2024 Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program in Virginia

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), is pleased to announce the availability of federal funds through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Grant Program. Donor Name: Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services State: Virginia County: Albemarle County (VA) Type of Grant: Grant Deadline: (mm/dd/yyyy) 08/29/2024 Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000 Grant Duration: 1 Year Details: This program awards federal funds to provide comprehensive, collaborative, and community-based approaches to reducing violent crime using a full range of appropriate violent crime reduction strategies.  The BJA PSN Grant Program funds allow organizations within the Western District of Virginia to support a broad range of activities to reduce gun and gang violence. Programs should address deterrence efforts aimed at potential offenders, the implementation of evidence-based programs and proven enforcement strategies to prevent and reduce gun and gang crimes, and/or the prosecution of significant firearm, controlled substance, and violent crime offenses.  Funding Areas  Applicants are expected to use funds to support one or more of the following four PSN design features: Community Engagement  Meaningful engagement between and among communities, law enforcement, prosecutors, and other stakeholders is an essential component of an effective violence reduction strategy. Absent community trust, support, and legitimacy, violence reduction strategies are likely to have only short-term, limited, or no effect and may create divisions between law enforcement agencies and prosecutors and the communities they serve. Ongoing engagement involves open communication and builds relationships, trust, and shared public safety values between community members and law enforcement.  Prevention and Intervention Effective  PSN teams engage in problem-solving approaches that address violent crime using all the tools at their disposal. This includes using strategies to address risk and protective factors. This often involve building relationships with representatives of agencies and organizations most suited to provide education, social services, job training and placement, reentry programs, or similar resources to those in need. Prevention and intervention activities can provide individuals and families with skills, opportunities, and alternatives that can ultimately help to reduce violent crime in communities.  Focused and Strategic Enforcement  To address violent crime, PSN initiatives often focus strategic enforcement on a limited number of problem places and individuals driving violent crime. Violent crime is often driven by a small number of prolific offenders; they are often involved in gangs, neighborhood crews, and violent street groups and are typically concentrated in hotspots and small “micro-places” (e.g., a street segment with abandoned homes; a problem bar, gas station, or convenience store; or an open-air drug market). In some jurisdictions, intimate partner violence is the main violent crime concern. Critical elements of strategic enforcement include understanding the most significant drivers of violence and resources, leveraging technology and analytics, developing, and implementing enforcement strategies, and deterring others from engaging in violence. This may be accomplished through public awareness about enforcement actions and available assistance.  Accountability PSN represents a major investment of funding, technical assistance resources, human capital, and other resources at the national, state, and local levels. The goal of PSN is to reduce the level of violence in communities. Analyzing and assessing information about the incidence of violence and the effectiveness of strategies to address it are important for PSN’s success and credibility. A research partner is an especially valuable partner who can assist with measuring the impact of PSN strategies on violent crime and community health. Funding Information The amount of funding available for this solicitation of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program is approximately $302,000. Grant Period Grants will be awarded for a twelve (12) month period, once the grant program is approved by BJA; however, a 24-month period may be considered depending on the need specified in the application. Eligibility Criteria  This grant announcement is open to local and state law enforcement agencies, local and state governmental entities, educational institutions, and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations located in, or serving, the cities of Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville and Charlottesville (including Albemarle County). Applications from multi-jurisdictional partnerships will be considered, provided that one locality or organization serves as the primary applicant. Each locality or organization must certify its consent to participate via a letter of support, which should be included in the grant application. Entities may only submit one application in response to this solicitation. For more information, visit VDCJS.