The purposes, criteria, and requirements for the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program are established by 42 U.S.C. 3796gg et seq. Eligible applicants for the program are the 50 States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia, hereinafter referred to as “States.”

(a) Statewide plan and application. The chief executive of each participating State shall designate a State office for the purposes of:

(1) Certifying qualifications for funding under this program;

(2) Developing a Statewide plan for implementation of the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grants as described in § 90.12; and

(3) Preparing an application to receive funds under this program.

(b) Administration and fund disbursement. In addition to the duties specified by paragraph (a) of this section, the State office shall administer funds received under this program, including receipt, review, processing, monitoring, progress and financial report review, technical assistance, grant adjustments, accounting, auditing, and fund disbursements.

(c) Allocation requirement. (1) The State office shall allocate funds as provided in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(4) to courts and for law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services (including funds that must be awarded to culturally specific community-based organizations).

(2) The State office shall ensure that the allocated funds benefit law enforcement, prosecution and victim services and are awarded to courts and culturally specific community-based organizations. In ensuring that funds benefit the appropriate entities, if funds are not subgranted directly to law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services, the State must require demonstration from the entity to be benefitted in the form of a memorandum of understanding signed by the chief executives of both the entity and the subgrant recipient, stating that the entity supports the proposed project and agrees that it is to the entity's benefit.

(3) Culturally specific allocation: 42 U.S.C. 13925 defines “culturally specific” as primarily directed toward racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in 42 U.S.C. 300u-6(g)). An organization will qualify for funding for the culturally specific allocation if its primary mission is to address the needs of racial and ethnic minority groups or if it has developed a special expertise regarding services to address the demonstrated needs of a particular racial and ethnic minority group. The organization must do more than merely provide services to the targeted group; rather, the organization must provide culturally competent services designed to meet the specific needs of the target population. This allocation requires States to set aside a minimum of ten percent (within the thirty-percent allocation for victim services) of STOP Program funds for culturally specific services, but States are encouraged to provide higher levels of funding to address the needs of racial and ethnic minority groups. States should tailor their subgrant application process to assess the qualifications of applicants for the culturally specific set aside, such as reviewing the mission statement of the applicant, the make-up of the board of directors or steering committee of the applicant (with regard to knowledge and experience with relevant cultural populations and language skills), and the history of the organization.

(4) Sexual assault set aside: As provided in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(5), the State must also award at least 20 percent of the total State award to projects in two or more allocations in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(4) that meaningfully address sexual assault. States should evaluate whether the interventions are tailored to meet the specific needs of sexual assault victims including ensuring that projects funded under the set aside have a legitimate focus on sexual assault and that personnel funded under such projects have sufficient expertise and experience on sexual assault.

(d) Pass-through administration. The State office has broad latitude in structuring its administration of the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program. STOP Program funding may be administered by the State office itself or by other means, including the use of pass-through entities (such as State domestic violence or sexual assault coalitions) to make determinations regarding award distribution and to administer funding. States that opt to use a pass-through entity shall ensure that the total sum of STOP Program funding for administrative and training costs for the State and pass-through entity is within the limit established by § 90.17(b), the reporting of activities at the subgrantee level is equivalent to what would be provided if the State were directly overseeing sub-awards, and an effective system of monitoring sub-awards is used. States shall report on the work of the pass-through entity in such form and manner as OVW may specify from time to time.

(a) In general. Each State must submit a plan describing its identified goals under this program and how the funds will be used to accomplish those goals. The plan must include all of the elements specified in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(i). The plan will cover a four-year period. In years two through four of the plan, each State must submit information on any updates or changes to the plan, as well as updated demographic information.

(b) Consultation and coordination. In developing and updating this plan, a State must consult and coordinate with the entities specified in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(2).

(1) This consultation process must include at least one sexual assault victim service provider and one domestic violence victim service provider and may include other victim service providers.

(2) In determining what population specific organizations, representatives from underserved populations, and culturally specific organizations to include in the consultation process, States should consider the demographics of their State as well as barriers to service, including historical lack of access to services, for each population. The consultation process should involve any significant underserved and culturally specific populations in the State, including organizations working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and organizations that focus on people with limited English proficiency. If the State does not have any culturally specific or population specific organizations at the State or local level, the State may use national organizations to collaborate on the plan.

