ovw fiscal year 2011 court training and improvements grant.pdf

OMB Number: 1122-0020

Expiration Date: 6/30/2013

U.S. Department of Justice

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

OVW Fiscal Year 2011

Court Training and Improvements Program

Eligibility

Applicants are limited to Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, or local courts or court-based programs.

(See “Eligibility,” page 6)

Deadline

To assist OVW in planning for the independent peer review process, letters of intent to apply should be submitted by February 22, 2011. Please note, however, that letters of intent are optional. Interested applicants who do not submit a letter of intent by the deadline are still eligible to apply. To ensure all applicants have ample time to complete the registration process through Grants.Gov, applicants should register online with Grants.gov by February 22, 2011.

All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. E.T. on March 8, 2011.

(See “Deadline: Application,” page 5)

Pre-Application Conference Calls February 10, 2011: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. E.T.

February 24, 2011: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. E.T.

Contact Information

For assistance with the requirements of this solicitation, contact OVW at (202) 307-6026, or email questions to OVW.CourtsProgram@usdoj.gov.

In Fiscal Year 2011, OVW applications will be submitted through Grants.gov. For further information and assistance, please see the OVW Grant Program Solicitation Reference Guide at http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/resource-guidebook.pdf.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications by September 30, 2011.

http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/resource-guidebook.pdf http:Grants.gov mailto:OVW.CourtsProgram@usdoj.gov http:Grants.gov http:Grants.Gov

CONTENTS

Overview of the OVW Court Training and Improvements Program p. 3

Civil Rights Compliance p. 4

Deadline: Letter of Intent p. 5

Deadline: Registration p. 5

Deadline: Application p. 5

Pre-Application Conference Calls p. 5

Eligibility p. 6

OVW Court Training and Improvements Program Specific Information p. 7

Types of Applicants p. 7

Availability of Funds p. 8

Award Period p. 8

Award Amounts p. 8

Program Scope p. 12

How To Apply p. 15

What An Application Must Include p. 15

Summary Data Sheet p. 17

Project Narrative p. 17

Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative p. 21

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) p. 23

Letters of Support p. 24

Proposal Abstract p. 25

Summary of Current OVW Projects p. 26

Application for Federal Assistance p. 26

Standard Assurances and Certifications p. 26

Financial Accounting Practices p. 26

Letter of Nonsupplanting p. 27

Financial Capability Questionnaire p. 27

Indirect Cost Rate Agreement p. 27

Certification of Eligibility p. 27

Selection Criteria p. 28

Review Process p. 28

Performance Measures p. 29

Notice of New Post-Award Reporting Requirements p. 29

Additional Requirements p. 30

Public Reporting Burden p. 30

Application Checklist p. 31

Appendix A p. 32

Glossary p. 36

OVW Court Training and Improvements Program

(CFDA 16.013)

Overview

This solicitation contains information on how to apply for the Court Training and Improvements Program (Courts Program). For general information on applying for all OVW grant programs, please see the OVW Fiscal Year 2011 Grant Program Solicitation Reference Guide (Reference Guide) at http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/grants-resource-guide.htm. All applicants should read carefully both this solicitation and the Reference Guide before beginning the application process.

About the Court Training and Improvements Program The Courts Program, created by the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005)1, recognizes that judicial education and specialized court processes play an integral role in effective responses to the crimes of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.2

National studies have shown that courts need to take a more holistic approach to domestic violence case management in order to fully address the complexities of domestic violence cases and the needs and interests of the victims who seek remedies through the courts.3 As knowledge about violence against women has grown, it has become clear that the most effective response is created when all parts of the justice system coordinate and collaborate to address this issue.4 To significantly improve internal civil and criminal court functions, court-based and court-related personnel must be educated on sexual assault and domestic violence.

In addition, Federal, State, Tribal and Territorial courts must collaborate among themselves and enter into meaningful partnerships with nonprofit, nongovernmental sexual assault and domestic violence programs.

This discretionary grant program creates a unique opportunity for Federal, State, Territorial, and Tribal courts or court-based programs to significantly improve court responses to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking cases utilizing proven specialized court processes to ensure victim safety and offender accountability. Courts that have adopted a specialized approach in the handling of domestic violence cases are seeing significant improvements in victim safety and satisfaction, offender accountability, decreases in re-offenses and re-abuse, and more efficient case-flow processing.5 Similar results may be achieved by courts using this same approach to address sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, if

1 Codified at 42 U.S.C. '14043 et seq.

2 The terms domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking are defined in 42 U.S.C. '13925 (a), which can be found on the OVW website at http://www.usdoj.gov.ovw/docs/overarching_defintion.pdf.

