Cooperative Agreement 15PJDP25GK01573MECP

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded Arkansas State Police a $435,051 Cooperative Agreement under the Missing Children's Assistance program (CFDA 16.543) effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The award supports the Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force's continued operation and expansion of investigative and digital forensic capabilities to combat technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. Under this cooperative agreement, the task force will sustain and modernize its digital forensic laboratory infrastructure, expand mobile investigative deployment capacity, provide advanced training to law enforcement personnel, analysts, and prosecutors across the state's 40+ affiliate agencies, and enhance secure data storage systems to process increasingly complex digital evidence.

The award specifically enables the Arkansas ICAC Task Force to address emerging threats, including artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material and other evolving technology-based crimes targeting children. Key deliverables include strengthened operational response capabilities, expanded training access for rural and underserved jurisdictions, and improved technological infrastructure to support proactive investigations and case development for prosecutors statewide. This funding allows Arkansas State Police to sustain its multi-agency initiative providing direct forensic processing, specialized training, and coordinated cyber operations support to participating agencies across Arkansas.