PKG00256880-instructions..pdf

OMB Number - 1122-0020 Expiration Date: 01/31/2022

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

OVW Fiscal Year 2020 Rural Domestic Violence, Dating

Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program

Solicitation

Release Date: on or about November 26, 2019

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are limited to:

States and territories, Indian tribes, local governments, and nonprofit (public or private) entities, including tribal nonprofit organizations in the United States or U.S. territories.

(See “Eligibility Information”)

Deadlines

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (E.T.) on January 27, 2020.

(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 13, 2020.

(See “Registration”)

Letter of Intent: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent to ovw.rural@usdoj.gov by January 13, 2020. This letter confirms that the applicant has registered https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:ovw.rural@usdoj.gov ii 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 non-binding 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 December 17, 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 Applicant Support Line at 1-800-518-4726

The Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement is OVW-2020-17673.

Notification: OVW anticipates notifying applicants of funding decisions by October 1, 2020.

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

Contents A. Program Description

Overview of OVW

About the OVW Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program (Rural Program)

Program Scope

Purpose Areas

OVW Priority Areas

Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery or 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)/Letters of Support

Additional Required Information iv

Unique Entity Identifier (DUNS Number), System for Award Management (SAM), and Grants.gov Registration

Submission Dates and Times

OVW Policy on Late Submissions

Funding Restrictions

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

Federal Award Information:

Funding Type: Grant Estimated Total Funding: $35,000,000 Expected Number of Awards: 50 Award Ceiling: $750,000 Award Floor: N/A Registration Due: January 13, 2020 Letter of Intent Due: January 13, 2020 Application Due: January 27, 2020 Anticipated Start Date: October 1, 2020 Length of Award Period: 36 months

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

(CFDA 16.589)

A. Program Description

Overview of OVW OVW is a component of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Created in 1995, OVW administers grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent legislation and provides national leadership on issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW grants support coordinated community responses to hold offenders accountable and serve victims.

Statutory Authority This program is authorized by 34 U.S.C. § 12341.

About the OVW Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program (Rural Program) The Rural Program supports efforts to enhance the safety of rural victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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 financial guide after an award is made, the section of the Solicitation Companion Guide on 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:

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

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.

For many applicants, the Rural Program is one of the few sources of funding to support the provision of core services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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 the aforementioned 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 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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.

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.

OVW Priority Areas In FY 2020, OVW is interested in supporting the priority areas identified below. Applications proposing activities in the following areas will be given special consideration.

1. Reduce violent crime against women and promote victim safety through investing in law enforcement, increasing prosecution, and promoting effective prevention.

Applications addressing this priority area, through activities proposed under the Rural Program statutory purpose areas in 34 U.S.C. § 12341(a)(1), (2) & (3)(A), must describe how the proposed activities would reduce violent crime and promote victim safety through investing in law enforcement, increasing prosecution, and promoting effective prevention.

Examples of ways that applicants might address this priority include establishing multidisciplinary high-risk teams or implementing dedicated sexual assault or domestic violence police or prosecution units. Special consideration will be given to applications that address this priority by proposing activities under statutory strategies (1) and (4).

2. Empower victims to become survivors by growing them past their vulnerabilities to a place of self-sufficiency.

Applicants can address this priority area through Rural Program statutory strategies (2) and (5), by developing programs and strategies that focus on the specific needs of all victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking who reside in remote rural and geographically isolated areas. Applicants can provide job training, education, employment opportunities, treatment, counseling, advocacy, and other long-term and short-term victim services.

3. Increase efforts to combat stalking.

Applicants are encouraged to propose activities that will address stalking through statutory strategies (1), (2), and (5). Examples of ways that applicants might address this priority include relocation services for victims of stalking; training for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and advocates on enhancing the investigative, prosecution, judicial, and advocacy response to stalking crimes; and outreach and training to local schools and youth programs on healthy relationships and stalking.

Statutory Priorities Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12341(d)(2)(A), VAWA requires that OVW award 25% of appropriated Rural Program funds to meaningfully address sexual assault in rural communities. Applicants are not required to address sexual assault within their individual applications; however, interested applicants will be asked to identify the percentage of their project that addresses sexual assault. Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12341(d)(4), OVW will give priority to projects that meet the needs of underserved populations.

Activities that Compromise Victim Safety and Recovery or 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.

