Frequently Asked Questions

Visit the Professional Development Scholarship Program section of the OVC TTAC website for specific eligibility requirements and application information.

At most military installations, the military legal office is the central point of contact for victim and witness assistance. You can call the base, post, or installation legal office and ask for the Victim and Witness Assistance Coordinator. To find information on specific U.S. military installations, go to Defense.gov and select the appropriate military branch.

Additionally, victims of sexual assault can confidentially contact the DoD Safe Helpline.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides information on the costs of crime.

The Federal Trade Commission's ReportFraud.ftc.gov website can help you report fraud and find resources to help you recover.

You may report fraud online using the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker.

If you or someone you know is a victim of elder fraud, we encourage you to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311). The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time. Services are available for speakers of English, Spanish, and other languages.

To date, Crime Victims Fund (Fund) dollars have always come from offenders convicted of federal crimes, not from taxpayers. Information on the Fund is available on the Crime Victims Fund section of our website.

Due to the challenging nature of supporting non-Department of Justice (DOJ) conferences while complying with the mandatory DOJ conference guidelines and pre-approval process, OVC has suspended the national and state conference support programs. If you have any questions, please contact OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center at 866-682-8822 or ttac@ovcttac.org.

• Visit the AMBER Alert Facebook page and “Like” the page to receive AMBER Alerts in your newsfeed. Facebook also automatically notifies users near the location of an AMBER Alert.
• On X, follow @AMBERAlert to receive AMBER Alert notifications on your X feed.
• On Instagram, if an AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement and you are in the designated search area, the alert will appear in your feed.

To learn more about the AMBER Alert program, please see the Office of Justice Programs' AMBER Alert website.

The purpose of performance measures is to provide a clear method of measuring progress and achievement of objectives through deliverables. It is suggested that each applicant develop a chart that—

• identifies objectives,
• provides performance measures to quantify the activities and deliverables of the Fellowship, and
• identifies the data that will support the completion of the activities.

Create a 1 year budget to include the following:

• Personnel - The salary should be based on your current income with consideration to cost of living in Washington, D.C. You must document how you calculated the salary requested. See the Fellowship Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional details.
• Fringe Benefits - Allowable benefits are detailed in the Fellowship Notice of Funding Opportunity. These include life insurance, health insurance (individual plan), disability insurance, state workers’ compensation, retirement plan, (see the Retirement Plans Community section of the IRS website for self-employed pension plan details), Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax (typical employer contribution of 7.65 percent of salary), public transportation cost (see www.wmata.com for actual metro or bus expenses). Some research on your part will be necessary to accurately detail the proposed fringe benefits.
• Travel - Visit www.gsa.gov when developing your travel budget. Some examples of work-related travel during a Fellowship include travel to conferences or training, travel with OVC staff to various site visits across the U.S. No international travel is allowed.
• Supplies – Consider supplies that you will need, such the cost for a cell phone, if necessary.
• Other – Consider possible expenses, such as monthly cell phone use, conference/training registration fees, professional reference materials, and business cards.

You will be expected to prepare and submit a budget as outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

As the applicant, you should use the program narrative to provide OVC with a clear understanding of your background, capacity, capabilities, etc. but your program narrative should also address all elements requested and expand upon the program strategy set forth in the fellowship Notice of Funding Opportunity, itself.