Grants / Department of Justice / Bureau of Justice Assistance

O-BJA-2020-62002: BJA FY 2020 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Program Requirements and Application Instructions

Closed Closed July 30, 2021 Opportunity O-BJA-2020-62002 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: BJA FY26 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) (O-BJA-2026-172810). Status: Closes December 15, 2026 (38 days left). It is in our archive of Bureau of Justice Assistance notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$95,000
• Total funding$210 million
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeOther

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to state and local governments.

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

See Eligibility Information in this solicitation.

More grants for state and local governments.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past State Criminal Alien Assistance Program awards averaged $408,283; this notice allows up to $95,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (99% over five years) went to state and local governments.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) administers SCAAP. Under SCAAP, OJP makes payments to "states" and "units of local government" that incur certain types of costs due to "incarceration" of "undocumented criminal aliens" during a specific 12-month "reporting period." Under the FY 2020 program, payments will be made in connection with "undocumented" aliens who had been convicted of at least one felony or two misdemeanors (typically for violations of state or local law) and who were "incarcerated" under the legal authority of the applicant government for at least 4 consecutive days during the "reporting period." (Additional details are set out in later sections of this document.) As part of its application, each applicant government provides particular information about individuals it "incarcerated" — under its own legal authority — for at least 4 consecutive days during the "reporting period" and whom the applicant government either (1) knows were "undocumented criminal aliens" or (2) reasonably and in good faith believes were "undocumented criminal aliens." (OJP transmits the data submitted on such individuals to DHS for a detailed review.) As part of its application, each applicant government also must provide information pertinent to its average costs of incarceration during the "reporting period." Broadly speaking, SCAAP payments are calculated from information provided by applicant governments in online applications, information provided to OJP by DHS regarding the DHS review of data on "eligible inmates," and the amount of appropriated funds available for the SCAAP application cycle (e.g., for the FY 2020 program). All information submitted as part of an application is subject to appropriate review by OJP.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, O-BJA-2026-172810, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.