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The following section provides a summary of the grant application process and an overview of FY 08 priority areas.
All competitive grants are awarded through a set of standardized processes. These processes guide the entire grant cycle, from notice of availability through the issuance of awards to grantees, and are outlined below.
Request for Proposals (RFP). IVPA provides an RFP for each grant program. Each RFP provides all the information an applicant needs to know in order to apply for a grant. Although all RFPs are tailored to each grant program, each contains the following standard information:
IVPA will send notice of the availability of new, competitive RFP's via fax and e-mail, the RFP is simultaneously posted on the IVPA web site for downloading. Renewal RFP notices are mailed directly to the appropriate potential applicants along with an RFP request form.
Bidders Conferences are short workshops (usually 1-1/2 to 2 hours) designed to provide guidance to new applicants on how to complete a grant proposal/application. These are voluntary, but applicants are strongly encouraged to attend. Bidders Conferences are offered only for grant programs under which new applicants are eligible to apply.
Notices of Intent (NOI). A Notice of Intent is a one-page form included in the RFP that new applicants must submit if they anticipate applying for a grant. Due dates are firm, and no exceptions are made for late NOIs. NOIs are only required for grant programs under which new applicants are eligible to apply.
Review and Scoring of Applications. Applicants are typically reviewed by two or three reviewers who have expertise in the subject area addressed by a particular grant program. Scoring is standardized, with a maximum number of points that may be given to each application section.
Funding Recommendations. The Grants Team makes final funding recommendations for approval by the IVPA Board of Directors. Funding recommendations are based on reviewer scores (applications must receive a minimum of 80 out of 100 points to be considered fundable) and geographic distribution (IVPA strives for an equitable distribution of funds throughout the state). While IVPA funds as many projects as possible, the total amount requested by fundable applications frequently exceeds the funds available for a particular grant program. This often means that not all applications given a score of 80 or above are recommended for funding.
Awards. Once the Board of Directors gives its final approval for awards, IVPA sends a letter to each successful applicant. The letter provides specific information about the grant, including the award amount, the grant period, any contingencies required for funding, and the next steps in the process. The grant agreement may be enclosed with the award letter, or may be sent in a separate mailing.
In FY 08, IVPA programs will continue to emphasize a number of priority areas related to violence prevention. Some of these priorities represent new or expanded areas of emphasis, and others represent a continued focus from previous funding years.
IVPA believes that communities will be more effective in preventing and reducing violence if they build multi-disciplinary partnerships for the development and implementation of their violence prevention strategies. To this end, IVPA typically requires grantees to collaborate with at least one other agency or organization in the community throughout the grant planning and implementation process.
IVPA will continue to emphasize collaboration by offering a number of grant programs that require a collaborative effort and that encourage coordination among IVPA grantees within a community, as well as other community agencies and organizations undertaking violence prevention. These programs, which include Illinois Health Cares, and Safe From the Start, require that applicants convene inter-agency community coalitions to assess community violence prevention and intervention needs, and develop projects to address the identified needs.
In addition to the collaboration requirement, IVPA strongly encourages FY 08 IVPA grantees to coordinate their violence prevention activities with all other IVPA grantee programs in the community in order to better address prevention and intervention gaps and minimize duplication of efforts. Such coordination may include convening a number of information-sharing and planning meetings during the funding period.
In FY 08, IVPA will continue to offer renewal grants to fund targeting prevention efforts focusing on specific forms of violence or particular populations at risk for victimization or perpetration. Such efforts include Safe From the Start, which targets young children (ages 0-5) exposed to violence at home or in the community. The Illinois Health Cares program will offer renewal funding to current grantees in order to support a strengthened local health care response to domestic violence, with enhancement funding available to address sexual violence and elder abuse. IVPA will also offer funding to five new Illinois Health Cares sites and Networking grants to five sites that have completed the grant program.
As in prior years, FY 08 grantees will be required to participate in the evaluation of their programs by (1) setting process and outcome objectives and evaluating whether their projects meet those objectives, (2) participating in a more comprehensive, IVPA-assisted evaluation, or (3) both.
IVPA is committed to funding programs that emphasize primary violence prevention. Primary prevention efforts are those that are broad-based and affect conditions, norms, and values related to violence. Primary prevention efforts should reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors. Secondary violence prevention programs that focus on individuals who are at high risk for victimization or perpetration will also be considered. Direct victim services (such as counseling for victims) or abuser treatment programs will not be funded. Agencies that offer these services are eligible to apply for grants that support distinctly primary or secondary prevention programs.
Special consideration will be given to grant applicants that include youth as participants in the design and implementation of the program, when appropriate. Youth participation may be particularly relevant for programs that address family violence and community safety, as well as youth violence. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate innovative ways to include youth input in their proposed project. Additionally, IVPA offers the Youth-Led Mini Grants program, which supports youth-developed and implemented violence prevention activities.
When possible, applicants are encouraged to consider other factors that are known to increase the likelihood of violence and make linkages to programs addressing these factors. These factors include the accessibility of firearms, the prevalence of and exposure to media violence, and the use of alcohol and illicit drugs.
