Challenge

Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO-NASV) is an accredited Child Advocacy Center (CAC) and rape crisis center serving nine (9) counties of primarily rural southeast Missouri. SEMO-NASV has active multi-disciplinary teams in each of the counties served to swiftly and efficiently respond to incidents of child and adult sexual abuse and assault. They have been providing advocacy, mental health, clinical and/or forensic services for over 20 years, but a new Executive Director wanted to expand their capacity to reach even more families and survivors of abuse and assault with federal funding. At the time of the DOJ competition SEMO-NASV had not yet built a strong track record securing federal grants, so they would need to demonstrate capacity to implement the program as well as the financial infrastructure required to steward a large federal award. The application also required significant analysis of elusive need data regarding sexual abuse and assault, as well as a detailed memorandum of understanding with authorizing signatures of over two dozen law enforcement, legal advocates and health providers spread over a 4,000+ square mile region of rural Missouri.

Solution

• Drafted concise funding opportunity analysis, timeline for proposal development and guiding questions to launch project planning
• Analyzed public health, education and Census data sets to create a cohesive narrative that described the unique barriers to care in rural Missouri and expected prevalence of sexual abuse and assault
• Connected the CAC framework and activities to evidence-based models that reflected SEMO-NASV’s trauma-informed care delivery and then synthesized staff dialogue into aligned goals and objectives
• Conducted survey of K-12 educators in the proposed service area to solicit input regarding the need for additional services and support in the region
• Developed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding that would satisfy the funding agency and 25 signatories that represented project partners across eight (8) rural counties, and helped SEMO-NASV secure the required signatures in a swift time frame
• Distilled OMB and DOJ requirements for post-award grant management to help the Executive Director and administrative team assess the organization’s grant stewardship infrastructure and clarify internal policies to ensure federal compliance
• Developed and revised iterative drafts of proposal narratives, attachments and budget justification to ensure an internally consistent application package
• Provided technical assistance regarding federal application requirements, Grants.gov Workspace navigation and other submission assurances and commitments

Grant Awards