Preventing School Violence: BJA’s STOP School Violence Program in the US

Deadline: 8-May-23

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for funding to prevent violence in a K–12 school setting.

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

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to increase school safety by implementing training that will improve school climate using school-based behavioral threat assessments and/or intervention teams to identify school violence risks among students, technological solutions shown to increase school safety such as anonymous reporting technology, and other school safety strategies that assist in preventing violence.

Areas

Eligible applicants for Categories 1 or 2 may submit only one application. The proposals may include one or more of the following areas:

• Develop and operate technology solutions such as anonymous reporting systems (ARS) for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, websites, or other school safety technology solutions, for accurate identification of danger (without resorting to discriminatory stereotypes or violating privacy) or other technology solutions shown to improve school safety.
• Develop and implement multidisciplinary behavioral threat assessment (BTA) and/or intervention teams. BTA and/or intervention teams must be multidisciplinary and should coordinate with law enforcement agencies, behavioral health specialists, community stakeholders, and school personnel. Applicants should demonstrate in their applications or with attached letters of support or MOUs that they have the support of relevant team partners.
• Train school personnel and educate students on preventing school violence, including strategies to improve a school climate. This includes training for school officials on intervening and responding to individuals in mental health crises, social emotional learning, anti-bullying prevention, suicide prevention, and other evidence-based programs that may improve school climate.
• Provide specialized training or create specialized nontraining policies for law enforcement who work in schools and/or with school-age populations such as school resource officers (SROs) and probation officers. Such training should include the basics of mental health awareness, conflict resolution, mediation, restorative justice principles and practices, problem solving, mentoring principles, crisis intervention, youth development, implications of trauma and trauma-informed interaction with youth, basic classroom instruction and expectations, integrated response training with mental health and school psychologists, family and parent engagement, and appropriate use of information.
• Hiring school support personnel such as climate specialists, school psychologists, school social workers, school-based violence interrupters, and others directly supporting the prevention of school violence. These hires can work independently in the school or as part of an SRO co-responder model. Applicants proposing to hire staff as outlined in this section must state in their applications what steps they will take to sustain the position(s) when grant funds are exhausted.

Goals

The goal of this program is to prevent and reduce school violence including violence committed with firearms.

Objectives

The program’s objectives are 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.

Priority Areas

The Department of Justice is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and racial equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.

• Priority Considerations Supporting Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government
  • In support of this Executive Order, OJP will provide priority consideration when making award decisions to the following:
    • Applications that propose project(s) that are designed to promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality.
      • To receive this consideration, the applicant must describe how the proposed project(s) will address potential racial inequities and contribute to greater access to services and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality, and identify how the project design and implementation will specifically incorporate the input or participation of those communities and populations disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and the criminal justice system overall.
    • Applicants that demonstrate that their capabilities and competencies for implementing their proposed project(s) are enhanced because they (or at least one proposed subrecipient that will receive at least 40% of the requested award funding, as demonstrated in the Budget WebBased Form) identify as a culturally specific organization.
      • To receive this additional priority consideration, applicants must describe how being a culturally specific organization (or funding the culturally specific subrecipient organization(s)) will enhance their ability to implement the proposed project(s) and should also specify which populations are intended or expected to be served or to have their needs addressed under the proposed project (s).
• Priority Considerations Supporting Executive Order 14074, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety Executive Order 14074, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety requires the Attorney General, through discretionary grantmaking and training and technical assistance, to encourage and support State, Tribal, local, and territorial governments and law enforcement agencies to adopt the policies, best practices, and guidelines addressed in the executive order, including, but not limited to:
  • Investigating deaths in custody;
  • Recruiting and retaining diverse and serviceoriented law enforcement professionals;
  • Collecting and reporting use of force and misconduct data;
  • Improving community and law enforcement dialogue;
  • Responding to individuals in mental health crisis or with disabilities;
  • The proper and responsible use of technology;
  • Restrictions on unannounced entries and certain restraints;
  • Addressing implicit bias;
  • Restricting the use of militarized equipment;
  • Broader criminal justice reform; and,
  • Officer wellness and mental health.

Funding Information

• Anticipated Number of Awards: 85
• Anticipated Maximum Dollar Amount of Awards
  • Category 1: up to $2,000,000 each
  • Category 2: up to $1,000,000 each
• Period of Performance Duration (Months): 36
• Anticipated Total Amount to be Awarded Under Solicitation: $79,000,000

Deliverables

• Implementation of training, including for all behavioral 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 their 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 a school climate. Implementation of an ARS in a state or jurisdiction that has an existing ARS system must complement and work with current efforts and not be duplicative. 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, including violence committed with firearms, and improving a school climate as outlined earlier such as improving access to school-based behavioral health services or implementing appropriate social and emotional learning programs or other interventions that promote a positive and healthy school climate.
• Training for school-based law enforcement officers or probation officers who work with school-based populations.
• Hiring of personnel directly supporting the prevention of school violence.

Eligibility Criteria

• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).
• City or township governments.
• Independent school districts.
• State governments.
• County governments.
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
• Private institutions of higher education.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.