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CRS Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act

FOIA Contact:

Melody Diegor Caprio
FOIA/PA Coordinator
Community Relations Service
145 N Street, NE, Suite 5E.300
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 353-1806
crs.foia@usdoj.gov
*If you are submitting a FOIA request via this website, please include an email address to which the FOIA/PA Coordinator may respond.
**To check on the status of a Community Relations Service FOIA request, please call (202) 353-1806.

Conventional Reading Room:

Community Relations Service
145 N Street, NE, Suite 5E.300
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530

FOIA Library:

The FOIA Library includes frequently requested records, opinions, policy statements, and staff manuals/instructions to staff, created by the Office of Community Relations Service after November 1, 1996.

Component Description:

The Community Relations Service (CRS) provides community mediation and conciliation services to resolve disputes, disagreements, or difficulties relating to discriminatory practices based on race, color, or national origin. With the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), CRS is authorized to work with communities to employ strategies to prevent and respond to alleged violent hate crimes committed on the basis of actual or perceived gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or disability in addition to continuing to employ strategies to prevent and respond to community tension relating to alleged discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, or national origin. CRS may enter a community at the request of state or local officials, local citizens and organizations. In addition, CRS on its own motion may enter a community when it believes that peaceful relations among citizens are threatened.

DOJ Reference Guide:

The DOJ Reference Guide is a comprehensive guide to the FOIA that serves as a handbook for obtaining information from the Department.  Furthermore, FOIA.gov provides additional details about the FOIA, including a description of the FOIA's Exemptions and Exclusions.

Special information required to make a FOIA request: None

Publicly available information for which a FOIA request is not required:

Annual reports; CRS Customer Service Plan; general publications on conflict resolution and related CRS work.

Major Information Systems:

Community Relations Service Information System

Updated November 15, 2023