Opportunity Information: Apply for O OVC 2023 171726
The OVC FY 2023 Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Affected by the Drug Crisis: Recruiting and Developing Peer Recovery Coaches opportunity is a Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) discretionary funding solicitation designed to strengthen supports for children and youth harmed by a family member or caregiver's substance misuse. It sits within a broader Office of Justice Programs (OJP) commitment to advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting crime victims and justice-impacted individuals, strengthening community safety, and building trust between law enforcement and communities. The core idea is to use peer recovery coaching as a practical, relationship-based strategy to help stabilize families and improve child well-being when substance misuse has contributed to neglect, abuse, or violence.
The solicitation funds one lead organization through a cooperative agreement, meaning the federal government expects to be actively involved in supporting and guiding the work rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. This single lead awardee is expected to operate as a national or multi-site hub that distributes resources and builds capacity across multiple local implementing organizations. The award ceiling is $4,000,000, and OVC anticipates making one award under this program. The original application closing date listed for this opportunity was June 12, 2023, and the opportunity was created on April 13, 2023. The CFDA (now commonly referred to as Assistance Listing) number associated with this program is 16.582.
The lead organization has three major responsibilities. First, it must competitively select and issue subawards to organizations that will recruit, train, and deploy paid peer recovery coaches. These coaches are intended to work with a family member or caregiver who is misusing substances, with the explicit purpose of supporting that adult's recovery and, as a result, improving safety and well-being for children and youth who have experienced victimization connected to the drug crisis. The emphasis on "paid" peer recovery coaches signals that OVC is looking for structured, sustainable roles with accountability, supervision, and professional expectations, rather than informal volunteer support.
Second, the lead organization must provide technical assistance to the subawardees. In practice, this typically means helping local sites set up the peer recovery coach model with fidelity, develop sound policies and procedures, establish referral pathways, build partnerships with victim services and treatment providers, design training and supervision structures, and strengthen data collection and continuous improvement. Technical assistance can also include coaching on equitable service delivery, barriers to access, culturally responsive practices, and strategies for reaching kinship families and grandfamilies who are often raising children due to a parent's substance use.
Third, the lead organization must assist in developing a peer recovery coach paraprofessional program. This component points to workforce development: creating clearer pathways for peers with lived experience to receive training, operate under appropriate supervision, and function as paraprofessionals who can be integrated into victim services, family support, and recovery-oriented systems of care. The intent is not only to fund services in the short term, but also to help define and strengthen the role so it can be replicated and sustained more broadly.
The population focus is children, youth, and families affected by the drug crisis, including kinship families and grandfamilies, where children have been victimized through neglect, abuse, or violence related to a caregiver's substance misuse. The solicitation uses a broad definition of drug or substance use or misuse, covering both illegal or controlled substances and the misuse of legal substances in ways other than intended or prescribed. This framing recognizes that harm to children and family instability can arise from a range of substances, including prescription medications when misused.
The solicitation also defines what it means by a peer recovery coach. A peer recovery coach is someone with lived experience of recovery who, with training and supervision, supports others in initiating and maintaining recovery. The role is described as improving personal and family quality of life in long-term recovery and reducing the amount of abuse and neglect impacting children and youth. Peer recovery coaches are expected to provide multiple forms of support: emotional support (empathy, encouragement, hope), informational support (education about recovery and services), instrumental support (practical help navigating systems and accessing resources), and affiliational support (connecting individuals and families to recovery community supports, activities, and events). The solicitation references SAMHSA resources on peer support workers and the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence as touchpoints for established peer support concepts and best practices.
Eligibility is broad and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, other tribal organizations, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. The expectation, however, is that the lead applicant has the capacity to manage a national-level project: issuing and overseeing subawards, delivering consistent technical assistance, coordinating training and supervision standards, and helping formalize a paraprofessional peer recovery coach pipeline.
