OVC FY 16 Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Victims Demonstration Initiative | OVC 2016 9391

Opportunity Information: Apply for OVC 2016 9391

The OVC FY 16 Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Victims Demonstration Initiative is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), offered as a cooperative agreement. Its core purpose is to strengthen and modernize law enforcement responses to domestic violence and sexual assault by directly addressing and reducing gender bias in how these cases are handled. The initiative builds on the Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV) strategy and is designed to put into practice the principles outlined in DOJ guidance released in December 2015 titled Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. A major emphasis of the project is improving outcomes for victims in minority communities and LGBTQ communities, where barriers to reporting, credibility assessments, and service access can be compounded by discrimination or mistrust of systems.

The program is structured as a demonstration initiative, meaning it is intended to move beyond general training and into real-world implementation and testing of improved approaches in selected jurisdictions. The funded organization would be expected to integrate ELERV and the DOJ guidance into practical policies, procedures, partnerships, and accountability measures that can measurably improve police response to these crimes. The project focus is on identifying where gender bias shows up in practice, preventing it through systemic changes, and helping law enforcement agencies work more effectively with victim services and community stakeholders so victims receive a fair, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive response.

Eligibility is restricted to certain types of organizations: national law enforcement organizations, national membership organizations, and regional membership organizations. Applicants must be able to demonstrate strong knowledge and proven experience in advancing law enforcement responses to domestic violence and sexual assault. The solicitation also allows for collaborative applications that involve two or more entities carrying out the work, but it requires that one eligible organization serve as the lead applicant with primary responsibility for administering funds and managing the project as a whole, while any partner organizations would be included as subrecipients. The rules are strict about submissions: only one application per lead applicant will be considered, although a subrecipient may participate in multiple proposals. For-profit organizations are not excluded outright, but they must agree to waive any profit or management fees, reinforcing that funds are meant to support program outcomes rather than generate revenue.

A key operational expectation is the ability to manage multiple sites at once. The selected awardee must be capable of effectively overseeing up to six demonstration sites focused on addressing gender bias in law enforcement response. This includes identifying and coordinating with key stakeholders, which typically means law enforcement leadership and frontline personnel, prosecutors and courts as appropriate, victim advocates and service providers, culturally specific organizations, and community partners representing minority and LGBTQ populations. The awardee must also be able to gather comprehensive victim services information, suggesting a strong data-collection and analysis component aimed at mapping available services, identifying gaps, improving referral pathways, and ensuring victims are connected to appropriate supports.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number OVC 2016 9391 and CFDA 16.582, with activity areas covering income security and social services as well as law, justice, and legal services. OVC anticipated making a single award, with an award ceiling of $5,000,000. The opportunity was created on May 4, 2016, and had an original application closing date of June 20, 2016. The cooperative agreement format also signals that OVC expected to have substantial involvement during the project period, typically through collaboration on planning, implementation, performance monitoring, and dissemination of lessons learned, consistent with demonstration projects intended to produce models that can be replicated by other jurisdictions.

Overall, the grant is aimed at creating a scalable, evidence-informed approach for law enforcement agencies to reduce gender bias in domestic violence and sexual assault responses, while strengthening victim-centered practices and improving equity in outcomes, particularly for underserved and historically marginalized communities.

• The Office for Victims of Crime in the income security and social services, law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVC FY 16 Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Victims Demonstration Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.582.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-05-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-06-20. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for OVC 2016 9391

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