3 Susan Keilitz, Specialization of Domestic Violence Case Management in the Courts: A National Survey, National

Institute of Justice (2004).

4 Emily Sack, Creating A Domestic Violence Court: Guidelines and Best Practices, Family Violence Prevention

Fund (2002).

5 Andrew Klein , Practical Implications of Current Domestic Violence Research: For Law Enforcement, Prosecutors and Judges, National Institute of Justice (June 2009).

http://www.usdoj.gov.ovw/docs/overarching_defintion.pdf http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/grants-resource-guide.htm supported by formalized court rules, procedures and effective training. 6 This program challenges courts and court-based programs to work with their communities to develop specialized practices and utilize educational resources that will result in significantly improved responses to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking cases, ensure offender accountability, and promote informed judicial decision-making.

Please read the Courts Program Solicitation in its entirety before beginning your application. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete and that all eligibility requirements have been met at the time of application submission. OVW will remove an application from consideration, prior to peer review, if it is incomplete. Final award decisions are not appealable.

Civil Rights Compliance

All recipients of Federal grant funds are required to comply with nondiscrimination requirements contained in various Federal laws. In the event that a court or administrative agency makes a finding of discrimination on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or age against a recipient of funds after a due process hearing, the recipient must agree to forward a copy of the finding to the Office for Civil Rights of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). All applicants should consult the Assurances required when applying for funds to understand the applicable legal and administrative requirements.

Services to Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) Persons:

National origin discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of limited English proficiency (LEP). To ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, recipients are required to take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to their programs. Meaningful access may entail providing language assistance services, including interpretation and translation services, where necessary. Grantees are encouraged to consider the need for language services for LEP persons served or encountered both in developing their proposals and budgets and in conducting their programs and activities. Reasonable costs associated with providing meaningful access for LEP individuals are considered allowable program costs. The U.S.

Department of Justice has issued guidance for grantees to assist them in complying with Title VI requirements. The guidance document can be accessed on the Internet at www.lep.gov or by contacting the OJP’s Office for Civil Rights at (202) 307-0690, or by writing to the following address:

Office for Civil Rights Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Justice 810 7th Street, N.W., 8th Floor Washington, DC 20531

6 Other than Sex Offender Courts, there appear to be no known civil or criminal sexual assault court models in the U.S. OVW has a strong interest in supporting training and technical assistance opportunities in this area. Please refer to page 9 for additional information.

http://www.lep.gov

Deadline: Letter of Intent

If you intend to apply for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 funding under this program, we encourage you to submit a letter stating that you intend to apply for funding. The letter will not obligate you to submit an application. Please see http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/sample_letter_of_intent.pdf for a sample letter. The letter should be submitted to OVW by February 22, 2011 at ovw.courtsprogram@usdoj.gov or mail to: 145 N Street, NE, Washington, DC 20530. OVW will use these letters to predict the number of peer review panels needed to review the applications.

You may still submit an application for funding if you do not submit a Letter of Intent.

Deadline: Registration

The Grants.gov registration deadline is February 22, 2011. For more information on the process of registering and applying in Grants.gov, please see the Reference Guide at pages 15 19.

Deadline: Application

An application submission is complete if (a) a hard copy of the entire application, with original signatures, has been submitted via overnight delivery by the deadline and (b) the application has been submitted through Grants.gov. Both electronic and hard copy submissions are required.

The deadline for applying for funding under this announcement is March 8, 2011, 11:59 p.m.

E.T. A hard copy must be sent via an overnight delivery method, date stamped by the shipping company, on or before March 8, 2011 to:

The Office on Violence Against Women c/o Lockheed Martin Aspen Systems Corporation Court Training and Improvements Program Mail Stop 2K 2277 Research Boulevard Rockville, MD 20850

(301) 519-5000

Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications well in advance of the deadline to ensure a successful submission through Grants.gov. For information on OVW’s policy for late applications, please see the Reference Guide at pages 17-19.

