The purpose of this announcement is to solicit applications to strategically support, expand, and fund local certified Texas Crime Stoppers organizations that help protect our communities.

State funds for these projects are authorized under Article 102.013 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law. PSO expects to make available $400,000 for FY2024.

Applications may be submitted by organizations defined in Section 414.001(2) of the Texas Government Code as certified by the Texas Crime Stoppers Council. These organizations are certified to receive repayments under Articles 37.073 and 42.152 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, or payments from a defendant under Article 42A of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 414.001(2) of the Texas Government Code defines a “crime stoppers organization” as:

1. a private, nonprofit organization that is operated on a local or statewide level, that accepts donations and expends funds for rewards to persons who submit tips under Section 414.0015(a), and that forwards the information received from tips to the appropriate law enforcement agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school; or
2. a public organization that is operated on a local or statewide level, that pays rewards to persons who submit tips under Section 414.0015(a), and that forwards the information received from tips to the appropriate law enforcement agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school.

Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding. For more instructions and information, see the OOG’s eGrants User Guide to Creating an Application, available here.

Projects must begin on or after 09/01/2023 and may not exceed a 12-month project period.

Minimum request is $2,500.

Maximum request is:

• Up to $10,000 for certified Crime Stoppers organizations (Standard or Campus).
• Up to $15,000 for certified Crime Stoppers organizations that support or seek to initiate both an adult (standard) crime stoppers tipline/program and an umbrella campus or Safe School tipline/program.
• Crime Stoppers organizations preselected and approved by Texas Crime Stoppers to host either the annual Crime Stoppers conference or the annual Campus Crime Stoppers conference may apply for up to $50,000 to fund reasonable and actual costs associated with hosting the conference.
• Crime Stoppers organizations preselected and approved by Texas Crime Stoppers to provide statewide training may apply for up to $50,000 to fund reasonable and actual costs associated with Basic Crime Stoppers Training Courses, Ambassador Leadership Retreat, and other identified training events.

Match Requirement: None

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards (TxGMS), Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding.

The following list of eligible activities and costs apply generally to all certified Crime Stoppers organizations under this announcement, unless otherwise noted in the purpose area-specific sections below.

1. Training, professional development, or technical assistance;
2. Contractual and professional services;
3. Salaries for non-law enforcement staff directly employed by non-profit crime stoppers programs;
4. Travel to Texas Crime Stoppers Council approved trainings;
5. Supplies (including equipment under $5,000.00) and direct operating expenses (including up to $500 for Directors and Officers liability insurance);
6. Advertising and public relations costs intrinsic to or promoting crime stoppers programs; and
7. Computerized tip management software.

Crime Stoppers organizations should procure, operate, and maintain a tip management system, which receives information from individuals. The system must guarantee anonymity, must forward the information to the appropriate agency, pay rewards, and provide statistical reports.

In order to strengthen and promote school safety, Crime Stoppers organizations who receive grant assistance must demonstrate a good faith effort to initiate or expand campus Crime Stoppers programming within public, private, and/or charter school campuses in their community. Resources and information on how to operate a campus Crime Stoppers program are available from PSO.

Project Narrative

Guidance on specific sections of the eGrants application’s Narrative tab:

• Project Abstract: Summarize information in the other project narrative boxes. Do not offer general information or statistics about the program or the served community.
• Problem Statement: Describe the unmet need that funding will allow to be addressed.
• Supporting Data: Enter “N/A”.
• Project Approach and Activities: Follow prompt. Applicants wishing to initiate a campus crime stoppers program should detail their timeline and plan.
• Capacity and Capabilities: Enter “N/A”.
• Performance Management: Enter “N/A”.
• Target Group: Applicants operating or initiating a campus crime stoppers program should list the campuses to be served and the total number of students on each campus.
• Evidence-Based Practices: Enter “N/A”.

Budget

For project budgets, only multiples of identical items should be grouped into one line-item. Different expenses, trainings, events, etc., must be broken out into separate line-items.

1. Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 66. This disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system.

Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90% of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.

2. Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request an UEI number, go to https://sam.gov/).

3. Eligible applicants must submit the required 2022 Probation Fee and Repayment Report (PFRR) to Texas Crime Stoppers by January 31, 2023.

4. Eligible applicants must submit the required 2022 Statistical Reports (in the format and manner prescribed by PSO) to Texas Crime Stoppers by January 31, 2023.

Failure to comply with program or eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs:

1. Salaries for law enforcement coordinators or other public employees who support crime stoppers programs as part of any current employment;
2. Construction, renovation, or remodeling;
3. Medical services;
4. Fundraising;
5. Promotional gifts;
6. Law enforcement equipment that is standard department issue; and
7. Entertainment, including amusement, diversion, social activities, and any associated costs (i.e. tickets to shows and sports events, meals, lodging, rentals, transportation, and gratuities) unless there is a clear programmatic purpose and the costs are approved in advance by PSO; and
8. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation.

Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement, to understand the overall demand for the program and to identify significant variations in costs per item. After this review, the Office of the Governor will determine if eligible applications can be funded based on funds available, if there are cost-effectiveness benefits to normalizing or setting limits on the range of costs, and if other fair-share cuts may allow for broader distribution and a higher number of projects while still remaining effective.

Timely submission of the Probation Fee and Repayment Report and Statistics Reports are a requirement of funding.

Peer/Merit Review: The Office of the Governor will review all applications for quality, capability, and past performance. Other factors may be considered in determining which programs to fund. Factors might include geographic distribution, fairness among different sizes of population areas and need based on crime rate or other similar factors, including economic factors. Additionally, preference will be given to any of the following:

• Projects that support the organization’s campus program expansion efforts.
• Projects that support participation in the annual conferences.
• Projects that support information systems such as tip management software, answering services, phone service, or web hosting services.
• Financial need of the organization based on Annual Probation Fee and Repayment Report (PFRR).

Final Decisions: The Office of the Governor will make all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, PSO or state government priorities and strategies, legislative directives, need, geographic distribution, or other relevant factors.

The Office of the Governor may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, the Office of the Governor may revise projects to address a more limited focus.

For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at egrants@gov.texas.gov or (512) 463-1919.