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Coverdell Program
16.742
Goal(s): The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program (the Coverdell Program) awards grants to states and units of local government to help improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services. (Proposed, from BJA website) Objective(s): The objectives of the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Program are to: 1. Carry out all or a substantial part of a program intended to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiner/coroner’s office services, including those services provided by laboratories operated by the State and those operated by units of local government within the state; 2. Eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence, including, among other things, a backlog with respect to firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence; 3. Train, assist, and employ forensic laboratory personnel and medicolegal death investigators, as needed to eliminate such a backlog; 4. Address emerging forensic science issues (such as statistics, contextual bias, and uncertainty of measurement) and emerging forensic science technology (such as high throughput automation, statistical software, and new types of instrumentation); 5. Educate and train forensic pathologists; and 6. Fund medicolegal death investigation systems to facilitate accreditation of medical examiner and coroner offices and certification of medicolegal death investigators. Performance Measure 1: Number of backlogged cases analyzed with Coverdell funds; and, Performance Measure 2: Number of forensics and medical examiner personnel trained.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement (Coverdell) Program has substantially contributed to the increase of quality and timeliness of forensic science in state and local forensic laboratories and medical examiner/coroner’s offices. Coverdell funding has been utilized to: provide training and certification(s) to forensic practitioners across the many forensic science disciplines including firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence; increase the availability of overtime for analysts; hire additional analysts to reduce evidence backlogs; purchase and/or upgrade laboratory instruments and equipment to increase throughput, decrease turn-around time, replace outdated and/or inoperable equipment and instruments; and assist laboratories to achieve accreditation thereby increasing the level of quality of the forensic science services..
The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement (Coverdell) Program has substantially contributed to the increase of quality and timeliness of forensic science in state and local forensic laboratories and medical examiner/coroner’s offices. Coverdell funding has been utilized to: provide training and certification(s) to forensic practitioners across the many forensic science disciplines including firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence; increase the availability of overtime for analysts; hire additional analysts to reduce evidence backlogs; purchase and/or upgrade laboratory instruments and equipment to increase throughput, decrease turn-around time, replace outdated and/or inoperable equipment and instruments; and assist laboratories to achieve accreditation thereby increasing the level of quality of the forensic science services. Of the applications received, it is expected that there will be 54 awards through the formula program and 25 awards in the competitive program. In FY2017 and FY2018, there were 52 awards made for both years under the formula program, and 10 and 25 awards made under the competitive program for 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement (Coverdell) Program has substantially contributed to the increase of quality and timeliness of forensic science in state and local forensic laboratories and medical examiner/coroner’s offices. Coverdell funding has been utilized to: provide training and certification(s) to forensic practitioners across the many forensic science disciplines including firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence; increase the availability of overtime for analysts; hire additional analysts to reduce evidence backlogs; purchase and/or upgrade laboratory instruments and equipment to increase throughput, decrease turn-around time, replace outdated and/or inoperable equipment and instruments; and assist laboratories to achieve accreditation thereby increasing the level of quality of the forensic science services. In FY2019, it is anticipated that 54 applications will be received for the formula solicitation and 75 applications for the competitive solicitation. Of the applications received, it is expected that there will be 54 awards through the formula program and 25 awards in the competitive program.
BJA’s Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program awarded a total of $26.5 million through the program’s formula ($22.5 million) and competitive ($4 million) solicitations. The awards help states and local governments improve the quality and timeliness of forensic services provided by crime laboratories and medical examiner and coroners’ offices. Funding will go toward eliminating backlogs and employing and training laboratory personnel and death investigators.
Please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/program/coverdell/overview for information.
Please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/doc/fs-coverdell-forensic-science-program.pdf.
Please the following weblinks for programmatic highlights and accomplishments:
Fact Sheet - https://bja.ojp.gov/doc/fs-coverdell-forensic-science-program.pdf; and,
Forensic Training and Technical Assistance Program (Coverdell) - https://www.forensicstta.org/programs/paul-coverdell-forensic-science-improvement-grants-coverdell-program/.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
