NORTH JERSEY NON-PROFITS GET HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS

By Harvey Lipman/The Record
October 14, 2011

Eleven non-profits in Bergen and Passaic counties received federal grants of as much as $75,000 each to be used to improve security at their properties, the Christie administration announced Thursday.

Most of the 27 organizations statewide that got Department of Homeland Security funds are synagogues, yeshivas and other Jewish groups.

Several hospitals also are sharing in the more than $1.8 million allotted across New Jersey.

The grants must be used for “target-hardening” activities according to federal regulations. Those include the purchase and installation of security equipment and security-related training programs for organization workers.

Several of the hospitals received grants because they’re part of the emergency response systems that would be charged with helping respond to a terrorist attack. The Jewish groups are classified as maintaining sites “with symbolic value” that make them “attractive targets.”

Overall, the government gave out nearly $19 million in grants this year to organizations located in what it has designated as 31 “high risk” urban areas. This year’s grants total $400,000 more than Homeland Security gave to non-profits in New Jersey last year.

Determining which groups receive the funds is a joint state and federal process.

“The organizations submit the grant applications to us,” said Dominic Rota, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. “We review them, score them and send them to the Department of Homeland Security.”