Pre-Application Conference Calls

OVW will conduct two Pre-Application Conference Calls. During these calls, OVW staff will review the Courts Program requirements and the application process and answer questions about the Courts Program.

http:Grants.gov http:Grants.gov http:Grants.gov http:Grants.gov mailto:ovw.courtsprogram@usdoj.gov http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/sample_letter_of_intent.pdf

Conference Call Schedule: The conference calls are both scheduled for 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. E.T. on the following dates:

February 10, 2011 February 24, 2011

Note: Participation in these calls is optional for applicants.

Registration Instructions: Anyone interested in submitting an application to the Courts Program may register to participate in the calls; however, several people may participate from the same phone number. The total number of participants for each call is limited to 25. To register, please e-mail your request to OVW.CourtsProgram@usdoj.gov. Your registration must be received at least two hours prior to the start of the call.

Eligibility

It is very important that you review this information carefully. Applications that are submitted by non-eligible entities will be screened out during an initial review process and omitted from further review.

By statute, eligible entities for this program are:

Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, or local courts or court-based programs.

Certification of Eligibility To be eligible to receive funding through this program, applicants must certify in writing that:

(A) any courts or court-based personnel working directly with or making decisions about adult or youth parties experiencing sexual assault domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking have completed or will complete education about sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking; and

(B) the grantee’s internal organizational policies, procedures, or rules do not require mediation or counseling between offenders and victims physically together in cases where sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking is an issue.

The chief court administrator or chief judicial officer of the applying Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, or local court or court-based program must certify in writing that the conditions listed above are met. Certification must be submitted on agency letterhead and included with the application. Applications submitted without a certification letter will not be forwarded to peer review.

Note: In Fiscal Year 2011, OVW will not accept individual applications from non-profit victim services organizations or coalitions. Applications will only be accepted from Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, or local courts and court-based programs.

mailto:OVW.CourtsProgram@usdoj.gov

OVW Court Training and Improvements Program–Specific Information

Types of Applicants In FY 2011, OVW will accept applications for the Courts Program from court and court-based applicants proposing specialized court infrastructure development or supplemental judicial and court staff training projects. Grantees that received Courts Program funding for 24 or 36 months in FY 2010 are not eligible to apply.

For the purposes of this program, applicants seeking development grants are: 1) court or court-based program applicants that have no existing specialized court or court docket that exclusively handles sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking cases; 2) court programs currently operating under a dedicated domestic violence docket that seek to expand and develop a dedicated domestic violence court; or 3) dedicated domestic violence courts within Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial or local jurisdictions that seek to enhance and expand to a more specialized domestic violence court infrastructure (e.g., Unified, Coordinated or Integrated Court system). Applicants seeking supplemental training grants are: court or court-based program applicants who partner with a nonprofit victim service organization and seek funding to develop training curricula and/or provide judicial education resources to court staff at the local, Territorial, Tribal, State or Federal levels.

Development Grants:

OVW will consider a court or court-based program applicant seeking funding to develop and implement a specialized court (e.g., domestic violence court model) as a candidate for a development grant. Development grants will be divided into a planning phase and an implementation phase over a 36-month period.

1) Planning Phase: Applicants must allocate a set amount of funds (up to $50,000) for the planning phase of the grant. Jurisdictions selected to develop projects will work with OVW and OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers to establish the foundation for developing a specialized docket or court infrastructure, or an integrated court system for handling sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking cases. (See Glossary at p. 35.) Applicants for development funding must set aside no less than 6 but not more than12 months for the planning phase. Proposed activities must include, but are not limited to, the following:

Establishing an advisory/consulting committee;

Coordinating and conducting planning meetings;

Hiring a case manager or docket coordinator;

Participating in site visits to established OVW-identified sexual assault or domestic violence courts;

Participating in OVW-sponsored technical assistance events; and

Developing specialized court policies and protocols.

2) Implementation Phase: Upon successfully completing the planning phase, grantees will begin implementing specialized court services over the remainder of the project period.

During this phase, grantees will continue to work with OVW and OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers to implement their specialized court projects.

Applicants applying for a development grant are required to set aside at least $15,000 of the total budget for OVW training and technical assistance. These funds will be used over the 36 month period of the grant project. Sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking are serious crimes that have life altering impact on victims, for whom inappropriate responses can increase danger or even lead to death. For this reason, OVW considers judicial and court personnel training and technical assistance a vital component of any project that seeks to address sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking. Grant recipients who fail to participate in OVW-sponsored training and technical assistance will not be eligible for future funding under this program. Participation includes, but is not limited to, sending judicial officers and other court staff to OVW-sponsored training events.

