Countering Violent Extremism Grant Program

Beginning in 2016, the former DHS Office of Community Partnerships and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) managed the Countering Violent Extremism Grant Program (CVEGP) to fulfill a congressional mandate to help states and local communities prepare for, prevent, and respond to emergent threats from violent extremism.  The CVEGP Privacy Impact Assessment  (PIA) discussed the privacy risks of the first iteration of this grant program. The PIA noted that the DHS Privacy Office (PRIV) would initiate a Privacy Compliance Review  (PCR) to provide recommendations for improving the privacy protections inherent in deploying a security review process as part of the grant application process. While the CVEGP was not renewed from its initial 2016 funding, the findings reflected in this report serve as lessons learned that the Office of Terrorism Prevention Partnerships and the Office for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention should carefully consider for any future CVEGP iterations, if applicable.  Further, the FEMA Grant Programs Directorate, as the administrator and manager of DHS grants, should fully implement PRIV recommendations to improve privacy protections for any future grant program that includes a security review. May 2019