PKG00247029-instructions..pdf

OMB Number - 1122-0020 Expiration Date: 12/31/2018

U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

OVW Fiscal Year 2019 Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and

Stalking Program

Solicitation

Release Date: on or about December 18, 2018

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are limited to:

states and territories, Indian tribes, local governments, and nonprofit (public or private) entities, including tribal nonprofit organizations.

(See “Eligibility Information”)

Deadlines

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (E.T.) on February 14, 2019.

(See “Submission Dates and Times”)

Registration Information: To submit an application, all applicants must obtain a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) Number and register online with the System for Award Management (SAM) and with Grants.gov. To ensure sufficient time to complete the registration process, applicants must obtain a DUNS Number and register online with SAM and with Grants.gov immediately, but no later than January 23, 2019.

(See “Registration”) https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ ii

Letter of Intent: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent to ovw.rural@usdoj.gov by January 29, 2019. This letter confirms that the applicant has registered with SAM and Grants.gov. Submitting a Letter of Intent will not obligate a potential applicant to submit an application. Interested applicants who do not submit a Letter of Intent are still eligible to apply.

(See “Letter of Intent”)

Pre-Application Information Session: OVW will post a pre-recorded Pre-Application Information Session on its website for entities interested in submitting an application for this program. Listening to this session is optional. Interested applicants who do not listen to the pre-recorded session are still eligible to apply. The session is tentatively scheduled to be available by January 4, 2019 on the OVW website.

(See “Pre-Application Information Session”)

Contact Information

For assistance with the requirements of this solicitation, email OVW at ovw.rural@usdoj.gov.

Alternatively, interested parties may call OVW at (202) 307-6026.

Submission and Notification Information

Submission: Applications for this program will be submitted through Grants.gov. For technical assistance with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Line at 1-800-518-4726.

The Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement is OVW- 2019-15825.

Notification: OVW anticipates notifying applicants of funding decisions by October 1, 2019.

mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov https://www.justice.gov/ovw/open-solicitations mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ iii

Contents A. Program Description

Overview

Purpose Areas

OVW Priority Areas

Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery and Undermine Offender Accountability

Out-of-Scope Activities

Activities Requiring Prior Approval

B. Federal Award Information Availability of Funds

Award Period and Amounts

Types of Applications Mandatory Program Requirements

C. Eligibility Information Eligible Applicants

Cost Sharing or Matching

Other Program Eligibility Requirements

D. Application and Submission Information Address to Request Application Package

Pre-Application Information Session

Content and Form of Application Submission

Formatting and Technical Requirements

Application Contents

Summary Data Sheet Proposal Abstract

Project Narrative

Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Additional Required Information

OVW Policy on Late Submissions

Intergovernmental Review - Single Point of Contact Review

Funding Restrictions iv

Other Submission Requirements

Submitting a Grant Application

E. Application Review Information Criteria

Review and Selection Process

Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information Federal Award Notices

Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Reporting

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) H. Other Information

Application Checklist

OVW Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program

(CFDA 16.589)

A. Program Description Overview The Office on Violence Against Women (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 sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. OVW grants support coordinated community responses to hold offenders accountable and serve victims.

About the OVW Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program (Rural Program) This program is authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (34 U.S.C. § 12341). The Rural Program supports efforts to enhance the safety of rural victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking and supports projects uniquely designed to address and prevent these crimes in rural areas. For additional information about this program see https://www.justice.gov/ovw/grant-programs and https://www.vawamei.org/grant-program/rural-program/

Program Scope Activities supported by this program are determined by statute, federal regulations, and OVW policies. If an applicant receives an award, the funded project is bound by the provisions of this solicitation, the DOJ Financial Guide, including updates to the guide after an award is made, the section of the Solicitation Companion Guide entitled “Post-Award Requirements for All Federal Award Recipients,” and the conditions of the award.

