Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (Coverdell) Program
ABOUT COVERDELL
The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (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, including services provided by laboratories operated by states and units of local government. Offering both a Competitive Program and a Formula-based Program, recipients of Coverdell funds must use the grant for one or more of these six purposes:
- To carry out all or a substantial part of a program intended to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiner/coroner services in the state, including those services provided by laboratories operated by the state and those operated by units of local government within the state.
- To eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence, including, among other things, a backlog with respect to firearms examination, latent prints, toxicology, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence.
- To train, assist, and employ forensic laboratory personnel, as needed, to eliminate such a backlog.
- To 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).
- To educate and train forensic pathologists.
- To fund medicolegal death investigation systems to facilitate the accreditation of medical examiner and coroner offices and the certification of medicolegal death investigators.
To learn more about the Coverdell Program and potential funding opportunities,
please visit Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (Coverdell) Program.
The Coverdell Program assists forensic science laboratories and medical examiner/coroner’s offices to improve their services that are often crucial to the outcome of criminal cases. This program provides flexibility in funding a wide-ranging set of activities performed by approximately 400 publicly funded forensic laboratories in the United States and its territories.
The Coverdell Program supports forensic scientists to receive needed training to comply with certification requirements, as well as for forensic science service provider facilities to obtain and retain accreditation. It provides support to smaller jurisdictions to acquire current technology that they otherwise could not afford and to larger jurisdictions to meet continually growing demands. It supports laboratories in modernizing and maintaining needed analytical equipment and instrumentation. Moreover, the Coverdell Program provides laboratories and medical examiners/coroners with resources to battle the escalating opioid and synthetic drug epidemic.
Key Performance Metrics
From 2011-2022 Coverdell Program funds were used to:
- Analyze more than 1.5 million backlog cases resulting in more than 300 agencies decreasing their backlog cases
- Support more than 15,000 forensic science personnel and more than 1,900 medical examiner personnel to attend training and improve their timeliness between sample submission to a forensic laboratory and delivery of test results to a requesting office/agency
- Enable more than 10 agencies to receive initial accreditation and more than 170 agencies/organizations to maintain accreditation between 2017-2020
GRANTEES
LIST OF GRANTEES
| GRANTEE NAME | STATE |
|---|---|
| ALASKA DEPT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | AK |
| ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS | AL |
| CITY OF TUSCALOOSA | AL |
| ARKANSAS CRIME LABORATORY | AR |
| ARIZONA CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION | AZ |
| CITY OF PHOENIX | AZ |
| PIMA COUNTY | AZ |
| COUNTY OF ALAMEDA | CA |
| COUNTY OF VENTURA | CA |
| CITY OF LOS ANGELES | CA |
| COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES | CA |
| OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES | CA |
| CITY OF AURORA | CO |
| COLORADO SPRINGS CITY GOVERNMENT | CO |
| COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | CO |
| DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY SERVICES AND PUBLIC PROTECTION | CT |
| DC OFFICE OF VICTIM SERVICES | DC |
| EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE | DE |
| COUNTY OF BROWARD | FL |
| CITY OF CAPE CORAL | FL |
| FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT | FL |
| COUNTY OF PINELLAS | FL |
| COUNTY OF SARASOTA | FL |
| COUNTY OF SEMINOLE | FL |
| GEORGIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL | GA |
| COUNTY OF OCONEE | GA |
| GOVERNMENT OF GUAM- DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION | GU |
| HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL | HI |
| COUNTY OF ADA | ID |
| IDAHO STATE POLICE | ID |
| COUNTY OF COOK | IL |
| ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AUTHORITY | IL |
| JUDICIARY COURTS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA | IN |
| EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE STATE OF IOWA | IA |
| COUNTY OF SEDGWICK | KS |
| EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE STATE OF KANSAS | KS |
| COUNTY OF JOHNSON | KS |
| JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY CABINET OF KENTUCKY | KY |
| STATE OF LOUISIANA | LA |
| MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE | MA |
| CITY OF WORCESTER | MA |
| EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND | MD |
| MAINE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | ME |
| MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE | MI |
| MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | MN |
| COUNTY OF GREENE | MO |
| MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | MO |
| COUNTY OF ST LOUIS | MO |
| MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | MS |
| MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS | MT |
| CITY OF CHARLOTTE | NC |
| CITY OF DURHAM | NC |
