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Tribal Courts Assistance Program, FY 2004
Other Requirements
Civil Rights Compliance
All recipients of federal grant funds must comply with nondiscrimination
requirements contained in federal laws. If a court or administrative
agency makes a finding of discrimination against a recipient of
funds on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, gender,
disability, or age after a due process hearing, the recipient must
forward a copy of the finding to the Office for Civil Rights of
the Office of Justice Programs.
Limited English Proficiency
National origin discrimination includes discrimination on the
basis of limited English proficiency (LEP). To ensure compliance
with Title VI and the Safe Streets Act, recipients are required
to take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful
access to their programs. Meaningful access may entail providing
language assistance services, including oral and written translation
when necessary. The U.S. Department of Justice has issued guidance
for grantees to assist them in complying with Title VI requirements.
The guidance document can be accessed on the Internet at www.lep.gov,
or by contacting OJP's Office for Civil Rights at 202-307-0690,
or by writing to the following address:
Office for Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
810 Seventh Street NW., Eighth Floor
Washington, DC 20531
Faith-Based and Community Organizations
It is OJP policy that faith-based and community organizations
that statutorily qualify as eligible applicants under OJP programs
are invited and encouraged to apply for assistance awards. Faith-based
and community organizations will be considered for awards on the
same basis as any other eligible applicants and, if they receive
assistance awards, will be treated on an equal basis with all other
grantees in the administration of such awards. No eligible applicant
or grantee will be discriminated against on the basis of its religious
character or affiliation, religious name, or the religious composition
of its board of directors or persons working in the organization.
Anti-Lobbying Act
The Anti-Lobbying Act (18
U.S.C. § 1913) recently
was amended to expand significantly restrictions on the use of
appropriated funding for lobbying. This expansion also makes the
anti-lobbying restrictions enforceable via large civil penalties,
with civil fines between $10,000 and $100,000 per each individual
occurrence of lobbying activity. These restrictions are in addition
to the anti-lobbying and lobbying disclosure restrictions imposed
by 31
U.S.C. § 1352.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently in the
process of amending the OMB
cost circulars and
the common rule (codified at 28 C.F.R. Part 69 for
Department of Justice grantees) to reflect these modifications.
However, in the interest of full disclosure, all applicants must
understand that no federally appropriated funding made available
under this grant program may be used, either directly or indirectly,
to support the enactment, repeal, modification, or adoption of
any law, regulation, or policy, at any level of government, without
the express approval by OJP. Any violation of this prohibition
is subject to a minimum $10,000 fine for each occurrence. This
prohibition applies to all activity, even if currently allowed
within the parameters of the existing OMB circulars.
Confidentiality and Human Subjects Protection
U.S. Department of Justice regulations (28 C.F.R. Part 22) require
applicants for BJA funding to submit a Privacy Certificate as a
condition of approval of any grant application or contract proposal
that contains a research or statistical component under which personally
identifiable information will be collected. In addition to the
regulations in Part 22, regulations concerning protection of human
subjects are set forth in 28 C.F.R. Part 46. In general, 28 C.F.R.
Part 46 requires that all research involving human subjects conducted
or supported by a federal department or agency be reviewed and
approved by an Institutional Review Board before funds are expended
for that research.
General information regarding Confidentiality
and Human Subjects Protection can
be found on the National Institute of Justice web site. Sample
formats of the Privacy Certificate, Transfer Agreement, and Single
Project Assurance for submission to BJA can be found on the OJP
web site.
Evaluation
Pending the availability of funds, BJA and the National Institute
of Justice will identify a number of sites under the Tribal Courts
Assistance Program to participate in a national evaluation. The
goal of this evaluation is to gain practical, measurable, and descriptive
information and to provide interested agencies and organizations
with feedback about processes and early outcomes. 
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