Purpose Areas Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12341, funds under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes:

1. To identify, assess, and appropriately respond to child, youth, and adult victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural communities, by encouraging collaboration among domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking victim service providers; law enforcement agencies; prosecutors; courts;

other criminal justice service providers; human and community service providers;

educational institutions; and health care providers, including sexual assault forensic examiners;

2. To establish and expand nonprofit, nongovernmental, State, tribal, territorial, and local government victim services in rural communities to child, youth, and adult victims; and

3. To increase the safety and well-being of women and children in rural communities, by--

(A) dealing directly and immediately with domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking occurring in rural communities; and

(B) creating and implementing strategies to increase awareness and prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/grant-programs https://www.vawamei.org/grant-program/rural-program/ https://www.vawamei.org/grant-program/rural-program/ https://www.justice.gov/ovw/file/1030311/download https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants

For many applicants, the Rural Program is one of the few sources of funding to support the provision of core services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. For this reason, OVW will only fund applications that propose projects that implement a collaborative response, support victim services, and/or create a direct response to these crimes in rural communities. Proposed projects must devote at least 70% of their project activities and budget to Rural Program purpose areas 1, 2 and/or 3(A). Applicants may apply to address purpose area 3(B), but no more than 30%1 of the project budget and activities may be dedicated to prevention and awareness activities.

In addition to the purpose areas, Rural Program grantees are required to implement at least one of the strategies specified in 34 U.S.C. § 12341(b)(1)-(5):

1. Implementing, expanding, and establishing cooperative efforts and projects among law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other related parties to investigate and prosecute incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, including developing multidisciplinary teams focusing on high risk cases with the goal of preventing domestic and dating violence homicides;

2. Providing treatment, counseling, advocacy, legal assistance, and other long-term and short-term victim and population specific services to adult and minor victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in rural communities, including assistance in immigration matters;

3. Working in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies directed toward such issues;

4. Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs addressing sexual assault, including sexual assault forensic examiner programs, Sexual Assault Response Teams, law enforcement training, and programs addressing rape kit backlogs; and

5. Developing programs and strategies that focus on the specific needs of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking who reside in remote rural and geographically isolated areas, including addressing the challenges posed by the lack of access to shelters and victims services, limited law enforcement resources and training, and providing training and resources to Community Health Aides involved in the delivery of Indian Health Service programs.

OVW Priority Areas In FY 2019, OVW is interested in supporting the priority area(s) identified below. Applications proposing activities in the following areas will be given special consideration:

1. Reduce violent crime against women and promote victim safety. Applications addressing this priority area, through activities proposed under purpose areas 34 U.S.C. § 12341(a)(1), (2) & (3)(A), must describe how the proposed activities would reduce violent crime and promote victim safety. In addition, applicants are required to use at least one of the five strategies identified above.

2. Increase the response to victims of human trafficking. Applicants must identify how they will engage in outreach to trafficked victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking and tailor services to address the unique needs of these victims.

Applicants are encouraged to support victim services projects that create a direct and immediate response for individuals who are both victims of trafficking and of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Applicants proposing to serve

1 OVW may approve project budgets that allocate a higher than 30% for prevention and awareness activities where strong justification is provided by the applicant.

trafficking victims must specify this in their application and must demonstrate capacity to serve this population, either through their own expertise and experience or through partnerships with organizations and/or agencies that have such expertise and experience. Applicants are required to partner with federal, state, and/or local law enforcement and prosecution to develop comprehensive response protocols to ensure that trafficking victims are identified and referred for appropriate services. Applicants proposing to address this priority must also submit an MOU with a law enforcement or prosecution agency.

3. Include substance abuse professionals in a coordinated community response to VAWA crimes and increase victim access to substance abuse services. Applicants are encouraged to partner with agencies that provide assistance to victims with substance abuse and mental health issues.

4. Increase efforts to combat stalking. Applicants are encouraged to address stalking in their proposed projects.

Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery and Undermine Offender Accountability OVW does not fund activities that jeopardize victim safety, deter or prevent physical or emotional healing for victims, or allow offenders to escape responsibility for their actions.

Information on activities that compromise victim safety and recovery and undermine offender accountability may be found in the Solicitation Companion Guide.

Applications that propose any activities that compromise victim safety and recovery or undermine offender accountability may receive a deduction in points during the review process or may be eliminated from consideration entirely.

