Tribal Court Improvement Program

This FOA is modified. A change was made to Section IV.3 to make the application due date 4/22/2015 to take account of scheduled maintenance on the Grants.gov site. The Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau announces the availability of awards to provide tribes and tribal consortia the opportunity to compete for grants to enable tribal courts to: (1) Conduct assessments of how tribal courts handle child welfare proceedings and to make improvements to court processes; (2) Implement improvements to provide for the safety, permanency and well-being of children as set forth in the...

According to section 438(c)(3)(A)(iv) of the Social Security Act (Act) (42 U.S.C. § 629h(c)(3)(A)(iv)), grants are to be awarded on a competitive basis among the highest courts of Indian tribes or tribal consortia that: (1) are operating an approved title IV-E program in accordance with section 479B of the Act (42 U.S.C. § 679c); (2) plan to operate a title IV-E program and have received a Tribal Title IV-E Plan Development Grant, as authorized by section 476 of the Act (42 U.S.C. § 676); or (3) have a court responsible for proceedings related to foster care or adoption. Tribal governments that were awarded TCIP grants in FY 2012 are eligible to compete for funding under this announcement. Please note that the definition of Indian tribe and tribal organization are in section 428(c) of the Social Security Act and refer to subsections (e) and (l) of section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b), respectively. That is: (e) ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688) [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. (l) ‘‘tribal organization’’ means the recognized governing body of any Indian tribe; any legally established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities: Provided, That in any case where a contract is let or grant made to an organization to perform services benefiting more than one Indian tribe, the approval of each such Indian tribe shall be a prerequisite to the letting or making of such contract or grant. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

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