The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is soliciting proposals for its Improve the Criminal Justice Response Program (ICJR Program) to encourage state, local, and tribal governments, and courts to improve the criminal justice response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as serious violations of criminal law, and to seek safety and autonomy for victims, by requiring the coordinated involvement of the entire criminal justice system.
Donor Name: Office on Violence Against Women
States: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and Commonwealth Northern Mariana Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/06/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000,000
Grant Duration: 48 months
Details:
The foundation of the ICJR Program is a Coordinated Community Response (CCR). A CCR brings together a diverse group of community partners to work together to address the widespread impact of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and to provide multiple pathways to support, healing, and accountability for families.
As a result of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA 2022), the following changes have been made to the ICJR Program:
- Applicants may now apply to support comprehensive civil legal services, outside of assistance seeking orders of protection. Applications that include civil legal services must limit direct civil legal services to no more than 30% of project activities.
- Applicants may apply to two new purpose areas: (25) developing statewide databases on sexual assault nurse examiners; and (26) supporting alternative methods of reducing crime in communities that supplant “punitive” programs or policies (i.e., ones that penalize victims for requesting law enforcement or emergency assistance or because of criminal activity at a victim’s residence); and
- Applicant jurisdictions (other than courts) must certify that: (1) no later than three years after receiving their first award post VAWA 2022, their laws, policies, and practices ensure that prosecutors’ offices implement training on victim-centered approaches in domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases; and also have in place victim-centered polices, and protocols disfavoring the use of material witness petitions and bench warrants to obtain victim-witness testimony; and (2) their laws, policies, and practices prohibit prosecution of a minor for prostitution.
Additional changes to the ICJR Program include:
- Applicants may no longer propose more than 50% of grant funds to be used to develop and disseminate training as a grant deliverable;
- If an application proposes to pass through more than 50% of grant funds to one organization, the applicant must include an explanation of why the entity receiving the funds did not apply as the lead applicant.
Purpose Areas
Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 10461(b), funds under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes:
- To implement offender accountability and homicide reduction programs and policies in police departments, including policies for protection order violations and enforcement of protection orders across State and tribal lines.
- To develop policies, educational programs, protection order registries, data collection systems, and training in police departments to improve tracking of cases and classification of complaints involving domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Policies, educational programs, protection order registries, and training described in this paragraph shall incorporate confidentiality, and privacy protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
- To centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking cases in teams or units of police officers, prosecutors, parole and probation officers, or judges.
- To coordinate computer tracking systems and provide the appropriate training and education about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking to ensure communication between police, prosecutors, parole and probation officers, and both criminal and family courts.
- To strengthen legal advocacy and legal assistance programs and other victim services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including strengthening assistance to such victims in immigration matters.
OVW Priority Area
- Advance racial equity as an essential component of ending sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
- 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.
- Strengthen efforts to prevent and end sexual assault, including victim services and civil and criminal justice responses.
- Improve outreach, services, civil and criminal justice responses, prevention, and support for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking from underserved communities, particularly LGBTQ and immigrant communities.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
- Award Floor: $375,000
- Period of Performance Duration: 48 Months
Eligibility Criteria
- State governments
- City or township governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- County governments
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Eligible applicants are limited to: States, Indian Tribal Governments; state and local courts (including juvenile courts); units of local government; state, tribal, or territorial domestic violence or sexual assault coalitions; or victim service providers in the United States or U.S. territories.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
