The purpose of funds awarded under statutory authorities 22 U.S.C. § 7105(b)(2) and 34 U.S.C. § 20705 is to respond to all forms of human trafficking. Funds may be used in serving individuals when the grantee has reason to believe that the person is or might be a trafficking victim and is providing support or services tailored to that individual as they determine their eligibility for this program.
Responding to human trafficking under an OVC award may involve limited training on other victimizations, especially those that may co-occur among a particular groups of victims, such as child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), but training and outreach conducted using OVC anti-trafficking funding should have the primary purpose of identification and referral of victims of human trafficking as defined in 22 U.S.C. § 7102(11).
OVC supports programs aimed at identifying and serving victims of trafficking, as defined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as a person who has been subjected to a “severe form of trafficking in persons,” meaning—
- sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not yet attained 18 years of age; or
- the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Because this definition involves elements of force, fraud, and coercion except in the cases of sex trafficking of minors, additional investigative methods, intelligence gathering, training, and analysis are necessary to identify sex trafficking victims versus individuals voluntarily engaged in commercial sex.
For example, approaches that do not align with the ECM model include those that target—
- the purchasers of commercial sex that fail to result in the identification of one or more actual victims of human trafficking prior to an operation OR otherwise fail to involve a connection to one or more actual trafficking victims.
- individuals engaged in commercial sex for arrest as a means for identifying victims of trafficking. Such efforts may compromise victim safety by failing to properly screen for sex trafficking victimization and may result in the arrest of victims of sex trafficking.
OVC ECM funding also does not support efforts or operations that are counter to a victim centered and trauma-informed approach. This includes policies and practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize victims and/or require a victim of human trafficking to collaborate with law enforcement officers as a condition of access to any shelter or other direct services.
OVC anti-trafficking funding is intended to identify and support victims of human trafficking. Consequently, OVC ECM award funds may not be used as part of efforts that focus solely on arresting and prosecuting buyers of commercial sex as these may be cases in which there are no victims of human trafficking or traffickers identified.
For the ECM Task Force co-leads (lead victim service provider and lead law enforcement agency) and broader task force membership to conduct an operation, there needs to be a reasonable connection to either a potential or confirmed trafficking victim, i.e., some knowledge, intelligence, or information, obtained in advance of the operation indicating that potential sex or labor trafficking is occurring.
The assigned Grant Award Administrator and all Financial Managers for grant awards must have successfully completed the OJP Grants Financial Management and Grant Administration Training by 120 days after the grantee’s acceptance date of the award. Successful completion of such a training within the last three years, will satisfy this condition. In the event that either the Grant Award Administrator or Financial Manager changes during the award project period, the new staff member must have successfully completed an OJP Grants Financial Management and Grant Administration Training by 120 calendar days after the user information has been changed in JustGrants.
Grantees should anticipate that OJP will immediately withhold award funds, if the grantee fails to comply with this condition. Failure to comply also may lead OJP to impose additional appropriate conditions on the grant award.
Grantees should note that this requirement is also included as an award condition.
Yes. Grantees working with minors and vulnerable adults must have policies and procedures in place regarding mandated reporting. Grantees must be aware of state laws that determine who must report concerns of child and vulnerable adult abuse and neglect, definitions of abuse and neglect, and the process for making a report. Grantees should include information about their mandated reporting requirements in the informed consent forms, in language that is appropriate for the client. Grantees should train all staff and volunteers who will interact with minors and vulnerable adults served by the program to ensure compliance with state mandated reporting requirements.
Please refer to the notice of funding opportunity an award was funded under for program-specific requirements.
Federal laws prohibit recipients of Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) funding administered by the OJP from discriminating in the delivery of services on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, religion, or disability. Applicable federal laws also prohibit TVPA recipients from discriminating on the basis of disability in their employment practices, and from discriminating against employees and beneficiaries on the basis of sex in grant-funded education or training programs. Recipients are also obligated under federal civil rights laws to provide meaningful access to their programs and activities for persons with limited English proficiency. Under certain circumstances, it might be permissible to limit services based upon age. Please note that other federal, state, or local laws prohibiting discrimination may apply. See Civil Rights Requirements Associated with OJP Awards for more information.
All grantees are required to have a process in place for investigating discrimination complaints. The Office for Civil Rights at OJP ensures that recipients of financial assistance from OVC comply with federal laws that prohibit discrimination and is available to provide technical assistance to OVC grantees about civil rights obligations.
Employees, beneficiaries, and applicants for employment or services of an OVC grantee who believe that they have experienced unlawful discrimination may file a civil rights complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at OJP.
If you have questions about civil rights compliance, please contact the Office for Civil Rights via phone at 202-307-0690, TDD/TTY at 202-307-2027, or via email at [email protected].
Yes. Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits grantees from discriminating on the basis of national origin in the delivery of services or benefits, entails taking reasonable steps to ensure that persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) have meaningful access to their programs and activities. An LEP person is one whose first language is not English and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English.
To assist grantees in meeting their obligation to serve LEP persons, DOJ has published a number of resources, including a language access assessment and planning tool. Additional resources are available on the Office of Civil Rights webpage. Grantees should contemplate how their program budget supports the costs for providing interpretation and translation services to eligible LEP persons or be able explain how language access will be provided if grant funds are not needed for this purpose.
Yes. Please refer to your award conditions for specific requirements. All products (e.g., curricula, training materials, publications, reports, videos, fliers, or any other written, web-based, or audiovisual, or other materials) developed and/or published with grant funds must contain the grant disclaimer statement found in your award conditions:
“This ______________ was produced by ______________ under [add grant number], awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this ______________ are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Your OVC grant manager will determine whether minor deliverables, such as one-page fliers and discrete web pages, require review or prior approval by OVC.
Yes. Under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), grantees of awards of $30,000 or more are required to report award information on any first-tier subawards totaling $30,000 or more and, in certain circumstances, to report the names and total compensation of the five most highly compensated executives of the grantee and first-tier subgrantees.
Recipient executive compensation data are to be reported in the System for Award Management (SAM). The previous reporting tool for subaward information, FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS), was retired on March 8, 2025, and all subaward reporting data and functionality are now on SAM.gov. Learn more about the subaward reporting transition from FSRS to SAM.gov.