Supplemental Training Grants:

OVW will consider a court or court-based applicant, who partners with a nonprofit organization and seeks funding to develop training curricula and/or provide judicial education resources to court staff at the local, Tribal, Territorial, State, or Federal levels, as a candidate for a supplemental training grant. The award period for supplemental training grants will be 24 months.

Proposed projects must include, but are not limited to, the following:

Description of desired training/s and targeted participants (e.g., sexual assault training for judges and court administrators);

Detailed description of anticipated trainings/educational resources to be developed and whether this requires creating a customized curriculum for a specific region or local jurisdiction; and

Consultation and coordination with OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers (this should also be reflected in the proposed budget).

Availability of Funds All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law. Funding is not guaranteed. Requests should be tied to a specific project or proposal. Also, due to the limited funding available under the Courts Program, applicants should note that there are other funding opportunities available to courts and court-based programs such as STOP Violence Against Women Formula Program sub-grants, Consolidated Tribal Assistance, Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders, and Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program.7

Award Period The award period for these grants will be 24 months for training projects and 36 months for development projects. All budgets must reflect 24 or 36 months of project activity, and the total “estimated funding” (block 15) on the SF-424 must reflect 24 or 36 months.

Award Amounts Applicants should carefully consider the resources needed to successfully implement the project proposed and present a realistic budget that accurately reflects project costs. OVW encourages applicants to submit budgets ranging from $50,000 to $450,000, depending upon the type of project proposed. Grants may be made for greater or lesser amounts than

7 Information about these programs can be found on the Office on Violence Against Women website at http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov.

http:http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov requested. In addition, OVW may negotiate the scope of work with successful applicants to adjust budgets, prior to granting an award. The Courts Program funds for FY 2011 will be awarded based on the guidelines below:

Project Types Budget Cap

Judicial Education and Court Personnel Training Project $ 50,000 Domestic Violence Docket Project $100,000 Dedicated Domestic Violence Court Project $300,000 Sexual Assault Project $350,000 Specialized Domestic Violence Court Enhancement Project $450,000

Sexual Assault Project – 24 months Although the number of specialized domestic violence courts is rising across the U.S., there appear to be very few sexual assault courts.8 Therefore, OVW has a strong interest in supporting distinct projects that promote judicial attention in this area. Funding for sexual assault projects will support established/existing domestic violence courts that seek to expand their functions to include sexual assault cases and dockets dedicated to handling exclusively sexual assault cases. This includes, but is not limited to, hiring sexual assault advocates, exploring legal remedies for victims through on-site counsel, and developing screening tools for court intake staff. Please note: it is very unlikely that OVW will consider supporting a court project that focus solely on the management of sex offenders.

OVW will also consider applications from courts and court-based programs partnering with nonprofit organizations that propose to develop technical assistance targeting one or more of the following areas:

Sexual assault training for Federal and military judicial personnel; and Technical assistance and training on sexual assault and stalking affecting individuals with disabilities and/or the aging community.

Civil or Criminal Domestic Violence Protection Order Docket Project - 36 months The protection order9 docket is often the point of entry for victims into the judicial system and litigants in these cases frequently appear pro se.10 With this model, the court docket only addresses orders of protection for domestic violence cases. Petitions for protection orders and the hearings alleging violations of protection orders make up the court’s domestic violence docket. In larger jurisdictions, these cases are assigned to one judge who only handles protection orders. In smaller jurisdictions, the assigned judge may also have other types of cases but the protection order caseload is maintained separately as a specialized docket.11 Together with judges and court personnel trained in domestic violence issues, this model promotes victim safety, offender accountability, and informed judicial decision-making.

8 Other than Sex Offender Courts, there appear to be no other sexual assault court models within the United States.

There are however, a few Sex Offender Courts that have adapted the Domestic Violence Court model approach in handling intimate partner sexual assault cases (e.g., Erie County Sex Offense Court in Buffalo, NY exclusively handles sex offense cases which are primarily intimate partner abuse cases; and Milwaukee County in Wisconsin has a court dedicated to hearing only sexual assault and homicide cases).

9 See Glossary of Terms.

10 Sack, supra note 4 at 24.

This project should include:

A weekly or daily dedicated docket or specialized court calendar for handling sexual assault or domestic violence related civil or criminal protection orders;

Full-time specialized judge or judges (who rotate through the docket) to hear domestic violence cases;

Effective case monitoring and compliance follow-up;

A case coordinator to manage scheduling of the court docket/calendar;

On-site victim advocacy services;

Ongoing judicial education and court personnel training in domestic violence issues and promising practices (in coordination with designated OVW Judicial Technical Assistance Providers); and

Extensive collaboration with agencies and community-based organizations, in an effort to strengthen the entire community’s response to domestic violence.

