FY 2022 Community-based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes

DARYL FOX: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to today’s webinar, “FY 2022 Community-Based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes,” hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. At this time, it’s my pleasure to introduce Sunny Schnitzer, Policy Advisor with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, for some welcoming remarks and to begin the presentation. Sunny?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Great. Thank you so much, Daryl. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all so much for joining us for this program funding webinar. My name is Sunny Schnitzer and I’m a Policy Advisor with the Bureau of Justice Assistance. I’m joined today by my colleague, Tamara White, a state Policy Advisor for this program, and Director Paul Monteiro of the Community Relations Service. Before we jump onto today’s webinar, I’ll spend just a few quick minutes going over the Office of Justice Programs and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The Office of Justice Programs or OJP is a federal agency that provides leadership, grants, training and technical assistance, and other resources to support the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, to assist victims, and to enhance the rule of law by strengthening criminal and juvenile justice systems. Its six program offices support state and local crime fighting efforts, fund thousands of victim service programs, and help communities manage sex offenders, address the needs of youth in the system and children in danger, and provide vital research and data.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance specifically was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime, create safer communities, and reform our nation’s criminal justice system. BJA strengthens the nation’s criminal justice system and helps America’s state, local, and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism, and promote a fair and safe criminal justice system. BJA specifically focuses its programs and policy efforts on providing a wide range of resources, including training and technical assistance, to law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, reentry, justice information sharing systems, and—what we’re here to discuss today—our community-based partners. We do this in an effort to address chronic and emerging criminal justice challenges nationwide.
Specifically today, we’ll be discussing community-based approaches to prevent and address hate crimes.
Hate crimes can be more violent and involve greater victim injury as compared with other victimizations, yet they’re substantially under reported. Victim reluctance to contact law enforcement may arise from perceptions of police bias, distrust of law enforcement or the criminal justice system, or other barriers, such as language or concerns about immigration status. Hate crimes have a devastating effect beyond the harm inflicted on any one victim.
They reverberate through families, communities, and the entire nation as others fear they too may be threatened, attacked, or forced from their homes because of what they look like, who they are, where they worship, who they love, whether or not they have a disability, and so on.
Like other crimes, the vast majority of hate crimes in the United States are investigated under state law and prosecuted by state and local authorities. This is inherently both a national and a local challenge. As both this slide and the previous slide have demonstrated, we’ve experienced an alarming increase in hate-motivated violence in recent years. Eliminating hate crimes and bias-motivated violence is one of DOJ’s top priorities. The federal government has an important role to play in addressing hate crimes through collaboration with state, local, and tribal partners as well as community-based and civil rights-focused partners.
The Office of Justice Programs and the Bureau of Justice Assistance have been developing a comprehensive suite of grant programs to address the alarming increase in hate crimes in recent years. To effectively address hate crimes, experts have identified that a comprehensive approach that engages all partners is critical to success, and investing significant time and effort in several domains using differing tactics is what’s necessary to move forward. As such, BJA has developed several programs designed to support local, state, and tribal law enforcement and prosecutors. Specifically, the Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations Program and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program, both administered by BJA, provide resources to these partners to investigate hate crimes both past and present.
And while supporting these partners is important, we know that one of the most critical elements to making communities safer is to empower community-led initiatives. Today, we will be discussing the newest grant program at BJA for addressing hate crimes: the Community-Based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes Program. This program seeks to leverage the unique and critical power of community institutions to better protect communities, empower victims and witnesses of hate crimes to report, and to build and strengthen foundations of trust and understanding between law enforcement and the public.
Funding under this program may be used to support public awareness campaigns, educational campaigns, and outreach programs; trauma-informed services, supports, and preparedness. And it can also be used to partner with different entities. Today, we’ll talk a little bit about what applications for this program should include. In the meantime, it’s my pleasure to introduce the Director of the Community Relations Service, Paul Monteiro.

DARYL FOX: Sunny, I didn’t know if you wanted to continue with the presentation and we can work on troubleshooting the Director’s line at this point.