(3) States must invite all State or federally recognized tribes to participate in the planning process. Tribal coalitions and State or regional tribal consortia may help the State reach out to the tribes but cannot be used as a substitute for consultation with all tribes.

(4) States are encouraged to include survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the planning process. States that include survivors should address safety and confidentiality considerations in recruiting and consulting with such survivors.

(5) States should include probation and parole entities in the planning process.

(6) As provided in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(3), States must coordinate the plan with the State plan for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10407), the State Victim Assistance Formula Grants under the Victims of Crime Act (42 U.S.C. 10603), and the Rape Prevention and Education Program (42 U.S.C. 280b-1b). The purposes of this coordination process are to provide greater diversity of projects funded and leverage efforts across the various funding streams.

(7) Although all of the entities specified in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(2) must be consulted, they do not all need to be on the “planning committee.” The planning committee must include the following, at a minimum:

(i) The State domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions as defined by 42 U.S.C. 13925(a)(32) and (33) (or dual coalition)

(ii) A law enforcement entity or State law enforcement organization

(iii) A prosecution entity or State prosecution organization

(iv) A court or the State Administrative Office of the Courts

(v) Representatives from tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal coalitions

(vi) Population specific organizations representing the most significant underserved populations and culturally specific populations in the State other than tribes, which are addressed separately.

(8) The full consultation should include more robust representation than the planning committee from each of the required groups as well as all State and Federally recognized tribes.

(c) Documentation of consultation. As part of the implementation plan, the State must either submit or retain documentation of collaboration with all the entities specified in paragraph (b) of this section and in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(2), as provided in this paragraph.

(1) States must retain all of the following documentation but are not required to submit it to OVW as part of the implementation plan:

(i) For in-person meetings, a sign-in sheet with name, title, organization, which of the required entity types (e.g., tribal government, population specific organization, prosecution, court, state coalition) the person is representing, phone number, email address, and signature;

(ii) For online meetings, the web reports or other documentation of who participated in the meeting;

(iii) For phone meetings, documentation of who was on the call, such as a roll call or minutes; and

(iv) For any method of document review that occurred outside the context of a meeting, information such as to whom the draft implementation plan was sent, how it was sent (for example, email versus mail), and who responded.

(2) States must submit all of the following documentation to OVW as part of the implementation plan:

(i) A summary of major concerns that were raised during the planning process and how they were addressed or why they were not addressed, which should be sent to the planning committee along with any draft implementation plan and the final plan;

(ii) Documentation of collaboration for each planning committee member that documents, at a minimum:

(A) Which category the participant represents of the entities listed in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(2), such as law enforcement, state coalition, or population specific organization;

(B) Whether they were informed about meetings;

(C) Whether they attended meetings;

(D) Whether they were given drafts of the implementation plan to review;

(E) Whether they submitted comments on the draft;

(F) Whether they received a copy of the final plan and the summary of major concerns; and

(G) Any significant concerns with the final plan;

(iii) A description of efforts to reach tribes, if applicable;

(iv) An explanation of how the State determined which underserved and culturally specific populations to include.

(d) Equitable distribution. The implementation plan must describe, on an annual or four-year basis, how the State, in disbursing monies, will:

(1) Give priority to areas of varying geographic size with the greatest showing of need based on the range and availability of existing domestic violence and sexual assault programs in the population and geographic area to be served in relation to the availability of such programs in other such populations and geographic areas, including Indian reservations;

(2) Determine the amount of subgrants based on the population and geographic area to be served;

(3) Equitably distribute monies on a geographic basis including nonurban and rural areas of various geographic sizes;

(4) Recognize and meaningfully respond to the needs of underserved populations and ensure that monies set aside to fund linguistically and culturally specific services and funds for underserved populations are distributed equitably among culturally specific and other underserved populations; and

(5) Take steps to ensure that eligible applicants are aware of the STOP Program funding opportunity, including applicants serving different geographic areas and culturally specific and other underserved populations.

(e) Underserved populations. Each State may determine the methods it uses for identifying underserved populations within the State, which may include public hearings, needs assessments, task forces, and United States Census Bureau data. The implementation plan must include details regarding the methods used and the results of those methods. It must also include information on how the State plans to meet the needs of identified underserved populations, including, but not limited to, culturally specific populations, victims who are underserved because of sexual orientation or gender identity, and victims with limited English proficiency.

