BJA’s STOP School Violence Program – US

Deadline: 02-Aug-21

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding under the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program to prevent violence in a K-12 school setting.

This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting and assisting county, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in improving efforts to reduce violent crime in and around schools.

The Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (or STOP School Violence Act) describes the following for K-12 school safety projects:

• Training to prevent school violence, including training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students.
• The development and operation of anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and websites.
• The development and deployment of— Multidisciplinary intervention and threat assessment teams that, when necessary, evaluate serious risks of violence in schools and include coordination with law enforcement agencies, behavioral health specialists, community stakeholders, and school personnel.
• Specialized training for school officials in responding to student mental health crises, including training on when and how to involve mental health professionals.
• Support for any other measure that, in the determination of the BJA Director, may provide a significant improvement in training, threat assessments and reporting, and violence prevention.

Goal

• The goal of this program is to prevent and reduce school violence.

Objectives

• The program’s objective is to increase school safety using evidence-based solutions to prevent violence against schools, staff, and students and ensure a positive school climate.
• Applicants should also be mindful of the potential to cause or exacerbate trauma for some students, and should use a trauma-informed approach when implementing program activities to help mitigate this concern.

Areas

Eligible applicants may submit one application that includes proposals for one or both of the following areas:

• Train school personnel and educate students on preventing student violence against others and themselves to include anti-bullying training. This can also include specialized training for school officials to respond to mental health crises.
• Develop and implement multidisciplinary threat assessment and/or intervention teams and/or operate technology solutions such as anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, websites, or other school safety technology solutions for accurate identification of danger (without resort to discriminatory stereotypes or violating privacy). Threat assessment and/or intervention teams must coordinate with law enforcement agencies, behavioral health specialists, community stakeholders, and school personnel, and must include a memorandum of understanding.

Categories

• Category 1: State Governments, including Public and State- controlled Institutions of Higher Education:
  • training on preventing violence and/or
  • threat assessment/intervention teams and/or technology (anonymous reporting apps, etc.)
• Category 2: All Other Eligible Applicants:
  • training on preventing violence and/or
  • threat assessment/ intervention teams and/or technology (anonymous reporting apps, etc.)

Funding Information

• Period of Performance Duration (Months): 36
• Anticipated Total Amount to be Awarded Under Solicitation: $74,000,000.00
• Award Amount
  • Category 1: $2,000,000.00
  • Category 2: $1,000,000.00
• Number of Awards
  • Category 1: 10
  • Category 2: 140

Deliverables

• Implementation of training, including for all school threat assessments and/or intervention teams, that prepares school and/or law enforcement personnel to identify school violence risks among students in a nondiscriminatory and trauma-informed way and/or to improve the school climate. A positive school climate is paramount for learning; activities should not generate additional fears or traumatize students who may already be living in an unsafe environment. Threat assessment training must not discriminate against or stereotype students based on race, national origin, disability, religion, or sex.
• Resources and strategies for responding to students in mental health crisis that are trauma informed, protect student privacy rights, and most importantly involve mental health professionals at all stages of training and in practice.
• Technological solutions, such as anonymous reporting technology that can be implemented as a mobile phone-based app, a hotline, a website, or other technology solution in the applicant’s geographic area to enable students, teachers, faculty, and community members to anonymously identify threats of school violence, or other technology solutions shown to improve school safety and/or improve the school climate.  Activities should be protective of student privacy and ensure that students are not discriminated against on the basis of race, national origin, disability, religion, or sex.
• Other school safety strategies that assist in preventing violence and improving the school climate such as improving access to school-based behavioral health services, implementing appropriate social and emotional learning programs, or other interventions that promote a positive and healthy school climate.

Eligibility Criteria

• City or township governments, County governments, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Special district governments, State governments, Other
• Other
  • Category 1:
    • State governments
    • Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
  • Category 2:
    • City or township governments
    • County governments
    • Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
    • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
    • Private institutions of higher education
    • Independent school districts

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=333967