SUNNY SCHNITZER: I’d be happy to do so. Okay. So launched in 2022, this program is really designed to support, as I mentioned, community-based organizations and civil rights organizations to develop comprehensive approaches to addressing hate crimes. Really, this program is designed to think about prevention, to promote awareness and resiliency in communities, to think through preparedness, and to address those impacts of hate crime that I had discussed earlier, so community healing. You know, as I discussed earlier, there’s really a challenge with victim reporting, and understandably so. So another important aspect of this program is going to be focusing on increasing avenues for victims to report incidents that have occurred to them and to really encourage community healing around those. And, finally, to improve those responses to hate crimes.
This program solicitation was released on May 19th of this year, and you still have several more weeks to apply for it. The Grants.gov deadline for this program—the initial paperwork indicating that you intend to apply—is due on July 12, 2022. And the full application is due in JustGrants five days later on July 18, 2022. And I see we have the Director’s video on. I’ll see if we can get his audio.

PAUL MONTEIRO: Sorry for the technical difficulties. But my name’s Paul Monteiro. I’ve been in the last month as the new Director of the Community Relations Service (CRS), also known as America’s Peacemaker. I’m speaking to you live from our headquarters here in Washington, DC. We have 14 offices around the country. I wanted to spend a few minutes just sharing more about this maybe lesser-known part of the Justice Department.
The CRS was founded by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that drastically changed daily life in America. Title X of that act created the Community Relations Service—skilled mediators that deploy to communities where you see conflict based on race, color, and national origin. And these skilled mediators deploy quickly to try to knit together key leaders in a community to hopefully avoid violence, to make sure that the law is respected, that individual and collective rights are also respected, and that the decisionmakers in a local community are coming up with solutions on how their community will move forward with a peaceful resolution as opposed to individuals feeling that turning to violence is the preferred way.
The mandate was expanded in 2009 when President Obama signed the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act named after Matthew Shepard, the man lynched for his sexual orientation, and James Byrd, Jr., the African-American man killed by white supremacists in Texas. That expanded our mission to say, “work to prevent the commission of hate crimes” in these categories articulated here. When you have an emerging pattern of individuals or groups being treated “less than” based on their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, in addition to race, color, and national origin.
Our services fall into four buckets, and they are all impartial. You know, at all points, CRS is not forcing itself on the local community, directing individuals as to what they should do. Not picking sides in terms of who’s right, who’s wrong. But being an impartial third party to try to move past a standoff or stalemate that may have resulted in community leaders not being in touch with one another. At all points voluntary because, again, we cannot foist ourselves on a community, we can offer services if we see an emerging pattern or an issue that is jurisdictional. All of our services are confidential, because these are sensitive conversations, built on trust, built on discretion. And also, being clear, we are not part of an investigation or a prosecution. CRS does not fall within those lanes by statute—we’re actually prohibited from being a part of those things. So we keep information confidential and only share upon the permission of the party. And, of course, no cost to you, the taxpayer.
We work with the community. And at a time where there are so many fault lines, so many fractures in communities, I think the mission of CRS is so important—because of the work we do but also because these fault lines have led to, in some cases, community members, all part of the same community, not necessarily being in touch with one another or, having been through some incident or set of events, they’re not in dialogue with one another and people have retreated to their quarters. And so we work with advocacy groups, individuals, school districts, police departments. We work with protest organizations. We also work with local law enforcement, state leaders, municipal leaders. Our job is to try to knit together, again, the disparate parts of a community to outline a pathway forward.