Out-of-Scope Activities The activities listed below are out of the program scope, and they will not be supported by this program’s funding.

1. Research projects (This does not include program assessments conducted only for internal improvement purposes. For information about DOJ regulations on research involving human subjects, see “Research and Protection of Human Subjects” in the Solicitation Companion Guide).

2. Child abuse or family violence issues such as violence perpetrated by a child against a parent or violence perpetrated by a sibling against another sibling.

3. Services to children for anything other than child sexual assault or services beyond ancillary services provided to a victim’s child when there is an inextricable link between a parent’s victimization and the child’s need for services and in connection to providing victim services for the parent. For example, funds may be used to provide services to children of battered clients residing in a shelter.

4. Education and prevention for students not specifically related to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking, such as “bullying” or “character building” educational programs.

Applications that propose activities that are deemed to be substantially out-of-scope may receive a deduction in points during the review process or may be eliminated from consideration entirely.

Activities Requiring Prior Approval Grantees must receive prior approval before using grant funds to support surveys.

B. Federal Award Information

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. There is no guarantee that funds will be available in the future. OVW may elect to make awards in a future fiscal year for applications submitted under this solicitation but not selected for FY 2019 funding, depending on the merits of the applications and the availability of funding.

Award Period and Amounts The award period is 36 months. Budgets must reflect 36 months of project activity, and the total “estimated funding” on the SF-424 must reflect 36 months. Generally, the award period will start on October 1, 2019.

This program typically makes awards in the range of $350,000 - $750,000. OVW estimates that it will make up to 50 awards for an estimated $35,000,000.

Funding levels under this program for FY 2019 are:

1. Continuation applications are limited to $750,000 for the entire 36 months.

2. New applications are limited to $500,000 for the entire 36 months.

OVW has the discretion to make awards for greater or lesser amounts than requested and to negotiate the scope of work and budget with applicants prior to making an award.

Awards will be made as grants.

Types of Applications In FY 2019, OVW will accept the following types of applications for this program from the following:

New: applicants that have never received funding under this program or whose previous funding expired more than 12 months ago.

Continuation: applicants that have an existing or recently closed (within the last 12 months) award under this program and/or an applicant that received funding under this program in FY 2015 or earlier that does not qualify as a new applicant as defined above. Continuation funding is not guaranteed.

This program’s grant recipients that received an FY 2017 or 2018 award(s) are NOT eligible to apply.

Additionally, current grantees with a substantial amount of funds remaining (50% of the award) at the time of application submission without adequate justification may not be considered for funding, or may receive a reduced award amount if selected for funding in FY 2019.

Mandatory Program Requirements Applicants that receive funding under this program will be required to engage in the following activities:

1. Participate in OVW-sponsored training and technical assistance.

2. Attend a new grantee orientation unless exempted by OVW.

3. Provide services within statutorily defined rural areas and communities.

Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12341(d)(5), at least 75% of the total amount of funding made available for this program must be allocated to eligible entities located in “rural states.” The term “rural state” means a state that has a population density of 57 or fewer persons per square mile or a state in which the largest county has fewer than 250,000 people, based on the most recent decennial census.2

Regardless of whether an application is submitted by an entity from a rural state or a non-rural state, all applicants must target services in a rural area or community. The statute defines the terms “rural area” and “rural community” as:

(A) any area or community, respectively, no part of which is within an area designated as a standard metropolitan statistical area by the Office of Management and Budget;

(B) any area or community, respectively, that is—

(i) within an area designated as a metropolitan statistical area or considered as part of a metropolitan statistical area; and

(ii) located in a rural census tract; or

(C) any federally recognized Indian tribe. See 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(26).

C. Eligibility Information

Applications that are submitted by ineligible entities or that do not meet all program eligibility requirements will not be considered for funding. In addition, an application that is 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, and 6. timeliness. Further, an applicant with past performance issues, long-standing open audits, or an open criminal investigation also may not be considered for funding.

Eligible Applicants The following entities are eligible to apply for this program:

1. States and territories;3

2 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(27). NOTE: The following states and territories are designated as “rural” based on the definition of “rural state” and the 2010 Census: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming and the U.S. Territories: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands.

