OVW Fiscal Year 2022 Targeted Support for the Muscogee Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations in Oklahoma Special Initiative Invitation to Apply | O OVW 2022 171010

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2022 171010

The OVW Fiscal Year 2022 Targeted Support Special Initiative is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), created specifically for five tribal nations in Oklahoma: the Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations. The invitation is tied directly to the major jurisdictional shifts that followed the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), which held that the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation was never disestablished by Congress. As a result, for many crimes occurring in Indian country within that reservation, jurisdiction moved away from the State of Oklahoma and instead rests with the federal government under the Major Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 1153) and the General Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 1152), along with the Tribe. While McGirt addressed the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation, the same reasoning has since been extended to the reservations of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations, creating similar enforcement, prosecution, and victim-service demands across all five nations.

The purpose of the initiative is to help these nations strengthen and expand their capacity to exercise criminal jurisdiction and respond effectively to cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sex trafficking in the post-McGirt landscape. OVW frames the need as practical and immediate: when jurisdictional responsibility changes, tribal justice systems often face sudden increases in caseloads, coordination requirements, staffing needs, and infrastructure demands, all while trying to ensure victim safety and access to trauma-informed services. This funding is intended to support additional project activities beyond existing OVW awards, recognizing that these tribes were already OVW grantees and are now confronting new and intensified operational realities.

Allowable support under this special initiative is described broadly and focuses on core system needs: staffing (such as advocates, coordinators, prosecutors, investigators, or other justice-system and victim-service personnel), infrastructure (which can include the systems and capacity needed to manage investigations, prosecutions, services, and coordinated community responses), direct victim services (including sexual assault services and other supports for survivors), and other tribal justice system needs connected to the targeted crimes. The emphasis is on strengthening the overall response network that surrounds victims and cases, including the practical ability to investigate, prosecute when appropriate, and provide consistent services in ways that fit tribal communities and align with federal requirements.

Funding for the initiative comes from two established OVW funding streams. First is the OVW Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program (often referred to as the Tribal Governments Program or TGP), authorized by 34 U.S.C. 10452, which is designed to help tribal governments and their authorized designees address sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sex trafficking, and stalking. Second is the Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program (TSASP), authorized by 34 U.S.C. 12511(e), which focuses specifically on creating, maintaining, and expanding sustainable sexual assault services delivered by tribes, tribal organizations, and nonprofit tribal organizations in Indian country and Alaska Native villages. In other words, the initiative combines a broad tribal justice and public safety capacity approach (TGP) with a dedicated sexual assault services expansion approach (TSASP), allowing awards to cover both system response and survivor-centered services.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number O-OVW-2022-171010 and falls under the Law, Justice and Legal Services funding activity category. It uses a grant funding instrument and is classified as discretionary. The CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 16.024 and 16.587. OVW anticipated making five awards, consistent with the five invited nations. The award ceiling is stated as $682,000. The opportunity was created on November 23, 2021, and the original closing date was January 4, 2022. Eligibility is limited and invitation-based; it is directed to the five named tribal nations, described as current OVW funding recipients, rather than being an open, competitive solicitation for all applicants.

OVW also points applicants to existing program guidance and accountability frameworks, including OVW program webpages and performance measures connected to the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative. That reference signals that funded projects are expected not only to deliver services and system improvements, but also to track and report progress using OVW performance measures, consistent with how OVW evaluates the effectiveness of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)-related grant programming. Overall, the initiative is best understood as a targeted capacity-building response to the practical consequences of McGirt: ensuring that as jurisdictional lines shift, survivors of these crimes are not left without a strong, coordinated, and well-resourced tribal response.

• 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 Targeted Support for the Muscogee Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations in Oklahoma Special Initiative Invitation to Apply" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.024, 16.587.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 23, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 04, 2022. (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 $682,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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