Federal grant programs / Department of Health and Human Services

State Court Improvement Program (93.586)

Also known as State and Tribal Court Improvement Programs

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$139 million
• Grant awards431
• Typical award$282,275
• Awarded in FY 2025$28.5 million
• Size rank709 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceFormula grants, project grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $38.7 million in fiscal 2021 to $28.5 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 709th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 57% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 53 states and territories.

What the program funds

This program provides funding to state and tribal courts to improve the quality of court processes and legal representation. The program provides courts flexibility to design assessments which identify barriers to timely and effective decision-making, highlight practices which are not fully successful, examine areas they find to be in need of correction or added attention, and then implement reforms which address specific needs. State courts are required to collaborate with the state child welfare agency and tribes in this work. The program also provides funding for tribal court recipients through discretionary awards.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

The highest state courts in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible to apply for funding. The term "highest state court" means the judicial tribunal which is the ultimate court of appeals in the state. Tribal courts of federally recognized Tribes may apply for awards.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Awards under the Court Improvement Program may be used for assessment and improvement activities, broadly defined, of the child welfare functions of a court system to promote continuous quality improvement with respect to: due process; timeliness and quality of court hearings; quality legal representation; engagement of the entire family in court processes; improved case tracking and analysis of child welfare cases; data collection, analysis and sharing; and training of legal and judicial personnel in child welfare cases, including cross-training with child welfare agency staff and contractors, and continuity of operations.

Matching requirements

Statutory Formula: Title IV, Part B, Subpart 2 Section 438(d),Public Law Social Security Act.42 U.S.C. 629hEach state court with an approved application is allotted $255,000. In addition to this base amount, the remainder of the amount appropriated for all state courts will be divided among those courts with approved applications according to each state's proportionate share of children under the age of 21. If any state courts do not apply for their share of these funds, the unclaimed amount will be reallocated each year to all other state courts with approved applications. Non-federal share (or match) is required at the rate of 25 percent of the total budget. There is no match requirement for the Tribal Court Improvement Program.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Formula Awards: Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines. Discretionary Awards: See the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for deadline information.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

FY 2024: Mandatory (state) awards ranged from $258,661 to $2,095,406 with an average of $553,193. FY 2024: Discretionary tribal grant awards ranged from $80,505 to $150,000 with an average of $117,875.00. FY 2025: Mandatory (state) awards ranged from $ $260,627 to $ $2,120,210 with an average of $ $549,841. FY 2025: Discretionary tribal grant awards ranged from $80,505 to $150,000 with an average of $117,875.00.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

State and local governments received 97% of the money, tribes 2.4% and nonprofits 0.4%.

By state

48 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.