COPS Office STOP School Violence: School 

Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)—How 

Decisions were Made to Allocate $25 Million 

When More than $85.8 Million was Requested 

The SVPP solicitation opened on June 25, 2018, and applications were required to be submitted by July 

30, 2018. The COPS Office received 236 applications from states, units of government, and Indian tribes 

requesting $85,859,130 in federal funding. 

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. Only states, units of local governments, and Indian tribes were eligible to apply for funding. 

The COPS Office balanced scoring indicators 

To measure and compare the necessary scoring indicators, the COPS Office consulted with experts in the 

fields of policing, criminology, and school safety to develop appropriate application questions. 

Applicants were asked to submit information on such indicators as the following: 

• Census population 

• Total number of schools 

• Total school enrollment 

• Dollars spent per student 

• Percentage of students with free or reduced priced lunch 

• Crime indicators 

In asking a variety of school safety and fiscal health questions, the COPS Office was able to gauge a view 

of both the need for improved security and the need the financial assistance of applicants through 

objective and verifiable indicators that all applicants, from rural communities to large cities, could 

accurately report. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The community policing philosophy engages in a proactive and systematic examination of identified 

problems that can be countered with effective responses. Applicants were asked to identify evidencebased strategies and programs that address their jurisdiction’s school safety challenges. 

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. In addition, once the applications were submitted, specialists in the COPS Office 

immediately 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 data verification process, though time-consuming, was crucial to ensuring that all 

applicants were properly evaluated based on accurate and reliable economic, crime, and school data. 

The COPS Office developed a uniform system of 

evaluating the information that applicants submitted 

Determination of Need Data Review 

The COPS Office focused on balancing the applicant’s need for federal assistance with their school safety 

need, based on their responses to the background and improved security need questions as well as the 

catastrophic (if applicable) narrative responses. A numerical score for the financial and school safety 

need sections of the application ranked applicants. Within this pool, the COPS Office ensured that at 

least 20 percent of the applicants represented each demographic: urban, suburban, and rural. Along 

with the ranked score, all applicants underwent a basic minimum review of the program requirements, 

and after this phase of review, 172 applications were eligible for comprehensive narrative review. 

A minimum score was established for the financial and school safety need section of the application. 

Within this pool of applicants that received the minimum score, the COPS Office ensured that at least 20 

percent of the applicants represented each demographic: urban, suburban, and rural. A total of 64 

applicants did not meet the minimum score and were removed from further consideration. 

Comprehensive Narrative Review 

The 172 applications that met the minimum determination of need score underwent an exhaustive and 

comprehensive review process. 
 

 

 

The peer reviewers evaluated the following criteria in the Project and Budget Narrative sections of the 

application to determine the quality of each application. The reviewers based their scores on the 

following: 

• School safety planning and assessment efforts 

• Funding request and integration 

• Management and implementation plan 

• Sustainability plan 

The narrative score was added to the data score to determine a final score for each application and 

develop a final ranking for the applications. 

COPS Office Director Review 

As with all COPS Office program awards, the COPS Office Director made the final decision regarding 

which SVPP applications to fund. In addition to the final ranking, the Director took into consideration the 

following factors: 

• The presence of a catastrophic incident in the jurisdiction 

• The geographic distribution of the applicants including urban, suburban, and rural areas 

• The size of the applicant jurisdiction 

• The type of jurisdiction 

• Demonstrated need for improved security 

• Demonstrated need for financial assistance 

• Evidenced ability to make the improvements sought with grant funds 

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

School Safety Initiative of the Department of Justice 

• Other strategic priorities 

Ultimately, the COPS Office funded 91 SVPP applications, which represents approximately 40 percent of 

the total number of applications submitted.