3 A state is any of the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(31). Note, although the District of Columbia is included in the statutory definition of “state,” due to the rural service area program eligibility requirement, the District of Columbia is not eligible for this grant program.

2. Indian tribes;4

3. Local governments;5 and

4. Nonprofit (public or private) entities, including tribal nonprofit organizations.6

Nonprofit Organization Requirement – Offshore Accounts.

Any nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code is not eligible for a grant from this program. See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(b)(16)(B)(ii).

Cost Sharing or Matching This program has no match or cost sharing requirement.

Other Program Eligibility Requirements In addition to meeting the eligible entity requirements outlined above, applications for this program must also meet the requirements below. All certification and other eligibility related documents must be current and developed in accordance with the FY 2019 solicitation.

Eligible Service Area To be eligible to receive Rural Program funding, an applicant must demonstrate that it proposes to serve a rural area or rural community. Every application (other than those submitted by federally recognized Indian tribes, which are statutorily defined as “rural”) must include the proper printed documentation demonstrating that the proposed service area meets this eligibility requirement. Instructions to complete the documentation process (“Rural Eligibility Documentation Process”) can be found on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1119056/download.

1. Applications must propose to serve a rural area or rural community, as defined by 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(26) to mean (a) any area or community, respectively, no part of which is within an area designated as a standard metropolitan statistical area by the Office of Management and Budget; (b) any area or community, respectively, that is (i) within an area designated as a metropolitan statistical area or considered part of a metropolitan statistical area; and (ii) located in a rural census tract; or (c) any federally recognized Indian tribe. Note that all areas outside of this definition cannot be served with funding from this Program.

2. Carefully read the directions outlined in the Rural Eligibility Documentation Process, available at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1119056/download, and submit documentation for all areas the application proposes to serve, i.e. every county and/or census tract. If proposing to serve a town, city, or area within a county, the application must clearly identify which census tract(s) in that county the communities to be served

4 The term “Indian tribe” refers to a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation (as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(16).

5 For purposes of this grant program, a local government is a unit of local government defined by statute as any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state. See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(40).

6 A tribal nonprofit organization means a victim services provider that has as its primary purpose to assist Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and staff and leadership of the organization must include persons with a demonstrated history of assisting American Indian or Alaska Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(37).

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1119056/download are in and include corresponding documentation that demonstrates they are eligible rural census tracts.

3. The only documentation that will be accepted is described in the Rural Eligibility Documentation Process, available at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1119056/download. Other types of documentation (from other sources, showing different information, etc.) will NOT be accepted.

Required Partnerships Eligible applications must include a victim service provider as a formal project partner and/or the lead applicant, as demonstrated through a required Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Letters of Support (for state, tribal, territory or local court applicants only, if applicable). A victim service provider is a nonprofit, nongovernmental or tribal organization or rape crisis center7, including a state or tribal domestic violence and/or sexual assault coalition, that assists or advocates for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking victims, including a domestic violence shelter, faith-based organization or other organization, with a documented history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(43). Victim service providers must provide direct services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking as one of their primary purposes and have a demonstrated history of effective work in this field.

Eligible applications, including those submitted by a victim service provider, must include at least one project partner, and must include agencies and organizations necessary to implement the proposed project. These partners may include victim service providers addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking; law enforcement agencies;

prosecutors; courts; other criminal justice service providers; human and community service providers; educational institutions; and/or health care providers, including sexual assault forensic examiners. See 34 U.S.C. § 12341(a)(1).

Delivery of Legal Assistance Certification Pursuant to U.S.C. § 12291(b)(12), to be eligible for an award, any recipient or subrecipient providing legal assistance with funds awarded under this program must certify in writing that:

1. any person providing legal assistance with funds through this program

(A) has demonstrated expertise in providing legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in the targeted population; or (B)

i. is partnered with an entity or person that has demonstrated expertise described in subparagraph (A); and

ii. has completed, or will complete, training in connection with domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking and related legal issues, including training on evidence-based risk factors for domestic and dating violence homicide;

7 For the purposes of this grant program, a rape crisis center means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or tribal organization, or governmental entity in a state other than a territory that provides intervention and related assistance, as specified in 34 U.S.C. § 12511(b)(2)(C), to victims of sexual assault without regard to their age. In the case of a governmental entity, the entity may not be part of the criminal justice system (such as a law enforcement agency) and must be able to offer a comparable level of confidentiality as a nonprofit entity that provides similar victim services. 34 U.S.C. §12291(a)(25).

