Introduction to OVC and Trafficking in Persons

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was created by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) to improve our Nation's response to crime victims. OVC is one of five bureaus and five program offices within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and works closely with these components to support programs that benefit crime victims.

OVC performs many tasks, including administering formula grant programs that support a network of victim assistance and compensation services; managing discretionary grants for training, technical assistance, and demonstration programs to benefit crime victims; supporting a national information clearinghouse and a national training and technical assistance center; developing programs and initiatives to assist victims of terrorism, mass violence, and transnational crimes; and creating direct service programs for victims of federal crimes.

In October 2000, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) to combat trafficking in persons and to protect victims of this crime, the majority of whom are women and children. Recognizing that the needs of trafficking victims are diverse and that existing services are inadequate, Congress authorized the Attorney General to make grants to states, Indian tribes, units of local government, and nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services organizations to provide services to trafficking victims. During Fiscal Year 2002, Congress appropriated $10 million to fund this trafficking victim services grant program. As a result of OVC's expertise in developing and administering discretionary grant projects that deal with various victimization issues, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) chose OVC to lead the effort to enhance the victim service response to trafficking victims. The authorizing legislation provides for research and evaluation, training and technical assistance, and administration and management of the grant programs. The legislation also mandated that the federal share not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the grant program budget.

In developing these solicitations, the OVC Director created an Interagency Task Force to draw on the knowledge of representatives from federal agencies with expertise in trafficking in persons and to coordinate federal trafficking funding initiatives. OVC sought information, ideas, and suggestions from these agencies on victims' needs, with an emphasis on the labor, immigration, and cultural issues trafficking victims experience. Through a series of meetings, Task Force members identified and prioritized trafficking victims' needs, providing OVC with invaluable information and ideas. This information has been incorporated into both the victim services and training and technical assistance grant programs in this application kit. OVC also received feedback from private, nonprofit organizations with experience in trafficking issues and in serving trafficking victims to ensure that these solicitations address current and emerging issues, including the training and technical assistance needs of service providers.

Services for Trafficking Victims Competitive Discretionary Grants Authorized for Fiscal Year 2002

This application kit describes the Services for Trafficking Victims competitive discretionary grant programs that will fund services and training and technical assistance for Fiscal Year 2002. Separate from these solicitations, the National Institute of Justice will develop and administer a competitive solicitation to fund an evaluation of one or more projects that are funded as a result of this solicitation. At this time, OVC has been appropriated a total of $10 million for this grant program.

Application Process

This application kit provides the necessary information and guidance for preparing and submitting an application for an OVC Services for Trafficking Victims discretionary grant program award. Section I. of the application kit contains solicitations for the two competitive programs. Section II. presents general application requirements and includes the required application forms. To request additional application kits, please call the OVC Resource Center at 1-800-627-6872 or call the OVC Reply Line at 202-616-1926 (TTY 202-514-7863). In addition, the application kit can be downloaded from the OVC World Wide Web home page.