And these are the four delineations of the services we provide. Facilitation. Again, community is made up of many different parts, many different individual players or groups. Convening those groups together again as an impartial third-party facilitator to bring folks together, open up lines of communication, and identify solutions. Mediation. When there is a structured process to reach an agreement, where there’s a discrete set of issues to be worked through, and what’s needed is an impartial mediator, CRS plays that role. Consultation, in terms of technical assistance, best practices, meeting design, town halls, and evidence-based resources. And training, sharing through webinars, in-person convening, knowledge or skill-based programs. To give you an example of what we’re doing most recently, just yesterday and also on Monday, we hosted a Protecting Places of Worship webinar to talk with faith-based and community leaders on best practices with our colleagues at DHS, FBI, on ways to protect and make our houses of worship more resilient.
As I mentioned, we have 14 offices around the country. I’m speaking to you here from Washington. But I encourage you to be in touch with the office nearest to you. All of them are on our website, and our Regional Directors and line staff that are called Conciliation Specialists are ready, willing, and eager to connect with you in advance of maybe the need to use them. It’s always important to build proactive relationships in the event that they may be necessary/needed one day.
Our largest buckets of work usually fall into these spaces. Administration of Justice cases. Looking at police and community relations, a very hot topic in the country for the last several years. Controversial/traumatic incidents. And where there’s allegations of bias or hate incidents or crimes. CRS, again, through some of our services, will often try to play a proactive role to train police departments, work with a school district and its leaders and its faculty members, to hopefully avoid any particular group being treated in a way that’s anything less than equal.
Education, especially in the high school, college, even as early as middle school and elementary school, working to address intergroup tensions. At all points giving voice to the parties in the school system—the students, the teachers, the faculty members. Because, again, we play that impartial role of giving them voice, setting up a framework where all voices can be heard, and the solution that everyone has bought into can be implemented. And addressing bias and hate incidents or crimes in school, whether it’s because of a group of students’ national origin, color, religion, disability, what have you. And certainly the ugliness of allegations of bullying in the school setting is something that we work to combat through different services and products.
And in General Community Relations, where you have demographic shifts, groups of individuals who may have been relocated to a community, where unintentional but very much-felt slights or incidents that raise tensions need to be addressed in advance. Language-based conflicts. Public demonstrations or controversial events. Again, we do not take sides in these things, but we work with groups to make sure that all relevant and required processes have been followed. Permits, you know, for a march are to be obtained. Helping train the groups who want to protest so that they know the do’s and don’ts or best practices in terms of facilitating an effective public demonstration that’s in compliance with the law and nonviolent. And also, you know, working with the community around any allegations of bias or hate crimes or incidents.
And so these are some more specific examples of the work that we do in those buckets. And you can see there’s a pretty robust menu of services that are offered—again, at no charge—through our regional offices. In the Administration of Justice bucket, the engaging and building relationships with transgender communities. CRS came out some years ago with a training video for law enforcement, understanding most police departments want to get it right in terms of understanding how to best interface with transgender citizens to make sure they’re not unintentionally doing things that are disrespectful or that have a tendency to escalate rather than deescalate. Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships. Our work with the Muslim-American community, the Sikh-American community, just making sure that if there’s a desire or a need for increased culturally competent knowledge or expertise, CRS can also provide that through our staff and subject matter experts. And the education space, I mentioned. The School-SPIRIT, that’s a facilitated program that we work with the, you know, all voices in the school setting to identify problems and solutions together. And the Campus-SPIRIT, similar program for the higher education context. Dialogue on race. And then customized sessions based on the particular needs of a community, built in collaboration with the community. And then on the General Community Relations, you can see many of those same products and services that are offered there.
Here’s our contact information. We encourage you to, again, call the line, visit the website, or visit us online via social media at any of these platforms here. But as you look through opportunities and resources at the department, I hope that you would consider ways that CRS can be a part of working to deescalate situations. Again, proactively see issues and work to resolve them, so that rights are respected and that nonviolence will be order of the day. CRS is open for business through any one of our 14 offices. So thank you for giving me a chance to share with you today.

