COPS School Violence Prevention Program Funding

The grant opened April 16^th and schools have until June 11, 2024, to start the application process in Grants.gov

COPS (DOJ Community Orientated Police Services) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) Grant Program

This Grant can be a lifeline for schools seeking to enhance their security measures. The SVPP grant was released on April 16^th, 2024, which has $73 million for public school districts/School Boards/Police Departments (not eligible for private schools unless covered by a Public School District request). How much RISK does your school have?

See: Https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2024ProgramDocs/svpp/solicitation.pdf 

The aim of the COPS/SVPP grant is to improve security at schools and on school grounds through school safety programs. For so many districts, the conversation about school safety is evolving, becoming increasingly multifaceted, blending the physical with the technical or digital, and requiring a concerted effort from various stakeholders. 

The school safety landscape continues to shift, where responsibilities increasingly fall on the shoulders of IT or technology driven educational leaders, involved in the entire approach from planning, training, awareness, operations, response, and recovery for crisis ranging from weather to medical or disciplinary emergencies to violent actions. In order to stay ahead of these threats and respond to a crisis that involves many levels of violence, it’s imperative that schools take a proactive, approach to school safety planning. 

This shift is driven by the interconnectedness of physical security measures with technology infrastructure, necessitating a collaborative approach to ensure effective implementation and management of safety protocols.

The grant opened April 16^th and schools have until June 11, 2024, to start the application process in Grants.gov. By June 17^th the application needs to be complete in Justgrants.gov. In order to meet these deadlines, there are some easy steps to work on right now:

1. Contact your CrisisGo Rep to set up a meeting with our Grant Assistance Program Director, Dr. Don Gemeinhardt
2. Figure out what your Security needs are with your CrisisGo Rep to start with and then the Rep, you and the GAP person can work through costs and sources – all with the help by GAP.
3. Check with your Finance Office to ensure that the district is registered with Sam.gov (this is a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) this is what all federal grants use to validate your organization. This is the only thing that will take a few days if you have not applied before, but most organizations have one already. Sam.gov registration is needed to enroll with Grants.gov. (the GAP contact can help you with this too)
4. Check with your Finance or Grants office to ensure that the school/district is registered with Grants.gov (easy to do after you have your UEI). If you have not, the GAP person can help you.
5. After your GAP brief – Dr. Gemeinhardt will help you with the forms, support letters and gathering all the information you need along with assisting you with the application too.
6. Apply – wait until 30 September 2024 to find out and if awarded – start to work it all out on 1 October 2024 after you accept it. GAP helps you through the whole onboarding process and beyond too.     

To receive updates about the grant, be sure to sign up with your CrisisGo Rep.  

Here are a few main points about the grant.

COPS/SVPP Grant Eligibility and Requirements:

Project Goals: Applications are typically evaluated based on their potential impact on improving school safety, the alignment with evidence-based safety programs, and other factors such as the financial need of the applicant and the feasibility of the project. They are also based on what the criteria the grant gives which is their reasoning for the best use of the funds – that is really important in how you write your response – while you tailor it to your needs you have to write it in consideration of the Grantor’s desires also. That is why CrisisGo provides a law enforcement subject matter expert to assist you in your grant application along with consulting with your own responders too.

​Eligibility Requirements: The grant is usually available to state, local, tribal, or territorial law enforcement agencies, school districts, and public and private elementary and secondary schools. There are specific eligibility criteria that applicants must meet, which can include the type of institution (e.g., public schools, public charter schools) and the role of the applicant (e.g., law enforcement agencies partnering with schools). This means you need support and support letters from your Police Responders. While you may be the lead, it is always good to talk to your law enforcement and Safety personnel to get their views and ideas, but you are the final decision maker on this as the lead. Saying that, the Responders can also be the lead and add you to their application because COPS/SVPP can pay for types of equipment for the Responders also.

​Community and Law Enforcement Partnership: A significant aspect of the COPS/SVPP is the emphasis on collaboration between schools and local law enforcement agencies. Applicants are often required to demonstrate this partnership in their application, outlining how law enforcement will be involved in the project's planning and implementation phases.

Use of Funds: Funds can be used for a variety of purposes to enhance school safety from Technology related systems for improving all types of responses to communication to Alert Badges to many more common uses include the implementation of physical security measures (such as secure doors, windows, and metal detectors), training for staff and students on violence prevention, and the development and operation of anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence.

​Matching Requirement: Many federal grants, including the SVPP, require a local contribution. Districts are eligible for up to $500,000 available per award. This is an opportunity to fund evidence-based safety programs and technology that will make schools safer for everyone. For instance, the COPS/SVPP grant might require the grantee to provide a contribution of 25% of the total project cost, meaning the federal funds will cover 75% of the total costs, and the grantee is responsible for the remaining 25%, simply when you ask for 400,000 dollars for instance and then you are awarded that – you will need to pay 100,000 dollars of that during the three years of the grant at any time.

Vulnerability Assessment: Applicants might be required to conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment in collaboration with local law enforcement or other security professionals. This assessment helps to identify potential security gaps and informs the development of a strategic plan to address identified needs. You may already have one, but your local police responders can do one for you, many states will have someone that will come out and do it or you can pay for it through school funds. In all cases, that Assessment will often drive the concept of your needs to solve the risk issues it has clearly defined. 

Reporting and Evaluation: Grantees are required to report on their progress and outcomes. This can include financial reporting, updates on the implementation of funded projects, and evaluations of the project's impact on school safety. While this sounds hard to do, it is not. JustGrants.gov is the DOJ platform where you post your application and where you do the periodic reports and after you go through it with very little training it is not hard to understand, again our CrisisGo GAP (Grant Assistance Program) person helps you though all the process, on-boarding and even assists you through the period of the grant and is part of your team. In this process is the finance part too but again, it is all on a platform that allows you to simply draw the funding to pay for the aspects of the grant by simply asking for the amount you were given under an invoice and then you pay the contractor only AFTER you obtain the funding from the Grant and the funds deposited into your account.

​Compliance with Federal Regulations: The COPS/SVPP grant recipients must comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations, including those related to civil rights, data privacy, and procurement processes.

Contact US NOW: When you want more information about this exciting grant effort and ways to lower your risk and increase your safety for your school, contact your CrisisGo rep and they can assist you or help you arrange a more in-depth look at your grant opportunities and the application process with our GAP person.