(f) Goals and objectives for reducing domestic violence homicide. As required by 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(i)(2)(G), State plans must include goals and objectives for reducing domestic violence homicide.

(1) The plan must include available statistics on the rates of domestic violence homicide within the State.

(2) As part of the State's consultation with law enforcement, prosecution, and victim service providers, the State and these entities should discuss and document the perceived accuracy of these statistics and the best ways to address domestic violence homicide.

(3) The plan must identify specific goals and objectives for reducing domestic violence homicide, based on these discussions, which include challenges specific to the State and how the plan can overcome them.

(g) Additional contents. State plans must also include the following:

(1) Demographic information regarding the population of the State derived from the most recent available United States Census Bureau data including population data on race, ethnicity, age, disability, and limited English proficiency.

(2) A description of how the State will reach out to community-based organizations that provide linguistically and culturally specific services.

(3) A description of how the State will address the needs of sexual assault victims, domestic violence victims, dating violence victims, and stalking victims, as well as how the State will hold offenders who commit each of these crimes accountable.

(4) A description of how the State will ensure that eligible entities are aware of funding opportunities, including projects serving underserved populations as defined by 42 U.S.C. 13925(a).

(5) Information on specific projects the State plans to fund.

(6) An explanation of how the State coordinated the plan as described in paragraph (b)(6) and the impact of that coordination on the contents of the plan.

(7) If applicable, information about whether the State has submitted an assurance, a certification, or neither under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards (28 CFR part 115) and, if an assurance, how the State plans to spend STOP funds set aside for PREA compliance.

(8) A description of how the State will identify and select applicants for subgrant funding, including whether a competitive process will be used.

(h) Deadline. State plans will be due at application. If the Office on Violence Against Women determines the submitted plan is incomplete, the State will receive the award, but will not be able to access funding until the plan is completed and approved. The State will have 60 days from the award date to complete the plan. If the State does not complete it in that time, then the funds may be deobligated and the award closed.

(a) To be eligible for funding under this program, a State must meet the requirements at 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-4(a)(1) with regard to incurring the full out-of-pocket costs of forensic medical examinations for victims of sexual assault.

(b) “Full out-of-pocket costs” means any expense that may be charged to a victim in connection with a forensic medical examination for the purpose of gathering evidence of a sexual assault (e.g., the full cost of the examination, an insurance deductible, or a fee established by the facility conducting the examination). For individuals covered by insurance, full out-of-pocket costs means any costs that the insurer does not pay.

(c) Coverage of the cost of additional procedures (e.g., testing for sexually transmitted diseases) may be determined by the State or governmental entity responsible for paying the costs.

(d) States are strongly discouraged from billing a victim's private insurance and may only do so as a source of payment for the exams if they are not using STOP Program funds to pay for the cost of the exams. In addition, any expenses not covered by the insurer must be covered by the State or other governmental entity and cannot be billed to the victim. This includes any deductibles or denial of claims by the insurer.

(e) The State or other governmental entity responsible for paying the costs of forensic medical exams must coordinate with health care providers in the region to notify victims of sexual assault of the availability of rape exams at no cost to the victims. States can meet this obligation by partnering with associations that are likely to have the broadest reach to the relevant health care providers, such as forensic nursing or hospital associations. States with significant tribal populations should also consider reaching out to local Indian Health Service facilities.

(a) To be eligible for funding under this program, a State must meet the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-4(e) with regard to judicial notification to domestic violence offenders of Federal prohibitions on their possession of a firearm or ammunition in 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) and (9) and any applicable related Federal, State, or local laws..

(b) A unit of local government shall not be eligible for subgrants from the State unless it complies with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-4(e) with respect to its judicial administrative policies and practices.

(a) To be eligible for funding under this program, a State must meet the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-5 with regard to not requiring victims to bear the costs for criminal charges and protection orders in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

(b) An Indian tribal government, unit of local government, or court shall not be eligible for subgrants from the State unless it complies with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-5 with respect to its laws, policies, and practices not requiring victims to bear the costs for criminal charges and protection orders in cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

(a) For a State to be eligible for funding under this program, the State must meet the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-8 with regard to prohibiting polygraph testing of sexual assault victims.

(b) An Indian tribal government or unit of local government shall not be eligible for subgrants from the State unless it complies with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-8 with respect to its laws, policies, or practices prohibiting polygraph testing of sexual assault victims.

