OVP SFY 2024 Solicitation

OVP Purpose: The purpose of these funds is to address street and gang violence, homicides and injuries caused by firearms as outlined in LB63 in 2009 (N.R.S. §81-1447 through 1451). In March 2015, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB 167 which also included the creation of youth employment opportunities in high-crime areas as an additional priority focus. The Legislature found that to effectively address these issues, communities must develop a multi-faceted approach that includes violence prevention activities, intervention, enforcement and rehabilitation. Priority for funding is given to communities and organizations seeking to implement violence prevention programs which appear to have the greatest benefit to the state and which have, as goals one of the three identified purpose areas. 1. Reduction of street or gang violence 2. Reduction of homicides and injuries caused by firearms 3. Youth Employment opportunities in high-crime areas

Grant Requirements: • Grant Award and Special Conditions - Awarded applicants must sign the Grant Award and Special Conditions that include but are not limited to requirements under state laws in addition to requirements for accounting, data collection and reporting. • Supplanting – Office of Violence Prevention funds cannot be used to supplant (replace) other existing funds. Funds presently appropriated for the project may not be deliberately decreased due to additional state funds made available through the Crime Commission. The applicant’s budget narratives should clearly explain: a) how the costs where previously funded; b) why the funds are no longer available; and c) when the funds ended and/or any temporary funding agreements or arrangements. • Subawards – Subawards are sub-agreements established between the awarded agency (Tier-1 awardee) with other agencies (Tier-2 subgrantee) to conduct project related work. OVP awardees that subaward project funds are responsible for ensuring that each subawarded agency has a signed Grant Sub-Award and Special Conditions, proper financial controls and systems for data collection. Subawarded projects must be monitored for programmatic and financial compliance with OVP grant fund requirements by the OVP awardee. • Fiscal Requirements - Commingling of funds on either a program-by-program or project-by- project basis is prohibited. The subrecipients accounting system must maintain a clear audit trail for each source of funding for each fiscal budget period and include the following: a) Separate accountability of receipts, obligations, expenditures of all grant funds, disbursements, and balances. b) Itemized records supporting all grant receipts, expenditures and match contributions in sufficient detail to show exact nature of activity. c) Data and information for each expenditure and match contribution with proper reference to a supporting voucher or bill properly approved. d) Hourly timesheets describing work activity, signed by the employee and supervisor, to document hours personnel worked on grant related activities. Match hours must be documented in same manner. e) Maintenance of payroll authorizations and vouchers. f) Maintenance of records supporting charges for fringe benefits. g) Maintenance of inventory records for equipment purchased, rented, and contributed. h) Maintenance of billing records for consumable supplies (i.e., paper, printing) purchased. i) Provisions for payment by check. j) Maintenance of travel records (i.e., mileage logs, gas receipts). k) Lease Agreements, contracts services, and purchases of equipment that adhere to established procurement processes. o State agencies are governed by procedures of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), these are located at http://das.nebraska.gov/materiel/purchasing.html o Counties must follow the process outlined in Nebraska statute located at http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=23-3108&print=true o All other agencies (i.e., nonprofit, city) must adhere to the written process of the agency or if none exists, it reverts back to the Crime Commission’s process (i.e. the DAS Procurement Process) • Equipment (including replacements) purchased in whole or in part with grant funds should be purchased at the beginning of the project period to fully benefit the project and must be maintained and recorded, at a minimum, meeting the requirements listed below. a) Description of the property b) Serial number or other identification number c) Source of the property Identification of the title holder d) Acquisition date e) Cost of the property f) Percentage of grant participation in the cost of the property g) Location of the property h) Use and condition of the property i) Disposition data, including the date of disposal and sale price j) A physical inventory of the property and reconcile the results with the property records at least once every 2 years. k) Loss, damage, or theft: o A control system must be in place with adequate safeguards to prevent these occurrences. o Promptly and properly investigate any loss damage, or theft. o Establish and use adequate maintenance procedures to keep the property in good condition. o If authorized or required to sell the property, a proper sales procedure must be establish to ensure the highest possible return. l) Original or replacement equipment acquired under the funded project that is no longer needed for the original project must be disposed. This is also true when equipment acquired under the funded project will be used for other activities. The following must be adhered to in equipment disposition: o If the item to be disposed of has a current per -unit fair market value of less than $5,000, it may be retained, sold, or otherwise disposed of with no further obligation to the Crime Commission. o If the item has a current per -unit fair market value of $5, 000 or more, it may be retained and sold, but the Crime Commission will have a right to a specific dollar amount. • Payments – All payments from the Crime Commission will be on a reimbursement basis. Required documentation must be submitted by the 30th of the month following the month to be reimbursed. Reimbursement will not be made until all required documentation has been approved. • Positions – Any position 100% funded through grant funds and/or match must be 100% dedicated to the grant program allowable activities. • Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications – Applicants are to disclose whether they have any pending application for federally and/or state funded grants that include requests for funding to support the same project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the identical cost items outlined in the budget in the application under this solicitation. The Crime Commission seeks this information to help avoid any inappropriate duplication of funding. Applicants that have pending applications as described above are to provide the following information about pending applications submitted within the last 12 months: o federal or state funding agency; o solicitation name/project name; and o point of contact information at the application funding agency. If the applicant does not have any pending applications indicate “None” on the form. • Formal Third-Party Evaluation - Each project is required to have a formal third-party evaluation. Funds can be requested to complete the evaluation.

