Deadline: 21-Feb-23
The Office on Violence Against Women (OWV) is seeking applications for the 2023 Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV) Grant Program to increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aid adult and youth (ages 11 to 24) victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault by providing funds for comprehensive direct legal services to victims in legal matters relating to or arising out of that abuse or violence.
“Legal assistance” is assistance in:
- Divorce, parental rights, child support, Tribal, territorial, immigration, employment, administrative agency, housing, campus, education, healthcare, privacy, contract, consumer, civil rights, protection or other injunctive proceedings, related enforcement proceedings, and other similar matters;
- Criminal justice investigations, prosecutions, and post-conviction matters (including sentencing, parole, and probation) that impact the victim’s safety, privacy, or other interests as a victim;
- Alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, or other processes intended to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy, and offender accountability, regardless of court involvement; or
- Post-conviction relief proceedings in state, local, Tribal, or territorial court with respect to a conviction of a victim relating to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or sex trafficking victimization of the victim.
Purpose Areas
- Funds under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes: To implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects between domestic violence, dating violence, and sexual assault victim service providers and legal assistance providers to provide legal assistance for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.
- To implement, expand, and establish efforts and projects to provide legal assistance for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault by organizations with a demonstrated history of providing direct legal or advocacy services on behalf of these victims.
- To implement, expand, and establish efforts and projects to provide competent, supervised pro bono legal assistance for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, except not more than 10 percent of grant funds may be used for this purpose. (The 10 percent limit is on the funds awarded under the LAV Grant Program overall and is not specific to an individual project.)
LAV Grant Program Statutory Priorities
- Improve the Availability of Legal Services for Sexual Assault Survivors
- Not less than 25 percent of funds made available for the LAV Grant Program must be used to support projects focused solely or primarily on providing legal assistance to victims of sexual assault. OVW recognizes the need to place increased focus on sexual assault to address the lack of available direct legal services for survivors of sexual assault and the unique aspects of sexual assault trauma from which survivors must heal.
Funding Information
- This program will make awards in the range of $400,000.00 – $900,000.00.
- OVW estimates that it will make up to 45 awards for an estimated $31,800,000.00.
- Period of Performance Duration (Months): 36
Eligibility Criteria
- The following entities are eligible to apply for this program:
- Private nonprofit entities. Indian tribal governments, including tribal consortia. A “tribal government” is the governing body of an Indian tribe or a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation (as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
- Tribal organizations. A “tribal organization” is the governing body of any Indian tribe; any legally established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body of a tribe or tribes to be served, or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; or any tribal nonprofit organization. A “tribal nonprofit organization” is a victim services provider that has as its primary purpose to assist Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and that has staff and leadership with a demonstrated history of assisting American Indian or Alaska Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
- Territorial organizations. For the purposes of this solicitation, a “territorial organization” is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking within a United States Territory, which includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Publicly funded organizations, not acting in a governmental capacity, such as law schools.
Ineligible
- Applications submitted by ineligible entities or that do not meet all program eligibility requirements will 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:
- Activities that compromise victim safety,
- Out-of-scope activities,
- Unallowable costs,
- Pre-award risk assessment,
- 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.
- Note: Any nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax is not eligible for a grant from this program.
For more information, visit Office on Violence Against Women.