Dedicated Domestic Violence Court Project – 36 months A domestic violence court exclusively hears domestic violence cases, with screening mechanisms established by the prosecutor or court clerks to identify eligible cases.

With this model there is a designated schedule for hearing domestic violence related matters on a daily or weekly basis that includes orders of protection as well as other family matters.

This project should include:

A full-time dedicated docket or specialized court calendar for handling domestic violence related civil or criminal protection orders and related family matters;

Full-time specialized judge or judges (who rotate through the docket) to hear domestic violence cases;

Effective case monitoring and compliance follow-up;

Case coordinator to manage scheduling of the court docket/calendar;

On-site victim advocacy services;

Ongoing judicial education and court personnel training in domestic violence issues and promising practices; and Extensive collaboration with agencies and community-based organizations, in an effort to strengthen the entire community’s response to domestic violence.

For the purposes of this program, a domestic violence court project that proposes less than a full-time domestic violence court calendar and/or assigned judicial operating staff will be reviewed as a domestic violence “docket” project.

Specialized Domestic Violence Court Enhancement Project – 36 months Specialized Domestic Violence Courts12 consist of specific infrastructure and procedural practices for handling domestic violence cases. This court model specifically addresses concerns of traditional domestic violence cases where multiple judges and attorneys handle different aspects of a case. Research strongly indicates that building extensive collaboration

12Susan Keilitz, Specialization of Domestic Violence Case Management in the Courts: A National Survey, National Center for State Courts (2001). In 2000, there were over 150 specialized domestic violence courts nationwide.

with community-based organizations and institutionalizing procedures that promote victim safety and offender accountability are key in developing this model.13

Specialized processes and services that promote enhanced services to sexual assault and domestic violence victims include but are not limited to:

Intake units for protection order cases;

Screening tools to track incidents of sexual assault in domestic violence cases;

Crisis intervention advocacy;

Interpreter services with expertise or training in sexual assault and/or domestic violence;

Case coordination mechanisms to identify, link, and track cases involving the same parties or their children;

Judicial review calendars or other mechanisms to monitor compliance with court orders;

and Coordinated data systems with real time access to Federal, State and local civil and criminal case information.

OVW recognizes that there are several versions of the specialized domestic violence court model and chooses to reference the most common versions.14 The following models tend to address more comprehensive issues that face families dealing with abuse and consider matters such as visitation and custody when issuing protection orders:15

Unified Family Court model - all civil matters involving the same family are assigned to a single judge. Criminal matters are assigned separately.

Coordinated Court model - both criminal domestic violence and related civil matters are assigned to the same court division but not to the same judge.

Integrated Domestic Violence Court model - one judge handles criminal domestic violence cases and the accompanying civil matters.

The infrastructure changes necessary for implementing these three court models include:

Establishing a local working group to create policies and procedures to guide planning and implementation of the specialized court;

Creating an administrative process for identifying eligible (e.g., State or local domestic violence registry linked with a court database) cases and ensuring individual cases remain distinct and are not consolidated;

Assigning a single judge to handle civil and/or criminal matters;

Working closely with legal stakeholders (i.e., prosecutors, defense attorneys, family court attorneys, guardians ad litem, etc.) to ensure representation for all litigants;

Creating a process of judicial monitoring of offenders in both criminal and civil cases;

13 Carol Turgeon, Bridging Theory and Practice: A Roundtable about Court Responses to Domestic Violence, Center for Court Innovation (November 2006).

14 Projects with less than a full-time domestic violence court calendar, judge and court staff will be considered domestic violence “docket” projects and not specialized domestic violence court enhancement projects for the purposes of this program.

15 See Glossary, pages 36-37.

Training and education for judges and court personnel to keep all staff informed of the latest research and best practices in the field in coordination with OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers (see Appendix A);

Establishing a unified and comprehensive database that captures information regarding services and compliance;

Reviewing existing security procedures and protocols to ensure sufficient security personnel, safe waiting areas for victims and separate areas for offenders;

Ensuring that appropriate levels of confidentiality of court records and proceedings are maintained; and

Facilitating immediate access to victim advocates who provide victims safety planning, counseling, and access to social services.

