OVC FY 17 Developing Future Victim Specialists for Indian Country | OVC 2017 12560

Opportunity Information: Apply for OVC 2017 12560

The OVC FY 17 Developing Future Victim Specialists for Indian Country opportunity is a discretionary Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) cooperative agreement designed to strengthen and expand the workforce that serves American Indian and Alaska Native victims. Its central aim is to create a practical pipeline of trained victim service professionals for Indian Country and Alaska Native communities, especially in rural and remote areas where recruiting and retaining qualified staff is consistently difficult. Rather than focusing only on short-term staffing, the program is structured to build long-term capacity by connecting students who are already pursuing relevant degrees with hands-on victim services experience and a clearer path into employment.

The program is built around identifying and preparing students in disciplines that commonly feed into victim services work, such as social work, sociology, psychology, and related fields. Applicants are expected to recruit or identify students who are interested in serving victims in tribal communities, then place those students into structured internship or practicum roles with real victim service providers. These placements may be hosted either by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or by tribally based victim service programs, and they can be set up for academic credit or paid experiences depending on what the applicant proposes and what partner sites can support. The emphasis is on giving students direct exposure to victim services in tribal contexts, helping them build relevant skills, and increasing the likelihood they will pursue careers serving these communities after graduation.

A key feature of this opportunity is that OVC does not prescribe a single uniform model. Instead, the applicant is responsible for designing the program and proposing the structure, administration, and partnerships that make sense for the communities involved. That includes creating the framework for student internships or practicums, defining requirements and expectations for participants, and handling practical administrative responsibilities that come with placing students in sensitive, real-world service environments. The solicitation highlights the need to address privacy and confidentiality issues that arise when students are working in direct service settings, which implies applicants should be prepared to develop policies, training, supervision plans, and data-handling procedures that protect victims and comply with applicable rules and ethical standards.

Eligible applicants are intentionally broad but tied to educational and tribal connections. The opportunity is open to tribal colleges and universities (either applying individually or as a consortium), non-tribal colleges and universities located near American Indian or Alaska Native communities, and other organizations that can demonstrate strong connections to both tribes and educational institutions that train students in victim-services-related fields. In practice, this means the applicant should be able to bridge academic programs and on-the-ground service providers, coordinating placements and ensuring the internships are meaningful, supervised, and aligned with both academic requirements and community needs.

From a funding standpoint, this is a cooperative agreement under CFDA 16.582, categorized within income security and social services and law, justice, and legal services. The award ceiling is $450,000, with an anticipated total of three awards. The opportunity was created June 26, 2017, with an original closing date of August 9, 2017. Overall, the grant supports an approach that blends workforce development, partnership-building, and culturally informed service delivery by developing a steady, trained stream of future victim specialists prepared to work in Indian Country and Alaska Native locations.

• The Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime in the income security and social services, law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVC FY 17 Developing Future Victim Specialists for Indian Country" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.582.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 26, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 09, 2017. (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 $450,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for OVC 2017 12560

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