Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative for Law Enforcement (RVCRI) Grant Application Solicitation
Violent crime is on the rise in many jurisdictions, including rural communities. Rural law enforcement agencies are left to tackle these issues, often with a decreasing tax base, personnel shortages, expansive geographic territory, and lack of access to medical treatment that can make violent crimes more fatal than in urban settings.
The Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative (RVCRI) is an effort, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), to provide funding and assistance to rural law enforcement agencies seeking to reduce violent crime and address problems associated with violent crime. Funding and support are available for implementing violent crime reduction strategies, improving investigations, improving services to victims, and for enhancing collaboration between local stakeholders. This will be achieved through the provision of training; deployment of technology; improvement of communication and collaboration between stakeholders; and expansion of community-based crime prevention programs and partnerships with victim services providers.
In the sections below you can learn more and apply for the RVCRI, meet the RVCRI team, and access resources.
We greatly appreciate your interest in the RVCRI! Click here to access additional solicitation information. The RVCRI Scoring Rubric outlines the weights given to each section of the Proposal Narrative.
The Institute and BJA of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice are seeking applications for a federal grant program that supports the development and implementation of problem-solving strategies that specifically address violent crime occurring in and affecting rural populations. Rural VCRI is committed to community collaboration; criminal justice partner cooperation; victim-centered approaches; evidence-based strategies; and measuring crime reduction outcomes.
Individual grant awards are expected to be between $25,000.00 and $150,000 and grant terms will cover a maximum twenty-four (24) month period.
Agencies are encouraged to see this funding opportunity to support a cross-sector team engaged in problem solving methodologies (e.g., the SARA model – Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) to address local crime challenges. The ability of applicants to articulate the nature of the crime problem to be addressed will be critical to a successful application. Funding proposals and requests may include, but is not limited to:
Improve training and deploy technology.
Improve communication and collaboration between state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, and the communities they serve; and
Expand community-based crime prevention programs and partnerships with victim services providers
The objectives of the RVCRI are to:
Deploy agency resources such as personnel, services, or analytical tools that are identified in proposals.
Document how personnel and resources (e.g., services, software, or equipment) will be used in furtherance of an area’s crime reduction strategies; and
Track project outcomes to determine if the violent crime reduction strategy (or strategies) have had an impact once implemented.
The Institute and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are both supporting the RVCRI through grant awards. As such, applicants will only be eligible to receive funding under one application. Each application has similar requirements and are for the same funding amounts. To determine which RVCRI award to apply for, consider the following components of your application. Which components does your application contain?
Supporting law enforcement and community collaboration partnerships, such as:
A place-based approach that includes collaborations with community or economic development partners that may explore revitalization opportunities that complements law enforcement interventions
Supporting law enforcement agencies with enhancing capacity, such as:
Enhancing crime analysis capacity
Hiring, training, and deploying personnel integral to violent crime reduction
Initiating or enhancing victims’ services support programs and tools
Implementing and delivering services to mitigate the risk of violent behaviors in individuals dealing with mental health and/or substance abuse disorders, including crisis intervention
Deploying forensic evidence tools and services for identifying suspects or enhancing evidence, testimony, and victim outreach
Deploying and expanding technology to assist with the surveillance of rural areas and evidence gathering
Responses to all questions in the online application
Project Narrative attached to the application in the provided Word template
Budget
The RVCRI team has developed a proposal narrative template for applicants to use on the Institute application!
The following agencies are invited to apply for this grant program:
All publicly funded rural law enforcement agencies;
Local or county law enforcement agencies serving rural population areas;
All federally recognized tribal law enforcement agencies; and
Rural county prosecutor's offices
To qualify as rural for this solicitation, an applicant must provide services in a rural area, but the jurisdiction's service area need not be exclusively rural. While the agency does not solely need to serve a rural area, the violent crime problem addressed must have a rural focus that allows for trackable impact. This definition holds for sheriff's and prosecutors' offices. For any municipality (e.g., town, village, or borough), the area must be considered rural, and the population must not exceed 15,000. The population should be based on the latest U.S. Census enumeration.
The Institute and BJA will use the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designation of rurality to help determine rurality scoring/qualification. To see if your agency is designated as rural, you can find the HRSA Tool at: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health
If you believe that your agency or the problem your agency is trying to address qualifies as rural, but the HRSA tool does not indicate that you are rural, please contact us at RuralVCRI@policinginsitute.org.
The RVCRI Grant Application is currently closed. Should additional funding become available, the RVCRI team will re-open the application. Individuals registered for the RVCRI mailing list will receive notification when the application re-opens as well notifications regarding upcoming events and new resources. To register for the mailing list, complete the fields at the bottom of the www.RuralVCRI.org webpage. If you have any questions, reach out to the RVCRI team at RuralVCRI@policinginstitute.org.
RVCRI Grantees are required to:
Engage in regular contact with their TTA provider/funder
Provide regular reporting updates, including crime metrics when applicable, that allow for pre- and post-implementation comparisons
Purchase equipment and services in a manner compliant with federal and local procurement guidelines
Request reimbursement for the above purchases in a manner consistent with the Reimbursement and Invoicing Guidelines of the grant
Follow all special conditions and government requirements of receiving a grant – see the solicitation and your award letters for additional information
Contribute to developing annual and a final report that discusses project progress, successes, challenges, and sustainability
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) helps to make American communities safer by strengthening the nation's criminal justice system: Its grants, training, and technical assistance, and policy development services provide state, local, and tribal governments with the cutting-edge tools and best practices they need to reduce violence and drug-related crime, support law enforcement, and combat victimization.
The National Policing Institute envisions police and communities working together to implement best practices that are informed or supported by research, resulting in safe, healthy, economically thriving, and mutually trusting communities.
LISC is a non-profit with strong community partnerships that connects hard-to-tap public and private resources with underinvested places and people working to access opportunities every one of us deserves. LISC's purpose is as it was when founded: government, foundations and for-profit companies have the capital; residents and local institutions understand the need.
SRLEEA is the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to supporting and promoting law enforcement executives and agencies that serve small, rural, and tribal communities. SRLEEA's, mission is to strengthen, unite, and raise the capacity of small, rural, and tribal law enforcement leaders and agencies.
We anticipate that this will be a highly competitive solicitation, and applicants are strongly encouraged to apply and submit before the deadline.
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