In sum, this opportunity is structured to build a coordinated peer recovery coaching approach that indirectly but intentionally supports children and youth by strengthening the recovery of the adults responsible for their care. By funding one lead organization to administer subawards, provide technical assistance, and advance a paraprofessional workforce model, OVC is aiming for both immediate service impact in communities and longer-term infrastructure that makes peer recovery coaching a more standardized, scalable support for families harmed by substance misuse.Apply for O OVC 2023 171726
- The Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OVC FY 2023 Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Affected by the Drug Crisis: Recruiting and Developing Peer Recovery Coaches" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.582.
- This funding opportunity was created on Apr 13, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2023. (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 $4,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), 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, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the OVC FY 2023 Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Affected by the Drug Crisis: Recruiting and Developing Peer Recovery Coaches opportunity?
This is a Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) discretionary funding solicitation focused on strengthening supports for children and youth harmed by a family member or caregiver's substance misuse. The strategy centers on recruiting, training, and deploying peer recovery coaches to support the recovery of the adult caregiver, with the goal of improving safety and well-being for children and youth affected by neglect, abuse, or violence connected to the drug crisis.
Which federal office is offering this funding?
The funding is offered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).
What is the Assistance Listing (CFDA) number for this program?
The Assistance Listing (formerly CFDA) number associated with this opportunity is 16.582.
What type of award is this?
This opportunity is a cooperative agreement. That means the federal government expects to be actively involved in supporting and guiding the work, rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back.
How many awards does OVC expect to make?
OVC anticipates making one award under this program.
What is the maximum award amount?
The award ceiling is $4,000,000.
When was this opportunity created, and what was the application closing date listed?
The opportunity was created on April 13, 2023. The original application closing date listed was June 12, 2023.
What is the main goal of the project?
The core aim is to strengthen family stability and child well-being by using peer recovery coaching as a practical, relationship-based strategy. Coaches support a caregiver or family member who is misusing substances so that the adult's recovery contributes to improved safety and outcomes for children and youth who have experienced victimization related to the drug crisis.
Who is the intended population served by this program?
The population focus is children, youth, and families affected by the drug crisis, including kinship families and grandfamilies. The solicitation specifically highlights situations where children have been victimized through neglect, abuse, or violence linked to a caregiver's substance misuse.
How does this program support children and youth if the peer recovery coaches work with adults?
The model is designed to support children and youth indirectly but intentionally. Peer recovery coaches work with the adult caregiver or family member who is misusing substances. By helping that adult initiate and maintain recovery, the program aims to reduce harm and improve safety, stability, and well-being for the children and youth in the household.
What does the solicitation mean by "drug crisis" or "substance misuse"?
The solicitation uses a broad definition that includes illegal or controlled substances and the misuse of legal substances in ways other than intended or prescribed. This includes scenarios such as prescription medications being used in a manner not directed by a prescriber.
What is a peer recovery coach under this solicitation?
A peer recovery coach is someone with lived experience of recovery who, with training and supervision, supports others in initiating and maintaining recovery. The role is described as improving personal and family quality of life in long-term recovery and reducing the amount of abuse and neglect impacting children and youth.
What kinds of support are peer recovery coaches expected to provide?
The solicitation describes four categories of support: emotional support (empathy, encouragement, hope), informational support (education about recovery and services), instrumental support (practical help navigating systems and accessing resources), and affiliational support (connecting individuals and families to recovery community supports, activities, and events).
Are peer recovery coaches expected to be paid or can they be volunteers?
The solicitation emphasizes recruiting, training, and deploying paid peer recovery coaches. This signals an expectation for structured, accountable roles with supervision and professional expectations, rather than relying on informal volunteer arrangements.
What is the role of the lead organization funded by OVC?
The single lead awardee is expected to operate as a national or multi-site hub that distributes resources and builds capacity across multiple local implementing organizations. The lead organization has three major responsibilities: issuing subawards to local organizations, providing technical assistance to those subawardees, and assisting in developing a peer recovery coach paraprofessional program.
What does it mean that the lead organization will operate as a national or multi-site hub?