2. any training program conducted in satisfaction of the requirement of paragraph (1) has been or will be developed with input from and in collaboration with a tribal, state, territorial, or local domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking victim service provider or coalition, as well as appropriate tribal, state, territorial, and local law enforcement officials;

3. any person or organization providing legal assistance with funds through this program has informed and will continue to inform state, local, or tribal domestic violence, dating violence, or sexual assault programs and coalitions, as well as appropriate state and local law enforcement officials of their work; and

4. the grantee’s organizational policies do not require mediation or counseling involving offenders and victims physically together, in cases where sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or child sexual abuse is an issue.

This certification shall take the form of a letter, on letterhead, signed and dated by the authorized representative. Failure to provide a letter certifying to these requirements may disqualify an application from further consideration. At a minimum, an application missing the required legal assistance certification letter will be required to submit a certification letter prior to receiving an award. The signed certification letter must be uploaded as a separate attachment in Grants.gov. A sample Certification Letter can be found on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants.

Limit on Number of Applications OVW will consider only one application per organization for the same service area in response to this solicitation. In addition, if an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, OVW will review only the most recent system-validated version submitted before the deadline.

D. Application and Submission Information

Address to Request Application Package The complete application package (this solicitation, including links to required forms) is available on Grants.gov or the OVW website. Applicants wishing to request a paper copy of these materials should contact OVW at ovw.rural@usdoj.gov or (202) 305-1660.

Pre-Application Information Session: OVW will post a pre-recorded Pre-Application Information Session on its website for entities interested in submitting an application for this program. Listening to this session is optional. Interested applicants who do not listen to the pre-recorded session are still eligible to apply. The session is tentatively scheduled to be available by January 4, 2018 on the OVW website. The session will be captioned in English and Spanish. Interested applicants needing additional language assistance should contact this program’s POC at ovw.rural@usdoj.gov or at (202) 305-1660 as soon as possible, but no later than December 21, 2018.

Content and Form of Application Submission The information below (“Letter of Intent through “Additional Required Information”) describes the full content and form of application submission. For a complete checklist of required contents, see the “Other Information” section in this solicitation.

Letter of Intent Applicants intending to apply for FY 2019 funding under this program are strongly encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent. The letter should state that the applicant is registered and current https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.justice.gov/ovw/open-solicitations mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov https://www.justice.gov/ovw/open-solicitations mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov with SAM and with Grants.gov. The letter should be submitted to OVW at ovw.rural@usdoj.gov by January 29, 2019. This letter will not obligate the applicant to submit an application. See https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants for a sample Letter of Intent.

Formatting and Technical Requirements Applications must follow the requirements below. Points may be deducted for applications that do not adhere to the following requirements:

1. Double spaced (Project Abstract, Summary Data Sheet and charts may be single spaced)

2. 8½ x 11 inch paper

3. One-inch margins

4. Type no smaller than 12 point, Times New Roman font

5. Page numbers

6. No more than 20 pages for the Project Narrative

7. Word documents in the following formats: Microsoft Word (.doc), PDF files (.pdf), or Text

Documents (.txt).

8. Headings and sub-headings that correspond to the sections identified in this section of the solicitation.

Application Contents Applications must include the following required documents and demonstrate that the program eligibility requirements have been met. OVW will not contact applicants for missing items on the list below. Applications that do not include all of the following documents will be considered substantially incomplete and will not be considered for funding:

1. Project Narrative

2. Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative

3. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Letter(s) of Support (for state, tribal, territory or local court applicants only, if applicable)

4. Eligible Service Area Documentation

Summary Data Sheet (5 Points Total) The Summary Data Sheet should be one to four pages and may be single or double spaced.

The Summary Data Sheet does not count toward the 20 page limit for the Project Narrative.

