BJA FY25 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP)

The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program is administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance within the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. The program is a statutorily mandated federal initiative designed to reimburse eligible government entities for certain correctional costs incurred from the incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens. The Department of Justice uses this program to support public safety objectives, reinforce the rule of law, and provide financial relief to jurisdictions that bear the fiscal burden of housing qualifying individuals. The program operates under federal statutory authority and aligns with broader DOJ efforts to combat crime, support law enforcement, and maintain correctional systems. The purpose of the program is to provide payments to states and units of local government that incurred eligible correctional expenses during a defined reporting period. For this cycle, the reporting period spans from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Funding is not awarded based on a competitive narrative proposal but rather through a formula process that relies on detailed data submitted by applicants. Payments are calculated based on eligible inmate data, correctional officer salary expenditures, and total inmate days, along with verification conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. Funds received through this program must be used strictly for correctional purposes. Allowable uses include salaries and wages of correctional facility staff, facility maintenance, utilities, administrative support tied to correctional operations, and payments to contract correctional facilities. The program explicitly prohibits the use of funds for activities that violate federal immigration law or civil rights statutes, and it restricts the use of funds for certain legal services related to immigration enforcement. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement associated with this program. Eligibility is limited to governmental entities, specifically state governments and units of local government such as counties, cities, and townships. Applicants must demonstrate that they incarcerated qualifying individuals under their legal authority for at least four consecutive days during the reporting period. Only one application per eligible government entity is permitted, and applications must be submitted by an authorized government official with legal authority to act on behalf of the jurisdiction’s chief executive. The application process involves a two-step submission through Grants.gov and JustGrants. Applicants must first submit a standard federal assistance form, followed by a full application that includes detailed inmate records, correctional staffing data, and financial information. A key component of the application is the submission of inmate records in a specific ASCII file format, along with supporting documentation on correctional officer salaries and facility capacity metrics. All submissions are subject to verification, and data accuracy is critical as it directly affects payment calculations. Applications for this funding cycle opened on May 12, 2026. The Grants.gov submission deadline occurred on June 23, 2026, followed by a JustGrants deadline on June 30, 2026, with an extended closing date of July 14, 2026. Award determinations are made after data review and verification, and payments are issued through the JustGrants system. Recipients must accept awards within a specified timeframe and maintain records for at least three years to demonstrate proper use of funds. The period of performance is twelve months. The program operates on an annual cycle tied to federal appropriations and statutory requirements. Payments are determined after review by both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, which verifies inmate eligibility. This structured, data-driven approach ensures that funding allocations reflect actual correctional costs incurred by eligible jurisdictions, making the program a recurring federal funding mechanism for supporting correctional systems across the United States.

Ensure strict adherence to data formatting requirements especially for inmate records; verify accuracy of all correctional cost data; submit early to allow time for validation errors resolution