General Victim Assistance Direct Service Grant Program

Deadline: 9-Feb-23

The Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) is accepting applications for the General Victim Assistance Direct Service Grant under the Criminal Justice Division program.

CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Program is designated by the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD) for regional coordination efforts on the subject in the 10-county State Planning Region 12 area. The program provides technical assistance to applicants for CJD grant funding opportunities to include criminal justice, juvenile justice and victim services-related programming. CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Program and Criminal Justice Advisory Committee review and update or create a regional strategic criminal justice plan annually.

Purpose

The purpose of this program is to provide services and assistance directly to victims of crime to speed their recovery and aid them through the criminal justice process.
- Services may include the following:
  - Responding to the emotional and physical needs of crime victims;
  - Assisting victims in stabilizing their lives after a victimization;
  - Assisting victims to understand and participate in the criminal justice system; and
  - Providing victims with safety and security.
Projects seeking to provide specialized programs for victims of commercial sexual exploitation or sex trafficking under the age of 25 must apply under either the Residential and Community-Based Services for Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation or the CSEY Advocacy Program Request for Application. Projects seeking to provide general victim services to broad categories of victim populations that may include victims of commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking should apply under this General Victims Services Request for Application.
Agencies applying for funds to support a CASA or Children’s Advocacy Center program must apply through either Texas CASA, Inc. or Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas.

Priorities

Behavioral Health/Mental Health Services/Substance Use
Community-Based Programs or Services
Crisis Services
Law Enforcement
Crime Prevention

Funding Information

Minimum: $10,000
Maximum: No Maximum
Duration: Projects may not exceed 12 months and must begin on or after 10/01/2023 and expire on or before 9/30/2024.

Eligible Activities

The following list of eligible activities apply generally to all projects under this announcement:

Crisis Services
- Services that respond to immediate needs (other than medical care), emotional, psychological, and physical health and safety including:
  - Crisis intervention services
  - Accompanying victims to hospitals for medical examinations
  - Hotline counseling
  - Safety planning
  - Emergency food, clothing, and transportation
  - Window, door, or lock replacement or repair, and other repairs necessary to ensure a victim’s safety
  - Costs of the following, on an emergency basis
  - Emergency legal assistance, such as for filing for restraining or protective orders, and obtaining emergency custody orders and visitation right
- Personal advocacy and emotional support including:
  - Working with a victim to assess the impact of the crime;
  - Identification of victim’s needs;
  - Case management;
  - Management of practical problems created by the victimization;
  - Identification of resources available to the victim;
  - Provision of information, referrals, advocacy, and follow-up contact for continued services, as needed;
  - Traditional, cultural, and/or alternative therapy/healing (e.g., art therapy, yoga – with appropriate training, certification, or licensure);
  - Transportation of victims to receive services and to participate in criminal justice proceedings; and
  - Public awareness and education presentations (including the development of presentation materials, brochures, newspaper notices, and public service announcements) in schools, community centers, and other public forums that are designed to inform crime victims of specific rights and services and provide them with services and assistance, this activity will only be funded in conjunction with programs providing direct services.
Forensic Interviews (with the following parameters)
- Results of the interview will be used not only for law enforcement and prosecution purposes, but also for identification of needs such as social services, personal advocacy, case management, substance abuse treatment, and mental health services;
- Interviews are conducted in the context of a multi-disciplinary investigation and diagnostic team, or in a specialized setting such as a child advocacy center; and
- The interviewer is trained to conduct forensic interviews appropriate to the developmental age and abilities of children, or the developmental, cognitive, and physical or communication disabilities presented by adults.
Legal Advocacy
- Facilitating participation in criminal justice and other public proceedings arising from the crime, including:
  - Advocacy on behalf of a victim;
  - Accompanying a victim to offices and court;
  - Transportation, meals, and lodging to allow a victim who is not a witness to participate in a proceeding;
  - Interpreting for a non-witness victim who is deaf or hard of hearing, or with limited English proficiency;
  - Providing child care and respite care to enable a victim who is a caregiver to attend activities related to the proceeding;
  - Notification to victims regarding key proceeding dates (e.g., trial dates, case disposition, incarceration, and parole hearings);
  - Assistance with Victim Impact Statements;
  - Assistance in recovering property that was retained as evidence; and
  - Assistance with restitution advocacy on behalf of crime victims.
- Legal assistance services (including those provided on an emergency basis), where reasonable and where the need for such services arises as a direct result of the victimization, including:
  - Those (other than criminal defense) that help victims assert their rights as victims in a criminal proceeding directly related to the victimization, or otherwise protect their safety, privacy, or other interests as victims in such a proceeding; and
  - Those actions (other than tort actions) that, in the civil context, are reasonably necessary as a direct result of the victimization.
Multi-Disciplinary Teams and Case Coordination
- Representatives of several agencies meet regularly to discuss common cases and share information to enhance investigation, prosecution, and victim restoration. Cases are followed through in this manner to closure. Participating agencies may include Child Protective Service, law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners or other medical personnel, mental health professionals, etc.
Peer Support Groups
- Peer-support, including activities that provide opportunities for victims to meet other victims, share experiences, and provide self-help, information, and emotional support.
Professional Therapy and Counseling
- Mental health counseling and care, including, but not limited to, out-patient therapy/counseling provided by a person who meets professional standards to provide these services in the jurisdiction in which the care is administered.
Protective Order Assistance
- Legal representation provided by program staff and/or staff attorneys to obtain protective orders and assistance;
- May be provided by law enforcement personnel, prosecution staff or other service providers; and
- Services may be available at non-traditional locations and times
Shelter Programs
- Providing a safe place for victims/survivors and their children;
- Short-term (up to 45 days) in-home care and supervision services for children and adults who remain in their own homes when the offender/caregiver is removed; and
- Short-term (up to 45 days) nursing-home, adult foster care, or group-home placement for adults for whom no other safe, short-term residence is available;
Victim-Offender Meetings
- Meetings between the survivor and the offender who perpetrated the crime against the survivor. At a minimum grantees must consider:
  - The safety and security of the survivor;
  - The benefit of therapeutic value to the survivor;
  - The procedures for ensuring that participation of the survivor and offender are voluntary and that everyone understands the nature of any meeting or other activity;
  - The provision of appropriate support and accompaniment for the survivor;
  - Appropriate debriefing opportunities for the survivor after a meeting;
  - The credentials of the facilitators; and
  - The opportunity for a survivor to withdraw from the process at any time.
Transitional Housing
- Travel, rental assistance, security deposits, utilities, and other costs incidental to relocation of survivors into transitional housing, as well as voluntary support services such as childcare and counseling. Provision of this service is limited to 18 months in duration per client and must require active participation in program services designed to enable self-sufficiency of the client. PSO should be considered the payee of last resort for this service. To be eligible, this service must be included in the original application budget prioritized by the local Council of Government’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee.

