Deadline: 09-Jul-2024
The Office on Violence Against Women has announced an open completion for Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction: Targeted Support for Alaska Native Tribes Special Initiative (STCJ AK) Program.
OVW is a component of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Created in 1995, OVW administers grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent legislation and provides national leadership on issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW grants support coordinated community responses that provide services to victims and hold offenders accountable.
The OVW Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Grant Program (Tribal Jurisdiction Program) (Assistance Listing # 16.025) supports tribes in their efforts to exercise special Tribal criminal jurisdiction (STCJ) over non-Indians who commit “covered crimes” within the Tribe’s jurisdictional boundaries and provides technical assistance for planning and implementing changes in their criminal justice systems necessary to exercise the jurisdiction. “Covered crimes” are: assault of Tribal justice personnel; child violence; dating violence; domestic violence; obstruction of justice; sexual violence; sex trafficking; stalking; and violation of a protection order.
The program supports tribes in preparing to exercise or exercising the jurisdiction to ensure that victims find safety and justice and that non-Indians who commit covered crimes within their communities are held accountable.
Purpose Areas
- Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 1304(h)(2), funds under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes:
- to strengthen tribal criminal justice systems to assist Indian tribes in exercising special Tribal criminal jurisdiction, including for:
- law enforcement (including the capacity of law enforcement, court personnel, or other nonlaw enforcement entities that have been designated by an Indian tribe as responsible for maintaining public safety within the territorial jurisdiction of the Indian tribe, to enter information into and obtain information from national crime information databases);
- prosecution;
- trial and appellate courts (including facilities maintenance, renovation, and rehabilitation);
- supervision systems;
- detention and corrections (including facilities maintenance, renovation, and rehabilitation);
- treatment, rehabilitation, and reentry programs and services;
- culturally appropriate services and assistance for victims and their families; and
- criminal codes and rules of criminal procedure, appellate procedure, and evidence;
- to provide indigent criminal defendants with licensed defense counsel, at no cost to the defendant, in criminal proceedings in which a participating tribe prosecutes covered crimes;
- to ensure that, in criminal proceedings in which a participating tribe exercises special Tribal criminal jurisdiction, jurors are summoned, selected, and instructed in a manner consistent with all applicable requirements; and
- to accord victims of covered crimes rights that are similar to the rights of a crime victim described in section 3771(a) of title 18, United States Code, consistent with Tribal law and custom.
Funding Information
- For FY 2024, OVW is not setting a maximum award amount per application. OVW estimates that it will make up to 6 awards for approximately $500,000 each for a total of $3,000,000.
- The award period is 36 months. Budgets, including the total “estimated funding” on the SF-424, must reflect 36 months of project activity. OVW anticipates that the award period will start on October 1, 2024.
Out-of-Scope Activities
- The activities listed below are out of the program scope and will not be funded under this program. See also the list of unallowable costs in the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation.
- Research projects. Funds under this program may not be used to conduct research, defined by 28 C.F.R. § 46.102(d) as a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Surveys and focus groups, depending on their design and purpose, may constitute research and therefore be out-of-scope. However, assessments conducted for internal improvement purposes only may not be considered “research” as defined above.
- Tribal justice system response to cases that do not involve one or more of the covered crimes.
- Purchase or lease of vehicles.
- Applications that propose activities deemed to be substantially out-of-scope may receive a deduction in points during the review process or may be eliminated from consideration.
Eligibility Criteria
- Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 1304(h)(2), the following entities are eligible to apply for this program:
- Governments of Indian Tribes, or consortia of Indian Tribes, occupying a Village in Alaska are eligible to apply for this special initiative. See 25 U.S.C. §§ 1304(h)(2); 1305(a).
- Per 25 U.S.C. § 1301(1), “Indian tribe” means any tribe, band, or other group of Indians subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and recognized as possessing powers of self-government.
- “Village” means the Alaska Native Village Statistical Area covering all or any portion of a Native village (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)), as depicted on the applicable Tribal Statistical Area Program Verification map of the Bureau of the Census. 25 U.S.C. § 1305 note.
- Consortia of Indian tribes are eligible to apply. Multiple tribes are encouraged to combine resources and exercise jurisdiction together by submitting an application as a consortium.
- 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: 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 (see Application and Submission section for more information on these 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.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.