OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Grant Program - Solicitation | O OVW 2023 171481

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2023 171481

The OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Grant Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), designed to help Tribal governments plan for and carry out the exercise of Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction (STCJ). The program is authorized under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended (25 U.S.C. 1304(h)(2)), and is intended to strengthen Tribal justice systems so Tribes can hold non-Indian offenders accountable when they commit certain serious offenses within Tribal jurisdictional boundaries. The overarching purpose is to improve safety for victims and increase accountability for perpetrators by ensuring Tribes have the capacity, procedures, and personnel needed to investigate, prosecute, adjudicate, and supervise cases that fall under STCJ.

A central feature of the program is its focus on "covered crimes," meaning the specific set of offenses for which STCJ can be exercised against non-Indians in Indian country when legal requirements are met. Under this solicitation, covered crimes include domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, stalking, sex trafficking, child violence, obstruction of justice, assault of Tribal justice personnel, and violations of protection orders. The grant funds are meant to support both the practical and systemic work required to exercise this authority, including planning activities and implementation changes across the criminal justice process. That can involve developing or revising criminal codes and court rules, strengthening law enforcement and prosecution capacity, improving victim services coordination, ensuring due process protections required under federal law, building detention and supervision strategies, enhancing data systems, and obtaining training and technical assistance needed for successful STCJ operations.

This solicitation also reflects key changes made by the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA 2022). Congress recognized and expanded Tribes inherent authority to exercise STCJ over a broader range of covered crimes than in prior years. Notably, VAWA 2022 added offenses such as sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, child violence, obstruction of justice, and assault of Tribal justice personnel, and it also removed certain prior limitations. For example, assault of Tribal justice personnel and obstruction of justice do not require that the victim be Indian, and obstruction of justice does not need to be tied to a domestic violence, dating violence, or protection order case. The solicitation emphasizes that grantees can now design their projects to address all covered crimes included in the expanded STCJ framework, rather than only the narrower set available under earlier versions of VAWA.

Eligibility is primarily aimed at federally recognized Native American Tribal governments, with the solicitation noting that other applicants may be eligible as described in the funding notice under an "Additional Information on Eligibility" section. The funding instrument is a grant under CFDA 16.025, categorized under Law, Justice, and Legal Services. The opportunity number is O-OVW-2023-171481. OVW anticipated making about 11 awards, with an award ceiling of up to $450,000 per award. The solicitation was posted on February 9, 2023, with an original closing date of May 9, 2023.

The program places strong emphasis on implementation readiness and sustained capacity. One concrete requirement highlighted in the solicitation is that new applicants must include a dedicated Project Coordinator position of at least 0.5 FTE. This reflects OVWs expectation that funded projects will involve coordinated, multi-agency change management across courts, law enforcement, prosecution, defense, victim services, and corrections or supervision partners. OVW also links the program to its broader performance measurement and effectiveness framework under VAWAs Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, signaling that recipients will be expected to track progress and report on activities and outcomes aligned with OVWs performance measures and reporting requirements.

• The Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Grant Program - Solicitation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.025.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 09, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 09, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $450,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O OVW 2023 171481

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