OVC FY25 Technology to Support Services for Victims of Crime Pre-Application Video

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: Thank you for joining us for the pre-application information session on the OVC FY25 Technology to Support Services for Victims of Crime Notice of Funding Opportunity, also known as NOFO. 

I'm Elizabeth Flowers, a Grants Management Specialist with the State Victim Resource Division within the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: And I'm Victoria Hougham, a Grants Management Specialist with the Discretionary Programs Divisions within OVC. 

In this recorded webinar, we will tell you about the Office for Victims of Crime's mission. Then we will provide details about this NOFO, including the funding opportunities focus, eligibility, and required documents. Finally, we will tell you about the application process and review the resources available to you. It will be helpful if you have the NOFO in front of you to follow along. 

The Office for Victims of Crime, which is part of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) administers the Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties from convictions in federal cases and not from tax dollars. This funding supports formula programs to states, territories, and tribes, as well as many OVC discretionary grant programs for victims of crime.

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: Next, we'll discuss the Notice of Funding Opportunity Overview. 

Before we dig into the details, please mark your calendars with these dates. The Grants.gov deadline for this NOFO is August 15, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Eastern, where you need to submit the SF-424; and the JustGrants deadline, where the full application itself is submitted, is August 20, 2025, 8:59 p.m. Eastern. You should submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov as early as possible. We recommend submitting no later than 48 hours before the deadline. If you fail to submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov by the deadline, you will be unable to submit the full application in JustGrants. 

This NOFO has two funding categories. The first category is Advancing the Use of Technology to Assist Victims of Crime. The second category is Building the State Technology Capacity to Serve Victims of Crime. For Category 1: Advancing the Use of Technology to Assist Victims of Crime, OVC anticipates making six awards of up to $600,000. These awards are anticipated to begin October 1, 2025, and the period of performance will be 36 months. For Category 2: Building State Technology Capacity to Serve Victims of Crime, OVC anticipates making four awards of up to $500,000. These awards are anticipated to begin October 1, 2025, and the period of performance will be 36 months. An applicant may only submit one application in response to the NOFO, and an applicant can only apply to one category in their application. 

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: This NOFO will support projects to use technology to enhance services to all victims of crime. For Category 1: Advancing the Use of Technology to Assist Victims of Crime, awards under this category will be made to support innovative strategies to create, expand, or enhance the use of technology by victim service organizations to improve interaction with crime victims, elevate service quality, and ensure accessibility and responsiveness. 

For Category 2: Building State Technology Capacity to Serve Victims of Crime, awards under this category will be made to state administering agencies (SAAs) to support statewide technology programs to enhance victims' access to services, foster innovation and efficiency in the provision of services, and improve the quality of services. 

Each category of funding has different eligibility requirements. These are detailed in the NOFO starting on page 7. Please be sure to confirm that your entity is eligible to apply in your desired application category. For Category 1, applicants must be a government entity, educational organization, public housing organization, or nonprofit organization. Please also note that Category 1 is not intended for national hotline programs. Applicants wishing to fund victim services as part of their national hotline programming should apply under the OVC FY25 National Crime Victim Crisis Hotlines NOFO. 

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: For Category 2, the only applicants eligible to apply are state administering agencies that receive Victims of Crime Act Formula Assistance or Compensation grant awards. Again, be sure to confirm that your entity is eligible to apply in your desired application category. 

The goal of this program is to support the use of technology to improve the overall effectiveness, accessibility, and coordination of victim services by strengthening infrastructure, building organizational capacity, and enhancing service delivery systems.

There are four program objectives. The first objective is to develop or expand the use of technology to enhance victims’ access to services, foster innovation and efficiency in the provision of services, improve the quality of services, and improve the accessibility and responsiveness of victim service organizations. 

The second objective is to leverage and enhance technology, to develop organizational capacity, to support data collection needs, to support victims of crime in new and innovative ways that protect victims' rights and enhance victim safety and confidentiality. 

The third objective is to collaborate with community stakeholders, victim service providers, subrecipient organizations, if applicable, and other allied professionals on the technology needs to best serve victims. 

The fourth objective is to produce a detailed roadmap detailing (1) the technological gaps and services to be addressed by the proposed project, (2) identifying if the proposed project will enhance or expand existing services, (3) a description of the technical tools or features to be developed, and (4) a strategy to measure project effectiveness in achieving the identified outcomes. 

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: Applicants seeking priority consideration should specify in the Proposal Narrative and in the Budget Detail Form, if applicable, which of the following goals the project is intended to advance and how it will do so. Note: addressing these priority areas is one of many factors that OJP considers in making funding decisions. Receiving priority consideration for one or more priority areas does not guarantee a funding award. 

All award recipients must collect and report on Performance Measures that demonstrate grantees’ achievements. 

To locate the Performance Measures for this NOFO and help you prepare your application, visit OJP's Performance Measurement page. 

From there, locate the Transforming Victim Services Measures Questionnaire. This is for informational purposes only. No Performance Measures are needed to be submitted with your application.

