Family Violence Prevention and Services Discretionary Grants Program in the US

Deadline: 28-Jun-21

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), Family Violence Prevention and Services (FVPSA) Program seeks to award four cooperative agreements under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to support four Special Issue Resource Centers (SIRC) that will be national in scope and will enhance domestic violence and dating violence intervention and prevention efforts in at least one of the following areas:

criminal and civil justice systems;
child protective services and child custody;
health care systems; or
mental health systems.

FVPSA provides the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and supportive services for victims of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence (also known as intimate partner violence or IPV), as well as their dependents.

Goals

Leadership, Organizational Capacity, and Expertise
- SIRC grantees must demonstrate specialized expertise, organizational capacity, and sustained outcomes working directly on at least one of the following four statutorily defined special issue areas:
  - The response of the criminal and civil justice systems to domestic violence victims, which may include the response to the use of the self-defense plea by domestic violence victims and the issuance and use of protective orders. (“Criminal and Civil Justice”)
  - The response of child protective service agencies to victims of domestic violence and their dependents and child custody issues in domestic violence cases. (“Child Protection and Custody”)
  - The response of the interdisciplinary health care system to victims of domestic violence and access to health care resources for victims of domestic violence. (“Health”)
  - The response of mental health systems, domestic violence service programs, and other related systems and programs to victims of domestic violence and to their children who are exposed to domestic violence. (“Mental Health”)
- The grantees shall lead or contribute to domestic violence prevention or intervention efforts, related to the corresponding specific special issue area, for victims of domestic violence and their dependents.
- SIRC grantees will join and actively participate in the DVRN. The DVRN will work collaboratively to share their national expertise and deliver domestic violence related training and technical assistance.
- Grantees shall maintain the organizational capacity to implement the SIRC project, including relevant subject matter expertise (domestic violence, special issue area systems, and as needed for proposed projects), research and evaluation capacity, administrative capacity, project management capacity, national resource center leadership and sufficient staffing to meet project goals and deliverables.
- SIRCs shall create and implement a plan to maintain up-to-date expertise on the special issues area and domestic violence, including periodic needs assessments of the domestic violence field and special issue area systems in order to identify unmet training and technical assistance needs, including the identification of unaddressed or under addressed topic areas and audiences.
- Grantees shall ensure that grant approach, workplans, and deliverables are consistent with a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.
- Ensure that grant approach, workplans, and deliverables are consistent with prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and proactively support access and redress barriers for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQ) and Two-Spirit survivors and their children and that technical assistance and training in conducted in alignment with FVPSA regulations requiring that no person shall on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under, any program or activity funded in whole or in part through FVPSA.
- As this is a cooperative agreement that will include substantial involvement from the FVPSA Program in FYSB, the SIRC grantees must actively partner with the FVPSA program officers in implementing the resource centers’ deliverables.
Training and Technical Assistance
- SIRC grantees are required to offer and deliver comprehensive and national scope training and technical assistance to enhance the capacity of domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, tribes, tribal organizations, government agencies, community-based organizations, and public and private systems/institutions to prevent and respond to domestic violence as related to at least one of the four special issues.
- SIRCs must identify and address current and emerging issues related to family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence through the provision of training and technical assistance that is comprehensive and national in scope.
- SIRCs shall maintain the capacity to provide virtual training to a range of audiences and audience sizes, including, but not limited to securing the necessary technical tools/platforms and ensuring staff or consultant subject matter expertise on adult learning, instructional design, and learning management systems best practices.
- Training and technical assistance provided by FYSB grantees shall be victim-centered, trauma-informed, culturally relevant, linguistically appropriate, and age-appropriate, and shall be accessible to victims of domestic violence from diverse and underserved communities, including culturally specific (or racial/ethnic) communities; formerly incarcerated domestic violence victims; victims living with HIV/AIDS; trafficked victims; victims with disabilities; etc.
- SIRCs shall conduct periodic needs assessments of the domestic violence field and special issue area systems in order to identify unmet training and technical assistance needs, including the identification of unaddressed or under addressed topic areas and audiences.
Community/FYSB Grantee Engagement
- SIRCs must have on their Advisory Committee or Board, representatives who are from domestic violence service programs and who are geographically and culturally diverse.