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

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. See also the list of unallowable costs in the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation.

1. Research projects (This does not include assessments conducted only for internal improvement purposes (up to two percent of the award). For information on distinguishing between research and assessments, see the heading on this topic in the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation and 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 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault 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 Recipients must receive prior approval before using grant funds to support surveys, whether conducted as part of a program or needs assessment, or for any other purpose. Prior approval is necessary to determine whether the activity is within the scope of the award and meets the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (see the Solicitation Companion Guide for more information).

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 2020 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. OVW anticipates that the award period will start on October 1, 2020.

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.

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants

Funding levels under this program for FY 2020 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 2020, OVW will accept 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 2016 or earlier that does not qualify as a new applicant as defined above. Continuation funding is not guaranteed.

Recipients of an FY 2018 or 2019 award under this program are NOT eligible to apply as the lead applicant or as a partner/subrecipient on a FY 2020 proposal. Likewise, an organization that is a partner/subrecipient on an FY 2018 or 2019 award is not eligible to apply as the lead applicant or as a partner/subrecipient on a FY 2020 proposal.

Note: OVW will not fund the same entity, as either a lead recipient or partner/subrecipient, on more than two discretionary awards in FY 2020, absent extenuating circumstances. This award limit applies across all OVW programs but does not include awards made for nationwide projects, such as those made under OVW’s Training and Technical Assistance Initiative.

Additionally, current grantees with a substantial amount of unobligated funds remaining (50 percent or more of the previous award) as of March 31, 2020 without adequate justification may not be considered for funding, or may receive a reduced award amount if selected for funding in

FY 2020.

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

1. OVW-sponsored training and technical assistance.

2. OVW-sponsored assessment or program evaluation, if applicable.

3. Provision of 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.3

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 of application contents, and 6. timeliness. 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.4

2. Indian tribes.5

2 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(27). Note: The following states and U.S. 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, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

3 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(26).

4 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. 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.

5 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. 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(16).

3. Local governments.6

4. Nonprofit (public or private) entities, including tribal nonprofit organizations.7 and faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements (see “Faith-Based Organizations” on the OVW website for more information).

Note: 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 2020 solicitation.

Certifications must take the form of a letter, on letterhead, signed and dated by the authorized representative. Failure to provide required certifications may disqualify an application from further consideration. At a minimum, an application missing the required 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. Sample certification letters can be found on the OVW website at https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants.

Delivery of Legal Assistance Certification Pursuant to 34 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;

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;

6 For purposes of this grant program, a “local government” is a unit of local government, which is defined by statute as any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state.

34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(40).

7 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. 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(37).

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants#Resources

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.

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 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, territorial, or local court applicants only, if applicable). A victim service provider is a nonprofit, nongovernmental or tribal organization or rape crisis center,8 including a state or tribal domestic violence and/or sexual assault coalition, that assists

8 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).

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1119056/download 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 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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 victim service providers, must include at least one project partner, and must include agencies and organizations necessary to implement the proposed project. These partners may include additional victim service providers addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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).

Limit on Number of Applications OVW will consider only one application per organization for the same service area. 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 and on the OVW website. Applicants wishing to request a paper copy of these materials should contact 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 December 17, 2019 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 3, 2019.

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.

Letter of Intent Applicants intending to apply for FY 2020 funding under this program are strongly encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent. The letter should state that the applicant is registered and current with SAM and with Grants.gov. The letter should be submitted to OVW at ovw.rural@usdoj.gov by January 13, 2020. 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 for all documents, unless otherwise noted.

Points may be deducted for applications that do not adhere to the following requirements:

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

1. Double spaced (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 (TNR) or Arial font, except for footnotes, which may be in 10-point 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 required documents and demonstrate that the program eligibility requirements have been met. For a complete checklist of the application contents, see the Other Information section in this solicitation.

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, territorial, or local court applicants only, if applicable).

4. Eligible Service Area Documentation.

In addition, the following documents are required; failure to submit them will not result in removal from consideration but may result in a loss of points:

1. Summary Data Sheet.

2. Proposal Abstract.

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 and pass all funds through to an entity or entities that will implement the project. Such an applicant will not be involved with implementation of the project beyond issuing subaward(s) to these entities and conducting minimal administrative activities. A fiscal agent/sponsor applicant 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.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl

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.

