The purpose of this program is to provide services and assistance directly to peace officers to address direct and indirect trauma that occurs in the course of their normal duties either as the result of the commission of crimes by other persons or in response to an emergency.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Provide a confidential, specialized, evidence-based approach to treating and reducing stress for officers;
• Improve coping mechanism/strategies;
• Increase morale and productivity; and
• Reduce the stigma associated with seeking help by providing safe, effective, and confidential services.

State funds for these projects are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I for Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Applications may be submitted by state agencies, units of local government and educational institutions that operate law enforcement agencies employing peace officers defined under Chapter 2A of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure which includes municipalities, counties, independent school districts, universities, public and private colleges and universities, community colleges, and hospital districts that seek to provide specialized mental health services to their peace officers.

All applications submitted by local law enforcement agencies/offices must be submitted by a unit of government affiliated with the agency, including an authorizing resolution from that unit of government. For example, police departments must apply under their municipal government, and community supervision and corrections departments, district attorneys, and judicial districts must apply through their affiliated county government (or one of the counties, in the case of agencies that serve more than one county).

Due to limited resources, priority will be given to applicants that have received three years or less of continuation funding.

Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding.

***NEW APPLICATION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT***

The following documents must be submitted with the application for the application to be considered complete and eligible for funding. See the Eligibility Requirements and/or Program-Specific Requirements Sections of this Funding Announcement for more details on the requirements for each attachment/certification:

• Resolution from Governing Body - Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution.
• CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form - Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must certify compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements.

Failure to submit the fully executed required attachment(s) by the application deadline may result in the application being deemed ineligible.

Projects may not exceed 12 months and must begin on or after 10/01/2026 and expire on or before 9/30/2027.

Minimum: $10,000

Maximum: No Maximum

Match Requirement: None

Note: Applicants are strongly cautioned to only apply for the amount of funding they can responsibly expend in the grant period. PSO will be tracking expenditure rates throughout the life of the grants and may take action to avoid large de-obligations at the end of grant periods.

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.

Funds awarded under this solicitation may be used to pay for:

• Mental health counseling and other mental health care;
• Personnel costs incurred by the department as a result of providing direct services and supporting activities under an implemented program, practice, or service; and
• Skills training for department personnel related to providing direct services under an implemented program, practice, or service.

All projects under this funding announcement must meet these requirements:

Special certification and requirements: Submission of an application under the Peace Officer Mental Health Program denotes certification and compliance with the following program requirements.

• Notification of Services - The grantee will produce informational materials describing the program and its confidentiality protections and distribute those materials to all employees.
• Confidentiality – (1) Information obtained in the administration of this program is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Section 784.003, Health and Safety Code, and (2) it will not take disciplinary action or any other form of punishment, including the refusal of a promotion, to discourage or prohibit an officer's participation in the first responder mental health resiliency program offered by the agency.
• Separation of Duties - The agency will not utilize grant-funded personnel to perform activities related to fitness-for-duty examinations and/or activities involved with officer involved shooting investigations.
• Service Provision Protocol for Critical Incidents - Prior to commencement of project activities, the agency will have in-place a service provision protocol for critical incidents (e.g. mass trauma, line of duty death, officer involved shooting) and job-related stress services.
• Required Services - The agency will provide access to all services under the program to all personnel that are peace officers and first responders. This may include line officers, command staff, administrators, dispatchers, nonsworn personnel (e.g. crime scene techs), and other nearby law enforcement personnel (e.g. sheriff).

MOUs or MAAs: Applicants must have properly executed memorandums of understanding or mutual aid agreements with outside agencies for any services the applicant cannot or will not be providing in-house.

1. Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution with the application to be considered eligible for funding. The resolution must contain the following elements (see Sample Resolution):

• Authorization by your governing body for the submission of the application to the Public Safety Office (PSO) that clearly identifies the name of the project for which funding is requested;
• A commitment to provide all applicable matching funds;
• A designation of the name and/or title of an authorized official who is given the authority to apply for, accept, reject, alter, or terminate a grant;
• A designation of the name and/or title of a financial officer who is given the authority to submit financial and/or performance reports or alter a grant; and
• A written assurance that, in the event of loss or misuse of grant funds, the governing body will return all funds to PSO

2. Local units of governments must comply with the Cybersecurity Training requirements described in Section 772.012 and Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code. Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements required by Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible. Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments. A copy of the Training Certification must be uploaded to your eGrants application. For more information or to access available training programs, visit the Texas Department of Information Resources Statewide Cybersecurity Awareness Training page.

3. 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. The 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.

4. Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas specific reporting mandated by 411.042 TGC, to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS. Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas-mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted.

5. Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS. Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii); (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3); (3) encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv); (4) result in the illegal transport or movement of aliens within the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) . Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties found in Chapter 752, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code.

Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must download, complete and then upload into eGrants the CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. This Form is required for each application submitted to OOG and is active until August 31, 2027 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later.

6. 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/).

Failure to comply with program 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. Lobbying or advocacy activities with respect to legislation or to administrative changes to regulations or administrative policy, whether conducted directly or indirectly;
2. The active investigation and prosecution of criminal activity;
3. Any activities related to fundraising;
4. Capital improvements; property losses and expenses; real estate purchases; mortgage payments; remodeling; and construction;
5. Transportation, lodging, per diem or any related costs for third-party participants to attend a training, when grant funds are used to develop and conduct training;
6. Leasing or purchasing of vehicles;
7. Research and studies;
8. Law enforcement equipment that is standard department issue;
9. Promotional items; and
10. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation.

PSO will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement.

Applications will then be reviewed by PSO staff members or a review group selected by the executive director. PSO will make all final funding decisions based on eligibility, reasonableness, availability of funding, and cost-effectiveness.

PSO may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, PSO 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.