OJJDP FY 17 Changing Minds: Professional Development and Public Education to Address Children Exposed to Violence and Childhood Trauma | OJJDP 2017 11000

Opportunity Information: Apply for OJJDP 2017 11000

The OJJDP FY 17 "Changing Minds: Professional Development and Public Education to Address Children Exposed to Violence and Childhood Trauma" grant opportunity is a discretionary funding program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), focused on improving how communities recognize and respond to children exposed to violence (CEV) and childhood trauma. The core purpose is to extend and build on earlier "Changing Minds" work by supporting training, technical assistance, and practical resources for professionals who regularly interact with at-risk children and justice-involved youth. The program is structured to strengthen day-to-day practice in systems that most often encounter traumatized children, while also improving public understanding of how violence exposure and trauma affect child development, behavior, learning, and long-term outcomes.

Funding is offered through cooperative agreements, which generally means OJJDP expects to have an active role in shaping, overseeing, or coordinating the work as it is carried out rather than simply issuing funds with minimal federal involvement. The assistance is intended to reach state, local, and tribal audiences, emphasizing broad dissemination and consistent training approaches that can be replicated. The activity area is categorized under Law, Justice and Legal Services, and the program is associated with CFDA number 16.818, reflecting OJJDP's broader juvenile justice assistance mission.

Applicants are drawn from a wide range of organizations that can credibly deliver large-scale training and outreach, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. This wide eligibility suggests OJJDP is prioritizing capability and reach, allowing universities, training and technical assistance providers, research organizations, and specialized firms to compete if they can demonstrate strong content expertise in childhood trauma and violence exposure, plus the operational capacity to deliver training across jurisdictions and professional disciplines.

The solicitation divides the work into three distinct categories of funding, and applicants would typically propose work in one of these defined lanes. Category 1 supports master trainings and training-of-trainers (ToT) focused on children exposed to violence and childhood trauma for educators and educational administrators. The audience includes staff in traditional public schools as well as correctional and alternative education settings, acknowledging that youth impacted by trauma are often served in disciplinary, alternative, or justice-connected learning environments. The training content is based on the Changing Minds K-12 training institute, indicating that the grant seeks to scale an established model rather than develop an entirely new curriculum from scratch. The emphasis on ToT also signals a sustainability strategy: building local training capacity so knowledge can continue to spread after the federal project period ends.

Category 2 funds master trainings and training-of-trainers for law enforcement, built around the "Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Children Exposed to Violence" curriculum and toolkit. This category recognizes that police and other law enforcement personnel may be first on scene during domestic incidents, community violence events, or other situations where children witness harm. The aim is to improve identification of children exposed to violence, strengthen trauma-informed response practices, and promote safer, more appropriate handling of youth and families during and after critical incidents. By anchoring the work to an existing curriculum and toolkit, OJJDP is signaling an interest in consistent national messaging and practices, while still allowing adaptation to local context and policy environments.

Category 3 focuses on expanding and enhancing the Changing Minds public awareness campaign (Phase 2). Instead of training a specific profession, this category targets broader public education to increase awareness of childhood trauma and violence exposure and to encourage supportive responses by caregivers, community members, and systems. "Expansion and enhancement" implies the campaign already exists and that OJJDP is looking for improved reach, stronger messaging, updated materials, broader distribution channels, and possibly refined targeting to ensure the information connects with communities and stakeholders most likely to influence children’s environments.

In terms of funding scale and logistics, the opportunity was created on March 17, 2017, with an original application closing date of May 2, 2017. The award ceiling is listed as $1,750,000, and OJJDP anticipated making about six awards, suggesting a competitive national solicitation where successful applicants would likely be expected to deliver multi-jurisdictional impact, not just a single-site project. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a national capacity-building effort: spreading evidence-informed, trauma-aware practices in education and law enforcement while also strengthening public understanding through a coordinated awareness campaign, all aimed at improving outcomes for children and youth who have been exposed to violence and trauma.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY 17 Changing Minds: Professional Development and Public Education to Address Children Exposed to Violence and Childhood Trauma" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.818.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 17, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 02, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for OJJDP 2017 11000

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