Civil Rights

All subrecipients who receive funding from the New Hampshire Department of Justice must, at least once per grant cycle, view the Civil Rights Training Videos.

The following section will provide a summary of the significant federal non-discrimination requirements that must be met in order to receive federal funds through the NH Department of Justice.

• Have in place a process for accepting discrimination based complaints from employees and the public and forwarding them to the NH Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights.
  • Develop a written policy that addresses:
    • how members of the public may file a complaint;
    • how the agency investigates that complaint;
    • how the agency ensures impartiality while investigating the complaint;
    • who is responsible for making findings;
    • what the legal standards and timetables are for issuing findings;
    • what duty the agency has to keep the complainant informed at each stage of the complaint process; and
    • what the agencies obligations are when the complaint investigation shows that remedial actions are warranted.
  • Designate an individual responsible for the collection, coordination and forwarding of civil rights complaints to the NH DOJ and the US DOJ Office for Civil Rights.
  • Report to the NH DOJ and the US DOJ OCR on any instances where a Federal or State Court or State Administrative Agency has issued a finding of discrimination against the subgrantee after a due process hearing on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • Violence Against Women Act of 1994, as amended
    • Subgrantees receiving funds under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994, as amended, must abide by the following:
    • No person in the United States shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity (as defined in paragraph 249(c)(4) of title 18), sexual orientation, or disability be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and any other program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds appropriated for grants, cooperative agreements and other assistance administered by the Office on Violence Against Women.
    • If sex segregation or sex-specific programming is necessary to the essential operation of a program, nothing in this paragraph shall prevent any such program or activity from consideration of an individual’s sex. In such circumstances, grantees may meet the requirements of this paragraph by providing comparable services to individuals who cannot be provided with the sex-segregated or sex-specific programming.

• If services are provided by this program are they:
  • Available to those with limited English proficiency?
  • Is there a mechanism for obtaining language assistance services?
  • Do agency personnel know how to access it?
  • Are written policies in place?
  • Is there information posted in your facility that will help non-English speaking persons access language assistance services in order to obtain your services?
• If an agency that receives grant funds through this office provides services to the public, it must satisfy the previous requirements.
  • This may include:
    • Dedicated telephone language assistance services;
    • Partnerships with qualified local individuals fluent in specific languages, including sign language;
    • Posters and language assistance cards explaining how to obtain language assistance services from the federally funded program;
    • Additional resources may be found on the Limited English Proficiency website.

• All non-exempt subgrantees receiving federal financial assistance of $25,000 or more shall:
  • Designate at least one person to coordinate compliance with this section;
  • EEOP and certification are to be prepared and submitted through OCR's EEO Reporting Tool.
  • Adopt a grievance procedure that incorporates due process standards and provides for prompt and equitable resolutions of complaints from applicants for employment;
  • Notify participants, beneficiaries, applicants, employees and unions or professional organizations holding collective bargaining or professional agreements with the recipient that it does not discriminate on the basis of handicap.
    • The notification shall state that the recipient does not discriminate in its programs or activities with respect to access, treatment or employment.
    • The recipient shall make notification through the posting of notices, publication in newspapers and magazines, placement of notices in recipients' publications, distribution of memoranda and other written communications.
    • Recruitment materials or publications containing general information that a recipient makes available to participants, beneficiaries, applicants, or employees shall include a policy statement of nondiscrimination on the basis of handicap.
• This section addresses the implementation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

• Educational institutions that receive federal funding are prohibited from discrimination on the basis of sex in admission and recruitment and in programs and activities.
• Educational institutions shall designate an employee responsible for the coordination of its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under this section, to include:
  • Investigation of any complaint communicated to such recipient alleging its noncompliance with these regulations
  • The recipient shall notify all its students and employees of the name, office address and telephone number of the employee so designated to coordinate these efforts
  • The recipient shall adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of student and employee complaints
  • Notification may be effected through the use of:
    • newspapers and magazines operated by the recipient;
    • student, alumnae or alumni groups;
    • memoranda or other written communication, distributed to every student and employee.
• The requirements of this section do not apply to:
  • Educational institutions or other entities that are controlled by a religious organization;
  • The military or merchant marine;
  • Social fraternities, sororities, the YMCA, YWCA, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls;
  • Other exemptions as outlined in 28 CFR part 54.

Religious organizations are eligible, on the same basis as any other organization, to participate in any federal funding program for which they are otherwise eligible.

Organizations that receive federal financial assistance may not engage in inherently religious activities such as worship, religious instruction or proselytization as part of the program or services funded.

If inherently religious services are conducted, those activities must be conducted separately and participated in voluntarily.

The facility need not clear the program space of religious art, icons, scriptures or other religious symbols when conducting the federally funded program or service.

Religious organizations that receive federal funding for programs or services retain their internal governance, may retain religious terms in their organization, may select board members on religious basis and may include religious references in their organizations' mission statements and other governing documents.

Religious organizations providing federal funded programs and services may not discriminate based on religion or religious belief in the provision of those services to clients, potential clients or beneficiaries.

If the client or beneficiary objects to the religious character of the federally funded program, the client may request an alternative provider for the service. The funded organization providing the service must provide a timely referral to another provider and must inform NH DOJ of the request and referral.

The purpose of an Equal Employment Opportunity Plan (EEOP) is to insure full and equal participation of men and women regardless of race or national origin in the workforce of the recipient agency. A recipient agency is defined as any State or local unit of government or agency thereof, and any private entity, institution, or organization, to which Office of Justice Programs (OJP) financial assistance is extended directly or through such government or private entity. Recipient agencies that meet all of the following criteria are required to maintain an EEOP on file for review by OJP, if requested (see 28 C.F.R. §42.301 et seq.)

Under 28 C.F.R. §42.301 et seq., certain recipients of grants or subgrants from OJP, OVW and the COPS Office are required to prepare Equal Employment Opportunity Plans (EEOPs). The purpose of an EEOP is to ensure full and equal participation of men and women regardless of race or national origin in the workforce of the recipient agency. An EEOP is a comprehensive document that analyzes the agency's workforce in comparison to its relevant labor market data and all agency employment practices to determine their impact on the basis of race, sex or national origin.

• provides a statistical profile of the internal workforce by race, sex and national origin;
• identifies problems in employment practices and procedures;
• specifies corrective action;
• forms the basis of ongoing evaluation.

Subrecipients should utilize the EEOP Chart to determine what is required of their agency and the EEO Reporting Tool.

*Note that the EEO Reporting Tool electronically files only to OCR. Please also submit a copy to the New Hampshire Department of Justice by email to your assigned Grant Manager.

NH Department of Justice’s biannual EEOP Utilization reports available upon request.