5. Summary of all 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 at 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 all other federal grant programs from which the applicant currently receives funding or for which it has applied for funding in FY 2020 to do similar work. Provide this information in a table using the sample format found on the OVW website at 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%):

• Domestic violence.

• Dating violence.

• Sexual Assault.

• Stalking.

10. Statement as to whether the applicant is a recipient, or partner/subrecipient, on a current grant or pending application for this grant program. If a current grant, provide the year of the award and the role of the applicant on the award (recipient or project partner).

11. Statement as to whether any proposed project partner/subrecipient is a recipient, or partner/subrecipient, on a current grant or pending application for this grant program. If a current grant, provide the year of the award and the role of the partner(s) on the award (recipient or project partner/subrecipient).

12. Identify which of the Rural Program purpose area(s) the application addresses.

13. Identify which of the Rural Program statutory strategies the application addresses (grantees are required to implement at least one of the strategies specified in 34 U.S.C.

§ 12341(b)(1)-(5)).

14. Identify which, if any, of the FY 2020 OVW priority areas the application addresses.

15. Identify whether the application is addressing the needs of underserved populations.

Proposal Abstract (not scored but used throughout the review process) 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, project title, purpose of the project (including goal and intended outcome), primary activities for which funds are requested, who will benefit (including geographic area to be served), products and deliverables, and how https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants the applicant will measure progress in completing project goals and objectives. 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), and current and relevant demographic statistics for the targeted service area.

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

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

4. Identify any gaps in services for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 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. Describe how the proposed project will complement other current OVW-funded projects (if applicable), and not duplicate efforts.

10. Identify project partners who are necessary to fulfill a statutory priority.

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. The application must not include any of the activities listed as unallowable costs in the Funding Restrictions section of this solicitation.

1. Performance measurement. Describe how the applicant will measure its progress in achieving the project’s goal(s)/vision. Identify targeted outcome(s) and describe any tool(s) the applicant will use to track those outcomes and report them to OVW. Tools may include OVW performance progress reports and logic model templates (both available at www.vawamei.org).

2. Describe how the applicant will move to project sustainability.

3. Describe measurable goals and objectives for the proposed project.

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

http://www.vawamei.org/

5. If the applicant is applying to reduce violent crime against women and promote victim safety through investing in law enforcement, increasing prosecution, and promoting effective prevention, describe how activities would accomplish this.

6. If the applicant is applying to empower victims to become survivors by growing them past their vulnerabilities to a place of self-sufficiency, describe how activities would accomplish this.

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

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

9. 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).

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

11. Describe any proposed training or educational course content.

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

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

14. 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.

15. Describe how the proposed project will reach each population in the service area identified in the Purpose of the Application section.

Who Will Implement the Project (10 points)

1. Identify the key individuals and organizations, including project partners, involved in the proposed project.

2. Demonstrate that the individuals and organizations identified have the capacity to address the stated need and can successfully implement the proposed project activities;

attach resumes or job descriptions of all key personnel.

3. Specify the project partners respective roles and responsibilities, and describe the collaborative relationship to be developed or enhanced.

4. Describe the experience of any project partners that will provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

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

6. Clearly demonstrate that staff, partners, and consultants have knowledge or expertise relevant to the communities that will be served.

Budget Detail Worksheet and Narrative (15 Points) All applications must include a detailed budget and budget narrative. See the sample Budget Detail Worksheet and the Creating a Budget webinar 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 2020 Rural Program award period is 36 months and will generally begin on October 1, 2020. Funding levels under the Rural Program for FY 2020 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. The budget should 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 applicants located in the 48 contiguous states and $15,000 for applicants located in the 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 ensure access for individuals with disabilities, Deaf/hard of hearing individuals, and persons with limited English proficiency. See Accessibility under Federal Award Administration Information for more information.

4. Compensate all project partners for their full level of effort, unless otherwise stated in the MOU/Letter 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 https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-applicants

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 is not a substitute for a subaward agreement, which ensures that subrecipients adhere to the requirements of the award and 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (see 2 C.F.R. § 200.331). Partners receiving funds under the award generally are considered subrecipients because they are carrying out a portion of the federal award.

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. MOU’s missing signatures may result in a point deduction or removal from consideration, particularly if the MOU is missing the signature of a required partner. 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 clearly:

1. 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. State the roles and responsibilities each partner will assume to ensure the success of the proposed project.

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