"This grant is a continuation of funding for ASG's residential substance abuse treatment program at the Tafuna Correctional Facility," Faleomavaega said.  "With 80% of prisoners nationwide having used drugs before entering prisons, this is an important program to help confined individuals overcome their dependency on drugs."

       "Ten percent of the total grant funding can be used to assist convicts after they have been released, and another ten percent can be used for administrative expenses to assist ASG with program related operations," noted the Congressman.

       Funding for this program is awarded to all the states, eligible territories and the District of Columbia.  The amount of the grant is based on a formula the variables of which are the size of the general population and the size of the prison population.  Because of the method in which the grant amount is calculated, this is not considered a competitive grant.  In American Samoa, the program will be run by the Criminal Justice Planning Agency.