Provide the following information:

1. Name, title, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the individual with authority to accept grants on behalf of the applicant.

2. Name, title, address, telephone number, and e-mail address for the grant point-of-contact. This person must be an employee of the applicant.

3. Statement as to whether the applicant (the organization whose DUNS number is being used for the application) will serve as a fiscal agent/sponsor for an entity or entities that will implement the project, and the applicant itself will not be involved with implementation of the project beyond issuing subaward(s) to these entities. If this is the case, the applicant also must list these subrecipients and include a statement acknowledging that, should an award be made, the applicant will be responsible for all applicable statutory, fiscal, and programmatic requirements, including those of 2 C.F.R.

Part 200, as well as all project deliverables. In such situations, the fiscal agent/sponsor must be an eligible applicant for the program.

4. Statement as to whether the applicant has expended $750,000 in federal funds in the applicant’s past fiscal year. If so, specify the end date of the applicant’s fiscal year.

http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl

5. Summary of current and pending OVW grants (if applicable). If the applicant has a current grant or cooperative agreement under any OVW grant program or an award that has been closed within the last 12 months from the date this solicitation closes, the information must be provided in a table using the sample format found on the OVW website https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants. Failure to provide the required table will result in a loss of points. The applicant should also provide the same information regarding any current OVW grants or pending applications on which the applicant is a subrecipient.

6. A list of other federal grant programs from which the applicant currently receives funding or for which it has applied for funding in FY 2019 to do similar work. Provide this information in a table using the sample format found on the OVW website https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants .

7. Statement as to whether the applicant is a nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

8. Statement as to whether the applicant is a nonprofit organization that uses the Internal Revenue Service's three-step safe-harbor procedure to establish a rebuttable presumption that its executives' compensation is reasonable. If the applicant is not a nonprofit organization or is a nonprofit that does not use the safe-harbor procedure, provide a statement to that effect. For additional information about the safe-harbor procedure, see "Disclosure of Process Related to Executive Compensation" in the Additional Required Information section.

9. The percentage of grant activities, should the application be funded, that will address each of the following issues (the total percentages should not exceed 100%):

• Sexual assault;

• Domestic violence;

• Dating/teen dating violence; and

• Stalking.

10. Identify which, if any of the FY 2019 OVW Priority areas the application addresses.

Proposal Abstract (not scored) The Proposal Abstract must provide a short summary (no more than two pages double-spaced) of the proposed project, including names of applicant and partners, primary activities, products and deliverables, the service area, and who will benefit. Applicants must not summarize past accomplishments in this section.

Project Narrative (60 Points Total) The Project Narrative may not exceed 20 pages, double-spaced. The Project Narrative must include the following three sections:

Purpose of Application (15 points) This section must:

1. Describe the targeted rural service area(s), including the geographic location, the populations within the rural service area(s), current and relevant demographic statistics for the targeted service area, and any marginalized and/or underserved population(s);8

2. Describe the problem to be addressed, including local statistics/data whenever possible;

8 Applicants should use U.S. Census and other government data, as well as the Limited English Proficient Mapping Tool, available at www.lep.gov/maps/, to obtain this information.

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants http://www.lep.gov/maps/

3. Identify current services available to victims in the targeted rural service area(s);

4. Identify any gaps in services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking within the targeted rural service area(s);

5. Describe how grant funding will address the identified problem and how the proposed project will help alleviate service gaps;

6. If the project is to serve more than one county and/or census tract, specifically describe how services and/or activities will be accessed and/or implemented within each county and/or census tract;

7. Clearly identify where the applicant organization is located in relationship to the service area, and specifically describe where all grant funded positions (for both the applicant and any partner organizations) will be located in terms of the project service area;

8. If the applicant is located in a non-rural area and/or is an agency serving both rural and non-rural areas, describe how the proposed project and requested funding, including all proposed activities and costs, directly benefit only the rural area(s) and/or rural community(ies);

9. Identify project partners who identify with, or are representative of, the marginalized and/or underserved population (if applicable); and

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

What Will Be Done (35 points) The application must provide a clear link between the proposed activities and the need identified in the “Purpose of Application” section above.