Eligibility Criteria

Entities receiving grant funds must demonstrate a record of effective services to victims of crime and financial support from sources other than the Crime Victims Fund; or substantial support from sources other than the Crime Victims Fund.
A program has demonstrated a record of effective direct services and support when, for example, it demonstrates the support and approval of its direct services by the community, its history of providing direct services in a cost-effective manner, and the breadth or depth of its financial support from sources other than the Crime Victims Fund.
A program has substantial financial support from sources other than the Crime Victims Fund when at least twenty-five percent of the program’s funding in the year of, or the year preceding the award comes from such sources.
Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible. Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments.
Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system. Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90% of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.
Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas specific reporting mandated to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS. Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted.
Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS. Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States; or (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority. Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties.
Any facility or entity that collects evidence for sexual assault or other sex offenses or investigates or prosecutes a sexual assault or other sex offense for which evidence has been collected, must participate in the statewide electronic tracking system developed and implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency.
Failure to comply with program eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.
Eligible Organizations
- Applications may be submitted by state agencies, public and private non-profit institutions of higher education, independent school districts, Native American tribes, councils of governments, non-profit corporations (including hospitals and faith-based organizations) and units of local government, which are defined as a non-statewide governmental body with the authority to establish a budget and impose taxes (includes hospital districts). Other local governmental agencies should apply through an associated unit of local government.

Program-Specific Requirements

Cultural competency: Applicants must be culturally competent when providing services to victims. Victim service providers must have the ability to blend cultural knowledge and sensitivity with victim restoration skills for a more effective and culturally appropriate recovery process. Cultural competency occurs when: (1) cultural knowledge, awareness and sensitivity are integrated into action and policy; (2) the service is relevant to the needs of the community and provided by trained staff, board members, and management; and (3) an advocate or organization recognizes each client is different with different needs, feelings, ideas and barriers.
Victim services assessment survey: All recipients of funding under this announcement may be required to participate in a victim services assessment during their grant period, as directed by PSO.
Special requirements for vehicle purchases: Only non-profits will be eligible to purchase vehicles under this funding announcement. The vehicles must be for the purpose of transporting victims to receive various services.

Selection Process

Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement.
Merit Review – Local Projects: Projects with a local impact will be reviewed by a panel appointed by the local Council of Governments using their own criteria. The merit review panels will assess the applications for quality and rank by priority, and then report their findings to the Office of the Governor.
Merit Review – Statewide Projects: The Office of the Governor will review applications to understand the overall demand for the program and for significant variations in costs per item. After this review, the Office of the Governor will determine if all eligible applications can be funded based on funds available, if there are cost-effectiveness benefits to normalizing or setting limits on the range of costs, and if other fair-share cuts may allow for broader distribution and a higher number of projects while still remaining effective.
Final Decisions – All Projects: The Office of the Governor will consider rankings along with other factors and make all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, PSO or state government priorities and strategies, legislative directives, need, geographic distribution, or other relevant factors.

For more information, visit CAPCOG.