DOJ/OVW: 2023 Domestic Violence Mentor Court Technical Assistance Initiative

The  Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is accepting applications for its Domestic Violence Mentor Court Technical Assistance Initiative.

Donor Name: Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

Deadline: 04/20/2023

Size of the Grant: $150,000

Grant Duration: 24 months

Details:

The primary purpose of the OVW Training and Technical Assistance (TA) Initiative is to provide direct TA to existing and potential grantees and sub-grantees to enhance and support their efforts to successfully implement projects supported by OVW grant funds. OVW’s TA Initiative is designed to build the capacity of justice system professionals and victim service organizations to respond effectively to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and foster partnerships among organizations that have not traditionally worked together to address these crimes.

The OVW Domestic Violence Mentor Court Technical Assistance Initiative (Mentor Court Initiative) creates a unique opportunity to recognize well-established specialized courts and enable them to guide novice or developing courts and court-based programs that wish to significantly improve their responses to domestic violence cases and ensure victim safety and offender accountability. These well-established courts successfully serve as national models and share their expertise by hosting site visits, linking courts with peers facing similar challenges, and assisting other domestic violence courts to implement best practices to respond effectively to these difficult cases.

Purpose Areas

In FY 2023, funds under the Mentor Court Initiative must be used by both new and continuation recipients for all of the following purposes:

• Assist OVW and the OVW Mentor Court Initiative TA provider to select jurisdictions to receive mentorship.
• Develop and maintain a mentoring relationship with selected jurisdictions planning domestic violence dockets or courts.
• Plan and host 6-9 site visits for selected jurisdictions to assist them in planning a domestic violence docket or court.
• Travel 2-3 times to selected jurisdictions to provide on-site TA on developing a domestic violence docket or court.
• Share domestic violence related court forms, procedures, and protocols.
• Send members of the recipient’s Mentor Court team to 1-2 Mentor Court All Sites Meetings.
• Participate in the OVW Judicial Engagement Network Summit.
• Develop and participate in OVW-sponsored judicial forums and roundtable meetings.
• Respond to TA inquiries from courts other than mentee courts.
• Host Mentor Court Open House events for jurisdictions interested in planning domestic violence courts other than the selected mentee courts.
• Collaborate with OVW TA Providers.

OVW Priority Areas

In FY 2023, OVW has five programmatic priorities, of which the priority area(s) identified below are applicable to this program. Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to address a priority area. Applications proposing activities in the following areas will be given special consideration:

• Advance racial equity as an essential component of ending sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. To receive special consideration under this priority area, applicants must partner with a culturally specific organization (defined as a community based nonprofit, nongovernmental or tribal organization for which the primary purpose of the organization as a whole is to provide culturally specific services to American Indians (including Alaska Natives, Eskimos, and Aleuts), Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, Blacks, or Hispanics. Applicants addressing this priority area are required to provide documentation, such as a mission statement, to prove the project partner is a culturally specific, community-based organization or tribal organization.
• Increase access to justice for all survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, including through exploration of survivor-centered criminal justice system reform. To receive special consideration under this priority area, applicants must demonstrate how their court increases access to justice with the use of remote hearings, safe settlement processes for child-related relief, or other services or processes that promote access to justice.

Out-of-Scope Activities

The activities listed below are out of the program scope and will not be supported by this program’s funding. See also the list of unallowable costs in the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation.

• Research projects. Funds under this program may not be used to conduct research, as a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Surveys and focus groups, depending on their design and purpose, may constitute research and therefore be out-of-scope. Prohibited research does not include assessments conducted for internal improvement purposes only.
• Direct victim services and justice system interventions: Mentor Court Initiative funds are intended to support educational opportunities and TA to OVW grantees and potential grantees. These funds are not meant to support court operations, law enforcement activities, legal representation, direct services, or other interventions.

Funding Information

• Anticipated Maximum Dollar Amount of Awards: $150,000
• Anticipated Total Amount to be Awarded Under Solicitation: $1,200,000

Period of Performance Duration (Months)

24

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are limited to: State, tribal, territorial, or local courts that are either current OVW Domestic Violence Mentor Court Initiative grantees or new applicants with an existing specialized court system for handling domestic violence cases in the United States or U.S. territories.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.