(a) In general. Funds granted to qualified States are to be further subgranted by the State to agencies, offices, and programs including, but not limited to, State agencies and offices; State and local courts; units of local government; public agencies; Indian tribal governments; victim service providers; community-based organizations; and legal services programs to carry out programs and projects to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women, and to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women, and specifically for the purposes listed in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg(b) and according to the allocations specified in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(4) for law enforcement, prosecution, victim services, and courts.

(b) Administrative costs. States are allowed to use up to ten percent of the award amount for each allocation category under 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(4) (law enforcement, prosecution, courts, victim services, and discretionary) to support the State's administrative costs. Amounts not used for administrative costs should be used to support subgrants.

(1) Funds for administration may be used only for costs directly associated with administering the STOP Program. Where allowable administrative costs are allocable to both the STOP Program and another State program, the STOP Program grant may be charged no more than its proportionate share of such costs.

(2) Costs directly associated with administering the STOP Program generally include the following:

(i) Salaries and benefits of State office staff and consultants to administer and manage the program;

(ii) Training of State office staff, including, but not limited to, travel, registration fees, and other expenses associated with State office staff attendance at technical assistance meetings and conferences relevant to the program;

(iii) Monitoring compliance of STOP Program subgrantees with Federal and State requirements, provision of technical assistance, and evaluation and assessment of program activities, including, but not limited to, travel, mileage, and other associated expenses;

(iv) Reporting and related activities necessary to meet Federal and State requirements;

(v) Program evaluation, including, but not limited to, surveys or studies that measure the effect or outcome of victim services;

(vi) Program audit costs and related activities necessary to meet Federal audit requirements for the STOP Program grant;

(vii) Technology-related costs, generally including for grant management systems, electronic communications systems and platforms (e.g., Web pages and social media), geographic information systems, related equipment (e.g., computers, software, facsimile and copying machines, and TTY/TDDs) and related technology support services necessary for administration of the program;

(viii) Memberships in organizations that support the management and administration of violence against women programs, except if such organizations engage in lobbying, and publications and materials such as curricula, literature, and protocols relevant to the management and administration of the program;

(ix) Strategic planning, including, but not limited to, the development of strategic plans, both service and financial, including conducting surveys and needs assessments;

(x) Coordination and collaboration efforts among relevant Federal, State, and local agencies and organizations to improve victim services;

(xi) Publications, including, but not limited to, developing, purchasing, printing, distributing training materials, victim services directories, brochures, and other relevant publications; and

(xii) General program improvements—enhancing overall State office operations relating to the program and improving the delivery and quality of STOP Program funded services throughout the State.

(a) In general. Subject to certain exclusions, States are required to provide a 25-percent non-Federal match. This does not apply to territories. This 25-percent match may be cash or in-kind services. States are expected to submit written documentation that identifies the source of the match. Funds awarded to victim service providers for victim services or to tribes are excluded from the total award amount for purposes of calculating match. This includes funds that are awarded under the “discretionary” allocation for victim services purposes and funds that are reallocated from other categories to victim services.

(b) In-kind match. In-kind match may include donations of expendable equipment; office supplies; workshop or education and training materials; work space; or the monetary value of time contributed by professional and technical personnel and other skilled and unskilled labor, if the services provided are an integral and necessary part of a funded project. Value for in-kind match is guided by 2 CFR 200.306. The value placed on loaned equipment may not exceed its fair rental value. The value placed on donated services must be consistent with the rate of compensation paid for similar work in the organization or the labor market. Fringe benefits may be included in the valuation. Volunteer services must be documented and, to the extent feasible, supported by the same valuation methods used by the recipient organization for its own employees. The value of donated space may not exceed the fair rental value of comparable space, as established by an independent appraisal of comparable space and facilities in a privately owned building in the same locality. The value for donated supplies shall be reasonable and not exceed the fair market value at the time of the donation. The basis for determining the value of personal services, materials, equipment, and space must be documented.

(c) Tribes and victim services providers. States may not require match to be provided in subgrants for Indian tribes or victim services providers.

(d) Waiver. States may petition the Office on Violence Against Women for a waiver of match if they are able to adequately demonstrate financial need.

