded to them by OJJDP for this purpose.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   Public or private agencies/organizations addressing child abuse problem.

Credentials/Documentation:   Cost will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local governments, A-21 for educational institutions, and A-122 for nonprofit organizations.

Pre-application Coordination:   This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure:   Procedures for application for funds to support CASA programs will be available through competitive proposals issued by National Court Appointed Special Advocates (NCASA), 100 W. Harrison St., North Tower, Suite 500, Seattle, Washington 98119-4123; and funds to support local children's advocacy centers will be available through solicitations issued by the National Children's Alliance (NCA) 1612 K Street, NW., Ste 500, Washington, DC 20006.

Award Procedure:   Award package is sent to grantee. Procedures for applications for CASA and local children's advocacy funds will be provided in the solicitations for competitive proposals issued by NCASA and NCA.

Deadlines:   None.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:   Not applicable.

Appeals:   Not applicable.

Renewals:   The terms for these grant program budget periods range from 12 to 36 months.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:   Not applicable.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:   Grants are generally awarded for a 12 to 24 month time period, but may be awarded for up to 36 month project period.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:   Final financial reports and semi-annual and final program performance reports will be required as stipulated in the effective edition of the OJP Financial Guide. Similar reporting requirements will be required by NCASA and NCA to satisfy Federal requirements.

Audits:   All organizations that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in any fiscal year must have a single audit for that year in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-133, as amended, unless the audit condition on the award says otherwise. These audits are due to the cognizant Federal agency not later than 9 months after the end of the grantee's fiscal year.

Records:   Grantee must keep complete records on the disposition of funds.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:   15-0405-0-1-754.

Obligations:   (Grants) FY 01 $8,483,350; FY 02 est $9,613,273; and FY 03 est $8,481,000.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:   Not applicable.

The NCPCA responded to more than 4,000 calls for consultation and technical assistance and staff traveled to 30 states and trained about 14,000 child abuse control professionals during fiscal year 2001. During 2001, technical assistance and training was provided by NCASA to 878 local CASA programs and 49 state organizations with 54,000 volunteers representing service to 252,000 children. A range of technical assistance materials were disseminated, and funds were made available to 97 new organizations/agencies either operating CASAS for start-up or to statewide CASA programs. Responses were provided to approximately 18,304 requests for technical assistance. Continuation awards totaling $476,324 were made to develop CASA programs in tribal courts. (1) Under the 2001 Model Courts program, 2,8168,224 resource guides on improving court practices were distributed to staff of the nation's juvenile and family courts to assist them in improving the handling of child abuse cases. These materials were developed by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges which is working with 24 jurisdictions to replicate the demonstration court model; (2) The National Council also conducted more than 60 national, state and local training programs for judicial personnel and others. Based upon lessons learned in the 24 Model Courts, the National Council also developed five new technical assistance publications; (3) the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) program, as carried out by the National Children's Alliance and the four regional CACs, works to strengthen and increase the number of jurisdictions making use of CAC and multi- disciplinary approaches to investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect. In 2001, as a result of grant funds and training and technical assistance, a significant increase in CACs were made. Currently, there are 408 full and associate CACs, nearly 200 programs in development, and 36 state and Native American chapters.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:

Applications and current edition of the OJP Financial Guide, are available upon request.

INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:   None.

Headquarters Office:   Ron Laney, Director, Child Protection Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20531. Telephone (202) 616-3637.

Web Site Address:   http://www.usdoj.gov.

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:

Not applicable.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:

By congressional designation, funds will be made available specifically for the Judicial Child Abuse Training to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, for the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse through the Criminal Justice System to the American Prosecutor Research Institute, Court Appointed Special Advocates and the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association, for the development of local Children's Advocacy Centers through the National Children's Alliance Centers and the four Regional Children's Advocacy Centers.