DHS releases $20M funding opportunity to help local communities prevent targeted violence, terrorism

Through the Fiscal Year 2023 Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grant program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that it will fund $20 million for projects to prevent violence and terrorism at the state, local, Tribal and territorial levels.

The department released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on the subject this week and marked the DHS Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as administrators.

“DHS is fundamentally a department of partnerships, and through the TVTP Grant Program, we provide our partners with the resources and support they need to establish effective local projects that seek to prevent targeted violence and terrorism,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said. “Over the past three years, CP3 has invested $50 million in communities across the United States. Our partners work to increase social awareness, establish local networks, and provide training to community members to prevent potential tragedies.”

TVTP is the only federal grant program solely dedicated to improving local efforts at targeted violence and terrorism prevention. Despite this, terrorism has changed significantly over the past 20 years, and DHS noted that lone offenders and small cells of individuals motivated by various extremist ideologies represent the most persistent terrorism-related threat facing the country – and domestic extremism has, in particular, taken off as one of the greatest threats to the United States.

Accordingly, this year underserved communities that often bear a disproportionate load of targeted violence will remain the department’s focus. New oversight mechanisms were factored in to improve privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections, as well as professional and training requirements, for projects working with vulnerable populations.

Past years have benefited LGBTQI+ organizations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), local police departments, other universities, and more. The TVTP grant program this year specifically encouraged innovators to engage directly with members of the community, and CP3 added that it will incorporate lessons learned and promising practices into the program in the future.

Applications, which must be submitted through Grants.gov, will be due on April 25, 2023. Awards should follow in September.