If you have specific questions about the grant, reach out to the OVP Director. Athena Sherman, athena.sherman@nebraska.gov

Program Eligibility Requirements: To be eligible for this specific application for Office of Violence Prevention funding, the applicant must be one of the following: • Community-Based Agency or Organization, including Faith-Based Organizations; • Community team; • State Agency; • Unit of local government (i.e. city, county, town) • School District • Federally or State recognized Native American Tribe • 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization Applicants without 501(c)(3) status must seek out an eligible applicant listed above to apply on their behalf as the fiscal agent. Eligible applicants, who are not non-profit agencies, may contract with non-profit agencies for the provision of services.

Projects: • Projects will be reviewed as competitive applications. • Start date for the initial year can be no earlier than 7/1/2023. • Projects with unspent funds at the end of the fiscal year (6/30/2024) will be required to de-obligate those dollars. Grant Commencement: Implementation of funded projects must be within 30 days from the date as specified by the project’s designated Nebraska Crime Commission representative noted on the award document. Failure to implement a project within the time frame, or the time frame agreed upon by the grant administrator, may result in the loss of grant funds. Correspondence: All grant correspondence from NCC is sent to the applicant’s identified Project Point of Contact (PPOC) and/or other applicant-designated individuals as deemed necessary. For this reason, it is imperative to verify the submission of current and correct email addresses and contact information for the Project Point of Contact (PPOC), Financial/Fiscal Point of Contact (FPOC), and Authorized Official (AO). Any changes to contact information for the PPOC, FPOC, and/or AO must be communicated to the OVP Director as soon as possible. Failure to provide valid contact information can result in unnecessary delays and ineffective communication.

• Quarterly Performance Reporting – Narrative summary reports will be due quarterly, to be submitted in the online grant management system by the 30th of the month following quarter end. Reimbursement will not be made if reporting is not timely and in compliance with requirements.

Evidence-Based Practices: The Office of Violence Prevention shall prioritize funding to implement evidence-based strategies or standardized replicable practices that have been researched and have demonstrated positive outcomes. Classification System for Evidence Based Programs in Nebraska I. Model Program/ Fully Evidence Based Practice – The program satisfies the following five criteria: a. The program demonstrated effectiveness with a randomized experimental study (RCT) or two quasi-experimental studies in which the treatment group showed a significant difference on the target outcome as compared to the control group. b. The effect lasted for no less than 1 year after the intervention. c. There is at least one independent replication with a RCT or two more quasi-experimental evaluations. d. The combination of designs adequately addressed all the threats to internal validity (i.e., the design allowed for a strong inference of causality). e. The program has produced no compromising negative side effects. II. Effective – One RCT or two quasi-experimental designs document the program’s effectiveness. Furthermore, an evaluator has replicated the program’s effectiveness with an RCT design or two quasi-experimental designs but the researcher was not an independent investigator. III. Promising – There has been one successful RCT or two quasi-experiments that document the effectiveness of the program but there was no replication study available OR the program matches the dimensions of a successful meta-analysis practice. IV. Inconclusive – There has been one successful RCT or two quasi-experimental evaluations of the program but there are contradictory findings in these or additional studies OR the program would be promising or effective but the effects are short in duration. V. Ineffective – The RCT or two quasi-experimental evaluations failed to show significant differences between the treatment and control group. VI. Harmful – The RCT or two quasi-experiments showed that the control group scored higher on the targeted outcome than did the treatment group and the difference is statistically significant. VII. Insufficient Evidence – There is no RCT or less than two quasi-experimental evaluations of the program to date.