§12251 — Title 34 Navy | U.S. Code

§12251 Authority to make grants

Title 34 › Subtitle Subtitle I— - Comprehensive Acts › Chapter CHAPTER 121— - VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - CRIME PREVENTION › Part Part G— - Family Unity Demonstration Project › Subpart subpart 1— - grants to states › § 12251

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Attorney General can give competitive grants to states to run family unity demonstration projects that let eligible offenders live in community correctional facilities with their children. The Attorney General will favor states that promise in their application that, if they get a grant, they will involve both the state corrections agency and the state health and human services agency in planning and running the project; set up local advisory boards made up of community members; try to place prisoners in facilities closest to their family homes; start the project within 180 days of getting the grant and spend the grant within 1 year (unless a longer time is allowed); have a plan to keep the facility running after the grant ends; follow a selection process that includes giving prisoners written notice within 30 days after the state gets the grant or within 30 days after a prisoner is sentenced to up to 7 years (whichever is later), accepting applications while the project runs if the prisoner has more than 180 days left to serve, reviewing applications in the order received, and approving or denying them within 50 days; and allow state courts to sentence eligible offenders directly to a community correctional facility when the court would otherwise send them to prison. Grants are awarded competitively under rules the Attorney General makes and with these preferences in mind.

Title 34, §12251

Navy — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Attorney General may make grants, on a competitive basis, to States to carry out in accordance with this part family unity demonstration projects that enable eligible offenders to live in community correctional facilities with their children.

(b)For the purpose of making grants under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall give preference to a State that includes in the application required by section 12252 of this title assurances that if the State receives a grant—

(1)both the State corrections agency and the State health and human services agency will participate substantially in, and cooperate closely in all aspects of, the development and operation of the family unity demonstration project for which such a grant is requested;

(2)boards made up of community members, including residents, local businesses, corrections officials, former prisoners, child development professionals, educators, and maternal and child health professionals will be established to advise the State regarding the operation of such project;

(3)the State has in effect a policy that provides for the placement of all prisoners, whenever possible, in correctional facilities for which they qualify that are located closest to their respective family homes;

(4)unless the Attorney General determines that a longer timeline is appropriate in a particular case, the State will implement the project not later than 180 days after receiving a grant under subsection (a) and will expend all of the grant during a 1-year period;

(5)the State has the capacity to continue implementing a community correctional facility beyond the funding period to ensure the continuity of the work;

(6)unless the Attorney General determines that a different process for selecting participants in a project is desirable, the State will—

(A)give written notice to a prisoner, not later than 30 days after the State first receives a grant under subsection (a) or 30 days after the prisoner is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 7 years (whichever is later), of the proposed or current operation of the project;

(B)accept at any time at which the project is in operation an application by a prisoner to participate in the project if, at the time of application, the remainder of the prisoner’s sentence exceeds 180 days;

(C)review applications by prisoners in the sequence in which the State receives such applications; and

(D)not more than 50 days after reviewing such applications approve or disapprove the application; and

(7)for the purposes of selecting eligible offenders to participate in such project, the State has authorized State courts to sentence an eligible offender directly to a community correctional facility, provided that the court gives assurances that the offender would have otherwise served a term of imprisonment.

(c)The Attorney General shall make grants under subsection (a) on a competitive basis, based on such criteria as the Attorney General shall issue by rule and taking into account the preferences described in subsection (b).

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 13891 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

§12251 Authority to make grants

Summary

Title 34, §12251

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Editorial Notes

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