| COUNTY OF GUILFORD | NC |
| NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | NC |
| COUNTY OF WAKE | NC |
| NORTH DAKOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL | ND |
| DOUGLAS COUNTY NEBRASKA | NE |
| NEBRASKA STATE PATROL | NE |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE | NH |
| NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY | NJ |
| COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX | NJ |
| NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | NM |
| COUNTY OF CLARK | NV |
| CITY OF HENDERSON | NV |
| LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT | NV |
| NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | NV |
| COUNTY OF ERIE | NY |
| CITY OF NEW YORK | NY |
| COUNTY OF NIAGARA | NY |
| NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES | NY |
| COUNTY OF HAMILTON | OH |
| COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA | OH |
| COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY | OH |
| OHIO OFFICE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES | OH |
| OKLAHOMA ATTORNEY GENERAL | OK |
| OREGON DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE | OR |
| COUNTY OF WASHINGTON | OR |
| COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY | PA |
| PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSION ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY | PA |
| CITY OF PHILADELPHIA | PA |
| INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS FORENSES | PR |
| RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | RI |
| CITY OF CHARLESTON | SC |
| COUNTY OF CHARLESTON | SC |
| COUNTY OF RICHLAND | SC |
| SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | SC |
| COUNTY OF YORK | SC |
| ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE OF SOUTH DAKOTA | SD |
| TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION | TN |
| METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE & DAVIDSON COUNTY | TN |
| COUNTY OF RUTHERFORD | TN |
| COUNTY OF DALLAS | TX |
| TEXAS OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR | TX |
| UTAH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | UT |
| VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES | VA |
| GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS | VI |
| VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY | VT |
| COUNTY OF SPOKANE | WA |
| COUNTY OF KITTITAS | WA |
| COUNTY OF SKAGIT | WA |
| WASHINGTON STATE PATROL | WA |
| WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE | WI |
| WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC SAFETY | WV |
| ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WYOMING | WY |
| LARAMIE COUNTY, WYOMING | WY |
RESOURCES
Publications
In conducting this needs assessment, the Department identified the importance of strengthening these types of efforts through the increased use and institutionalization of systems-based approaches. Further, this needs assessment compiles demonstrative evidence of how the field adapts to advancements in technology, changes in the volume and types of forensic evidence...
The National Science and Technology Council’s Fast-Track Action Committee on Strengthening the Medicolegal-Death-Investigation System (FTAC-SMDIS) was chartered in July 2015 to make strategic policy recommendations at the Federal level on how to address issues related to accessing and working with data generated by ME/C offices. The recommendations outlined in this...
This document was developed by the Fast-Track Action Committee on Strengthening the Medicolegal-Death-Investigation System. The document was published by OSTP. (Description taken directly from document)
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Multi-Media
ASCLD Train the Directors Series Webinar: Webinar is about case management which can enhance efficiency and reduce backlogs.
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ASCLD Train the Directors Series: This presentation discusses advances and the logistics of transitioning from the legacy workflows of multiple serial analyses to parallel LC/MS/MS and QTOF methods. Key points include budgeting, procurement of equipment, available grant funding, validation, data systems integrations, and methods to transition to new technology.
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The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989—cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence.
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Protocols
The purpose of this interim policy is to promote the reasoned exercise of investigative, scientific, and prosecutorial discretion in cases that involve forensic genetic genealogical DNA analysis and searching (‘FGGS’). (Description taken directly from the policy document)
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Research
Research coming soon.
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HIGHLIGHTS AND EVENTS
The Idaho State Police Forensic Services is using Coverdell funding to ramp up a statewide Question Documents Program. This Program will also service laboratories throughout the country to help address the decreasing availability of Question Documents examination. The Idaho State Police Forensic Service also employed a Coverdell–funded employee to conduct...
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Upcoming Events
No upcoming events.
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Past Events
On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance (Forensics TTA) Team, led by RTI International, is hosting the 1st Annual BJA Forensics Programs Grantees Meeting, scheduled for October 2-3, 2023!
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