1. Describe measurable goals and objectives for the proposed project;

2. If the applicant is applying to serve trafficked victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, identify how outreach and services will be tailored to address the unique needs of these victims;

3. If the applicant is applying to reduce violent crime against women and promote victim safety, describe how activities would reduce violent crime and promote victim safety;

4. If the applicant is applying to include substance abuse professionals in a coordinated community response to VAWA crimes and increase victim access to substance abuse services, describe partnerships with agencies that provide assistance to victims with substance abuse and mental health issues.

5. If the applicant is applying to increase efforts to combat stalking, describe efforts to combat stalking.

6. Describe in detail the specific tasks and activities necessary to accomplish each goal and objective;

7. Include a timeline that identifies when the tasks and activities will be accomplished;

8. Describe the expected outcomes. At a minimum, the applicant should quantify expected outputs for each activity for each year of the project (e.g. number of victims to be served;

number of domestic violence cases to be investigated; number of trainings to be provided and the number of individuals to be trained);

9. Describe how the applicant plans to address victim safety, confidentiality and autonomy in the project;

10. Describe any proposed training or educational course content;

11. State whether grant funds will be used to develop any tangible products (brochures, posters, curricula, etc.). (Note: product development is not required);

12. For applicants proposing to provide direct legal services, provide a supervision and mentoring plan for attorney staff involved in the project; and

13. Describe how the proposed project will be accessible to individuals with disabilities, individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and persons with limited English proficiency.

Who Will Implement the Project (10 points)

1. Identify the key individuals and organizations involved in the proposed project;

2. Demonstrate that the individuals and organizations identified have the capacity to address the stated need, including the expertise necessary to appropriately serve any marginalized and/or underserved populations identified in the Purpose of the Application section, and can successfully implement the proposed project activities;

3. Identify all project partners, specify their respective roles and responsibilities, and describe the collaborative relationship to be developed or enhanced;

4. Describe the experience and expertise of the project partners that will be directly involved with the project to serve victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking;

5. Clearly demonstrate that any partnerships required by the solicitation have been developed; and

6. Clearly demonstrate that staff, partners, and consultants are reflective of the culturally specific or marginalized communities to be served by the project activities and have knowledge or experience relevant to the targeted communities.

Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative (15 Points) All applications must include a detailed budget and budget narrative. A sample Budget Detail Worksheet is available on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants. Keep in mind that budgetary requirements vary among programs. Applicants must submit reasonable budgets based on the resources needed to implement their projects in their specific geographic location.

Award Period and Amount The FY 2019 Rural Program award period is 36 months and will generally begin on October 1, 2019. Funding levels under the Rural Program for FY 2019 are as follows:

1. Continuation applications are limited to $750,000

2. New applications are limited to $500,000

The budget and budget narrative will be reviewed separately from the proposed project narrative. The budget narrative must describe each line item requested in the budget and explain all costs included in the budget, including how the costs of goods and services are determined and how they will fulfill the objectives of the project.

The budget must:

1. Display a clear link between the specific project activities and the proposed budget items and not contain items that are not supported by the project narrative.

2. Include funds to attend OVW-sponsored training and technical assistance in the amount of $10,000 for applications from organizations located in the 48 contiguous states and $15,000 for applications from the U.S. territories, Hawaii, and Alaska. This amount is for the entire 36-month project period and NOT per year. Applicants also may budget expenses in excess of the required amount if they are aware of relevant non-OVW sponsored conferences or training for which they would like permission to use grant funds to support staff/project partner attendance.

3. Include funds or describe other resources available to the applicant to support activities to ensure access for individuals with disabilities, Deaf/hard of hearing individuals, and persons with limited English proficiency. See Accessibility under F. Federal Award Administration Information for more information.

4. Compensate all project partners as reflected in the MOU/Letter(s) of Support. For more information on compensating project partners, see the sample Budget Detail Worksheet on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants.

5. Distinguish clearly between subawards and contracts in allocating any grant funds to other entities. Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.330, a subaward is for the purpose of carrying out a portion of the federal award, such as compensating an MOU partner, and a contract is for the purpose of obtaining goods and services for the grantee’s own use.

