The purpose of this announcement is to solicit applications for projects that promote the prevention, intervention, and reduction of crime and violence and provide essential crisis services to at-risk populations within Texas communities.

Federal Funds are authorized under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act established by S. 2938 to the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (Byrne SCIP). Byrne SCIP 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 state agencies, public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, Native American tribes, councils of governments, non-profit corporations (including hospitals and faith-based organizations), local mental health authorities as defined in the Health and Safety Code, Sec. 533.035, local behavioral health authorities as defined in the Health and Safety Code, Sec. 533.0356, 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.govto register and apply for funding.

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

Minimum: $10,000

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.

Funding may be used to provide additional personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, training, technical assistance, and information systems used for the prevention, intervention, and reduction of crime and violence or to provide essential crisis services, including for one or more of the following: 

1. Interpersonal violence prevention and intervention programs.

    State Priority Areas include:

• Domestic violence courts that hold individuals accountable (pre- and/or post-adjudication) and domestic violence high-risk teams.
• Training for investigators, prosecutors, and judges on the dynamics of interpersonal violence.
• The enhancement of current domestic violence protection order infrastructure.

2. Crisis intervention programs including crisis screening.

    State Priority Areas include:

• Crisis screening response services for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis or psychiatric episode.
• Community-based crisis facilities that offer assessment, support, and services to individuals with behavioral health needs to reduce emergency room or jail utilization.
  
• Specialized services for youth with trauma and serious mental illness and their families.
• Expansion of mental health services to include mobile crisis outreach teams, crisis facilities, specialized counseling approaches, and peer support specialists.

3. Violent crime prevention and intervention programs including those with a focus on youth and gang-related violence.

    State Priority Areas include:

• Community treatment, resources, and violence intervention programs involving a multidisciplinary approach to provide a person-centered, coordinated care response.
• Specialized training for law enforcement and other professionals that respond to high-risk situations.
• Violence prevention and intervention programs for at-risk youth.

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. Transportation, lodging, per diem or any related costs for participants, when grant funds are used to develop and conduct training for outside participants;
5. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), including unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) and/or any accompanying accessories to support UAS or UAV devices/systems; and
6. 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.

Peer/Merit Review: The Office of the Governor will review applications to understand the overall demand for the program and for significant variations in costs per item. After this review, the Office of the Governor will determine if all 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.

Final Decisions: The Office of the Governor will convene with the Texas State Crisis Intervention Program Committee (TSCIP) regarding all applications reviewed and other factors prior to making all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, 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.