Deadline: 20-Aug-2025
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) offers financial support to maintain, enhance, or expand national hotlines that provide critical crisis intervention services for victims of crime across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. These hotlines are vital lifelines for crime survivors, especially those in rural or remote areas with limited access to direct services.
Hotlines often serve as the first point of contact for survivors seeking emotional support, safety planning, and referrals to additional resources. Strengthening hotline infrastructure ensures greater access to essential services, allowing for continuous and stable support without disruptions. Highly trained staff and volunteers should manage these hotlines, ensuring that survivors are empowered, their needs assessed, and appropriate referrals provided.
Staff must be equipped to connect callers with the correct reporting agencies, share contact information for national and local resources, and guide them to services such as shelter, housing, counseling, legal aid, and culturally relevant support programs. Hotlines should also facilitate direct warm handoffs to these services when possible.
The overall goal of the funding is to increase the responsiveness of national hotlines for crime victims. Objectives include enhancing hotline services with trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches, supporting staff to reduce vicarious trauma and burnout, and encouraging participation in the National Hotline Consortium to share knowledge and best practices.
Priority will be given to projects that support law enforcement operations, combat violent crime, assist American citizens, protect children, and help victims of trafficking and sexual assault. The total funding available is $10 million, with each award capped at $2 million. The project period will last up to 36 months.
Eligible applicants include state and special district governments, federally and non-federally recognized tribal governments, nonprofit organizations with or without IRS 501(c)(3) status, and for-profit organizations that are not small businesses.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.