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: The activities listed here are out of the program scope and will not be funded. Please be sure to review this guidance carefully as you prepare your application. Additionally, as you prepare your application, be sure to refer to Budget Detail Form for further information on Allowable and Unallowable activities that may inform the development of your project design. 

Both Category 1 and 2 awards will be made as cooperative agreements. This allows OVC to have substantial involvement in carrying out award activities. 

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: Now we will review the Content needed for your application. 

Your application must include a Proposal Narrative that follows all formatting and content requirements as detailed in the NOFO. The narrative should be double-spaced, use a standard 12-point font, have no less than 1-inch margins, not exceed 10 numbered pages and be submitted as an attachment in JustGrants. If the Proposal Narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, OVC may consider such non-compliance in peer review and in final award decisions. Tables, charts, and graphs may be included in the Proposal Narrative and can be created in a legible font smaller than 12-point. These items will count towards the page limit. 

Your Proposal Narrative must include the four sections listed here and their merit review criteria. Your application will be evaluated for technical merit based on how your proposed project addresses these criteria. An additional 15 percent will be assessed through your budget and associated documentation. 

In the first section of the Proposal Narrative, you will identify the issue or problem you wish to address with this project. Using supporting information and data, you will need to demonstrate the needs impact on the target population and how it relates to the purpose of the NOFO. 

In the second section of your Proposal Narrative, you will identify your Project Goals and Objectives and how these address the purpose of the NOFO. 

The third section of your Proposal Narrative should be the Project Design and Implementation section. Here you will detail the project activities that will help you meet your goals and objectives identified in section two. 

The final section of your Proposal Narrative should detail your Capabilities and Competencies that you bring to successfully complete your proposed project.

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: Your application must include a detail line-item budget using the JustGrants Budget Detail Form. You may propose a budget that is less than the anticipated award ceiling amount. The budget should be reasonable to conduct the proposed budget and be within your capacity to manage. The Budget Detail Form collects the individual costs under each cost category needed to implement your proposed project. Applicants should ensure that the name and description of each cost is clear, and provide the detailed calculation, example cost per unit, and number of units for the total costs. Applicant should enter additional narrative as needed to fully describe the cost calculations in connection to the project goals and objectives, including if applicable, describing connections to OJP priority goals. Budget proposals should include the funding needed to implement the proposed activities. In preparing their budget proposals, applicants should consider what type of costs are allowable if awarded funding. 

Costs are allowable when they're reasonable, allocable to and necessary for the performance of the project. You may propose a budget that is less than the anticipated award ceiling amount. The budget should be reasonable to conduct the proposed project and be within the applicant's capacity to manage. 

Along with your Budget Detail Form in JustGrants, your application may also require additional attachments. For those applicants with a current federally approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, you should upload it as an attachment in JustGrants. Additionally, if you propose a rate for a consultant on your project that is higher than the established maximum rate, then you will need to request an approval before incurring costs at the higher rate. 

Your application must include the SF-424, Proposal Narrative, and Budget Detail Form. In addition to these required elements, your application should also include many of the elements noted here. Please review the NOFO Checklist carefully to identify which you should include. Use the checklist in your review prior to submitting your application.

To meet the basic minimum requirements to advance to peer review and receive consideration for funding, your application must be from an eligible applicant, not exceed the award ceiling, and be responsive to the NOFO scope. It must also include the SF-424 in Grants.gov, the 10-page Proposal Narrative in JustGrants, and the Budget Detail Form, including budget items, their calculations and explanations in JustGrants. If you fail to submit any of the required documents, your application will not be considered for funding. 

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: We will now share a brief overview of the Application Submission process. 

Before you can apply for funding, you must register or renew your entity with SAM.gov. This process can take over 30 days, so please begin this step immediately. The process for submitting your application begins in Grants.gov. Once you have located the funding opportunity in Grants.gov, you must submit the SF-424. This is the extent of the application requirement in Grants.gov. Once your application has been submitted and validated in Grants.gov, it will be sent to JustGrants for completion. It may take several days for Grants.gov to complete validations and release it to JustGrants. You will complete the rest of the application in JustGrants. 

There are two application steps, each with their own deadline. You must submit the required documents by the Grants.gov deadline of August 15, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern to be considered. We encourage you to not wait until the deadline to submit your application. 

Please keep in mind during the final step of submission, the JustGrants system will check your application for completeness. Unfortunately, we have had applicants fail to successfully submit their application because the NOFO deadline passed before this process was completed. Those that are completed after the deadline will not be considered for funding. 

You may enter preliminary information in Grants.gov even if you haven't fully determined your budget or project scope. You will be able to edit and update all of your entries in JustGrants. Once you have submitted the forms in Grants.gov, you'll submit the rest of your application in JustGrants. This deadline is August 20, 2025, by 8:59 p.m. Eastern. The JustGrants submission should include all items that are required in the NOFO. For technical assistance submitting your application in any of these forms, please contact the appropriate help desks listed in the NOFO and at the end of this training. 

