U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE - OJP GRANTS 2009

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e.,.., .. Department of Jnstice Office of Justice Programs Office for Civil Rights Washing/on,D.C 20531 September 16,2009 Mr. David Ream City of Santa Ana 60 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701-4060 Dear Mr. Ream: Congratulations on your recent award. In establishing financial assistance programs, Congress linked the receipt of Federal funding to compliance with Federal civil rights laws. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office of Justice Programs (OlP), C.S. Department of Justice is responsible fOf ensuring that recipients of financial aid from OlP, its component offices and bureaus, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) comply with applicable Federal civil rights statutes and regulations. We at OCR are available to help you and your organization meet the civil rights requirements that come with Justice Department funding. Ensuring Access to Federally Assisted Programs As you know, Federal laws prohibit recipients of financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability in funded programs or activities, not only in respect to employment practices but also in the delivery of services or benefits. Federal law also prohibits funded programs or activities from discriminating on the basis of age in the delivery of services or benefits. Providing Services to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Individuals In accordance with Department of Justice Guidance pertaining to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 9 2000d, recipients of Federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs and activities for persons with limited English proficiency (LEP). For more infonnation on the civil rights responsibilities that recipients have in providing language services to LEP individuals, please see the website at http://www.lep.gov. Ensuring Equal Treatment for Faith-Based Organizations The Department of Justice has published a regulation specifically pertaining to the funding of faith-based organizations. In general, the regulation, Participation in Justice Department Programs by Religious Organizations; Providing for Equal Treatment of all Justice Department Program Participants, and known as the Equal Treatment Regulation 28 C.F .R. part 38, requires State Administering Agencies to treat these organizations the same as any other applicant or recipient. The regulation prohibits State Administering Agencies from making award or grant administration decisions on the basis of an organization's religious character or affiliation, religious name, or the religious composition of its board of directors. The regulation also prohibits faith-based organizations from using financial assistance from the Department of Justice tD fund inherently religious activities. While faith-based organizations can engage in nDn-funded inherently religiDus activities, they must be held separately from the Department Df Justice funded program, and customers {If beneficiaries cannDt be compelled to participate in them. The Equal Treatment Regulation alsD makes clear that Drganizations participating in programs funded by the Department of Justice are not pennitted tD discriminate in the pwvision Df services on the basis Df a beneficiary's religiDn. For more information on the regulation, please see OCR's website at http;//www.Djp.usdoj.gov/ocr/ettbo.htm. State Administering Agencies and faith-based organizations should also note that the Safe Streets Act, as amended; the Victims of Crime Act, as amended; and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, as amended, contain prDhibitions against discrimination Dn the basis of religion in employment. Despite these nondiscriminatiDn prDvisions, the Justice Department has concluded that the Religious Freedom RestoratiDn Act (RFRA) is reasonably construed, Dn a case-by-case basis, to require that its funding agencies pennit faith-based organizations applying fDr funding under the applicable program statutes bDth to receive DOl funds and tD cDntinue considering religion when hiring staff, even if the statute that authDrizes the funding program generally forbids considering of religion in employment decisions by grantees. Questions about the regulatiDn or the applicatiDn ofRFRA to the statutes that prohibit discrimination in employment may be directed to this Office.