DOJ – Comprehensive Services for Victims of Human Trafficking (2017)

By NLADA on December 22, 2016

Applications Due: February 21, 2017, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Description:

The primary goal of this program is to enhance the quality and quantity of services available to assist victims of human trafficking, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended, by enhancing interagency collaboration and the coordinated community response to victims of human trafficking, and by providing high-quality services that address the individual needs of trafficking victims. This solicitation will provide funding to victim service organizations with a demonstrated history of providing services for victims of human trafficking.

Funding under this program will support comprehensive services for all victims of human trafficking. Funding will also support efforts to increase the capacity of communities to respond to human trafficking victims through the development of interagency partnerships, professional training, and public awareness activities.

Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables

The overarching goal of this program is to enhance the quality and quantity of services available to assist all victims of human trafficking in achieving their goals, which may include increased autonomy and self-sufficiency and increased feelings of safety and well-being.

The program’s primary objectives are to enhance interagency collaboration and the coordinated community response to victims of human trafficking, and to provide high-quality services that address the individualized needs of trafficking victims.

Grantees funded through this solicitation will engage in the following activities in order to meet program goals and objectives:

Provide comprehensive services for victims of all forms of human trafficking, either in-house or through community partnerships.
Work in collaboration with federal, state, and local law enforcement, local service providers, and community- and faith-based organizations to develop comprehensive response protocols to ensure that trafficking victims are identified and referred for appropriate services.
Conduct training and public awareness activities for professionals and community members in order to improve their knowledge of human trafficking and their ability to identify and respond to victims.
Conduct data collection and evaluation activities to determine if the program is meeting stated goals and objectives.

Funds awarded through this OVC cooperative agreement are intended primarily to support the cost of direct services that promote victim safety and stability in the short-term aftermath of victim identification, leading to the goal of autonomy and economic self-sufficiency. OVC does not set time limits on services, and supports the provision of ongoing case management when there are no other specialized programs to provide case management services; however, funds awarded through this program are not intended to provide long-term financial support to trafficking victims. All services are to be implemented in coordination with other existing community resources and initiatives. Reliance on OVC grant funding to provide long-term support, including, for example, long-term medical care or shelter expenses, may weaken the overall integrity of the program.

Funding Title: OVC FY 17 Comprehensive Services for Victims of Human Trafficking

Agency Name: Office for Victims of Crime

Funding Opportunity Number: OVC-2017-11573

Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement

Express Language for Legal Aid: Yes.

Under the Comprehensive Service Model, “applicants are expected to demonstrate that there is a coordinated, community-wide approach in place to ensure that each of the services outlined within the Model is available to trafficking victims identified within their community, either in-house or through project partners and other community-based programs.” The legal services included in the Model service list include:

assistance with screening each client to ensure they meet the definition of a victim of a severe form of trafficking as defined by the TVPA;
screening and assessment to determine the type of legal assistance needed;
explanation of legal rights and protections, including assistance in obtaining restitution and victims’ rights enforcement and compliance efforts;
coordination with law enforcement to request CP;
assistance with achieving HHS certification or, for foreign national minors, an Eligibility Letter for eligibility of benefits to the same extent as refugees;
assistance with applying for T nonimmigrant status (T visa) or other immigration relief;
assistance with payment of application fees and visa fees, if needed;
assistance with family and civil matters related to the trafficking victimization, including, but not limited to, protection from abuse orders, representation in family court proceedings, and emancipation of minors;
assistance with repatriation or family reunification;
facilitation of representation of the victim by attorneys willing to provide pro bono legal services;
assistance with pursuing efforts to vacate a victim’s criminal conviction and/or expunge a victim’s criminal record where the law allows vacatur/expungement based on being a human trafficking victim; and
general advocacy and assistance on matters that arise as a result of the human trafficking victimization.

Target Population: All victims of human trafficking, including adult and minor foreign nationals and U.S. citizens of all genders and sexual orientations

Expected Number of Awards: 13

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

Estimated Total Program Funding: $10,000,000

Award Ceiling: $750,000

Award Floor: $0

How to Apply: Applicants must register in, and submit applications through Grants.gov, a primary source to find federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to register and submit an application at http://www.Grants.gov. Applicants that experience technical difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726 or 606–545–5035, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. Registering with Grants.gov is a one-time process; however, processing delays may occur, and it can take several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation and a user password. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline.

In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications 72 hours prior to the application due date to allow time to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

OVC strongly encourages all prospective applicants to sign up for Grants.gov email notifications regarding this solicitation. If this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with Grants.gov for updates will be automatically notified.

Current Closing Date for Applications: by February 21, 2017, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time

Eligible Applicants: By statute, grants under this program may be awarded to states, units of local government, federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (including tribal nonprofits). For the purposes of this program, a unit of local government is any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state, territory, or federally recognized Indian tribal government. Organizations with a demonstrated history of providing victim assistance, social services, legal services, shelter, or mental health services for victims of human trafficking are eligible to apply. OVC may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal years, dependent on, among other considerations, the merit of the applications and the availability of appropriations.

OVC welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award; however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any others must be proposed subrecipients (“subgrantees”). The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the award, including administering the funding and managing the entire project. Under this solicitation, only one application by any particular applicant entity will be considered. An entity may, however, be proposed as a subrecipient (“subgrantee”) in more than one application.

Current OVC trafficking victim services grantees who received funding from the OVC FY 2016 Comprehensive Services for Victims of Human Trafficking solicitation or the OVC FY 2016 Enhanced Collaborative Model to Combat Human Trafficking solicitation are not eligible to apply for funding under this solicitation. Nonprofit organizations that hold money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in 26 U.S.C. § 511(a) are not eligible to apply.

Link to Full Announcement: Here

Contact Information: For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035, or via email to support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays.

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must email the OVC contact identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline and request approval to submit their application. Additional information on reporting technical issues is found under

“Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the How to Apply section of full RFP.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Kristin Weschler, Victim Justice Program Specialist, by telephone at 202–616–5127 or by email at Kristin.Weschler@usdoj.gov.