After the JustGrants deadline has passed, OVC will thoroughly review all applications. As a reminder, this process only applies to competitive NOFOs. Non-competitive NOFOs follow a different process. 

First, we check to confirm that the application contains the Basic Minimum Requirements that were described in the funding opportunity. For applicants that missed these requirements, you will receive notice that your application has been eliminated from further review. For competitive opportunities, peer reviewers who are subject matter experts assess the technical merits of an application. OVC staff then assess applications based on factors such as geographic diversity, past performance, and whether applications are likely to meet the funding opportunities, goals, and objectives. We then evaluate the fiscal integrity of the applicant, examine proposed costs, and determine whether the budget and budget narrative accurately explain the project's costs and whether these costs are allowable and reasonable. Finally, OVC reviews potential risks presented by applicants prior to making an award. This pre-award risk assessment takes into account a variety of factors, including an applicant's financial capability and past performance. 

During the review process, OVC may contact you to clarify program or budget details. 

Applicants are often eager to learn how their application is progressing through the review process. Unfortunately, DOJ staff, including user support, and the OJP Response Center cannot share any information with you until final awards have been made public. 

Funding decisions are usually announced before the end of OJP's fiscal year, which is September 30th. If your application has been funded, specific JustGrants users for your organization will be notified by email and will see the award appear in their JustGrants account. If you receive notice of an award, you must take specific steps in JustGrants to accept or decline it. The DOJ Award Acceptance Checklist on the JustGrants Resources website can walk you through those steps. If you are not selected for funding, OJP will notify you by email. After all award recipients have been notified. 

ELIZABETH FLOWERS: We have many resources available to help guide you through the application process. 

Grants.gov has a comprehensive Quick Start Guide to help you register for and apply to OVC Awards. The guide includes sections on registering, roles, workspaces, completing forms, and submitting your application. 

The JustGrants website has a collection of resources available for you to use. Training materials include self-guided e-learning videos, supplemented by job aid reference guides, checklists, and infographics. These resources will help you learn to navigate the system to complete various essential grants management tasks during the application process. 

The DOJ Grant Application Submission Checklist includes step-by-step instructions on preparing your OVC application. 

The Office of Justice Programs’ Grant Application Resource Guide provides guidance to assist OJP grant applicants in preparing and submitting applications for OJP funding. It addresses a variety of policies, statutes, and regulations that apply to many, or in some cases all, OJP program applicants or to grants and cooperative agreements awarded in FY 2025. Some OJP programs may have program NOFOs that expressly modify a provision of this guide. In such cases, the applicant is to follow the guidelines in the NOFO as to any such expressly modified provision. 

For further detailed training on application submission, you can attend a live weekly training session, download detailed training slides, or watch a prerecorded version of the trading.

VICTORIA HOUGHAM: The DOJ Grants Financial Guide is the primary reference manual to assist OJP, OVW, and COPS Office award recipients in filling their fiduciary responsibility to safeguard grant funds and ensure funds are used for the purposes for which they were awarded. Applicants will want to become familiar with the guide. It compiles a variety of laws, rules, and regulations that affect the financial and administrative management of your award. References to the underlying laws and regulations have been provided in the guide as much as possible. The top 10 topics in the guide as listed here, such as Financial Management Systems, Allowable Costs, Unallowable Costs, Federal Financial Reports, among others. 

Visit the OVC website to learn about OVC’s history and funding, find multimedia products, and register for upcoming events. 

Be sure to start your application in Grants.gov and JustGrants as soon as possible to confirm you have access. If possible, submit your application before the due date. OJP will only accept late applications if an applicant can demonstrate that there is a technical reason they could not submit. So, you will want to ensure you have plenty of time to address any technical issues you may encounter. 

JustGrants can be reached by phone at 833-872-5175 or by email, [email protected]. When contacting any of these systems help desks, please be sure to request a tracking number so you can document that you sought assistance with your issue. This will be important in the event you need to document that you had a technical issue that prevented you from submitting your application.

Finally, the OJP Response Center is available to answer questions about Programmatic Requirements of the NOFO. They can be reached by phone at 800-851-3420 or by email at [email protected]. 

If you are a current grantee, we appreciate your understanding that your grant manager and other OVC staff cannot answer questions about an open NOFO directly. For purposes of fairness and transparency, if you reach out to us, we will have to refer you back to the OJP Response Center so your question can be documented and addressed officially. 

Finally, please keep in mind that the OJP Response Center is also who you need to contact within 24 hours of the Grants.gov or JustGrants NOFO guidelines [deadlines] should you experience any technical issues that prevented your application submission. Keep in mind you will need to be able to document any technical issues, which is why starting your application early and maintaining any tracking numbers, if you have reported an issue, is critical. 

If you need assistance when registering or working in SAM.gov or Grants.gov, please contact their help desks directly. Thank you for your time and attention.