Brazos Valley Council of Governments

Request for Applications

Criminal Justice Division Funding

FY 2013

Notification of Potential Applicants of Posted Requests for Applications

The Criminal Justice Division (CJD) of the Governor’s Office has a variety of funding sources available for juvenile justice, criminal justice, crime prevention, and victim services grants. CJD and the Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG) are seeking applications for fiscal year 2013 local, regional, and statewide grant projects aimed at making Texas a safer place. CJD and BVCOG administer the following funds and programs:

General Victim Assistance - Direct Services Solicitation (GVA)

CJD awards these funds to state and local applicants to provide assistance and services directly to victims of crime. The goal of these projects is to help speed the victim’s recovery from a criminal act and aid them through the criminal justice process.

Violent Crimes Against Women Criminal Justice and Training Projects - Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence and Stalking Solicitation. (VCAW)

CJD awards these funds to state and local applicants to reduce and prevent violence against women. Programs applying to operate either training projects or projects within the criminal justice system (i.e. law enforcement, prosecution, or courts) focused on violent crimes against women including: domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking.

Juvenile Services Solicitation (JSS)

CJD awards these funds to state and local applicants for programs that improve the juvenile justice system and develop effective education, training, research, prevention, diversion, treatment and rehabilitation programs in the area of juvenile delinquency.

Criminal Justice Programs Solicitation (CJPS)

CJD awards these funds to state and local applicants to operate programs geared towards reducing crime and improving the criminal justice system. Units of local government providing law enforcement services must be current on reporting Part I Crime Report (UCR) and have been current in reporting UCR data for the three preceding years to be eligible to apply.

Submission of Applications and tentative CJD Deadlines

All applicants must register in order to access all grant applications via the CJD E-Grants website at https://cjdonline.governor.state.tx.us and submitted directly to CJD. For a list of application opening and due dates please refer to the website and click on ‘Calendar’.

Applicants may also contact the CJ Planner, Rebecca Hill for more information. Rebecca can be reached at 979-595-2800 ext. 2041 or email at . You can contact CJD at 512-463-1919.

Applications Open for Solicitation on E-Grants

1. GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS……………………………..12/16/2011

Grant writing workshop

1. All grantees welcome ……1/12/2012 at 9:30 AM

Applications Due to CJD

1. GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS ………..2/24/2012 by 11:59 PM

CJAC Subcommittee Meetings

1. GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS ………..3/30/2012

CJAC Meetings

1. GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS ………..3/30/2012

BVCOG Board Meetings

1. GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS ………..5/19/2012

Applications will not be accepted past the deadline.

Application Submission to BVCOG

All applicants must send an electronic copy of all grant applications submitted on egrants to CJ Planner at by:

*3/2/2012 for GVA, VCAW, JSS and CJPS

Please contact CJ Planner / Rebecca Hill at (979) 595-2801 ext 2041 or with any questions on how to submit electronic copy of grant.

Community Planning

Projects must meet an identified need or resource within the regional community plan or the applicant must have participated in the community planning process to be eligible for funding. To receive a copy of the community plan or to get additional information, contact the CJ Planner at BVCOG.

Definition of Regional

A project is considered regional if it involves all seven counties of the Brazos Valley in the planning and implementation stages. Bonus points are awarded on the score sheet for GVA, VCAW and CJPS projects that are regional. There are no bonus points for JSS projects that are regional.

Technical Assistance and Grant Application Workshop

During the application process, the BVCOG CJ Planner will, on request, assist applicants with questions or problems they may encounter. It is required that all applicants attend a grant application workshop or schedule a one-on-one training session to review the changes to the E-Grants website. Please contact Rebecca Hill at 979-595-2800 or to reserve your space at a workshop or schedule a one-on-one training session.

Application Review Process

New and continuation grants require the same review process. CJD grant applications are received and reviewed by CJD for eligibility. The eligible applications will then be sent to the COG for prioritization.

Grant applications are reviewed by BVCOG for eligibility. The eligible applications will then be prioritized by a subcommittee of the CJAC.

The CJ Planner mails copies of the applications to the CJAC subcommittee and CJAC Chair for their review. The CJ Planner will schedule a time for each applicant’s presentation. The CJAC subcommittee meets to hear presentations from applicants and score applications. The scores are tallied during the meeting. Applications are ranked, and the CJAC subcommittee makes a recommendation to the CJAC. The CJAC meets and makes a formal funding recommendation to the BVCOG Board of Directors based on these scores. All CJAC meetings are held in compliance with the Texas Open Meeting Act.

A qualified representative must be present to make a presentation to the CJAC subcommittee. If a representative is not present at the scheduled time, the application will not be scored and will not be recommended for funding.

The BVCOG Board of Directors meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The Board of Directors reviews the CJAC’s recommendations and makes a formal funding decision. This information is then forwarded to CJD in Austin. CJD then makes the final funding decision and notifies BVCOG by email. The COG CJ Planner will notify grant recipients within two business days after the BVCOG receives notice and CJD will then notify the recipient in writing.

Conflict of Interest and Ties

The CJ Planner is not a voting member of the CJAC. A CJAC member must abstain from voting on any application during the prioritization process if he or she is related to the applicant within the third degree by consanguinity (blood) or within the second degree by affinity (marriage); is employed by the applicant agency and works for the unit or division that would administer the grant; serves on any board that oversees the unit or division that would administer the grant; owns or controls any interest in a business entity or other non-governmental organization that benefits, directly or indirectly, from activities with the applicant; receives any funds from the applicant as a result of the grant; or uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible goods, services or funds from the applicant.

The CJAC Chairperson will determine if a conflict of interest exists with a voting member of the committee. If a tie occurs between two or more scores, the committee members will take an ordinal vote without the chair participating in the vote. If the ordinal vote results in a tie, then the CJAC Chairperson will break the tie.

Decreasing Funding Ratio Policy

The following funds have a decreasing funding ratio over five years:

·  Juvenile Services

·  Criminal Justice Programs (JAG grants are excluded)

The decreasing funding ratio provides for CJD funding of 100% of costs the first year. The first year grant award sets a benchmark for the funding levels of any subsequent award:

·  In the second year, the grantee is eligible for 100% of the benchmark

·  In the third year, the grantee is eligible for 75% of the benchmark

·  In the fourth year, the grantee is eligible for 50% of the benchmark

·  In the fifth year, the grantee is eligible for 25% of the benchmark

Exceptions to the Decreasing Funding Ratio and Maximum Years of Funding policies are BVCOG’s regional coordination project, BVCOG’s law enforcement training project, and BVCOG’s regional juvenile justice alternatives project.

Requests for additional years of funding (beyond five years) will be treated as a new application and compete as such. Cities and counties receiving “421 Funds” must assume all costs of the grant in at least five years, according to Chapter 772 of the Government Code.

The minimum grant request is $5,000. There is no maximum. The CJAC or CJD may grant exceptions to the minimum grant request rule.

Appeal Process

CJD will not accept appeals; therefore, appeals can only be made at the COG level. Appeals must be based on a verifiable error made during the prioritization or review process, and the applicant must be able to show that the error actually caused the application to not be funded. The applicant should submit written documentation in support of the appeal within 10 days of receiving notification of the CJAC’s funding recommendation or the BVCOG Board of Directors funding decision.

Notification of Funding Decisions

The BVCOG CJ Planner will notify applicants of funding recommendations made by the CJAC within the following 10 business days of the CJAC meeting. The CJ Planner will also inform applicants of funding decisions made by the BVCOG Board of Directors within the following 10 business days of the board meeting.

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BVCOG Request for Applications FY 2012