DHS Awards Colorado $19.2 Million

June 16, 2009 -- The United States Department of Homeland Security today announced this year's Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) awards and that the State of Colorado will be receiving approximately $19.2 million, which will be administered by the Governor's Office of Homeland Security.

More than 80 percent of the funds awarded will go to counties and local jurisdictions throughout Colorado to support local first responders and homeland security initiatives. The funded projects will improve the state's preparedness for a man-made or natural disaster.

Funded projects will include community preparedness initiatives, detection and protection from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), interoperable communications capabilities, Colorado First Responder Authentication Credentialing systems, law enforcement crime data and counter-terrorism tools, planning activities, medical surge capabilities, exercise and training initiatives, and first responder equipment.

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security, under the direction of Mason Whitney, guided the process over the course of the past six months using risk based funding formulas and a competitive scoring process that judged the quality of the projects submitted. Almost $22 million worth of projects were submitted by state agencies and regional authorities in February 2009. Those projects will be scored by a multi-jurisdictional State Grant Review Committee in July 2009. The resulting recommendations for awards will be approved by the Governor's Homeland Security All Hazards Senior Advisory Committee and by the Governor in August 2009. The awards to the local communities and state agencies will be made no later than September 2009.

The 2009 HSGP dollar amounts for Colorado are:

* Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) total: $19,199,855
o State Homeland Security Program (SHSP): $10,925,000
o Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI): $7,053,050
o Metropolitan Medical Resource System (MMRS): $963,663
o Citizens Corp Program (CCP): $248,204

Source: Colorado Governor