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Thank you so much, Director. I really appreciate you joining us. And just want to reiterate to all of the participants on today’s call, I can’t think of a better resource than those different field offices and the Conciliation Specialists at CRS. I highly encourage you…they have a really powerful website, but a more powerful staff. It’s a small but mighty team, and I really appreciate you joining us and sharing the resources available at CRS. Thank you.
So, you know, just want to dive back into this program solicitation. We will be accepting applications, as I mentioned, through the middle of July, and wanted to dive in a little bit on what those applications will include.
So the program objectives, over the next few slides. I won’t go over these in-depth or read directly from the slides, but did want to emphasize a few key objectives and deliverables that applications should include and that proposed projects should include. So first and foremost is, these programs are really--the program is designed to really enhance and build partnerships, build those comprehensive approaches. So that’s coordination across lots of different disciplines and, you know, really the programs should be focused on creating community dialogue, outreach, education, various types of engagements. And engagement that meets the specific needs of groups or populations that will be served under the grant. So that includes language access services or culturally specific materials.
So the program is also, kind of, I do want to emphasize, it’s really, kind of, designed to help develop activities that create a shared sense of empathy and a community environment that will not tolerate hate. So that’s going to include trauma-informed services or even newer, innovative programs that may not exist currently. Programs should expect to convene a task force or a working group, or if there’s already a working group in the area you’re looking to serve, to coordinate with that group. Programs will be expected to develop and implement an action plan and, really importantly, to then, kind of, develop materials and lessons learned to share broadly with the field, to share with our partners across the country, with our partners at the Community Relations Service and other agencies, to really, you know, broaden our approach to preventing and addressing hate crimes.
So the entities listed on the screen are eligible to apply for this program: Native American tribal organizations; other than federally recognized tribal government; nonprofits having a 501c3 status; nonprofits that do not have a 501c3 status, other than institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education. And I did want to highlight, along with the authorization of this particular program, there’s really an emphasis here on community-based organizations and civil rights organizations.
So currently the program has approximately $3.9 million anticipated to be awarded. And we expect to make awards of $300,000 and expect to make 13 awards. The performance period is 36 months (or 3 years), and the anticipated start date of programs would be October 1st of this calendar year.
So the next couple of slides share the, kind of, broad range--the forms that you’ll have to submit if you look to apply to this program. And I’ll take a little bit of time to, kind of, dive in a little bit more on the program abstract and narrative and some of those things. But I did want to share information on some of the forms and expected things to turn in. So in addition to a program narrative, abstract, a budget, we also look for letters of support or MOUs, if those exist, to define partnerships, or resumes for staff who may be funded under the program, and certainly, kind of, a timeline and a task list. And then, of course, there are certain other forms that come with most BJA programs.
So as I mentioned, I want to spend a few minutes talking about the program abstract and narrative. This is an area where we tend to get the most questions. So the abstract
shouldn’t exceed 400 words, which may seem like a lot, but when you’re trying to fit a lot of information in, that can go away pretty quickly. So I wanted to flag certainly the applicant name, the project period, the amount of funding that’s being requested, key partners to the project. Those should all be included.
I do also want to flag, as applicants are reviewing the program solicitation, this program is offering priority consideration under three different topic areas. So one is that it will give priority consideration to applicants that include projects that will promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunity for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by inequality. The second is that we will give priority consideration to applicants that can demonstrate that their capabilities and competencies for implementing the proposed projects are enhanced because of the applicant or at least one of the proposed sub-recipients—and by that I mean they’ll receive 30% or more of the requested funding. So to receive this additional consideration, applicants must describe how being a culturally-specific organization will enhance their ability to implement the project.
And then the third and final priority consideration for this program is that BJA will give priority consideration to applications which seek to build on existing projects, either under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program—that includes the awardees from the previous fiscal year, [and] I would also encourage prospective applicants to reach out to your local law enforcement or prosecutor’s office to determine if they’ve applied for funding in this fiscal year—and then also, you know, consideration for things like if they have applied for Community-Based Violence Intervention or Prevention Programs. So I flagged that here just to say, if you’re looking to receive priority consideration based on that third one that I mentioned, the coordination with another hate crimes program to create a more comprehensive or another community-based program to create a comprehensive program, that should be listed very specifically in the abstract. And as we go on, I will give you some guidance on where to flag those other two priority considerations in applications.
