Bureau of Justice Assistance - Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice - Solutions for Safer CommunitiesOJP SealAttorney General Alberto R. GonzalesAssistant Attorney General Regina B. SchofieldBJA Director Domingo S. Herraiz
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State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP)

NEW: FY 2008 SCAAP Awards: The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is pleased to announce that the FY 2008 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) awards are complete. Click the following to view the FY 2008 SCAAP award amounts. BJA will email all 2008 SCAAP jurisdictions when the SCAAP awards are ready for drawdown in the next two weeks.

Overview: BJA administers SCAAP, in conjunction with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security (DHS). SCAAP provides federal payments to states and localities that incurred correctional officer salary costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law, and incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days during the reporting period.

Use of SCAAP Awards: The Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-162, Title XI) included the following requirement regarding the use of SCAAP funds: "Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (5) that are distributed to a State or political subdivision of a State, including a municipality, may be used only for correctional purposes." Beginning with FY 2007 SCAAP awards, SCAAP funds must be used for correctional purposes only.

FY 2007 and 2008 SCAAP Use of Funds List

Salaries for corrections officers
Overtime costs
Corrections work force recruitment and retention
Construction of corrections facilities
Training / education for offenders
Training for corrections officers related to offender population management
Consultants involved with offender population
Medical and mental health services
Vehicle rental / purchase for transport of offenders
Prison Industries
Pre-release / reentry programs
Technology involving offender management / inter agency information sharing
Disaster preparedness continuity of operations for corrections facility

Reporting Period: The reporting period for the FY 2008 application period is July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007. Only qualifying inmates who served four or more days during this period may be included in the FY 2008 SCAAP application.

Eligible Inmates - Applicant Responsibilities: Unless otherwise prohibited, applicants may submit records of inmates in their custody during the reporting period who: were born outside the United States or one of its territories and had no reported or documented claim to U.S. citizenship; were in the applicant's custody for four or more consecutive days during the reporting period; were convicted of a felony or second misdemeanor for violations of state or local law; were identified and reported using due diligence.

Qualifying Criminal Charges and Convictions: To be eligible for reporting, inmates must have been convicted of a felony or second misdemeanor for violations of state or local law, and housed in the applicant's state or local correctional facility for 4 or more consecutive days during the reporting period. Once a person meets these criteria, all pre-trial and post-conviction time served from July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007 may be included in the FY 2008 application.

Qualifying Salary Data: Salary information reported in the SCAAP application must reflect the total salaries and wages paid to full-and part-time correctional officers and others who meet the SCAAP definition (see the FY 2008 SCAAP Guidelines). The reported sum should total the jurisdiction's actual salary expenditures for the applicable reporting period (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007). The reported salary should not be a projection, estimate, or average. Correctional Officer salary costs may include premium pay for specialized services (e.g., bilingual officers), shift differential pay, and fixed-pay increases for time in service. Salary costs may also include overtime required by negotiated contract, statute, or regulation (e.g., union agreements, contractual obligations, minimum staffing requirements, etc.).

Chief Executive Officer: SCAAP payments must go directly to eligible states and localities. Authorized jurisdiction employees for SCAAP purposes must be listed as either the Authorized Representative or Alternate Contact in the GMS User Profile. The chief executive officer (CEO) of an eligible jurisdiction may apply directly or delegate authority to another jurisdiction official. The CEO is generally considered the highest ranking elected or appointed official of a unit of government. An application without the CEO information included will be significantly delayed.

Legislation: SCAAP is governed by Section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. ยง 1231(i), as amended, and Title II, Subtitle C, Section 20301, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322.

Funding: SCAAP payments will be calculated using a formula that provides a relative share of funding to jurisdictions that apply and is based on the number of eligible criminal aliens, as determined by DHS.

Payments: SCAAP payments are calculated simultaneously, with applicants receiving a prorated payment based on the appropriation; costs submitted, and inmates as determined by DHS. All SCAAP payments are made electronically to the applicant's bank account of record identified during the application process. All SCAAP payments must go to the jurisdiction's general fund. Please use the jurisdiction's EIN (tax identification) and vendor number when applying for SCAAP funds.

How/When to Apply: FY 2008 applications are being accepted in the OJP Grants Management System (GMS) from March 28, 2008 through May 2, 2008.

BJA would like to remind FY 2008 SCAAP applicants of updates in the Guidelines, including that SCAAP funds may be used for "correctional purposes only," with information regarding the proposed use collected during the award acceptance process and that SCAAP information from jurisdiction inmate data may be shared with other federal government agencies.

2008 SCAAP Data:
FY 2008 SCAAP Guidelines (PDF)
FY 2008 ICE Country Codes (PDF)
FY 2008 Inmate Data File Format (PDF)

Direct Phone Support:
Technical assistance is available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time, via the SCAAP Helpdesk at 1-202-353-4411.

For assistance with the GMS login, call 1-888-549-9901 Option 3.

E-Mail Inquiries:
Program and Policy Issues: SCAAP Inquiries: scaap@usdoj.gov
GMS Login Issues: GMS Helpdesk: gmshelp@ojp.usdoj.gov
Banking Issues: OC Customer Service Center: AskOC@ojp.usdoj.gov

Related Information:
FY 2007 SCAAP Funds
SCAAP Archive Information