It means the lead organization is responsible for coordinating a broader initiative across multiple local sites, rather than implementing services in just one location. The lead awardee is expected to distribute resources through subawards and create consistent capacity-building support across the participating implementing organizations.
What does the lead organization need to do regarding subawards?
The lead organization must competitively select and issue subawards to organizations that will recruit, train, and deploy paid peer recovery coaches. Those coaches will work with a family member or caregiver who is misusing substances, with the intent of improving child and youth safety and well-being through strengthened adult recovery.
What does "competitively select" subawardees mean in this context?
Based on the solicitation description, it means the lead organization is expected to run a competitive process to choose which local organizations will receive subawards to implement peer recovery coaching.
What technical assistance is the lead organization expected to provide to subawardees?
Technical assistance is expected to help local sites implement the peer recovery coach model with fidelity and build the structures needed to run it effectively. This can include developing policies and procedures, establishing referral pathways, building partnerships (including with victim services and treatment providers), designing training and supervision approaches, and strengthening data collection and continuous improvement.
Does the technical assistance component include equity or culturally responsive practices?
Yes. The description notes that technical assistance can include coaching on equitable service delivery, barriers to access, culturally responsive practices, and strategies to reach kinship families and grandfamilies.
What is the peer recovery coach paraprofessional program component?
The lead organization is expected to assist in developing a peer recovery coach paraprofessional program. This points to workforce development: creating clearer pathways for peers with lived experience to receive training, operate under appropriate supervision, and function as paraprofessionals who can be integrated into victim services, family support, and recovery-oriented systems of care.
Is the purpose of the paraprofessional program only short-term service delivery?
No. The intent described is to support both immediate service impact and longer-term infrastructure by helping define and strengthen the peer recovery coach role so it can be replicated and sustained more broadly.
What broader DOJ/OJP priorities does this solicitation connect to?
The solicitation is situated within OJP commitments described as advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting crime victims and justice-impacted individuals, strengthening community safety, and building trust between law enforcement and communities.
Who is eligible to apply as the lead organization?
Eligibility is described as broad and includes: public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses.
Even with broad eligibility, what capacity is expected of the lead applicant?
The lead applicant is expected to have the capacity to manage a national-level project, including issuing and overseeing subawards, delivering consistent technical assistance, coordinating training and supervision standards, and helping formalize a paraprofessional peer recovery coach pipeline.
Is this opportunity designed to fund multiple local service providers directly from OVC?
No. OVC anticipates making one award to a single lead organization. That lead organization then issues subawards to local implementing organizations.
What kinds of local organizations would typically receive subawards under this model?
Based on the description, subawardees are organizations positioned to recruit, train, and deploy paid peer recovery coaches and to work with partners such as victim service providers and treatment providers. (The solicitation summary does not list specific subawardee types beyond describing their functions.)
What kinds of outcomes is OVC trying to influence through this approach?
The stated intent is to stabilize families and improve child well-being by supporting caregiver recovery, thereby reducing abuse and neglect and improving safety for children and youth harmed by a caregiver's substance misuse.
Are there any referenced resources or models for peer support that inform this solicitation?
Yes. The solicitation references SAMHSA resources on peer support workers and the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence as touchpoints for peer support concepts and best practices.
Does the program focus only on illegal drugs?
No. The solicitation uses a broad definition that includes illegal or controlled substances as well as misuse of legal substances (including prescription medications used other than as intended or prescribed).
What makes peer recovery coaching a "relationship-based strategy" in this program?
The description emphasizes practical, ongoing support from someone with lived experience of recovery, delivered through emotional, informational, instrumental, and affiliational supports. This framing highlights trust, encouragement, navigation help, and connection to recovery communities rather than a one-time or purely informational intervention.
What does "model fidelity" mean in the context of technical assistance?
In this context, it refers to helping local sites implement peer recovery coaching in a consistent way aligned with the intended approach, including appropriate training, supervision, referral pathways, and operational policies and procedures as described in the solicitation summary.
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