RPSA Peacekeepers Program

The RPSA Peacekeepers Program is a competitive State of Illinois funding opportunity administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Community Services, Office of Community and Positive Youth Development, Bureau of Violence Prevention Services. The program operates under the Reimagine Public Safety Act and the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention and is intended to reduce firearm violence in designated Chicago and suburban Cook County communities. The Department expects to award approximately $30,000,000 in State funds through approximately two grants. Selected providers will function as hubs under a Hub and Spoke model, sub-awarding funds to experienced violence prevention organizations that implement Peacekeeper services in assigned communities. Applicants should budget approximately $1,000,000 per requested RPSA service area, and each provider must propose to serve at least 12 eligible communities. The Peacekeepers model is designed to create a safe presence in community hotspots while engaging individuals at high risk of firearm violence in a transitional pathway toward stability, credentials, and permanent employment. Subrecipient organizations recruit Peacekeepers who have credibility and influence with local groups, gangs, cliques, and community networks and who meet at least four specified primary risk factors. Peacekeepers receive intake, assessment, case management, training, supportive services, and daily stipends while working in designated hotspots. The program includes Peacekeeper Supervisors with stipends up to $150 per day, Team Leads up to $120 per day, and Peacekeepers up to $100 per day. The enhanced model also requires development of an 18-month career pathway covering foundational training and stabilization, professional development and credential alignment, and credentialing and employment transition. Career partnerships, trauma-informed behavioral health supports, and workforce and education relationships are integral components. Funding may support the programmatic, fiscal, monitoring, training, case management, participant support, workforce development, behavioral health, subrecipient, and administrative activities necessary to implement the approved program. Indirect costs are allowed when supported by an approved Federal or State negotiated indirect cost rate or an allowable de minimis rate, subject to State requirements. Pre-award costs incurred before the grant agreement start date are not allowable. Specific costs requiring prior written DHS approval include entertainment costs, capital expenditures for general-purpose equipment including vehicles, buildings and land, capital improvements, food or personal-use goods and services for employees or contractors except authorized per diem, deposits, and out-of-state travel. Subrecipient agreements and budgets require Department pre-approval. Cost sharing or matching is not required. Successful applicants may be eligible for two subsequent one-year renewals, but renewals are discretionary and depend on appropriation, satisfactory performance, timely reporting, continued good standing, and resolution of outstanding issues. Eligible applicants are public and private nonprofit community-based organizations recognized under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) that propose services within eligible Chicago and suburban Cook County communities. Applicants must be registered with the State of Illinois, prequalified through the GATA process, registered and active in SAM.gov, possess a valid UEI, satisfy applicable Illinois Secretary of State good-standing requirements, and not appear on applicable Stop Payment, SAM exclusion, or Medicaid sanctions lists. Program-specific mandatory requirements include at least three years of verifiable street intervention experience, a proposal to serve at least 12 eligible RPSA communities, genuine and trusted relationships with residents, stakeholders, and law enforcement in high-risk areas supported by at least two qualifying letters, and fiscal capacity to advance approximately 30 to 60 days of reimbursable program expenses, identified as approximately $2,500,000. Only one application may be submitted per agency. Applications consist of the Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance, a proposal narrative, the Uniform Grant Budget entered and signed in the CSA system, and the Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure, together with required applicant, eligibility, and subrecipient attachments. The proposal narrative includes an Executive Summary, Capacity, Need, Quality or Program Design and Services, and Budget Narrative. The total application is generally limited to 20 single-spaced pages excluding specified forms, executive summary, checklist, attachments, letters of intent, and Uniform Budget. The complete application and attachments must be sequentially numbered and submitted electronically, preferably as one PDF, to DHS.ViolencePreventionServices@illinois.gov. The email subject line must include 27-444-80-3781-01 and the applicant agency name. The CSA budget must also be electronically signed and submitted to program review by the deadline. Links to external application files, password-protected submissions, fax, hard copy, disks, and thumb drives are not accepted. Applications are evaluated on a 100-point scale consisting of Executive Summary at 5 points, Capacity at 35 points, Need at 10 points, Quality or Program Design and Services at 40 points, and Budget and Budget Narrative at 10 points. The Department may also consider geographical distribution, demonstrated need, service capacity, cost effectiveness, community presence, past performance as a State grantee, and service area. Highest-scoring applicants recommended for funding are subject to eligibility verification virtual site visits addressing mandatory requirements. The opportunity was posted February 9, 2026, and applications were due March 12, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST. Written NOFO questions were due March 5, 2026, with the final Q&A scheduled for March 9, 2026. The anticipated announcement was May 2026, with an anticipated award and performance start of July 1, 2026. The initial grant period is July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, and providers must be positioned to provide full services by August 1, 2026. Questions may be directed to Reshma Desai at DHS.ViolencePreventionServices@illinois.gov or 217.720.5069.

Prioritize the Quality section worth 40 points and Capacity section worth 35 points; explicitly demonstrate every mandatory eligibility requirement and include the prescribed verification attachments; propose at least 12 eligible communities and budget approximately $1,000,000 per requested service area; ensure the CSA budget reaches GATA Budget signed and submitted to program review by the deadline; include every required item because DHS states it will not contact applicants for missing required documents; directly address Peacekeeper recruitment, hotspot coverage, case management, stipends, career pathways, career partnerships, trauma-informed behavioral health supports, subrecipient monitoring, training, DEI, and evaluation; compile the application in the prescribed order as a single PDF where possible and do not submit external links or password-protected files