OVW Fiscal Year 2024 Measuring Effectiveness Initiative | O OVW 2024 171938

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2024 171938

The OVW Fiscal Year 2024 Measuring Effectiveness Initiative is a discretionary, noncompetitive funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under the Research and Evaluation Initiative (Assistance Listing 16.026). It is designed to support OVW in meeting statutory requirements in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), as amended, that require OVW-funded grantees to report on program effectiveness to the Attorney General and require the Attorney General to report to Congress every two years on the effectiveness of grant-funded activities. In practical terms, the initiative is OVW's main mechanism for collecting, managing, and using consistent performance information across its grant programs so OVW can demonstrate results, identify needs, and strengthen program implementation.

At the center of the initiative is OVW's performance reporting system, which includes annual and semi-annual reporting forms tailored to each OVW grant program. These forms capture both quantitative data (numbers that can be aggregated across grantees and programs to show overall accomplishments) and qualitative narrative information (goals, activities, accomplishments, challenges, and remaining needs). OVW uses the resulting data for multiple purposes: monitoring individual awards and program-wide progress, meeting federal performance accountability requirements such as GPRA and related laws, preparing required reports to Congress, responding to internal and external requests for information, identifying promising practices, and spotting where targeted training and technical assistance could improve grantee performance reporting and data quality.

This FY 2024 invitation is specifically structured as a supplemental award to continue the Measuring Effectiveness Initiative (MEI) that was previously awarded through a competitive process to the University of Southern Maine (USM). USM initially received about $2.6 million for the first 18 months of a planned five-year (60-month) cooperative agreement, supporting work through June 30, 2024. The FY 2024 opportunity provides an additional $4,143,119 to fund the next 26 months of work, covering July 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026. Because this is a continuation of an already-selected project, it is explicitly noncompetitive and the University of Southern Maine is the only eligible applicant. The opportunity anticipates a single award with a ceiling equal to the supplemental amount.

With the supplemental funding, USM is expected to continue the operational backbone of OVW performance measurement. That includes reviewing, cleaning, and analyzing data submitted in grantee performance reports; maintaining those data in a database so they remain usable and accessible over time; and working closely with OVW to fulfill reporting requirements and respond to data requests. Another major component is ongoing training and technical assistance for OVW grantees, focused on helping programs collect performance data in ways that support self-assessment and improvement, and ensuring that performance reports are completed accurately and consistently. A particularly significant deliverable during this period is completing the launch of a performance reporting tool intended to help state administrators of OVW's two largest formula grant programs collect, review, and report subgrantee performance data more efficiently and consistently.

In addition to the day-to-day support of performance reporting, USM will assist OVW with higher-level synthesis and communication of results, including preparation of reports to Congress and development of additional analyses and materials related to VAWA-funded activities. Overall, the initiative is less about funding new direct services and more about strengthening the infrastructure OVW uses to measure outcomes, document accomplishments, improve data quality, and meet federal oversight and transparency responsibilities tied to VAWA programs.

Key administrative details include the funding opportunity number (O-OVW-2024-171938), the instrument type (cooperative agreement, signaling substantial involvement and collaboration with OVW), an original closing date of March 21, 2024, and an expected single award capped at $4,143,119. The awarding agency is the Office on Violence Against Women, and the funding activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services.

• The Office on Violence Against Women in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVW Fiscal Year 2024 Measuring Effectiveness Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.026.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-21. (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 $4,143,119.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for O OVW 2024 171938

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: