On June 26, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing an August 6 deadline for tribes, tribal consortia, and tribal designees to apply for $110 million in grants under the new tribal allocation from the Crime Victims Fund. DOJ also issued a detailed application package which may be found here: https://www.ovc.gov/grants/pdftxt/FY18-Tribal-Victim-Services-Set-Aside-Program-508.pdf
We reported in our General Memorandum 18-022 of June 1, 2018, that the FY 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act provided the first ever direct tribal allocation (three percent) under the Crime Victims Fund for the purpose of tribes improving their services for victims of crime. The pending FY 2019 appropriations bills for DOJ would increase the allocation to five percent.
DOJ notes in its press release that the “FY 2018 set-aside program has expanded the types of crimes addressed to cover victims of human trafficking, victimization as a result of opioid/drug-related crisis, child abuse and neglect, as well as victims of cybercrime and financial crime, among other areas.”
The application process is in two phases:
Phase 1 – The deadline for submitting Phase 1 application materials is 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 6, 2018. Applicants who are approved in Phase 1 will be contacted on or before September 30, 2018, and invited to submit Phase 2 materials.
Phase 2 – Applicants who are invited to submit Phase 2 materials must submit them no later than 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 4, 2019.
DOJ expects to make three-year awards, with annual amounts generally not exceeding $720,000. The awards will be in the form of grants; there are no matching requirements. The expectation is that the awards will be for services that will begin on or before April 15, 2019.
Please let us know if we may provide additional information regarding the Tribal Victims Services Set-Aside Program.