Judicial Education and Court Personnel Training Project – 24 months Funding for judicial education and court staff training will support projects seeking to provide training resources to court staff, including but not limited to, judges, court administrators, advocates, and case managers. Funding will support: 1) court staff participation in national training forums sponsored by OVW; and 2) customized local and statewide trainings in coordination with OVW designated technical assistance providers. (See Appendix A, OVW-designated Judicial Technical Assistance Providers.) Proposed activities should include at least one of the following:

Coordinating court staff participation in ongoing OVW sponsored trainings and judicial education forums;

Developing relevant and customized training curricula for local or State judges and court personnel in coordination with a designated OVW judicial technical assistance provider;

and

Utilizing OVW designated consultants to provide onsite assessment and/or assistance to judges and court staff with regard to case coordination and database system development for sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking cases.

Program Scope The scope of the Courts Program is defined by the following statutory program purpose areas and program special interest areas. Proposed projects must implement activities consistent with the statutory program purpose areas. Proposed projects must address at least one purpose area, but do not need to address multiple purpose or special interest areas in order to receive support.

During the OVW internal review, applications that are partially out of scope will receive up to a 25-point deduction. Applications that propose projects that are substantially outside the scope of the Courts Program statutory purpose areas will be disqualified from further funding consideration.

Statutory Program Purposes By statute, 42 U.S.C. §14043, funds under the Courts Program may be used for the following purposes:

Improving internal civil and criminal court functions, responses, practices and procedures;

Educating court-based and court-related personnel on issues relating to victims’ needs, including safety, security, privacy, confidentiality, and economical independence, as well as information about perpetrator behavior and best practices for holding perpetrators accountable;

Collaborating and training with Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, and local public agencies and officials and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations to improve implementation and enforcement of relevant Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial and local law;

Providing technical assistance to Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, or local courts wishing to improve their practices and procedures or to develop new programs. Priority consideration will be given to training and technical assistance projects that focus on sexual assault, dating violence and/or stalking; and

Enabling courts or court-based or court-related programs to develop new or enhance current— o Court infrastructure (such as specialized courts, dockets, intake centers or interpreter services);

o Community-based initiatives within the court system (such as court watch programs, victim assistance, or community based supplementary services);

between court systems;

o Education and outreach programs to improve community access, including enhanced access for underserved populations; and o Other projects likely to improve court responses to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.16

OVW Special Interest Areas

In Fiscal Year 2011, priority will be given to applications that propose to:

Develop innovative courts and court-based or court related programs to improve court responses to adult and youth sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, such as dedicated domestic violence court dockets, domestic violence court infrastructure or an integrated domestic violence court system;

Provide specialized intake centers to ensure sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking victims’ needs are being met when accessing court-related services;

Collaborate with law enforcement and probation to ensure offender accountability and participation in batterer intervention and/or rehabilitation treatment programs;

Address victims’ linguistic needs through interpreter and translation services;

Develop technical assistance specifically related to sexual assault and stalking targeting judicial and court personnel;

Provide comprehensive services to communities that have been traditionally underserved by describing the lead and/or partner’s demonstrated history and capacity to serve that community17;

16 42 USC 14043.

Enhance judicial decision-making in protection order cases that involve custody issues to facilitate more consistent and appropriate handling of cases involving domestic violence;

and/or hire staff (e.g., court liaison) to better meet the needs of families seeking supervised visitation and/or safe exchange arrangements in which domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and/or stalking is a factor; or

Develop onsite training in coordination with OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers (see Appendix A) and/or provide access to OVW-sponsored judicial trainings to ensure that local courts and court personnel have access to information about relevant Federal, State, Tribal and Territorial laws, and promising practices, procedures, and policies regarding court responses to adult and youth victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

Out-of-Scope Activities Although certain activities may appear to relate to the Statutory Program Purposes listed above, OVW has designated these activities to be out of the program scope. The following is a list of activities that are out of the scope of this program and cannot be supported by the Courts Program grant funding:

Family Violence For the purposes of this program, family violence issues that can be addressed with grant funds are limited to intimate partner relationships that involve current and former spouses, current and former dating couples, cohabiting couples or people with children in common.

Grant funds may not be used to directly address child abuse, or other family violence issues such as violence perpetrated by a child against a parent, or violence perpetrated by a sibling against another sibling. In addition, funds may not be used to develop court programs to address child sexual abuse cases.