(1) State match waiver. States may apply for full or partial waivers of match by submitting specific documentation of financial need. Documentation must include the following:

(i) The sources of non-Federal funds available to the State for match and the amount available from each source, including in-kind match and match provided by subgrantees or other entities;

(ii) Efforts made by the State to obtain the matching funds, including, if applicable, letters from other State agencies stating that the funds available from such agencies may not be used for match;

(iii) The specific dollar amount or percentage waiver that is requested;

(iv) Cause and extent of the constraints on projected ability to raise violence against women program matching funds and changed circumstances that make past sources of match unavailable; and

(v) If applicable, specific evidence of economic distress, such as documentation of double-digit unemployment rates or designation as a Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated disaster area.

(vi) In a request for a partial waiver of match for a particular allocation, the State could provide letters from the entities under that allocation attesting to their financial hardship.

(2) Demonstration of ability to provide violence against women matching funds. The State must demonstrate how the submitted documentation affects the State's ability to provide violence against women matching funds. For example, if a State shows that across the board budget cuts have directly reduced violence against women funding by 20 percent, that State would be considered for a 20 percent waiver, not a full waiver. Reductions in Federal funds are not relevant to State match unless the State can show that the reduced Federal funding directly reduced available State violence against women funds.

(e) Accountability. All funds designated as match are restricted to the same uses as the program funds as set forth in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg(b) and must be expended within the grant period. The State must ensure that match is identified in a manner that guarantees its accountability during an audit.

(a) Format. Applications from the States for the STOP Program must be submitted as described in the annual solicitation. The Office on Violence Against Women will notify each State office as designated pursuant to § 90.11 when the annual solicitation is available. The solicitation will include guidance on how to prepare and submit an application for grants under this subpart.

(b) Requirements. The application shall include all information required under 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(d).

(a) Recipients of funds under this subpart must agree to cooperate with Federally-sponsored evaluations of their projects.

(b) Recipients of STOP Program funds are strongly encouraged to develop a local evaluation strategy to assess the impact and effectiveness of the program funded under the STOP Program. Funds may not be used for conducting research or evaluations. Applicants should consider entering into partnerships with research organizations that are submitting simultaneous grant applications to the National Institute of Justice for this purpose.

(a) General. The provisions of Part T of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. 3796gg et seq., and of this subpart provide the basis for review and approval or disapproval of State applications and amendments.

(b) Intergovernmental review. This program is covered by Executive Order 12372 (Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs) and implementing regulations at 28 CFR part 30. A copy of the application submitted to the Office on Violence Against Women should also be submitted at the same time to the State's Single Point of Contact, if there is a Single Point of Contact.

Subgrantees shall complete annual progress reports and submit them to the State, which shall review them and submit them to OVW or as otherwise directed. In addition, the State shall complete an annual progress report, including an assessment of whether or not annual goals and objectives were achieved.

Because of the overall purpose of the STOP Program to enhance victim safety and offender accountability, grant funds may not be used to support activities that compromise victim safety and recovery. The grant program solicitation each year will provide examples of such activities.

This section implements 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(j), regarding reallocation of funds.

(a) Returned funds. A State may reallocate funds returned to the State, within a reasonable amount of time before the award end date.

(b) Insufficient eligible applications. A State may also reallocate funds if the State does not receive sufficient eligible applications to award the full funding under the allocations in 42 U.S.C. 3796gg-1(c)(4). An “eligible” application is one that is from an eligible entity that has the capacity to perform the proposed services, proposes activities within the scope of the program, and does not propose significant activities that compromise victim safety. States should have the following information on file to document the lack of sufficient eligible applications:

(1) A copy of their solicitation;

(2) Documentation on how the solicitation was distributed, including all outreach efforts to entities from the allocation in question, which entities the State reached out to that did not apply, and, if known, why those entities did not apply;

(3) An explanation of their selection process;

(4) A list of who participated in the selection process (name, title, and employer);

(5) Number of applications that were received for the specific allocation category;

(6) Information about the applications received, such as what agency or organization they were from, how much money they were requesting, and any reasons the applications were not funded;

(7) If applicable, letters from any relevant State-wide body explaining the lack of applications, such as from the State Court Administrator if the State is seeking to reallocate money from courts; and

(8) For the culturally specific allocation, in addition to the items in paragraphs (b)(1) through (7) of this section, demographic statistics of the relevant racial and ethnic minority groups within the State and documentation that the State has reached out to relevant organizations within the State or national organizations.