Vermont Department Of Public Safety

Vermont Department of Public Safety operates as a recipient of federal grants across emergency management, law enforcement, forensic science, and public safety programs, with nearly all recent awards (97%) as prime recipient grants rather than subrecipient awards. The department is headquartered in Waterbury, Vermont and serves as the state's principal pass-through entity for federal emergency preparedness and homeland security funding distributed to local governments, municipalities, and eligible organizations throughout the state.

The department's grant footprint is dominated by FEMA funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters Financial Assistance Awards office accounts for 130 of 468 total awards in the source data, followed by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with 86 awards and the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and Office of Justice Programs accounting for 84 awards combined. Together, these four customer agencies represent 76 percent of the award count, although FEMA awards constitute the vast majority of the department's transactional volume and pass-through distribution obligations.

Concrete recent capability work centers on disaster mitigation, emergency management, and law enforcement capacity building. Vermont Department of Public Safety received a $5.516 million Emergency Management Performance Grant (CFDA 97.042) from FEMA effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, supporting all-hazards emergency preparedness through planning, training, exercises, personnel support, equipment procurement, and administrative costs distributed to county governments and municipalities. The department also holds a $1.936 million State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program award (CFDA 97.137) effective September 1, 2025, through August 29, 2029, with a requirement to distribute a minimum of 80 percent of federal funds to local governments and sub-recipients for localized cybersecurity projects. For law enforcement, Vermont Department of Public Safety received a $2.58 million Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force Program grant (CFDA 16.073) effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028, funding statewide investigative operations targeting illicit opioid distribution. The Vermont Forensic Laboratory, operated under the department, received a $600 thousand Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant (CFDA 16.036) from the Bureau of Justice Assistance effective October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2026, to process forensic cases and DNA database samples for entry into CODIS. The department also serves as the administrator for the $990.839 thousand Boating Safety Financial Assistance award (CFDA 97.012) from the Coast Guard effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028, supporting the State Recreational Boating Safety Program through sub-awards to the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Activity has remained relatively steady, with 33 awards in 2022 declining modestly to 7 awards in 2026 year-to-date. Thirty-six awards face ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure. The department's combined potential value across all 468 awards totals $737 thousand in announced ceiling amounts, but obligated dollars across all awards reach $7.34 billion, reflecting the department's role as a large-scale pass-through and administrator of federal disaster and emergency management funding. The substantial gap between potential value and obligated dollars reflects the nature of formula-based and reimbursement grants where FEMA and DOJ grantor agencies fund actual expenditures by the state and sub-recipients rather than capping awards at announced ceiling amounts.