DOJ Closes Minnesota Title VI Review After State Ends Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 7, 2026 that it has closed a Title VI compliance review involving Minnesota’s “Capacity Strengthening Initiative” grant program—after Minnesota repealed the state law that authorized the program and the Minnesota Department of Health confirmed it had ended.

DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said the review was opened because it believed the grant program used race, color, and national origin criteria to decide which applicants received funding in a federally assisted program. With the underlying program shut down, DOJ says there is no longer a program left for that compliance review to address.

What DOJ said it closed—and why

In its July 7 press release, DOJ said the Minnesota Department of Health voluntarily resolved the Title VI compliance review after Minnesota repealed the grant program’s enabling statute. DOJ said it opened the review after the program was described as using race, color, and national origin to determine which applicants received funding. Once MDH ended the grant program, DOJ said it closed the review.

DOJ’s announcement is framed as a closure after the program ended, not as a claim about ongoing wrongdoing in a program that no longer exists.

What Minnesota’s “Capacity Strengthening Initiative” grant program did

According to the Minnesota statute that DOJ referenced, the “Capacity Strengthening Initiative” was set up as an annual infrastructure capacity-building grant program. It included provisions such as:

• Setting eligibility rules so organizations had to work with communities described in the statute (including people of color, American Indians, LGBTQIA+ communities, and people with disabilities, in both metro and rural areas).
• Providing “strategic consideration” and priority to proposals from organizations described as led by populations of color (and other priority groups listed in the statute).
• Directing that, to the extent possible, grant funds be prioritized and awarded to organizations located in counties with higher proportions of Black or African American and nonwhite Latino(a) communities (along with other communities listed in the statute).

Title VI in plain English: what DOJ says it enforces

DOJ’s Title VI materials say Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. DOJ also notes that Title VI itself prohibits intentional discrimination, while many federal agencies have regulations that address recipient practices that have the effect of discrimination.

That’s the basic frame for DOJ’s civil-rights review process: whether federally funded programs are operated in ways that violate Title VI’s nondiscrimination requirements.

What changed in Minnesota: HF 4438 repealed the enabling law

The legal change DOJ pointed to was Minnesota’s repeal of the grant program’s enabling statute through HF 4438. The bill repealer section states that Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 144.9821 is repealed.

Because the statute that created and governed the grant program was repealed—and MDH confirmed the initiative had ended—DOJ said the compliance review was closed.

What to watch next for grant applicants and advocates

Even though DOJ says the specific review is closed because the program ended, the practical takeaway for organizations that apply for or administer federally assisted grants is straightforward:

• Eligibility and “priority” language matters. DOJ’s announcement centers on how race/color/national-origin criteria were used to influence funding decisions.
• Program shutdown can end a compliance review. DOJ’s stated reason for closure is that the underlying program no longer exists under its enabling authority.
• Watch how other grant streams are structured. If eligibility rules or scoring priorities are revised to avoid Title VI problems, applicants may see changes in who qualifies and how proposals are assessed.

For residents and civic groups tracking public accountability, the case is a concrete example of how federal civil-rights reviews can follow the design of state-funded grantmaking when federal money is involved.

Sources

• DOJ press release on closing the Title VI compliance review (July 7, 2026)
• Minnesota HF 4438 text (repeals Minn. Stat. 144.9821)