OVW Fiscal Year 2022 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Measuring Effectiveness Initiative (MEI) Application Guidelines | O OVW 2022 171005

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2022 171005

The OVW Fiscal Year 2022 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Measuring Effectiveness Initiative (MEI) Application Guidelines describe a Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) discretionary funding opportunity designed to keep OVW in compliance with VAWA effectiveness reporting requirements and to strengthen how OVW measures and communicates the results of its grant-funded work. This opportunity is offered under CFDA 16.526, categorized as technical assistance, and is authorized under several provisions of Title 34 of the U.S. Code, including 34 U.S.C. 12291(b)(11), 34 U.S.C. 10238, and 34 U.S.C. 12291(b)(7). At its core, the initiative supports the federal requirement that recipients of VAWA funds report on program effectiveness to the Attorney General, and that the Attorney General report to Congress every two years on the effectiveness of activities supported through these grants. Some OVW programs also carry additional, program-specific reporting obligations set out in their authorizing statutes, which increases the need for consistent data collection and analysis across OVW grant programs.

The summary purpose of the MEI is to operate and continuously improve OVW's performance measurement and reporting infrastructure. OVW created standardized annual and semi-annual progress reporting forms for each OVW grant program to capture both quantitative and qualitative information tied to the objectives of each program. The quantitative components allow OVW to aggregate consistent metrics across grantees and across programs, making it possible to describe accomplishments at scale and track trends over time. The qualitative components capture narrative information about goals, objectives, major activities, accomplishments, and unmet needs that cannot be reflected in numbers alone. OVW then uses these progress report data for several practical and statutory purposes: monitoring grant activities, informing grantees how their performance compares with peers, identifying promising practices, meeting Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and related performance reporting requirements, responding to DOJ performance and budget data requests, fulfilling Congressional reporting obligations, and handling additional ad hoc data requests from government and external stakeholders.

A central feature of this particular FY 2022 opportunity is that it functions as a continuation and supplemental funding action rather than a broadly competed new initiative. In FY 2017, the University of Southern Maine (USM) was competitively selected to lead the MEI work through a cooperative agreement structured as a five-year (60-month) project. USM initially received 26 months of support to carry the work through November 30, 2019, followed by an additional 22 months of funding in FY 2019 that extended the project through September 30, 2021. OVW later issued an extension to keep the existing award active through January 31, 2022. The FY 2022 Application Guidelines are intended to provide the remaining 12 months of funding needed to continue the project for roughly one more year, through approximately January 31, 2023, ensuring continuity of OVW's performance measurement operations and Congressional reporting pipeline.

Under this extension period, USM's responsibilities are described in operational terms: continuing to review, clean, and analyze the performance data submitted by OVW grantees; maintaining those data in a database so they can be reliably stored, accessed, and used for reporting; working closely with OVW to meet statutory and internal reporting requirements; responding to OVW and DOJ data requests; and providing ongoing training and technical assistance to grantees. The training and TA focus on helping grantees collect data that meaningfully reflect their own performance and ensuring they complete OVW performance reports accurately and consistently, which is essential for producing credible aggregate results. USM is also tasked with supporting OVW in preparing reports to Congress and producing other analyses and materials related to VAWA-funded activities, reinforcing the initiative's role as both a data quality effort and an accountability and transparency mechanism.

Administratively, the opportunity is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial federal involvement in shaping or coordinating project activities, rather than a more hands-off grant. The funding opportunity number is O-OVW-2022-171005, the activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services, and the agency is the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The posting indicates an expected single award, with an award ceiling of $1,254,400. The opportunity was created on December 21, 2021, with an original closing date of December 29, 2021. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced in the full solicitation, but the narrative makes clear the practical intent of this action is to provide a final year of continued support to USM to maintain uninterrupted performance measurement, analysis, reporting, and technical assistance capacity for OVW's VAWA grant portfolio.

• 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 2022 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Measuring Effectiveness Initiative (MEI) Application Guidelines" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.526.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 21, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 29, 2021. (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 $1,254,400.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O OVW 2022 171005

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