Dear Colleagues,
Among the Office for Victims of Crime funding opportunities we have recently released, I wanted to call your attention to two solicitations that I am excited we can offer in 2024.
The first is Meeting the Basic Needs of Crime Survivors in Underserved Communities. These grants will help programs in communities hard hit by crime to address the basic needs of crime victims, such as transportation, temporary or transitional housing, clothing, food, and other items for their well-being, healing, or safety. Through this funding opportunity, we hope to support culturally specific victim serving organizations that understand the complex, multilayered, and specific challenges that crime victims from underserved communities face when attempting to access services.
You might notice that this solicitation reads differently from the others we’ve posted. This solicitation is part of a pilot program to streamline the grant application process and encourage applications from smaller organizations, organizations in underserved areas, and organizations that have never received federal funding.
In addition to simple, clear language, we’re also offering applicants multiple ways to submit their project narratives. Applicants can submit project plans using a questionnaire, through a video explaining their project, or by signing up to give an oral presentation. We truly hope broadening the options to explain a project will widen the applicant pool. This is a unique funding opportunity, so we encourage interested organizations to join one of the preapplication webinars we’re holding on June 18 and June 20 at 3:00 p.m. eastern time to learn more.
The second funding opportunity is the FY 2024 field-generated solicitation to increase options and expand access for crime victims. These grants are meant to provide funding for programs that offer innovative solutions to increase the service options available to crime victims, expand access to underheard and underrepresented communities, or improve the way information is delivered to crime victims. Through this funding opportunity, applicants get to tell us about an issue that needs solving and their proposed innovative way to address it! We’ve offered this solicitation since FY 2022, and we’ve been amazed at the response. Through this initiative, we’ve been able to provide funding for:
- A Victim Advocacy Corp to train and place a cohort of diverse student advocates within victim assistance agencies in underserved communities and culturally specific organizations.
- A project through the National Crime Victim Law Institute to increase the number of attorneys ready to provide competent rights assertion and enforcement legal advocacy to persons with disabilities victimized by crime.
- Sanar Institute’s Reclaim Project to create standards of care for victims of online image-based abuse, build a network of organizations providing services to victims, increase awareness of these crimes, and enhance the capacity of the field.
The possibilities are endless, so in the words of this year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week theme, tell us “How would you help?”
I hope you find these or other OVC opportunities useful in your work. Please check our Current Funding Opportunities web page for information on other options. And you can Subscribe to News From OVC to receive funding announcements as they are announced.
Thank you for all you are doing to reach and serve crime victims. We appreciate your continued efforts in this work, and we hope you’ll consider applying for one of our open opportunities.
Sincerely,
Kristina Rose
Director