So for the program narrative, applicants should--apologies, the program narrative should not exceed 20 pages, a 12-point font, you know, same thing that we had to do in school. But I did want to talk just very briefly about the required portions of the program narrative. So first is the description of the challenge or issue. This is going to be scored at 25%. You know, a few things to really highlight here in terms of describing the challenge or issue, certainly including trends or data to document the challenge of hate crimes that the project is seeking to address. If data or victim reporting or underreporting is a challenge, certainly highlight that—that’s certainly something that this program can be used to address. I’d say describe challenges such as lack of resources or gaps in current approaches, whether
that’s in a local community or beyond. And then discuss why the current resources can’t address these issues. Maybe there isn’t enough funding or maybe there’s a key partner that’s missing from the table. So you’ll want to discuss that in that portion.
The next section is the program design, which is scored at 30%. This is really where applications should highlight how they’ll implement the project as proposed. So it will be kind of the nuts and bolts of how the applicant will respond to the issue that’s defined in that previous section. It will talk about, you know, those partnerships that I mentioned earlier. It’ll describe strategies to engage and enhance engagement and public awareness. This is really kind of where the rubber meets the road.
The next section, which is also scored at 30%, is capabilities and competencies of applications.
And oh, I have to apologize. I promised I will do this. So under program design, again, that’s where you’re describing what the project will do, if you’re seeking priority consideration for that first priority that I mentioned, 1A, you’ll want to lay that out in the project design portion of your program narrative.
Next is the capabilities and competencies. So this will describe why your application and why the people and the organization applying for this funding is well-suited for this program. So that includes details in experience in working with specific groups and communities. And certainly include specific information on things like language access capabilities, support for those with disabilities, or other competencies that are directly related to the group that is being served or groups that are being served. This is going to be the portion of the program narrative where if you’re seeking priority consideration 1B, so the second one that I mentioned, you’ll want to lay that out in this portion of the program narrative.
The plan for collecting data: so for each of the objectives, each of the, kind of, big picture activities that are proposed in an application, the application should include a plan for collecting data on how that work is being carried out. Applications should include an indication of willingness to collect and report performance data through BJA’s reporting tools and describe the process for getting that information.
And then finally, the budget is weighted at 10%. So for each year of the grant, so if you’re proposing a three-year program, you’ll need an itemized budget. There is no match required for this program. But there will be prior approvals needed for planning and reporting of conferences and meeting training costs, so certainly build in some of that time if that’s something that the applicant is interested in doing.
As I mentioned at the top of the call, preventing and addressing hate crimes is a top priority for the Department of Justice. For more information about the various programs that I’ve mentioned, you can visit the various websites that are listed on the screen. We have a website dedicated to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program. Some of the data that I presented earlier on a slide comes from the FBI’s hate crimes work and NIBRS. I’ve listed some links to the FBI’s work. The Community Relations Service, we’ve listed their website, I highly recommend that applicants visit CRS’ website. And then for some of the broader information on hate crimes in the U.S., including kind of the wide array of services and enforcement actions and research that’s being developed by the Department of Justice, I recommend visiting the Justice Department’s website on hate crime.
So I’ve thrown a lot at everyone on the call, and I appreciate your patience. Sometimes technology doesn’t agree with us or there may be a question about the solicitation. I really encourage you to take advantage of the various application assistance, so we’ll walk through those very quickly. So if you’re having challenges with Grants.gov, that’s that first portal that I had mentioned where you’ll kind of enter your SF-424 and SF-LLL, I would recommend reaching out to the hotline listed on this screen. Again, that’s going to be due on July 12th at 8:59 PM or by 8:59 PM. So that’ll be that resource.
JustGrants. Again, technology doesn’t always agree with us. So if you find that you’re running into any challenges with JustGrants, we have a customer support hotline and a customer support email address that applicants can access to address any technical issues.
And for any specific questions about this solicitation or the process in general, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the OJP Response Center. Again, that information is listed online, there’s a chat line, a toll-free line, and an email address. I’d highly recommend if you--if you run into any issues or if, as you’re working on an application, you have questions, this is the team you want to reach out to. All right.
And again, just a quick reminder about those dual deadlines. So the SF-424 and SF-LLL, those are going to be due on Grants.gov by July 12th at 8:59 PM. And then the full application, including that narrative, an abstract and budget, those letters of support, things like that, that will be due in JustGrants on July 18th at 8:59 PM.
And then finally, stay tuned. You know, we have lots of social media presence. I encourage anyone on the call to follow us on social media or get text updates about this and other programs.
And just putting the information up on the screen one more time, in case there are any questions about this solicitation, Grants.gov, or JustGrants. So those are all listed on the screen as well.

