Purpose

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) in the U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for administering the FY25 School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP).  The program provides funding to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the recipient’s jurisdiction through evidence-based school safety initiatives.

 

Eligible Entities

The following types of organizations are eligible to apply for 2025 funding from the School Violence Prevention Program:

• Units of local government, such as county, city or township governments, and their public agencies, including
  • School districts with or without public charter schools,
  • School districts with a single school;
  • School boards; and
  • Law enforcement agencies
• Independent school districts*
• State governments
• Native American tribal governments (federally-recognized)

*Individual schools NOT operating as school districts, and independent schools and private schools, including private charter schools, are NOT eligible to apply as primary applicants.

 

Eligible Activities

Applicants should demonstrate a comprehensive approach to school safety over the three-year performance period by including activities that fall within one of the areas authorized under 34 U.S. Code § 10551(b)(5)–(9):

• Coordination with local law enforcement;
• Training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence against others and self;
• Placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures;
• Acquisition and installation of technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency; and
• Any other measure that, in the determination of the COPS Office Director, may provide a significant improvement in security.*

*For more insight into "other measures," please see COPS Information Resources, which cover a wide range of community policing topics, such as school and campus safety, violent crime, and officer safety and wellness.

 

Award

Estimated Total Program Funding:  up to $73,000,000 (app. $1,000,000 for microgrants*)

Estimated Number of Awards:  200 (app. 10 microgrants*)

Award Ceiling:  $500,000 ($100,000 for microgrants*)

Cost Sharing or Matching:  Yes.  A local cost share of at least 25 percent in the form of cash is required unless a match waiver is requested and approved (cost-sharing is waived for microgrants*)

*Approximately $1 million of the available funding will be reserved for smaller grants (not to exceed $100,000) with no matching requirement ("microgrants"), to school districts, including rural, tribal, and low-resourced schools. Consideration for microgrant funding does not exclude your agency from consideration from non-microgrant SVPP funding.

 

Important Dates

Monday, June 16, 2025 (4:59 PM ET):  Deadline to Submit Applications using Grants.gov

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 (4:59 PM ET):  Deadline to Submit Applications using Justgrants.gov

Period of Performance:  10/01/2025 to 09/30/2028 (36 months)

 

Next Steps

For additional information on how to apply, and to read the full announcement, please go to COPS Grants.

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please email the COPS Office Response Center at AskCOPSRC@usdoj.gov.

 

Additional Information of Interest:  Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. §§ 10552(a)(1)–(2), each application shall be accompanied by an assurance that the application was prepared after consultation with licensed mental health professionals, students, parents, researchers, teachers, principals, and other school personnel and others to ensure that the improvements to be funded under the grant are consistent with a comprehensive approach to preventing school violence, including being protective of student privacy and ensuring that students are not discriminated against on the basis of race, national origin, disability, religion, or sex, and individualized to the needs of each school at which those improvements are to be made.

 

In addition, state and local governmental entities must comply with 8 U.S.C. § 1373, which provides that state and local government entities may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, receiving from, maintaining, or exchanging information regarding citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual with components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any other federal, state or local government entity. This includes any prohibitions or restrictions imposed or established by a state or local government entity or official. For additional information, please see the appendices in the FY25 SVPP Application Resource Guide.