Deadline: 16 February 2017
The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), a component of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), is currently accepting applications for its program titled Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program, intended to increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aid adult and youth victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking who are seeking relief in legal matters relating to or arising out of that abuse or violence, at minimum or no cost to the victims.
The LAV Grant Program supports holistic and comprehensive legal services, which involves treating the client as a whole person with access to a range of services beyond legal representation (such as counseling, support groups, and shelter/housing assistance), and a wide range of legal services to meet victim needs (such as filing protection orders, representation in housing or matrimonial court).
Program Purposes
In FY 2017, funds under the LAV Grant Program may be used for the following purposes:
- To implement, expand, and establish cooperative efforts and projects between sexual assault, domestic violence, and dating violence victim service providers and legal assistance providers to provide legal assistance for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
- To implement, expand, and establish efforts and projects to provide legal assistance for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking 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 sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, except that not more than 10 percent of the funds awarded may be used for this purpose.
Federal Award Information
The LAV Grant Program typically makes awards in the range of $400,000 – $800,000. OVW estimates that it will make up to 60 awards for an estimated $35 million.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible entities for this program are:
- Private nonprofit entities.
- Publicly funded organizations not acting in a governmental capacity, such as law schools.
- Territorial organizations: For the purposes of this solicitation, a “territorial organization” is defined as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking within a United States territory.
- Indian tribal governments.
- Indian tribal organizations: The term “tribal organization” means 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. The term “tribal nonprofit organization” means a victim services provider that has as its primary purpose to assist Native victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking; and that has staff and leadership with a demonstrated history of assisting American Indian or Alaska Native victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.
- Indian tribal consortia: Any applicant representing a consortium of tribal governments must submit documentation of authority in the form of a resolution or legal equivalent from each tribal consortium member, unless existing consortium bylaws or other tribal governance documents allow action without explicit authorization from the member tribes in the consortium. In that case, the tribal consortium must submit a resolution, a letter, affidavit, or other documentation, as appropriate, that certifies that the tribal consortium has the legal authority to apply for grants under this solicitation on behalf of the consortium. This documentation must be current, be sufficient to demonstrate authority for the application, contain authorizing signature(s), and be submitted by the application’s due date. In addition, a copy of the bylaws or other governance documents that allow the tribal consortium’s action without support from all consortium members must be included with this documentation.
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted online via given website.
Eligible Country: United States
For more information, please visit Grants.gov.
