OVW Fiscal Year 2026 Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative - Request for Required Documents | O OVW 2026 172703

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVW 2026 172703

The OVW Fiscal Year 2026 Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative - Request for Required Documents (Funding Opportunity Number: O-OVW-2026-172703) is a discretionary federal grant action from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means OVW expects to remain actively involved with the recipient during the project period rather than operating as a hands-off funder. The announcement is not a broad open competition in practice; it is a request for required documents tied to continuation funding for an existing, multi-year effort being carried out by the University of Southern Maine (USM).

The purpose of the request is to support continuation funding of $3,600,000 for the final 16-month budget period of a 60-month project running from September 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027. OVW expects to make a single award (Expected Awards: 1), and the award ceiling matches the stated continuation amount, reinforcing that this is designed to fund one specific continuation project rather than multiple new starts. The opportunity references CFDA numbers 16.026 and 16.526 and falls under the Law, Justice and Legal Services activity category.

Substantively, the work centers on OVW’s Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) performance measurement and effectiveness infrastructure. USM’s role is to continue handling the back-end data functions that allow OVW to understand what is being achieved across its grant portfolio and to meet external accountability requirements. This includes reviewing, cleaning, and analyzing data submitted through grantee performance reports; maintaining those data in a database so they are usable and retrievable; and coordinating with OVW to fulfill Congressional reporting requirements and respond to data requests. A key operational goal is ensuring OVW has timely and reliable information it needs for grant monitoring and oversight of federal funds, which is central to compliance, program management, and public accountability.

In addition to data management and analysis, USM is expected to continue providing training and technical assistance to OVW grantees. The emphasis is on helping grantees collect data in ways that support local self-assessment of effectiveness and on improving the accuracy and completeness of performance report submissions. This training and support function matters because performance measurement systems depend heavily on consistent definitions, sound collection practices, and clear guidance, especially across a large and diverse set of funded programs.

A major deliverable in the remaining 16 months is the completion of a streamlined performance reporting tool for OVW grantees. The description highlights this as a significant piece of the remaining work, suggesting OVW and USM are aiming to reduce reporting burden, improve data quality, and make reporting more user-friendly and standardized. Alongside that tool, USM will facilitate the launch and ongoing maintenance of a public-facing dashboard that summarizes performance reporting data. This dashboard component signals a transparency and communication goal: translating complex grantee-reported metrics into accessible summary information for broader audiences while still supporting OVW’s internal oversight and reporting needs.

From an eligibility and applicant standpoint, the listing includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and “others,” but the description is explicit that OVW is requesting the required documents from the University of Southern Maine. In other words, while the Grants.gov formatting may show broader eligibility categories, the operational reality is that this is a continuation action targeted to USM as the existing project partner. The opportunity was created on 2026-08-19 and has an original closing date of 2026-08-20, which is consistent with a short turnaround “request for documents” process rather than a typical open competitive grant cycle.

• The Office on Violence Against Women in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVW Fiscal Year 2026 Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative - Request for Required Documents" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.026, 16.526.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-08-19.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-08-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,600,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for O OVW 2026 172703

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