DARYL FOX: Okay. Thanks so much. At this time, we’ll go ahead and begin the question-and-answer session. If you do have a question, at the far bottom right of your screen, there’s three dots. Select that and then the Q&A, and then select “All Panelists.” As those come in, we’ll be happy to answer with the remaining 15 or so minutes left for today.
So the first question, “Is there a clear definition defining the difference between a hate crime and terrorism?"

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Yeah, that’s a--that’s a great question. So, you know, I would--I would start by saying that there certainly tends to be some overlap. Some terrorist incidents, or incidents of terrorism, are motivated by hate. And so there’s certainly some overlap there. You know, in terms of--and give me just a second, I’m going to pull up the exact definition from the DOJ website and paste it into the chat so that everyone can see. But in terms of how this program looks at hate crime, we use the Federal Hate Crime Statute. And, like I said, apologies for the delay here, just want to get the exact terminology. So a hate crime is often but not always a violent crime, such as an assault, murder, arson, vandalism, or threats of violence, that is motivated based on certain categories, protected categories of persons. So that includes race, disability, ethnicity or national origin, color, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, and religion. So this is a crime that is motivated by a hate against or discrimination against one of those categories of folks. And apologies, it’s--I am--it is not letting me paste this in. Okay. Do we have other questions?

DARYL FOX: Yeah. On eligibility, just making sure this program is for U.S.-based program services, correct?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Yeah.

DARYL FOX: For reference, I just put the eligibility slide back up for those that may have questions. And definitely, more information in the solicitation itself if you need to reference that.
Have accommodations been made for equitable participation of small, rural organizations?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: That’s a really great question. I appreciate that question very much. I would say the accommodations that have been made are really focused on, kind of,
increasing access to these programs. So in particular, you know, I would definitely encourage small and rural organizations to look at the priority considerations listed in the program solicitation. I’m happy to go over those again, if that’s helpful. But really, you know, by order--an executive order from President Biden, OJP is really taking a focus and an emphasis on really addressing underserved populations and funding culturally-specific organizations. So those are kind of those first two priorities. So those would be the accommodations that I would point to.

DARYL FOX: If we would like to work with CRS for a portion of our project, do they need to secure that partnership before the application or after when it’s granted?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: I will defer to the Director on that, but I would say from BJA’s standpoint, we would welcome either, but I defer to the Director on his preference.

PAUL MONTEIRO: I would say, we always encourage folks to be in touch sooner rather than later. Again, these are hopefully relationships that go over many years and that we continue to build on. So I would just encourage you--because we are distinct from the, you know, this solicitation. We would love to have a relationship with you in any case, especially through the regional offices. So, please do reach out, whatever happens with this process.

DARYL FOX: Is there a component of hate crimes that focuses on digital violence? For example, harassment?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: That’s a really great question. So, one thing I’ll highlight about this particular program, while some of our other programs really focus on investigation and prosecution, this program is really focused on community impact of violence, and that can be digital violence, harassment, threats. Those can have impacts on the community as well. So in terms of this particular program, I would say, you know, we really look for what communities deem as concerning and identifying, kind of, some community-led or driven responses to that, including online harassment. You know, in terms of hate crime statutes and enforcement, there are definitely--you know, there are definitely harassment--there’s both civil and criminal work that can be done, kind of, in that realm. And I would encourage, especially if you’re looking to address digital violence or harassment, I would encourage applicants to work with their local, state, and federal enforcement partners to determine, kind of, what policies are in place in their jurisdiction.