Case Studies Applicants may not use grant funds for the purpose of conducting research through surveys or case studies to support a particular analysis or report.

Unallowable Activities

Grant funds under the Courts Program may not be used for any unauthorized purposes, including but not limited to the following activities:

carpeting); and The development and/or maintenance of websites.

17 The term “underserved populations” includes populations underserved because of geographic location, underserved racial and ethnic populations, and populations underserved because of special needs (such as language barriers, disabilities, alienage status, or age). 42 U.S.C. 13925(a) (33).

Activities That May Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery The following is a list of activities that have been found to jeopardize victim safety, deter or prevent physical and emotional healing for victims, or allow offenders to escape responsibility for their actions. OVW strongly encourages that you not include these activities in your application for funding:

Requiring victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking to file for a protection order, cooperate in an investigation or file criminal charges against their abuser as a condition of receiving services;

Sharing confidential victim information with outside organizations and/or individuals without the documented consent of the victim;

Referring victims to Child Protection Services solely for failure to protect their minor child when witnessing domestic violence except if required under State law;

Procedures that exclude victims from receiving assistance based on their age, immigration status, race, religion, sexual orientation, mental health condition, physical health condition, criminal record, work in the sex industry, or the age and/or gender of their children18;

Internet publication of registration or filing of a protection order, restraining order, or injunction in either the issuing or enforcing State, Tribal or Territorial jurisdiction if such publication would reveal the identity of the party protected by such order;

Failing to conduct safety planning with victims;

Crafting policies that deny individuals access to services based on their relationship to the perpetrator; and Procedures that would penalize victims of violence for failing to testify against their abusers or impose other sanctions on victims. Rather, procedures that provide victims with the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether to testify are encouraged.

Activities that compromise victim safety and recovery will be a factor reviewed during OVW internal review. Applications may be considered out of scope and rejected if significant activities are included that could compromise victim safety and recovery.

Confidentiality Applicants should be cognizant of victims’ confidentiality. Please see Reference Guide p. 7 for more information.

How To Apply

See the Reference Guide at pages 15-19 for instructions on “how to apply.”

What An Application Must Include

Applicants must complete each of the following sections as part of their response to this solicitation. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that its application is complete by the deadline. OVW may remove an application from consideration prior to peer review if the application is substantially incomplete or received after the deadline without prior permission as described in the Reference Guide at pages 17-19. For each

18 Discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin is prohibited in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d.

section listed below, please note the corresponding maximum point value that may be assigned during the peer review scoring process. The applicant should use headings and subheadings in the order below for ease of review. Peer reviewers may not receive any additional materials submitted beyond those required. For example, if an application includes a narrative that is 25 pages in length, the last five pages may be removed prior to peer review.

Applications must adhere to the following page format requirements:

Double spaced (except that any included graphs and charts may be single-spaced) 8½ x 11 inch paper One inch margins Type no smaller than 12 point, Times New Roman font Word processing documents must be in the following formats: Microsoft Word (.doc), PDF files (.pdf), or Text Documents (.txt).

Other requirements:

Include a brief Summary Data Sheet

Include a Project Abstract (please limit to one page)

Include a list of all current OVW projects as described below (if applicable)

No more than 20 pages for the Project Narrative (item III below)

Your application will be scored on the following sections:

Summary Data Sheet

Project Narrative

Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative

Sustainability Plan

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Letters of Support

We reserve the right to deduct points if the following materials are missing:

Proposal Abstract

Summary of Current OVW Projects

Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

Standard Assurances and Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension, and

Other Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (Form 4061/6) Financial Accounting Practices Letter of Nonsupplanting Financial Capability Questionnaire [If appropriate] Indirect Cost Rate Agreement [If appropriate] Memorandum of Understanding or Letters of Support

Sections I through XIV below describe the specific elements of a complete application.19

19 Failure to include a letter of certification (see page 6) constitutes a substantially incomplete application.

I. Summary Data Sheet (2 Points)

Please list the following information on a single page. The Summary Data Sheet should be a separate attachment to the application in Grants.gov and a separate section in the hard copy.

Name, title, address, phone number, and e-mail address for the authorized representative.

(Please see the Reference Guide at page 8 for more information on who can be an authorized representative.)

fiscal year for the applicant. Please specify the end date of the fiscal year.

Name of Federal, State, local, Tribal or Territorial court or court-based program that will serve as the lead applicant.

