Victims of Crime Act Lead Entity Services Grant Program

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is soliciting proposals under NOFO #1745-033126, Victims of Crime Act Lead Entity Services to Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, or Child Advocacy Center Services to Child Abuse Victims. ICJIA is the Illinois state agency authorized to apply for, receive, establish priorities for, allocate, disburse, and spend certain federal grant funds, including funds distributed through the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. VOCA established the Crime Victims Fund as a mandatory spending account dedicated to assisting victims of crime. The fund supports programs including state victim assistance and compensation formula grants, Children's Justice Act grants, federal victim assistance activities, discretionary grants, victim notification activities, and the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve. This funding opportunity is intended to support lead entities serving victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse through child advocacy center services. A total of $26,618,628 is stated as available through the solicitation for a 12-month period. The available-funds section separately identifies funding amounts of $10,060,000 for Domestic Violence, $9,526,000 for Sexual Assault, and $7,095,628 for Child Abuse in an Advocacy Center. These three amounts total $26,681,628, which differs by $63,000 from the stated total program funding of $26,618,628; therefore, the discrepancy should be verified with ICJIA rather than reconciled by assumption. Funding is contingent on the applicable state fiscal year appropriation. The target performance period is July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, contingent upon an SFY27 appropriation to support the program. No applicant cost share or matching requirement is stated in the provided material. To qualify as a lead entity, an applicant must have a statewide network of direct service providers already in place, subject matter expertise, an established record of providing services specific to the VOCA grant, and sufficient structural capacity to oversee all aspects of monitoring its sub-grantees. Applicants must comply with applicable state and federal statutes, regulations, grant terms, and Grant Accountability and Transparency Act requirements. Agencies must be registered through the Illinois GATA Grantee Portal and be in good standing with all GATA pre-qualification requirements before the application due date. Approval of the SFY26 Internal Control Questionnaire is required before execution of a grant agreement. The source does not specify a conventional organizational eligibility class such as nonprofit, government, higher education institution, or for-profit organization, so eligibility is governed by the lead-entity qualifications stated in the solicitation. Selected applicants will have substantial grant-making, technical assistance, reporting, and monitoring responsibilities. The applicant must use a competitive bidding process for its application process, and each NOFO must be reviewed and approved by ICJIA before publication. The applicant must provide ICJIA with its NOFO review-panel conflict-of-interest protocol and objective scoring system for approval, and application review panels must include stakeholders from varied backgrounds. Fiscal and programmatic technical assistance must be available to all sub-grantees. The lead entity must monitor sub-grantees for compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and sub-grant terms. Sub-grantees must comply with GATA requirements, provide required data and fiscal reports, and be subject to site visits. The applicant's monitoring protocol must be approved by ICJIA. During the grant period, the recipient is also subject to ICJIA site visits evaluating program outcomes, fiscal management, and sub-grantee monitoring. Applications were required to be submitted through Euna by 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2026. Proposals were not accepted through email, mail, fax, or in person, and incomplete or late applications were not eligible for review. The timeline identifies the NOFO posting date as March 31, 2026 and the application deadline as April 15, 2026. It also lists a March 26, 2026 NOFO question submission deadline, while the Questions section separately states that questions were due at 5:00 p.m. CST on April 15, 2026. Because those question dates conflict, they should not be reconciled without clarification from ICJIA. Substantive questions and responses were to be posted on the ICJIA website and Euna, and applicants were instructed not to discuss the competitive opportunity directly with ICJIA employees outside the designated email process. The timeline identifies June 18, 2026 for Budget Committee review and approval of recommended designations and July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 for the performance period. Recipients must submit periodic financial reports, periodic performance reports, final financial and performance reports, and a calendar-year-end financial report in accordance with applicable Uniform Requirements. Future awards and fund drawdowns may be withheld when required reports are delinquent. The source also specifically states that the lead entity must submit quarterly data and fiscal reports to ICJIA, while other portions reference monthly fiscal reporting responsibilities. The named contact is Malea Conro of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority at CJA.LeadNofos2026@illinois.gov. The provided source does not establish that this specific NOFO recurs annually, so no future application cycle is projected.

Ensure the application is complete and submitted through Euna before the deadline because incomplete and late applications will not be reviewed. Demonstrate an existing statewide network of direct service providers, VOCA-specific expertise, an established service record, and structural capacity for sub-grantee oversight. Maintain GATA compliance and show capacity for competitive sub-granting, objective scoring, conflict-of-interest controls, technical assistance, monitoring, reporting, and site-visit compliance.