OJJDP FY21 Court Appointed Special Advocates Training, Technical Assistance, and Subgrants Program

Eligible applicants are limited to (1) national organizations that have broad membership among court appointed special advocate programs (defined by OJJDP as having a network of volunteers representing the interests of abused and neglected children operating in a minimum of 40 of the nation’s 56 states and territories) and have demonstrated experience in grant administration of court appointed special advocate programs and in providing training and technical assistance to court appointed special advocate programs and (2) local public or not-for-profit agencies that have demonstrated a willingness to initiate, sustain, and expand a court appointed special advocate program. To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be eligible for FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding. To become certified, the law enforcement agency must meet two mandatory conditions: (1) the agency’s use of force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws; and (2) the agency’s use of force policies prohibit chokeholds except in situations where use of deadly force is allowed by law. The certification requirement also applies to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary grant funding through a subaward.  For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO to access the Standards for Certification on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, Implementation Fact Sheet, and List of Designated Independent Credentialing Bodies. All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.