The regional area(s) (city, town, Tribal area, county, parish) where this project will be implemented.

Name(s) of other collaborating project partners who will be involved in project development and implementation.

The Courts Program Statutory Purpose Area(s) (see page 12) being addressed by the proposal.

II. Project Narrative (Total 63 Points)

The following narrative should be a separate attachment to the application in Grants.gov and a separate section in the hard copy. The Project Narrative may not exceed 20 pages in length, double-spaced. Please number the pages of your narrative.

A. Purpose of Application (10 points)

This section should briefly:

Describe how sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking cases are currently being handled within the relevant Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial or local court system;

Describe the court jurisdiction in which the project would be implemented, including location, population, and demographic information;

Identify the target population and state how the target population would benefit from the proposed project (please use current demographic information for the court jurisdiction in order to be as specific and detailed as possible when describing the population to be served);

sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and or stalking experience when attempting to access court services;

Explain why the proposed project is not funded by, and describe how the proposed project complements, the State’s STOP Violence Against Women 5% set-aside for courts (this is not required for applications from Tribal governments or nonprofit organizations); and

If the applicant has applied or is applying for multiple OVW grants, describe how this project complements the applicant’s other OVW projects without duplicating efforts.

This section will be rated on the detail with which you provide the above information as well as the quality of the proposed activities plus the following criteria:

The level of detail provided regarding the proposed service area and targeted population demonstrating the need for the project;

the needs identified and the gaps in services that currently exist to meet these needs;

STOP Violence Against Women Implementation Plan (this is not required for applications from Tribal governments); and

How the proposed project will complement other OVW-funded projects (if applicable), and not duplicate efforts.

B. What Will Be Done (40 points)

This section should:

Detail what you are currently doing to address victim safety and autonomy;

Describe how you plan to address victim safety and autonomy in the project;

Detail the project goals and objectives, describing the specific tasks and activities necessary to accomplish each;

Describe the type of project proposed and how it will improve the judicial handling of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking cases, ensure offender accountability, and promote informed judicial decision making;

Include a time frame that demonstrates how the activities will be accomplished within the 24- or 36-month grant cycle; and

Describe how additional funding will enhance any existing projects.

If this project includes the development of tangible products (e.g., a video, a brochure, or curriculum), this section should include a description of how the products will be used, and how judicial staff will benefit from their use. However, development of products is not a requirement of the Courts Program.

In addition, if applicants are proposing to use any technology (including, but not limited to, security systems, GPS, hotlines, and databases) they should explain how they plan to address any victim safety concerns that may arise from the use of the technology, such as confidentiality, safety planning, and informed consent.

This section will be rated on the detail with which you provide the above information as well as the quality of the proposed activities plus the following criteria:

How well the goals and objectives defined directly link to the need described within the Purpose of the Application;

How well the specific tasks and activities described relate to successfully meeting the goals and objectives described;

How well the timeline of the specific tasks and activities indicates that the project will be successfully implemented and completed within the timeline provided;

How well the products that are proposed for creation or distribution with grant funds are described;

C. Who Will Implement the Project (10 points)

Development Grants:

Applicants must identify the agency(ies) or office(s) responsible for implementing the project. Applicants must also identify all of the intended project partners, specifying their respective roles and responsibilities, and the collaborative relationship to be developed or enhanced. A description of the expertise or experience of key staff should also be included. Position descriptions and resumes that are available should be appended to the application. Applicants under this program may not issue a Solicitation/RFP to redistribute these funds after receiving an award.

A case manager or a docket coordinator position must be created to implement a domestic violence docket or domestic violence court model. Applicants should designate a single Point-of-Contact for domestic violence in the administrative arm of the court.

In addition, all applicants proposing to create a domestic violence court docket, domestic violence court or integrated court are required to coordinate with one or more of the following OVW-designated judicial technical assistance providers20:

Center for Court Innovation;

Family Violence Prevention Fund;

Legal Momentum National Judicial Education Program;

National Center for State Courts; or

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

While there is an important role for community victim advocates to play in the creation of a domestic violence docket or domestic violence court model, this does not preclude applicants from requesting support for government agency victim services. However, the budget and budget narrative must distinguish between the two and should include compensation for the contributions of nonprofit, victim service agencies. In addition, if funding is requested for both governmental victim assistance and non-profit non governmental advocacy, the project narrative must explain how these different entities will collaborate.

Victim service providers can…