COPS Office School Violence Prevention 

Program (SVPP)—How Decisions were Made 

to Allocate Nearly $73 Million When More 

than $300 Million was Requested 

The SVPP solicitation opened on March 15, 2023, and application submissions were required by May 17, 

2023. The COPS Office received 1,022 applications from states, units of government and their public 

agencies, and Indian tribes requesting more than $330 million in federal funding and an average request 

of $334,339. 

The COPS Office developed an application to meet the 

requirements of the law 

The COPS Office developed an application for SVPP funds that met the requirements of the statute with 

a focus on advancing public safety by providing funds to improve security at schools and on school 

grounds. States, units of local government, Indian tribes, and public agencies (e.g., school districts) were 

eligible to apply for funding. 

The COPS Office balanced scoring indicators 

Applicants were asked a variety of school safety and fiscal health questions so that the COPS Office 

could assess each applicant’s need for improved security and fiscal need for funding. 

Applicants were asked to submit information including the following: 

• Census population 

• Crime indicators 

• Dollars spent per student 

• Total number of schools 

• Total school enrollment 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The COPS Office checked and double-checked, 

verifying the data applicants provided 

The application system contains numerous built-in logic checks to help prevent the submission of 

erroneous data. Once the application period closed, specialists in the COPS Office reviewed the data 

contained therein. The COPS Office reviewed multiple data points within each application and in some 

cases contacted applicants to verify information provided in their application. This verification process 

was crucial to ensuring that all applicants were properly evaluated based on accurate and reliable 

economic, crime, and school data. 

The COPS Office implemented a uniform system of 

evaluating the information that applicants submitted 

Basic Minimum Requirements, Fiscal and School Safety Need Data Review 

Each of the 1,022 applications underwent a basic minimum requirements review to ensure that (1) 

funding requested was for allowable costs, (2) the applicant was eligible to apply for funding, and (3) the 

applicant’s project proposal was responsive to the solicitation. 

The fiscal and school safety need was evaluated for each eligible applicant that passed the basic 

minimum requirements review. The COPS Office focused on balancing the applicant’s need for federal 

financial assistance with their school safety need based on their responses to a series of application 

questions. All applicants were ranked based on their relative fiscal and school safety need. 

Comprehensive Narrative Review 

The applications were then evaluated using the factors below: 

• Funding request and integration 

• Management and implementation plan 

• School safety planning and assessment efforts 

• Sustainability plan 

FY 2023 COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)—Methodology 2 
 

Final Funding Decisions 

The COPS Office considered several factors when making final funding decisions, including the following: 

• Capacity to make the improvements sought with grant funds 

• Demonstrated need for financial assistance 

• Demonstrated need for improved school security 

• Geographic distribution—including urban, suburban, and rural areas 

• Strength of the written narrative proposal 

• The presence of a catastrophic incident in the jurisdiction 

• Use of evidence-based strategies and programs such as those identified by the Comprehensive 

School Safety Initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice 

A total of 206 of the 1,022 SVPP requests were funded, which represents approximately 20 percent of 

the total number of applications submitted. 

FY 2023 COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)—Methodology 3