The office on violence against women (OVW) emerging issues and training and technical assistance call for concept papers (call for concept papers) invitedinterested eligible entities to propose…

Under a $750,000 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Technical Assistance Initiative (CFDA 16.526), the Battered Women's Justice Project (BWJP) will implement the Liberation Project to provide training and technical assistance to OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential recipients on post-conviction relief for criminalized survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Key project activities include developing self-paced training courses on post-conviction fundamentals and clemency relief, training two cohorts of attorneys on survivor-centered post-conviction practice, delivering trainings on the criminalization of survivors, and creating relevant legal resources and tools. This award supports OVW's efforts to address new and emerging issues under the recent reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

The office on violence against women (OVW) emerging issues and training and technical assistance call for concept papers (call for concept papers) invitedinterested eligible entities to propose projects that explore new and emerging issues and training and technical assistance projects addressing the needs and challenges of OVW grantees, subgrantees, and the larger violence against women field. In particular, with the passage of the violence against women act reauthorization act of 2022 (vawa 2022), PUB. L. No. 117-103, DIV. W, 136 stat. 49, 840-962, OVW sought to identify innovative projects and technical assistance that address the new and revised programs and issues included in vawa 2022, as well as other emerging issues in the fields of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. See 34 U.S.C. 12291(B)(11) and (16). OVW reviewed the submitted concept papers, selected promising projects in each of the call for concept papers purpose areas, and contacted selected applicants to invite them to submit a full application for their concept paper through the call for concept papers invitation to apply solicitation. With funding through the OVW FY 2023 emerging issues and training and technical assistance call for concept papers, the battered women's justice project (BWJP) will implement the liberation project: post conviction assistance for criminalized survivors to OVW grantees, subgrantees, and potential grantees and subgrantees on post-conviction relief (PCR) for criminalized survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. During the course of the project period, BWJP and its project partners will create a self-paced introductory training course on the fundamentals of PCR for advocates, create a self-paced, asynchronous learning course on clemency relief, train two cohorts of attorneys on survivor centered post-conviction practice, present trainings on the criminalization of survivors and appropriate survivor centered remedies, respond to requests for training and technical assistance, provide training on how to incorporate post-conviction work into existing advocacy programming, and create relevant and practical legal resources and tools for attorneys and advocates. This award supports purpose area 1: emerging issues. The timing for performance of this award is 36 months for $750,000, of which all will be awarded through OVW technical assistance funding.