Notice of Funding Opportunity

Victims of Crime Act: Court-Appointed Special Advocate Victim Assistance Program

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is requesting proposals for grants to support Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Programs across the state. Grants will be made with FFY19 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds. A total of $2,535,000 in VOCA funds will support advocates that provide direct services to child victims of abuse and neglect through municipal county CASA programs. Funds are available through this solicitation for use over a period of 12 months.

Application deadline: 11:59 p.m., October 30, 2020.

Program Requirements

Funding will support CASA Programs. Eligible agencies will be allowed to apply for funding for staffing, staff training, supervision of direct services, and office equipment to create or expand existing victim service programs. Applicants must discuss their histories and capacity to provide services to these groups and fulfill the other requirements outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Eligibility Information

Agencies must be pre-qualified through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal, https://grants.illinois.gov/portal/, to become eligible to apply for an award. Applicants must be in good standing with all GATA pre-qualification requirements and received approval of the Internal Control Questionnaire (ICQ) SFY21, and Programmatic Risk Assessment before the execution of the grant agreement.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are limited to public agencies and nonprofit organizations with a record of providing effective services. See page 15 of the NOFO for a complete list of eligibility requirements.

Deadline

Completed application materials must be emailed to CJA.CASA.NOFOffy19@Illinois.gov by 11:59 p.m., October 30, 2020, to be considered for funding. Proposals will not be accepted by mail, fax, or in-person. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Late submissions will not be reviewed.

Available Funds

A total of $2,535,000 million in funding is available through this solicitation. A minimum of $75,000 and a maximum of $500,000 will be awarded to successful applicants.

Period of Performance

Funding is available for the period of January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. Based on program performance and fund availability, ICJIA may recommend a funding allocation to support up to an additional 24 months of programming.

Technical Assistance Session

Technical assistance recordings providing additional information regarding this funding opportunity will be available for viewing beginning at 5:00 p.m. on October 2, 2020.

View the Technical Assistance Webinar Recording

Information provided during this webinar recording will be unofficial and not binding on the state.

Notice of Intent

Agencies interested in applying are asked to submit an online Notice of Intent by 11:59 p.m., October 16, 2020.

Complete Notice of Intent

Timeline

Task	Date
NOFO posted	October 1, 2020
Technical Assistance Recording available	October 2, 2020
Notice of Intent due	October 16, 2020
NOFO question submission deadline	October 23, 2020
Applications due	11:59pm, October 30, 2020
Budget Committee review/approval of recommended designations	December 10, 2020
Program start date	January 1, 2021

Reporting

Recipients must submit periodic financial reports, periodic performance reports, final financial and performance reports, and, a calendar year end financial report in accordance with the CFR Part 200 Uniform Requirements. Future awards and fund drawdowns may be withheld if reports are delinquent.

In addition, funded programs will be required to report performance measures through the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance portal at https://bjapmt.ojp.gov.

Required Documents

The following documents must be emailed to cja.casa.nofoffy19@illinois.gov by the 11:59 p.m., October 30, 2020, deadline for application review. Click the links below to download the complete NOFO Packet.

Completed and signed Uniform State Grant Application (Word)
Completed Program Narrative (Word)
Completed Budget/Budget Narrative (Excel)

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE OF ALL REQUIRED APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

Questions

Questions regarding this NOFO may be submitted to CJA.CASA.NOFOFFY19@Illinois.gov until 11:59 p.m. October 23, 2020. Questions and responses are posted here.

Contact Information

Rise’ Evans

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority

300 West Adams, Suite 200

Chicago, IL 60606

CJA.CASA.NOFOFFY19@Illinois.gov