NOFO: Justice for Families Program in the US

Deadline: 13-Feb-23

The Office on Violence Against Women is soliciting applications for the 2023 Justice for Families Program.

The Grants to Support Families in the Justice System Program (referred to as the Justice for Families Program) was authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 to improve the response of the civil and criminal justice system to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse.

The program supports the following activities for improving the capacity of courts and communities to respond to families affected by the targeted crimes: court-based and court-related programs; supervised visitation and safe exchange by and between parents; training for people who work with families in the court system; civil legal services; and the provision of resources in juvenile court matters.

Purpose Areas

• (Purpose Area 1) Supervised visitation and safe exchange: Provide supervised visitation and safe visitation exchange of children and youth by and between parents in situations involving domestic violence, dating violence, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. Although the program statute allows for sliding scale fees, to ensure accessibility of OVW-funded services, grantees providing supervised visitation and safe exchange services are not allowed to charge fees to parents served with OVW funds. For a standard project, applicants proposing activities under this purpose area must propose activities under at least one additional purpose area. For a comprehensive project, this purpose area must be included.
• (Purpose Area 3) Training for court-based and court-related personnel: Educate courtbased and court-related personnel and court-appointed personnel (including custody evaluators and guardians ad litem) and child protective services workers on the dynamics of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including information on perpetrator behavior, evidence-based risk factors for domestic and dating violence homicide, and on issues relating to the needs of victims, including safety, security, privacy, and confidentiality, including cases in which the victim proceeds pro se. Applicants proposing activities under this purpose area must also propose activities under purpose area 1 and/or 5.
• (Purpose Area 4) Juvenile court resources: Provide appropriate resources in juvenile court matters to respond to dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault (including child sexual abuse), and stalking and ensure necessary services dealing with the health and mental health of victims are available. Applicants proposing activities under this purpose area must also propose activities under purpose area 1 and/or 5.
• (Purpose Area 5) Court and court-based programs and services: Enable courts or courtbased or court-related programs to develop or enhance: a) court infrastructure (such as specialized courts, consolidated courts, dockets, intake centers, or interpreter services); b) community-based initiatives within the court system (such as court watch programs, victim assistants, pro se victim assistance programs, or community-based supplementary services); c) offender management, monitoring, and accountability programs; d) safe and confidential information-storage and information-sharing databases within and between court systems; e) education and outreach programs to improve community access, including enhanced access for underserved populations; and f) other projects likely to improve court responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. For a standard project, applicants proposing activities under purpose area 5 are not required to propose activities under any other purpose area.
• (Purpose Area 6) Civil legal assistance: Provide civil legal assistance and advocacy services, including legal information and resources in cases in which the victim proceeds pro se, to:
  • victims of domestic violence; and
  • nonoffending parents in matters:
    • that involve allegations of child sexual abuse;
    • that relate to family matters, including civil protection orders, custody, and divorce; and
    • in which the other parent is represented by counsel.
• (Purpose Area 8) Training within the civil justice system: Improve training and education to assist judges, judicial personnel, attorneys, child welfare personnel, and legal advocates in the civil justice system. Applicants proposing activities under this purpose area must also propose activities under purpose area 1 and/or 5.

Priorities

• Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to address a priority area. Applications proposing activities in the following areas will be given special consideration.
  • Advance racial equity as an essential component of ending sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. To receive special consideration under this priority area, applicants must either be a culturally specific, community-based organization or tribal organization or formally partner with a culturally specific, community-based organization or tribal organization as a meaningful part of their project narrative, Memorandum of Understanding/Letter of Commitment, and in the budget. Applicants addressing this priority area are required to provide documentation, such as a mission statement, to prove they are or the project partner is a culturally specific, community-based organization or tribal organization.
  • 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. To receive special consideration under this priority area, applicants must address purpose area 5(a) by developing a voluntary, safe settlement process for child-related relief, such as parenting plans that account for survivor safety, in their project activities. Grantees implementing activities addressing this priority area will be required to engage in a planning period, in collaboration with OVW and the JFF technical assistance providers, prior to implementing the safe settlement process.
  • 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. To receive special consideration under this priority area, applicants must include project activities that advance meaningful language access beyond simply hiring a bilingual staff person or having materials translated.
• Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery or Undermine Offender Accountability: OVW does not fund activities that jeopardize victim safety, deter or prevent physical or emotional healing for victims, or allow offenders to escape responsibility for their actions. Applications that propose any such activities may receive a deduction in points during the review process or may be eliminated from consideration. Please note that OVW will support survivor-centered alternative pathways to justice and non-criminal approaches to accountability that fall within the statutory scope of this program.

