OVW Fiscal Year 2026 Violence Against Women Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Initiative - Invitation to Apply

The Office on Violence Against Women, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, administers Violence Against Women Act grants designed to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking. The Violence Against Women Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Initiative is an invitation-only federal funding opportunity supporting Tribes and United States Attorneys' Offices in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes in Indian country. The initiative is intended to fill gaps in jurisdictional coverage, increase communication and coordination among Tribal, federal, and state law enforcement agencies, establish consistent relationships between federal prosecutors and Tribal communities, and improve the quality of investigation and prosecution of Violence Against Women Act crimes. Under the initiative, participating Tribes receive funding to work with their United States Attorneys' Office partner to hire or retain a mutually agreed upon attorney who will be cross-designated as both a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Tribal prosecutor. Funds must support salary and fringe benefits for the Tribal prosecutor, as well as training, travel, and other resources needed to support the attorney's work. The prosecutor may handle cases in federal or Tribal court that are directly related to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, sex trafficking, or stalking. Examples include misdemeanor domestic violence offenses and protection-order violations committed by non-Indians, stalking, dating violence, felony assault involving a spouse or intimate or dating partner, adult and youth sexual assault, child sexual assault, specified interstate offenses, domestic assault by a habitual offender, and other directly related offenses agreed upon with the United States Attorneys' Office. The budget must include at least $10,000 on the Travel line for travel between the United States Attorneys' Office and Tribal communities and for training. Training provided by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys National Indian Country Training Initiative is separately covered and must not be included in the grant budget. Costs must be reasonable, allocable, necessary, and allowable. The Office on Violence Against Women expects to make three grants from total program funding of $4,380,000. Each award may be up to $1,460,000 for a 60-month award period beginning October 1, 2026. No cost sharing or matching contribution is required. Eligibility is strictly limited to the three federally recognized Tribes invited to apply: the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation, California. Applications from entities that were not invited will not be funded. Recipients must execute a memorandum of understanding with their partner United States Attorneys' Office within 120 days after receiving the award and keep it current throughout the grant period. The memorandum must not be submitted with the application. The Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney must be hired within one year after approval of the memorandum, and the award will contain a condition allowing closure of the award if the grant-funded position remains vacant one year after the memorandum is executed. Applications use a two-step submission process. Applicants must first complete the Application for Federal Assistance, SF-424, in Grants.gov by September 15, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The full application must then be submitted through JustGrants by September 17, 2026, at 4:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Required JustGrants materials include Standard Applicant Information, the Pre-award Risk Assessment, a Proposal Narrative, a Budget attachment, an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement when applicable, a Certification Regarding Out-of-Scope Activities, a Summary Data Sheet, and a signed Confidentiality Notice Form. Applicants must also complete applicable disclosures, assurances, and certifications in JustGrants. The Proposal Narrative may not exceed 10 single-spaced pages, must use a font of at least 11 points, must have correctly numbered pages and one-inch margins, must be provided in a format openable in Microsoft Word or Adobe Reader, and must be written in plain language. The Proposal Narrative must address the purpose of the project and what will be done, including project goals and objectives aligned with the initiative, anticipated implementation challenges or barriers, the availability of victim services for American Indian and Alaska Native victims of covered crimes including sex trafficking, and how victim service providers will be involved. Applicants must also identify the people who will implement the project and provide each person's name, organization, title, project role and responsibilities, and qualifications for those responsibilities. The budget must identify each implementation cost under the appropriate category, explain and compute each cost, connect costs to project goals and activities as necessary, and clearly distinguish subawards from contracts. Applications are not subject to peer review because this is an invitation-to-apply opportunity. Instead, the Office on Violence Against Women reviews applications for completeness and compliance with program requirements and may contact applicants regarding missing items. Failure to provide requested missing information may prevent an award. Program success after award will be assessed through performance reports and data and through evidence that implementation is progressing toward the initiative's goals and objectives. The notice was released September 1, 2026. The Grants.gov submission is due September 15, 2026, and the final JustGrants submission is due September 17, 2026. Award notification is anticipated by September 30, 2026, with the 60-month performance period expected to begin October 1, 2026. The source does not identify this opportunity as recurring or provide a future-cycle schedule. Questions about the notice may be directed to the Office on Violence Against Women at OVW.TribalSAUSA@usdoj.gov or 202-307-6026. Grants.gov assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726, and JustGrants assistance is available at OVW.JustGrantsSupport@usdoj.gov or 866-655-4482.

Align project goals and objectives with the four Tribal SAUSA Initiative goals; address anticipated implementation barriers; describe availability of victim services for American Indian and Alaska Native victims and involvement of victim service providers; identify each implementation person's role, responsibilities, and qualifications; keep the Proposal Narrative within 10 single-spaced pages and follow all formatting requirements; clearly compute and explain budget costs and their relationship to project activities; include only reasonable, allocable, necessary, and allowable costs; distinguish subawards from contracts; set aside at least $10,000 on the Travel line; do not budget for EOUSA National Indian Country Training Initiative training; ensure all required application items are complete because applications are reviewed for completeness and program requirements rather than peer reviewed.