DOJ – Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program (2018)

By NLADA on December 12, 2017

***Update on Applications Deadline***: February 15, 2018, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Description: The Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV) Grant Program is intended to increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aid adult and youth victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking who are seeking relief in legal matters relating to or arising out of that abuse or violence, at minimum or no cost to the victims. LAV Grant Program funds may not be used to provide criminal defense services. Grant funds may be used to provide direct legal services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking in matters relating to or arising out of that abuse or violence. The objective of the LAV Grant Program is to develop innovative, collaborative projects that provide quality representation to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

OVW Priority Areas

In FY 2018, OVW is interested in supporting the priority areas identified below. Applications proposing activities in the following areas will be given special consideration.

Improve services for and/or the response to victims of sex trafficking and other severe forms of trafficking in persons who have also experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking.
Increase support for survivors of sexual assault, including services, law enforcement response, and prosecution.
Meaningfully increase access to OVW programming for specific marginalized and/or underserved populations (based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, etc.).
Increase the use of promising, evidence-based, and evidence-building practices, where available.

Funding Title: OVW FY 2018 Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program

Agency Name: Office on Violence Against Women

Funding Opportunity Number: OVW-2018-13828

Funding Instrument Type: Grant

Express Language for Legal Aid: Yes.

Target Population: Victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking

Expected Number of Awards: 55

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

Estimated Total Program Funding: $34,000,000

Award Ceiling: $800,000

Award Floor: $300,000

How to Apply: The complete application package is available on Grants.gov or the OVW website. Applicants wishing to request a paper copy of the application materials should contact ovw.lav@usdoj.gov.

Letter of Registration: Applicants intending to apply for FY 2018 funding under this program are strongly encouraged to submit a letter of registration. The letter should state that the applying organization is registered and current with SAM and with Grants.gov. The letter should be submitted to OVW at ovw.lav@usdoj.gov by January 11, 2018. This will ensure that the applicant is well-positioned to successfully submit a proposal by the application deadline. This letter will not obligate the applicant to submit an application. See Appendix B for a sample Letter of Registration.

Current Closing Date for Applications: by February 15, 2018, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time

Eligible Applicants:

Private nonprofit entities.
Publicly funded organizations not acting in a governmental capacity, such as law schools.
Territorial organizations: For the purposes of this solicitation, a “territorial organization” is defined as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization addressing sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and/or stalking within a United States territory.
Indian tribal governments, including Indian tribal consortia
Indian tribal organizations: The term “tribal organization” means the governing body of any Indian tribe; any legally established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body of a tribe or tribes to be served, or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; or any tribal nonprofit organization. The term “tribal nonprofit organization” means a victim services provider that has as its primary purpose to assist Native victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking; and that has staff and leadership with a demonstrated history of assisting American Indian or Alaska Native victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.

Link to Full Announcement: Here

Contact Information: Shannon R. Maultsby, Grant Manager, at 202-307-6026 or OVW.LAV@USDOJ.GOV

Pre-Application Information Session: OVW will pre-record a pre-application information session for entities interested in submitting an application for the LAV Grant Program. Listening to this session is optional. Interested applicants who do not participate are still eligible to apply. During this session, OVW staff will review the LAV Grant Program requirements, review the solicitation, and address frequently asked questions. The session is tentatively scheduled to be available by Wednesday, December 19, 2017 on the OVW website.