The substance of the relationship is more important than the form of the agreement in determining whether the recipient of the pass-through funds is a subrecipient or a contractor. The awarding and monitoring of contracts must follow the recipient’s documented procurement procedures, including full and open competition, pursuant to the procurement standards in 2 C.F.R. §§ 200.317-200.329. The issuance and monitoring of subawards must meet the requirements of 2 C.F.R. § 200.331, which includes oversight of subrecipient/partner spending and monitoring performance measures and outcomes attributable to grant funds. For more information, see the sample Budget Detail Worksheet and the Solicitation Companion Guide on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants.

OVW awards are governed by the provisions of 2 C.F.R. Part 200 and the DOJ Financial Guide, which include information on allowable costs, methods of payment, audit requirements, accounting systems, and financial records. For additional information on allowable and unallowable costs, go to the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation and the sample Budget Detail Worksheet on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Letters of Support (20 Points Total) For purposes of this solicitation, the MOU is a document containing the terms of the partnership and the roles and responsibilities between two or more parties. The MOU must be a single document and must be signed and dated by the Authorized Representative of each proposed partner organization during the development of the application. If necessary, an MOU can include multiple signature pages so long as each page includes the names and titles of all signatories to the MOU.

The MOU must:

1. Clearly identify the partners and provide a brief history of the collaborative relationship among those partners, including when and under what circumstances the relationship began and when each partner entered into the relationship;

2. Clearly state the roles and responsibilities each partner will assume to ensure the success of the proposed project;

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3. Clearly state that each project partner has reviewed and approved the budget and is aware of the total amount being requested and the funding being requested for each project partner;

4. Directly mirror the project as described in “What Will Be Done” section (goals, objectives and activities) and budget;

5. Include all relevant agencies or organizations that will collaborate to implement the goals, objectives and activities of the proposed project;

6. Specify the extent of each partner’s participation in developing the application;

7. Demonstrate a commitment on the part of all project partners to work together to achieve stated project goals;

8. Describe the resources each partner would contribute to the project, either through time, in-kind contributions, or grant funds (e.g., office space, project staff, and training);

9. Adequately demonstrate the correlation between the issue(s) to be addressed and the expertise of proposed organizations and key staff/positions;

10. Include the titles and agencies of all signatories under their signatures. A sample MOU is available at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants; and

11. Include partners reflective of any OVW priorities to be implemented, including information regarding their relevant experience and participation in developing the project.

Applicants applying under the trafficking priority area must also:

1. Clearly identify which organization(s) has the expertise in providing services to victims of trafficking. Include how many years the organization(s) has been providing services for victims of trafficking.

2. Detail the personnel designated to provide legal and/or support services to victims of trafficking, including: a) the name and title of each person; and b) how many years each staff person has been providing services to victims of trafficking.

3. Include a federal, state, and/or local law enforcement or prosecution agency in the MOU to develop comprehensive response protocols to ensure that trafficking victims are identified and referred for appropriate services.

Letter(s) of Support (for state, tribal, territory and local court applicants only, if applicable) Court applicants, if they are precluded from entering into MOUs, may submit letters of support.

Each letter of support must clearly identify what service gaps exist, how the project will bridge the gap(s), and how the court that submitted the letter will be involved with implementing project activities. The letters should clearly demonstrate what role the court, victim service providers, or other service providers will have in achieving the goals and objectives of the project.

Additional Required Information The following documents will not be scored during the review process but they must be included with the application. Failure to include any of the information may result in the application being removed from consideration for funding. Some documents will be generated during the application submission process while other documents will be uploaded and attached to the application.

The following documents will be generated and completed during the application submission process:

Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

Applicants must complete the SF-424 on Grants.gov. For “Type of Applicant,” do not select “other.” The amount of federal funding requested in the “Estimated Funding” section of this form must match the amount of federal funding requested in the budget section of the application package. This program does not requires a match; therefore, the values for the Applicant line should be zero. The individual who is listed in “Authorized Representative” must be an individual who has the authority to apply for and accept grant awards on behalf of the organization or jurisdiction.

Standard Assurances and Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility…