The purpose of this announcement is to solicit applications for projects that are designed to create and foster safer neighborhoods through a sustained reduction in violent crime, including, but not limited to, addressing criminal gangs and felonious possession and use of firearms.

Federal funds are authorized under 34 U.S.C. §60702 Project Safe Neighborhoods Block Grant Program (PSN). PSN funds are made available through a Congressional appropriation to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated federal funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Applications may be submitted by public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, non-profit corporations (including hospitals and faith-based organizations), and units of local government, which are defined as a non-statewide governmental body with the authority to establish a budget and impose taxes.

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).

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

Projects must begin on or after 10/01/2024 and may not exceed a 12-month project period.

Minimum: None

Maximum: None

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.

Funds may only be used to foster and improve existing partnerships between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officials, including the United States Attorney in each Federal judicial district, prosecutors, and community-based partners representing members of the community affected by increased violence, victims' advocates, and researchers to create safer neighborhoods through sustained reductions in violent crimes by:

1. Developing and executing comprehensive strategic plans to reduce violent crimes, including the enforcement of gun laws, and prioritizing efforts focused on identified subsets of individuals or organizations responsible for increasing violence in a particular geographic area;
2. Developing evidence-based and data-driven intervention and prevention initiatives, including juvenile justice projects and activities which may include street-level outreach, conflict mediation, provision of treatment and social services, and the changing of community norms, in order to reduce violence; and
3. Collecting data on outcomes achieved through the Program, including the effect on the violent crime rate, incarceration rate, and recidivism rate of the jurisdiction.

Eligible Costs:

1. Salary, wage, and fringe benefits of individuals supporting the PSN project;
2. Overtime compensation of individuals supporting the PSN project;
3. Workshops and events associated with the support of the PSN project (pending approval by Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance);
4. Travel associated with implementation and evaluation of the PSN project;
5. Equipment purchased to support the execution of the PSN project; and
6. Printing, publication, and duplication of materials that support the PSN project.

Project Safe Neighborhoods Design Features

Applications must address 1 of 4 PSN design features: 

Community Engagement. The main focus of this PSN design feature is programs that foster meaningful engagement between and among communities, law enforcement, prosecutors, and other stakeholders as an essential component of an effective violence reduction strategy. Ongoing engagement involves open communication and builds relationships, trust, and shared public safety values between community members and law enforcement.

Focused and Strategic Enforcement. To address violent crime, PSN initiatives often focus strategic enforcement on a limited number of problem places and the individuals driving violent crime. Violent crime is often driven by a small number of prolific offenders; they are often involved in gangs, neighborhood crews, and violent street groups and are typically concentrated in hotspots and small “micro-places” (e.g., a street segment with abandoned homes; a problem bar, gas station, or convenience store; or an open-air drug market). In some jurisdictions, intimate partner violence is the main violent crime concern. Critical elements of strategic enforcement include:

1. Understanding the most significant drivers of violence and resources;
2. Leveraging technology and analytics;
3. Developing and implementing enforcement strategies; and
4. Deterring others from engaging in violence (which could also be through public awareness about enforcement actions and available assistance).

Prevention and Intervention. Effective PSN Teams engage in problem-solving approaches that address the reduction of violent crime using all the tools at their disposal. Applicants should utilize strategies to address risk and protective factors, which often involves building relationships with representatives of agencies and organizations most suited to provide education, social services, job training and placement, reentry programs, or similar resources to those in need. Program should include prevention and intervention activities that can provide individuals and families with skills, opportunities, and alternatives that can ultimately help to reduce violent crime in communities.

Accountability. The ultimate goal of PSN is to reduce the level of violence in our communities. Analyzing and assessing information about the incidence of violence and the effectiveness of strategies to address it are important for PSN’s success and credibility. Applicants addressing this PSN design feature are required to collect and analyze relevant data that focus on outcomes—i.e. reduced violent crime. Applicants must monitor crime data over time as related to their local PSN Task Force’s targeted problems and/or targeted areas. 

Gang Task Forces

The PSN program requires that 30 percent of funding be allocated to support gang task forces in the United States regions experiencing a significant or increased presence of criminal or transnational organizations engaging in high levels of violent crime, firearms offenses, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. Applications seeking to support gang task forces will be required to provide information on the gang task force as well as list of participating agencies.

1.  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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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; or (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). 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, 2025 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later.

5. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 420.034, any facility or entity that collects evidence for sexual assault or other sex offenses or investigates or prosecutes a sexual assault or other sex offense for which evidence has been collected, must participate in the statewide electronic tracking system developed and implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Visit DPS’s Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking Program website for more information or to set up an account to begin participating. Additionally, per Section 420.042 "A law enforcement agency that receives evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense...shall submit that evidence to a public accredited crime laboratory for analysis no later than the 30th day after the date on which that evidence was received." A law enforcement agency in possession of a significant number of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK) where the 30-day window has passed may be considered noncompliant.

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. Construction, renovation, or remodeling;
2.  Medical services;
3. Law enforcement equipment that is standard department issue;
4. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), including unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) and/or any accompanying accessories to support UAS or UAV devices/systems; and
5. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation.

Projects will be reviewed by a panel appointed by the respective regional PSN Taskforce in an effort to prioritize funding. Panelists must not be federal employees or employees of any applicant for a subaward. The merit review panel will assess and score each application and then report its findings to the executive director. Scores will be based on standard criteria that include objective eligibility criteria and application requirements. The Office of the Governor will make all final funding decisions based on eligibility, reasonableness, availability of funding, cost-effectiveness, state priorities and strategies, and/or other relevant factors.

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