Fiscal Year 2010 Report on the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program

• NCJ Number: 238140
• Date Published: April 2011
• Length: 3 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Annual/Periodic); Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report presents data and information for fiscal year (FY) 2010 on the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (PCFSIG) Program, which provides funding to States and units of local government in order to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical-examiner services.

Abstract

The PCFSIG Program is managed by the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Applications for competitive funding are reviewed by an independent panel composed of subject-matter experts from the forensic science community. The panelists review and rate the applications individually based on how well each project meets the specific evaluation criteria cited in the solicitation. On April 1, 2010, NIJ released the solicitation for grant applications for the FY 2010 PCFSIG Program. NIJ received 222 applications; 25 States applied for base funding, and 28 States applied for a combination of base and competitive funding. The remaining 169 applications were received from units of local government for competitive funding. Sixteen applications were denied due to various circumstances such as duplicate applications, State entities being ineligible, and applications failing to comply with solicitation criteria. NIJ made 104 awards worth $33,285,684. Congress' increased funding of the program enabled NIJ to increase the minimum base award to States and Territories from $140,397 in FY 2009 to $199,728 in FY 2010 and increased the maximum competitive award to $175,000 compared to $125,000 in FY 2009. This electronic document provides portals to online information on PCFSIG's funding, publications, events, training, multimedia, a NIJ profile, NIJ contact information, and subscriptions for NIJ publications.