Federal Grant Award Summary

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $7.2 million to the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute under the State and Local Homeland Security National Training Program (CFDA 97.005) Continuing Training Grants on September 20, 2025. This three-year Project Grant (concluding September 19, 2028) supports the development and delivery of specialized training programs designed to enhance the preparedness and response capabilities of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) emergency responders and personnel. The funding enables the Criminal Justice Institute to design, develop, and deliver comprehensive training curricula, exercises, technical assistance, and educational resources across critical homeland security and emergency preparedness domains.

The Criminal Justice Institute executes this award in collaboration with a network of sub-awardees including Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), University of Memphis, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Norwich University Applied Research Institutes. Training delivery encompasses both classroom and web-based instruction, with focus areas including cybersecurity preparedness, supply chain security, incident response, unmanned aircraft systems, emergency preparedness, and counterterrorism. The program extends technical outreach and training resources to underserved rural and tribal jurisdictions, training thousands of emergency management and homeland security personnel nationally in critical capabilities such as vulnerability assessment, zero trust implementation, and cyber incident management.