OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program Expanding Legal Services Initiative - Solicitation | O OVW 2023 171487

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2023 171487

The OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV) Grant Program Expanding Legal Services Initiative (ELSI) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), authorized under 34 U.S.C. 20121 and administered under CFDA 16.524. Its core purpose is to increase access to high-quality legal help for people harmed by domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault. The program specifically emphasizes meeting the real-world legal needs that often come directly out of abuse, with services designed for both adult victims and youth survivors ages 11 to 24. The focus is on making legal assistance more available and more effective, so victims can improve safety, protect privacy, secure stability, and navigate systems that can otherwise be difficult or unsafe to face alone.

A key feature of this solicitation is that it is part of the Expanding Legal Services Initiative, meaning it is meant for eligible organizations that do not currently provide legal services and want to build that capacity. In practice, ELSI funding is aimed at helping an organization stand up a legal services program that offers direct legal representation to victims. That can include establishing staffing, partnerships, and service delivery structures necessary to provide comprehensive legal help. The opportunity also has a longer runway than many single-year grants: recipients may be eligible for up to five years of support total, starting with two years awarded under this solicitation, with the possibility of an additional three years of noncompetitive continuation funding if required conditions are satisfied. The goal is not a short pilot, but a sustainable expansion of legal services in communities where those services are missing or insufficient.

The solicitation defines "legal assistance" broadly to reflect the many ways abuse intersects with daily life and the legal system. Covered civil legal matters include, among other areas, divorce and family law issues (such as parental rights and child support), protection orders and other injunctive relief, housing disputes, employment and workplace-related matters, education and campus processes, healthcare access issues, privacy concerns, consumer and contract problems, civil rights claims, and proceedings in tribal or territorial forums, including immigration-related legal needs when tied to victimization. It also recognizes that victims may need representation or legal advocacy connected to the criminal legal system, including during investigations, prosecutions, and post-conviction stages such as sentencing, probation, or parole, when those proceedings affect a victim's safety, privacy, or other interests. In addition, the program allows support for alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, or other processes intended to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy while also advancing offender accountability, whether or not a court case is involved. Finally, it includes post-conviction relief proceedings when a victim has a conviction that is related to or arose from their victimization, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or sex trafficking, recognizing that survivors can face criminalization linked to the harm they experienced.

Eligibility under this opportunity is broad across victim-service and community-based sectors and includes federally recognized Tribal governments, Tribal organizations, and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding institutions of higher education). The funding instrument is a grant, categorized under law, justice, and legal services. For FY 2023, the opportunity anticipated making around 8 awards, with an award ceiling of $400,000. The solicitation was created on December 21, 2022, with an original application deadline of March 6, 2023, indicating it was a time-limited competitive opportunity for that fiscal year.

Finally, OVW ties this funding to performance measurement and accountability expectations consistent with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) framework. Applicants and awardees are expected to align services with OVW program goals and to report on outcomes using OVW performance measures, including those connected to the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative. In effect, the opportunity is not only about launching legal services, but also about demonstrating that those services are comprehensive, victim-centered, and capable of improving survivor safety and access to justice in measurable ways.

• 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 2023 Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program Expanding Legal Services Initiative - Solicitation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.524.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 21, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 06, 2023. (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 $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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