- In order to identify and respond to current and emerging issues, technical assistance requests, adaptation/implementation of promising practices, and increasing service demands, SIRCs shall work in partnership with community-based domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, FVPSA state administrators, government agencies, tribes, tribal organizations, policymakers, culturally specific organizations, LGBTQ organizations, and other entities involved in assisting community-based programs and victims of domestic violence.
- In order to ensure that products and activities are appropriately survivor-centered, SIRCs shall create and implement effective strategies to regularly incorporate input and feedback from people with lived experience as survivors of domestic violence and their children into grant activities at multiple points in the implementation process.
- Grantees must engage public and private systems in conducting needs assessments to address emerging trends, gaps, and accessibility barriers that domestic violence victims may face when accessing services.
Policy/Systems Improvement
- SIRCs shall engage public and private systems/institutions in the special issue area to review, analyze, and improve national, statewide, tribal, or local systemic responses to domestic violence thus minimizing barriers for victims of domestic violence and their children who need to safely access those systems.
- SIRCs must coordinate systems improvements and policy development/changes collaboratively with community partners and stakeholders to ensure that responses within the special issue area systems are informed by domestic violence victims and service providers and take into consideration any unintended consequences, service gaps, and availability of community resources.
- Grantees shall collaborate with public and private systems in the special issue area to strengthen and implement policies and institutionalize training to improve accessibility and service outcomes for victims of domestic violence and their children.
Research and Evaluation
- SIRC grantees are expected to conduct or contribute to research on domestic violence prevention or intervention as related to the special issue area.
- SIRCs shall review the scope of available research and national standards to identify gaps and key questions for future research opportunities or projects.
- SIRCs shall build, assess, and promote evidence-informed approaches that improve responses and outcomes for domestic violence and dating violence victims and their children.
- SIRCs must develop a plan for national distribution of research or findings that integrates the SIRC’s area of expertise and shares those findings with the domestic violence field as well as the general public.
- SIRC grantees must have an evaluation plan to document and assess outputs and outcomes of training and technical assistance for the special issue area/specified target population.
Public Awareness and Communications
- SIRCs shall enhance public awareness of domestic violence as related to the relevant special issue area through the development, coordination, and dissemination of campaigns, resources, and information related to intervention/prevention strategies, prevalence statistics, emerging issues, culturally specific populations, or special topics.
- SIRCs must have a plan for communicating and disseminating information, products, and materials with community-based domestic violence programs, state domestic violence coalitions, FVPSA state administrators, government agencies, tribes, tribal organizations, policymakers, culturally specific organizations, LGBTQ organizations, other entities involved in assisting community-based programs and victims of domestic violence, and the public.
- SIRCs must gather and create resources to raise awareness and address a range of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence intervention and prevention issues, including promising practices, guidelines, and clearinghouse informational materials and make this information available to the domestic violence field.
- SIRCs shall distribute and develop comprehensive statistics, fact sheets, and specialized resources addressing a range of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence intervention and prevention issues, including emerging topics.
- SIRCs must distribute and develop materials to support the adaptation of model programs, evidence-informed practices, and exemplary projects.
- SIRCs must coordinate meetings, conferences, webinars, podcasts, radio shows, campaigns, etc. to share information, resources, and expertise based on the best format for relaying the message or information and reaching the target audience.
- SIRCs shall organize and participate in national domestic violence and related awareness month activities to increase awareness and understanding of domestic violence and how it intersects with the special issue area and to provide resources and information on how to address intervention and prevention issues within the special issue area.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Funding: $4,400,000
Expected Number of Awards: 4
Award Ceiling: $1,500,000 Per Budget Period
Award Floor: $800,000 Per Budget Period
Average Projected Award Amount: $1,100,000 Per Budget Period
Anticipated Project Start Date: 09/30/2021
Length of Project Period: 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to receive a grant to establish or maintain a SIRC under the FVPSA an entity shall be a nonprofit private organization that focuses primarily on domestic violence and that –
- Provides documentation to the Secretary demonstrating experience working directly on issues of domestic violence, and (in the case of an entity seeking a grant under subsection
- demonstrating experience working directly in the corresponding specific special issue area described in subsection;
- Includes on the entity’s advisory board representatives who are from domestic violence service programs and who are geographically and culturally diverse; and
- Demonstrates the strong support of domestic violence service programs from across the Nation for the entity’s designation as a national resource center or a special issue resource center, as appropriate.
Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements the Department will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization’s religious character, affiliation, or exercise.
Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and from funding under this announcement.

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329056