Criminal Justice & Public Safety Funding
CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Program is designated by the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD) for regional coordination efforts on the subject in the 10-county State Planning Region 12. The program provides technical assistance to applicants for CJD grant funding opportunities to include criminal justice, juvenile justice and victim services-related programming.
CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Program and Criminal Justice Advisory Committee review and update or create a regional strategic criminal justice. The program also facilitates the grant application scoring process through the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. Each year application scoring done by the committee is based on local, regional and state priorities.
Regional Funding Priorities for Plan Year 2025 Grants
Feedback from the CAPCOG PY 2025 Regional Priorities Survey was used to set regional priorities and serve as the basis of CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Advisory’s Committee’s prioritization process.
The survey ran from Oct. 2 to Oct. 13, 2023. Containing four topics of discussion — Juvenile Justice and school-based systems, Criminal Justice System, Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment, and Victims of Crime. One priority was selected per topic of discussion.
The priorities based on the survey are:
- Violence Prevention
- Training for Law Enforcement
- Counseling/Therapy Services
- Crisis Services
Important Documents
Regional Strategic Criminal Justice Plan
Criminal Justice Advisory Committee (CJAC)
Office of the Governor’s egrants.gov
Criminal Justice Grant Presentation Schedule
Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division, funding opportunities
Plan Year 2025
Plan Year (PY) 2025 began in October 2023 with an online stakeholder survey. This year CAPCOG is coordinating the grant recommendation process for the following funding opportunities:
- Criminal Justice Program — Formerly Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), Available Dec. 11, 2023, Due Feb. 8, 2024
- General Victim Assistance Direct Service Program — Formerly General Victim Assistance Program (VOCA), Available Dec. 11, 2023, Due Feb. 8, 2024
- Juvenile Justice and Truancy Prevention Grant Program, Available Dec. 11, 2023, Due Feb. 8, 2024
- Violence Against Women Justice and Training Program (VAWA), Available Dec. 11, 2023, Due Feb. 8, 2024
*It is possible that the OOG may change the RFAs. CAPCOG will update them as notified. Also check egrants.gov.texas.gov for updates.
Plan Year 2025 Timeline and Meetings
Each year, CAPCOG develops a timeline to help stakeholders and applicants plan their schedules around key grant related event dates and prepare for application related deadlines. The timeline runs from when CAPCOG started it stakeholder survey in October 2023 and goes to when CAPCOG must submit its prioritized list of grant recommendations — May 2024. It contains both exact and tentative dates. CAPCOG will update the timeline as the grant process continues. Check back for those updates.
Plan Year 2025 Timeline (updated Dec. 12, 2023)
Applicant Presentations – April 1-3, 2024
CAPCOG’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee will convene for several days to hear presentations from program applicants. It will review, score and prioritize the project applicants at this time. This year applicants were able to select their preferred presentation times through a scheduling software. A link to schedule a presentation time was emailed to applicants who were approved by the Office of the Governor.
The advisory committee will hear from the following program applicants on the these days:
- April 1 — General Victim Services – Direct Service Program & Violence Against Women Justice and Training Program
- April 2 — Criminal Justice Program & Truancy Prevention Program
- April 3 — Juvenile Justice Program
The schedule of presentations has been set with most applicants selecting their own times. CAPCOG has made the schedule public so applicants and CJAC members can plan accordingly.
Review the presentation schedule.
Executive Committee Review – May 8, 2024
The CAPCOG Executive Committee will review the Criminal Justice Advisory Committees scoring and prioritization recommendations and make a final recommendation on all grant applications to the Office of the Governor.
Application Deadline – Feb. 8, 2024
The Office of the Governor required all applications to be submitted on egrants.gov.
Criminal Justice Grant Workshops – Jan. 8 & Jan. 9, 2024 – Completed
The CAPCOG Criminal Justice Program conducted two grant writing workshops for applicants seeking funding from any of the four funding of opportunity programs which it prioritizes for the Office of the Governor. The workshops will cover the eligibility requirements, prioritization process, PY2025 timeline and key events, regional and state funding priorities, funding limitations and more.
Workshop attendance was not required; however, it carries a significant weight in an application’s score. Workshop attendees will receive ten points on applications they submit in any grant program. An applicant that didn’t attend a workshop will not receive the ten points for any application, but CAPCOG has made the virtual workshop available to be viewed to help applicants apply.
Get the Criminal Justice Workshop and Application Reminder Sheet.
The workshops were held at the following times and locations:
In-person Workshop
10 a.m. to Noon, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024
Capital Area Council of Governments – Pecan Room
6800 Burleson Road
Building 310, Suite 165
Austin, Texas 78744
Register to Attend.
Virtual Workshop
10 a.m. to Noon, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024
Online via Microsoft Teams.
Registering at the link below, should allow you to add the workshop to your calendar as well as send an attendance link to your email. CAPCOG requests that all organizations wanting to attend register so it can get an accurate attendance.
Register to Attend.
Stakeholders Survey – Completed
CAPCOG conducted an online stakeholder survey to gather input for the region’s PY 2025 funding priorities. The CAPCOG Regional Criminal Justice Strategic Plan and the funding priorities guide how the CAPCOG Criminal Justice Advisory Committee selects project funding recommendations for the four Office of Governor, Criminal Justice Division grant programs.
Other Funding Opportunities
Check the following websites for possible other criminal justice-related funding opportunities:
- CAPCOG highlighted grants
- Grants.gov – Federal grant listings
- Egrants.gov.texas.gov – Texas, Office of the Governor grant listings
- United Way for Greater Austin
- Community Action Network
- Texas Council on Family Violence
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Office of Victims of Crime
- Texas Commission on Law Enforcement