Juvenile Justice & Youth Diversion Grant Program, FY2027

Juvenile Justice & Youth Diversion Grant Program, FY2027 is sponsored by Texas Office of the Governor. Funds projects that prevent violence in and around schools and improve the juvenile justice system by providing mental health services, truancy prevention, diversion services, and intervention through community-based and school programs. Eligible activities include mental health services, school programs, and community-based programs.

Juvenile Justice & Youth Diversion Grant Program, FY2027 Juvenile Justice & Youth Diversion Grant Program, FY2027 The purpose of this announcement is to solicit applications for projects that prevent violence in and around school; and to improve the juvenile justice system by providing mental health services, truancy prevention, diversion services and intervention through community-based and school programs.

State funds are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I, Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor, Strategy B. 1. 1 as well as Rider 21.

All awards are subject to the availability of funds and the amount is based on a regional model and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Applications may be submitted by independent school districts, Native American tribes, councils of governments, non-profit corporations (including hospitals and faith-based organizations), and units of local government, which are defined as a non-statewide governmental body with the authority to establish a budget and impose taxes.

All applications submitted by local law enforcement agencies/offices must be submitted by a unit of government affiliated with the agency, including an authorizing resolution from that unit of government.

For example, police departments must apply under their municipal government, and community supervision and corrections departments, district attorneys, and judicial districts must apply through their affiliated county government (or one of the counties, in the case of agencies that serve more than one county).

Juvenile specialty courts authorized under Chapter 121 of the Texas Government Code and statewide projects are not eligible to apply under this announcement. Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants. gov.texas.

go v to register and apply for funding. Applications will only be accepted for programs with a local or regional impact. Applicants must contact their applicable regional council of governments (COG) regarding their application.

Each of Texas’ 24 COGs holds its own application planning workshops, workgroups, and/or subcommittees and facilitates application prioritization for certain programs within its region. Failure to comply with regional requirements imposed by the COG may render an application ineligible.

***NEW APPLICATION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT*** The following documents must be submitted with the application for the application to be considered complete and eligible for funding.

See the Eligibility Requirements and/or Program-Specific Requirements Sections of this Funding Announcement for more details on the requirements for each attachment/certification: Resolution from Governing Body - Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution.

CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances For m - Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must certify compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. CEO/NGO Certification and Assurances Form – Each non-profit organization must certify compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements.

Failure to submit the fully executed required attachment(s) by the application deadline may result in the application being deemed ineligible. Funding Announcement Release Online System Opening Date Final Date to Submit and Certify an Application Earliest Project Start Date Projects must begin on or after 09/01/2026 and may not exceed a 12 month project period.

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards ( TxGMS ), Federal Uniform Grant Guidanc e , and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding. Eligible Activities and Costs Mental Health Services.

Programs providing mental health services for youth in custody in need of such services including, but are not limited to assessment, development of individualized treatment plans, and discharge plans. School Programs.

Education programs or supportive services in traditional public schools and detention/corrections education settings to encourage youth to remain in school; or alternative learning programs to support transition to work and self-sufficiency, and to enhance coordination between correctional programs and youth’s local education programs to ensure the instruction they receive outside school is aligned with that provided in their schools, and that any identified learning problems are communicated.

Community-Based Programs and Services. These programs and services are those that work pre- and post-confinement with: a) parents and other family members to strengthen families to help keep youth in their homes; b) youth during confinement and their families to ensure safe return of youth home and to strengthen the families; and c) parents with limited English-speaking ability.

Youth Diversion Services – Early intervention education programs and/or related diversion services designed to prevent delinquency, including prevention services for children considered at-risk of entering the juvenile justice system and intervention services for juveniles engaged in misconduct.

Juvenile Case Managers - Individuals designated to provide services in court cases involving juvenile offenders including assisting the court in administering the court's juvenile docket and supervising the court's orders in juvenile cases. May also provide prevention services to a child considered at-risk of entering the juvenile justice system and intervention services to juveniles engaged in misconduct before cases are filed. 1.

Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution with the application to be considered eligible for funding.

The resolution must contain the following elements (see Sample Resolution) : Authorization by your governing body for the submission of the application to the Public Safety Office (PSO) that clearly identifies the name of the project for which funding is requested; A commitment to provide all applicable matching funds; A designation of the name and/or title of an authorized official who is given the authority to apply for, accept, reject, alter, or terminate a grant; A designation of the name and/or title of a financial officer who is given the authority to submit financial and/or performance reports or alter a grant; and A written assurance that, in the event of loss or misuse of grant funds, the governing body will return all funds to PSO 2.

Local units of governments must comply with the Cybersecurity Training requirements described in Section 772. 012 and Section 2054. 5191 of the Texas Government Code.

Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements required by Section 2054. 5191 of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible.

Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments . A copy of the Training Certification must be uploaded to your eGrants application. For more information or to access available training programs, visit the Texas Department of Information Resources Statewide Cybersecurity Awareness Training page.

3. Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 66.

The disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system.

Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90% of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety. 4. Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas specific reporting mandated by 411.

042 TGC, to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS.

Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas-mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted. 5. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 420.

034, any facility or entity that collects evidence for sexual assault or other sex offenses or investigates or prosecutes a sexual assault or other sex offense for which evidence has been collected, must participate in the statewide electronic tracking system developed and implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Visit DPS’s Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking Program website for more information or to set up an account to begin participating. Additionally, per Section 420. 042 "A law enforcement agency that receives evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense...

shall submit that evidence to a public accredited crime laboratory for analysis no later than the 30th day after the date on which that evidence was received." A law enforcement agency in possession of a significant number of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK) where the 30-day window has passed may be considered noncompliant. 6.

Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS.

Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii); (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3); (3) encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv); (4) result in the illegal transport or movement of aliens within the United States, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) . Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties found in Chapter 752, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code.

Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must download, complete and then upload into eGrants the CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements.

This Form is required for each application submitted to OOG and is active until August 31, 2027 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later. 7. Each non-profit 501(c)(3) organization must certify that it does not have, and will continue not to have any policy, procedure, or agreement (written or unwritten) that in any way encourages, induces, entices, or aids any violations of immigration laws.

Additionally, the organization certifies that it does not have in effect, purport to have in effect, and is not subject to or bound by any rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) encourage the concealment, harboring, or shielding from detection of fugitives from justice or aliens who illegally came to, entered, or remained in the United States, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii), or (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3); (3) encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv); (4) result in the illegal transport or movement of aliens within the United States, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii). Lastly, the organization certifies that it will not adopt, enforce, or endorse a policy which prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of immigration laws, and will not, as demonstrated by pattern or practice, prohibit or materially limit the enforcement of immigration laws.

Each non-profit organization must download, complete and then upload into eGrants the CEO/NGO Certifications and Assurances Form Certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. 8.

Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request an UEI number, go to https://sam. gov/ ). Failure to comply with program eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs: Construction, renovation, or remodeling; Law enforcement equipment that is standard department issue; Transportation, lodging, per diem or any related costs for participants, when grant funds are used to develop and conduct training; and Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation.

PSO will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement. Applications will be forwarded by PSO to the appropriate regional council of governments (COG). The COG’s criminal justice advisory committee will prioritize all eligible applications based on State priorities, identified community priorities, cost and program effectiveness.

PSO will accept priority listings that are approved by the COG’s executive committee. PSO will make all final funding decisions based upon eligibility, approved COG priorities, reasonableness of the project, availability of funding, and cost-effectiveness. PSO may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested.

In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, PSO may revise projects to address a more limited focus. For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at eGrants@gov.texas. gov or (512) 463-1919.

Contact the Office of the Governor (OOG) Contact the Office of the Governor (OOG) 1100 San Jacinto Blvd. , Austin, Texas 78701 P. O.

Box 12428, Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Public Safety Office (PSO)