Funding Information

• The award period is 36 months. Budgets must reflect 36 months of project activity, and the total “estimated funding” on the SF-424 must reflect 36 months. OVW anticipates that the award period will start on October 1, 2023.
• This program will make awards in the range of $600,000 – $700,000. OVW estimates that it will make up to 20 awards for an estimated $14,000,000.
• Funding levels under this program for FY 2023 are:
  • Standard projects: up to $600,000 for the entire 36 months.
  • Comprehensive projects: up to $700,000 for the entire 36 months.

Out of Scope Activities

• Research projects.
• Mediation requiring offenders and victims being physically present in the same place, in cases where domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking is an issue.
• Parent education programs.
• Individual, group, and family counseling.
• Telephonic and/or virtual monitoring of supervised visitation.
• Supervised visitation and exchange services unrelated to domestic violence, dating violence, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
• Legal representation in child protection cases, except for cases in which the legal services are provided to a victim of domestic violence and the proceedings relate to or arise out of the abuse or violence committed against the victim.
• Legal representation in child sexual abuse cases, except for cases in which the legal services are provided to nonoffending parents and relate to family matters, including civil protection orders, custody, and divorce, and in which the other parent is represented by counsel.
• Criminal defense of victims charged with crimes, except for representation in postconviction relief proceedings with respect to the conviction of a victim relating to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
• Support of law reform initiatives, including, but not limited to, impact litigation. Direct victim assistance such as emergency housing and transportation not directly related to accessing supervised visitation or legal assistance services.

Eligibility Criteria

Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12464(a), the following entities are eligible to apply for this program:

• States, meaning any of the states and the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
• Units of local government, meaning any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state. the following are not considered units of local government and are not eligible to apply as the lead applicant – police departments, pre-trial service agencies, district or city attorneys’ offices, sheriffs’ departments, probation and parole departments, and universities.
• Courts (including juvenile courts), meaning any civil or criminal, tribal, and Alaska Native Village, federal, state, local or territorial court having jurisdiction to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, including immigration, family, juvenile, and dependency courts.
• Indian tribal governments, meaning a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians or the governing body of an Indian tribe.
• Nonprofit organizations, meaning an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501 (a) of such Code.
• Legal services providers, meaning entities that provide legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This does not include for-profit organizations.
• Victim service providers, meaning a nonprofit, nongovernmental or tribal organization or rape crisis center, including a state or tribal domestic violence and/or sexual assault coalition, that assists or advocates for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking victims, including a domestic violence shelter, faith-based organization or other organization, with a documented history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Victim service providers must provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking as one of their primary purposes and have a demonstrated history of effective work in this field. Organizations that provide supervised visitation and safe exchange services to families with a history of domestic violence are considered victim service providers. Culturally specific organizations, Tribal organizations, and population specific organizations serving underserved communities that meet the definition of 'victim service provider' are eligible to apply.
• Faith Based and community organizations, including culturally specific organizations, tribal organizations, and population specific organizations, that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this solicitation.
• Any entity that is eligible for this program based on its status as a nonprofit organization must be an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code.

Ineligible

• Applications submitted by ineligible entities or that do not meet all program eligibility requirements may not be considered for funding. In addition, an application deemed deficient in one or more of the following categories may not be considered for funding: 1. activities that compromise victim safety, 2. out-of-scope activities, 3. unallowable costs, 4. pre-award risk assessment, 5. completeness of application contents, and 6. timeliness. Failure to comply fully with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements will result in removal from consideration. An applicant with past performance issues, long-standing open audits, or an open criminal investigation also may not be considered for funding.
• Any nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code is not eligible for a grant from this program.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.