Requests for Criminal Justice Grant Applications

The Criminal Justice Division of the Texas Governor's Office (CJD) awards over $100 million annually to statewide, regional, and local projects. Funding is from a variety of sources, both federal and state, and for a variety of specifically earmarked purposes. These request for applications (RFA’s) are:

Justice Assistance Grant Programs (DJ)

Reduces crime and improves the criminal justice system.

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - Local (JA)

Supports programs that prevent violence in and around schools and to improve the juvenile justice system and develop effective education, training, prevention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation programs in the area of juvenile delinquency.

General Victim Assistance - Direct Services Programs (VA)

Provides services and assistance directly to victims of crime to speed their recovery and aid them through the criminal justice process.

Violent Crimes Against Women Criminal Justice and Training Projects - Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program Solicitation (WX)

Assists in developing and strengthening effective law enforcement, prosecution and court strategies to combat family violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking crimes against women and to develop and strengthen victim services in such cases.

Technical Assistance to Applicants

As applications become available on the Governor's website, mandatory workshops are conducted for those agencies wishing to apply for monies under any RFA listed above. These workshops provide assistance for applicants on application procedures and conformance to fund-specific guidelines.

Individual technical assistance is provided to requesting agencies either by e-mail, telephone, in-office or on-site.

Application Prioritization

H-GAC facilitates the prioritizing of projects through the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee (CJAC). Each member is qualified to review and score grant proposals submitted to CJD for funding.

For each RFA the CJAC presides over priority hearings, during which applicants must give a five-minute presentation on the merits of their proposals. After each presentation there is a question/answer session, then the application is scored.

Once the applications are scored, each is averaged and placed in a funding priority list which is submitted to H-GAC's Board of Directors. If approved, the list is then submitted to CJD. CJD then uses the list as a criterion in making decisions as to which projects receive funding.

Community Planning

All applications must address a need cited in a Criminal Justice Community Plan developed by citizens of the county in which services are to be provided. H-GAC facilitates the development of these plans at the county level, which entails at least one preliminary meeting with the coordinator and several meetings with focus groups that provide details and statistics on gaps in criminal justice services experienced by the county.

Additionally, H-GAC maintains a Regional Criminal Justice Community Plan which highlights gaps in juvenile, victim, and law enforcement services for all thirteen counties within the region.