School Safety Grants

Grant Details

COPS Secure Our Schools (SOS) Grant Program

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)

Funder Type: Federal Government	Award Amount: Varies
Deadlines: 06/21/10, 07/02/10	Status: Active
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Award Description:
In FY10 $16 million has been made available for the COPS Secure Our Schools program. It is anticipated there will be 160 awards with a ceiling of $1,000,000 and a floor of $1,000. The SOS grant is two years (24 months) in duration, and provides a maximum federal share of $500,000. Agencies are required to contribute a local cash match of 50 percent towards the total cost of the approved grant project during the grant award period. For example, if your agency's overall grant project costs total $100,000, the federal share would be $50,000 and the local cash match would be $50,000. Your agency must maintain records which clearly demonstrate the source of local matching funds, the amount of the match, and when the match is contributed. Funds previously budgeted for a law enforcement purpose may not be reallocated to provide local matching funds for the SOS program. Requests to waive the local match are not permitted under this program. Awards are anticipated to be announced before September 30, 2010.
Eligibility Description:
The Secure Our Schools program is an open solicitation. All local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies that have primary law enforcement authority within a partner primary or secondary school are eligible to apply. University and college law enforcement agencies may apply if (1) they have a partner primary and/or secondary school located on their campus; (2) they have primary jurisdiction for those schools; and (3) the budget items requested will solely benefit those primary and/or secondary schools. Eligible universities and colleges may not request budget items that will benefit the entire college campus.
Summary:
A COPS Secure Our Schools (SOS) grant provides funding to state, local, or tribal governments to assist with the development of school safety resources. This funding will allow recipients the opportunity to establish and enhance a variety of school safety equipment and/or programs to encourage the continuation and enhancement of school safety efforts within their communities. The COPS Office is optimistic that this grant program will help place agencies at the forefront of innovative school safety developments. Funding under this program may be requested for such things as: (1) Placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures; (2) Security assessments; (3) Security training of personnel and students; (4) Coordination with local law enforcement; and (5) Any other measure that may provide a significant improvement in security. The Secure Our Schools program encourages law enforcement agencies and school districts to partner together to improve school security and safety. Through this program, applicants may request funding for the placement and use of deterrent measures such as new equipment, technology, training, and assessments at schools and on school grounds. The FY 2010 program is placing a greater focus on school safety assessments. All FY 2010 applicants must have conducted a school safety assessment within the last three years for the schools targeted through this grant application or request funding through this grant application to conduct a school safety assessment for those identified schools. An exception to this requirement may be granted if your agency is already planning an assessment for the targeted schools with other funding during the two-year SOS grant period. These assessments should be used as strategic evaluation tools to identify school safety problems. SOS applicants will be able to request budget items which are specifically linked to the resolution of school safety problems identified through these school safety assessments. Budget requests may be made in the categories of: (1) Civilian/Non-sworn Personnel (Salaries and Benefits); (2) Equipment/Technology: Equipment and/or technology items must be clearly linked to the enhancement or implementation of the SOS project. Examples of such items may include the following: (a) Surveillance cameras and/or systems (and accompanying equipment); (b) Door locking mechanisms/Access control doors; (c) Lighting (on school grounds, not involving construction); (d) Metal detectors (including portable); (e) ID scanning devices (and accompanying equipment); (f) Fingerprinting scanners; (g) Laptops (directly related to SOS project); (h) Printers (directly related to SOS project); (i) Breathalyzers (solely for use by police officers); (j) Fire extinguishers; (k) Video cameras for school buses; (l) Intercoms (rapid communication system); (m) Two-way radios; (n) Defibrillators; (3) Supplies: Generally, supplies include any materials that are expended or consumed during the course of the SOS project. Such costs may include training manuals, paper, printer ink, pens, postage, etc. All supply items must be directly related to the SOS project; (4) Travel/Training: Travel/training costs include grant-related travel costs for the grantee to visit other jurisdictions engaged in similar programs or to attend conferences/trainings directly related to the goals of the project. Expenses for transportation, lodging, meals, and incidental expenses (if travel is more than 50 miles from the program location) will be reviewed in accordance with applicable guidelines as part of the application process. Examples of such travel purposes include school safety and police/school partnership trainings.

Contacts

History

Additional Info.

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Director

Address:
1100 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530

Telephone: (800) 421-6770
E-Mail: askCopsRC@usdoj.gov
URL: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2368
Misc Info: FY10 Guidance: www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=487 For state contact information, please see following link: www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=487

Date Added: 06/29/06