Family Violence Prevention and Services/Discretionary

The purpose of this program is to fund a wide range of discretionary activities for the purpose of: (1) providing resource information, training and technical assistance to improve the capacity of individuals, organizations, government entities, and communities to prevent family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence and to provide effective intervention services; (2) improving the design, delivery, and coordination of services to address family violence, domestic violence and dating violence; (3) gathering information on the incidence and prevalence of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence; and (4) increasing knowledge and understanding of the issues through research, demonstration, and evaluation projects. Specific sections in the Act authorize funding for such discretionary projects as a National Resource Center on Domestic Violence; a National Indian Resource Center Addressing Domestic Violence and Safety for Indian Women; Special Issue Resource Centers including Culturally-Specific Issue Resource Centers; State Resource Centers to Reduce Tribal Disparities; Specialized Services for Abused Parents and Their Children; and a National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Depending on the purpose of the project and the statutory requirements, an applicant may be a nonprofit private organization, tribal organization, federally recognized Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian organization, local public agency, institution of higher education, private organization, Alaska Native Village, or nonprofit Alaska Native Regional Corporation.

Each application will be screened to determine whether it meets any of the disqualifying factors: missing the application deadline, required electronic submission or waiver requested and approved, or exceeding the Award Ceiling. Disqualified applications are considered to be “non-responsive” and are excluded from the competitive review process.
Applications competing for financial assistance will be reviewed and evaluated by merit review panels using only the criteria described in Section V.1. Criteria of the NOFO. Each panel is composed of experts with knowledge and experience in the area under review. Generally, review panels include three reviewers and one chairperson.
Results of the competitive merit review are taken into consideration by ACF in the selection of projects for funding; however, merit review scores and rankings are not binding. Scores and rankings are only one element used in the award decision-making process. If identified in Section I. Program Description, ACF reserves the right to consider preferences to fund organizations serving emerging, unserved, or under-served populations, including those populations located in pockets of poverty. In addition, ACF reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering geographic distribution of federal funds (e.g. ensuring coverage of states, counties, or service areas) in its pre-award decisions.
ACF may elect not to fund applicants with management or financial problems that would indicate an inability to successfully complete the proposed project. In addition, ACF may elect to not allow a prime recipient to subaward if there is any indication that they are unable to properly monitor and manage subrecipients.
Applications may be funded in whole or in part. Successful applicants may be funded at an amount lower than requested.