With new stories of school shootings, assaults against teachers and students and other instances of school violence nearly every day, school safety is an issue that can't be ignored.

The STOP School Violence Grant Program offers a funding opportunity to implement a project to keep students, faculty and staff safe. Our guide explains the basics of the program, including who can apply and what to include in your application.

Before you can apply for the grant, you'll need to identify the risks your school faces. Download our K-12 school threat assessment template to get started.

The Basics

The Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program is offered by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Applications can be submitted on grants.gov and are due by March 3, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST.

This grant program offers up to 20 awards of as much as $500,000 for Purpose Area 1 projects and $750,000 for Purpose Area 2 projects (see below for descriptions of these).

Who Can Apply

Three types of entities may apply for the STOP School Violence Grant Program:

• Public agencies (e.g. schools, school districts, towns, cities, municipalities, police and sheriff's departments, health departments and mental health service providers)
• Federally recognized Indian tribes (including tribes, bands, nations, or other groups)
• Nonprofit organizations (included so private schools are eligible)

Each entity may only submit one application to the program. However, you may appear as a subgrantee on other entities' applications even if you applied on your own.

As a way to target school violence in high-risk schools and areas, certain applicants will receive priority consideration, including:

• Those whose projects aim to address "the specific challenges that rural communities face"
• Those serving Qualified Opportunity Zones (see the list of designated QOZ communities here)

Each application falls under one of two purpose areas. Your proposed project should either aim to "train school personnel and educate students on preventing student violence" or "develop and implement threat assessment and/or intervention teams."

Use our free printable roadmap to improve your school's safety in eight effective steps.

Grant Program Objectives

A successful application to the STOP School Violence Grant Program must demonstrate how your project meets the program's three objectives.

The first objective involves threat assessments and the development of intervention teams. To meet this, your project must:

• Implement an evidence-based school safety plan
• "Conduct assessments of schools and individuals to identify safety risks and individuals determined to be a potential threat to themselves or others"
• "Establish or enhance multidisciplinary teams that identify school violence threats and mitigate those risks"

Goal number two of a successful project is to educate staff and students about how to respond to mental health crises. Subgoals of this objective are:

• "To provide training sessions to teachers and school personnel designed to respond to threats of violence and prevent violence on campus"
• "To provide specialized training sessions for school officials designed to respond to on-campus mental health crises"

The program's final objective involves using technology and anonymous reporting. Specific goals to meet this objective include implementing:

• "A technology solution such as an anonymous reporting technology . . . to provide a way for students, teachers, faculty, and community members to anonymously identify school violence threats"
• "A technology capable to share information in active situations"

i-Sight (now Case IQ)'s case management solution captures anonymous reports and instantly creates a case file so you can respond to school violence faster and more effectively. Read more about how we can keep your school safe (and help you meet the grant program's objectives) here.

Read Appendix A of the program's guide for more details, including performance measures and questions for each goal.

What to Include in Your STOP School Violence Grant Application

1. Memorandum of Understanding: Include an MOU between your lead school official and the lead law enforcement agency outlining roles, responsibilities and specific funding amounts, if applicable.
2. Application for Federal Assistance Form
3. Project Abstract: In 400 words or fewer, summarize your proposed project. This document should be single-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font and submitted as a separate attachment named "Project Abstract."
4. Program Narrative: Respond to the program's objectives and deliverables and the review criteria in the order they're given in 10 pages or fewer. This document should be double-spaced, in 12-point standard font (such as Times New Roman), with one-inch margins and pages numbered (e.g. 1 of 10, 2 of 10, etc.). Include the following sections: Description of the Issue, Project Design and Implementation, Capabilities and Competencies and Plan for Collecting Data Required for this Solicitation's Performance Measures.
5. Statutory Requirements: Explain how your project will use the grant's funds and "how the activities funded under the grant will meet the purpose of this subchapter." Include an assurance that you have consulted with "individuals not limited to law enforcement officers" to ensure the proposed project will meet both your school's needs and a "comprehensive approach to preventing school violence." Finally, write an assurance that you'll maintain and report records and data "as the BJA Director may reasonably require."
6. Budget Information and Associated Documentation (OJP Budget Detail Worksheet)
7. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement
8. Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable)
9. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire, including disclosure of high-risk status
10. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
11. Disclosure of Pending Applications: If you have pending applications for other federally-funded grants to support the same project proposed in this application (and would cover identical expenditures in this budget), you must disclose them.
12. Disclosure and Justification—DOJ High Risk Grantees (if applicable): If your school is designated as a DOJ High Risk Grantee, include a separate attachment named "DOJ High Risk Grantee Applicant Disclosure and Justification" explaining corrective actions you've taken to remove that designation and/or the severity of issues that led to that designation.
13. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity: If your project will involve research, development and/or evaluation, "demonstrate research/evaluation independence and integrity, including appropriate safeguards."
14. Disclosure of Process Related to Executive Compensation: Nonprofits may be required to outline your processes for determining staff compensation. Read more details and guidelines about this disclosure here.

Download our free review criteria checklist to ensure you've included all the relevant project information in your application.

Additional Attachments

If your project requires one of these special program narratives, include it as an additional attachment with a clear name.

• Documentation of Anticipated Benefit to Qualified Opportunity Zones (if applicable): Clearly identify the public benefit that your project would have on one or more QOZ's.
• Documentation of Rural Challenges (if applicable): Include a timeline, project plan and MOU. Explain "what makes your geographic service area rural (using U.S. Census or other appropriate government data), how isolated the area is from needed services, and how they will address specific challenges in rural communities."

RELATED: 58 Tips to Improve School Safety in 2020

Application Steps

First, obtain a data universal number system (DUNS) number by applying online here. Next, register online with the System for Award Management (SAM) here.

After that, complete an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) profile and create a grants.gov username and password here. You'll need your DUNS number for this step.

Then, the E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC) at your organization must log in to grants.gov to confirm your AOR. They will need the Marketing Partner Identification Number (MPIN) password you got when you registered with SAM.

After the confirmation, search for the STOP School Violence Grant Program on grants.gov (CFDA #16.839). Before you apply, make sure you select the correct competition ID number. For Purpose Area 1 applicants, the number is BJA-2020-17314. For Purpose Area 2, it's BJA-2020-17315.

Under the "Applicants" column, select "Apply for Grants." Finally, use the Workspace to submit your application and additional attachments. After submitting, you'll receive two email notifications. The first will be a receipt of the application. The second message will state that your application has either been validated and successfully submitted, or rejected (with reasons why).

RELATED: 5 Reasons School Districts Need an All-in-One Case Management Solution

Resources

STOP School Violence Grant Program Solicitation Guide

OJP Grant Application Resource Guide