DARYL FOX: Much of our underreporting centers around the community’s lack of trust for or with law enforcement agencies. Are partners able to select which agencies to build with or will they be assigned?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: That’s a great question. We encourage applicants to build a coalition that works for their community.

DARYL FOX: Can priority one include populations that are not racially/ethnically based but are marginalized?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: That is another great question. I’m pulling the language right now to confirm, but I believe that is the case. And I apologize again for the delay. Let’s see. Yeah. I--yes. The exact language is culturally specific. Oh, that’s for B. Let me just double check. Yes. That would be acceptable. So the exact language for that priority is that priority consideration will be given to applications that include projects that promote racial equity and the removal of barriers to access and opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely impacted by inequality when making award decisions. So, you know, “communities” is not exclusive to racially or ethnically based organizations.

DARYL FOX: Does CRS work with medical provider groups on hate crimes? Are partnerships and initiatives with providers of interest to DOJ on hate crimes?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: So I will defer the question about CRS to the Director. I will say partnerships and initiatives with providers—definitely of interest. And so we would absolutely encourage you to reach out.

PAUL MONTEIRO: Absolutely. CRS does work with medical provider groups. We work with healthcare organizations, professional organizations, especially in the context of a hate incident or traumatic incident. For example, when I was here on my last tour of duty in 2016 as the Acting Director, we had the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. And that definitely required all parts of the community to come together to address the immediate and longer term needs of the community. And the medical and healthcare providers with cultural competency were a big part of the solution in terms of bringing together the different strands of that community after a traumatic incident. So, yes, we do work with those groups.

DARYL FOX: Then, is there a component on collaborations between culturally-specific agencies such as domestic violence agencies?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Well, interesting. That’s a really interesting question. I appreciate that. I would encourage applicants to submit and make a case, if that is a component or collaboration that is sought for the program. So I think if that’s something that that the
proposed project seeks to address, I think that there’s certainly, you know, space in the program narrative to include that as a component and include a justification.

DARYL FOX: Okay. If you do have a question, please go ahead and enter that in. In the meantime, I’ll just remind everybody that today’s webinar, the PowerPoint recording, and transcript will be posted to the BJA website. So you will be getting an email, with the email you registered with today, when that happens, probably it’s going to be seven business days or so. So you can go back and reference anything that was spoken to today from either the Director or Sunny. And I’ll lay this slide up as well. If you do have any questions, once we adjourn today, you can contact the OJP Response Center here at the top left, [email protected]. Any questions relating to the solicitation. And then the bottom two, Grants.gov or JustGrants, for technical support issues related to those systems.
And just another question on eligibility. Sunny, on local governments, are they eligible to apply? I’ll go back to the slide for reference.

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Sure. For this particular program, local governments are not eligible to apply. Local governments may be a part of a coalition or one of those work groups or task groups under a proposed project.
All right. I’m not seeing any other questions.

DARYL FOX: That seems to be the end of the queue at this time. Anything in closing you wanted to mention?

SUNNY SCHNITZER: Just thank you all so much for joining. We’re very, very excited about this opportunity and this new program.
Oh, it looks like we have another question. Apologies. Daryl, I can’t fully read that question. Is there funding to address the social determinants of health? So, if I’m understanding the question correctly, and I apologize if I--for some reason, it’s kind of cutting off on my screen. You know, I would say to the extent to which any social determinants of health may be leading or contributing to a population or a community being underserved or marginalized, then yes, this program would be available to address that.
Funding to cover the barriers for folks to participation. To participation, and I apologize. To participation. So funding for this program, you know, there are examples of the types of activities that can be funded under the program that are listed in the program solicitation.
So I would recommend that you take a look at that and see if that addresses your question. All right.
Well, thank you all so much. We’re very excited to be expanding our work on reducing and eliminating hate crimes and preventing hate crimes and encourage prospective applicants to take a look at the program solicitations and, again, reach out to the OJP Resource Center if you have any further questions.

DARYL FOX: Great. So on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and our panelists, we want to thank you for joining today’s webinar. This will end today’s presentation.