Boardwalk Waterview Wisconsin
Wisconsin Community Safety Fund

Wisconsin Community Safety Fund 2022-2025

Funding Summary

REQUEST FOR APPLICATION LINKS

Below you will find important links to complete your Letter of Intent and Full Application:

1.) Letter of Intent: Due September 9, 2022 (Optional)

2.) Full Application: Friday, September 30, 2022 11:59pm (Required)

Below are links to forms that must be completed and uploaded into your full application prior to submission.

1.) A Workplan Template, to outline project details and timeline (DOCX)

2.) A Budget Template, to outline salary detail and funding (XLSX)

3.) Terms and Conditions Attestation Form (PDF)

The Wisconsin Community Safety Fund (WCSF) was created to support local, evidence-informed activities that enhance the safety and wellbeing of children, youth, and families throughout Wisconsin. Recognizing the need to increase community capacity for violence prevention, this round of funding has been made available to support community-centered projects outside of traditional criminal justice approaches to public safety. The state of Wisconsin has partnered with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Comprehensive Injury Center (MCW) to administer this statewide grant program.

This Request for Applications (RFA) is designed to attract innovative projects that enhance the quality of life, safety, and wellbeing in communities outside of the city of Milwaukee impacted by historic increases in violence since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. MCW will allocate a total of $10,400,000 in grants through contracts with eligible agencies. Up to 10 projects will be awarded, 3-year grants ranging from $300,000-$1,000,000 p/year. Funding for this application was made possible from the State of Wisconsin by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Please find full RFA overview for reference: Wisconsin Community Safety Fund RFA Overview (PDF)

Funds Available: A total of $10,400,000 is available to support projects focused on advancing public health approaches to community safety in communities throughout Wisconsin. Three-year grants ranging from a minimum of $300,000 to $1,000,000 annually will be funded. Each project may request up to $3,000,000 maximum for project-specific expenses. Applicant agencies must have capacity to manage reimbursement-based grants.

Funded Project Term: December 1, 2022 - December 31, 2025

Application Deadlines:

  • Letter of Intent (Optional): Friday, September 9, 2022, 5 p.m.
  • Full Application (Required): Friday, September 30, 2022 11:59pm

Eligible Applicant Agencies:

  • Municipal, Tribal, County, or other Governmental entity or school district serving populations outside the city of Milwaukee

  • Nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations serving residents outside the city of Milwaukee with current 501(c)3 tax-exempt status registered with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and have one of the following statuses as of the RFA deadline date: “in good standing”, restored to good standing”, “incorporated/qualified/registered”, “organized”, or “registered” Conduct operations in Wisconsin and have an administrative presence in Wisconsin, In operation since at least January 1, 2019, OR be sponsored by a government, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization with 501(c)3 status that provides services or funding to the applicant in support of the applicant’s mission. The sponsor relationship must be in place at the time the application is submitted, and the sponsor must meet the eligibility requirements. The sponsor must also be a signatory on the application and complete the attestation and other forms required in the RFA.

Funding Priorities:
Through this RFA, MCW is seeking applications for projects designed to advance public health solutions to violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a public health approach as any effort that enhances the health, safety, and well-being of a population.

Understanding that different forms of violence have disproportionate impacts on certain populations, it is important that interventions are informed by reliable data, best practices, and voices of impacted communities. For example, gun violence disproportionately involves young men ages 15-35 while child abuse, by definition, disproportionately impacts young people under the age of 18. Intimate and gender-based violence disproportionately impacts women and girls.

Projects will be funded to address one or more of the following community safety priorities:

Successful applicants will identify a community-focused project informed by public health practice to increase the safety and wellbeing of populations disproportionately impacted by intentional injury and violence.

Promising projects funded through this RFA will:

  1. Apply a public health approach to addressing a specific community safety priority from the list above.
  2. Have strong collaborative partners committed to the success of the project
  3. Be supported by an anchor agency with the experience, capacity, and commitment to manage project for duration of the grant.
  4. Articulate a commitment to incorporating the voices of those that will benefit from the program in its design and evaluation

We encourage agencies of all sizes to apply and will offer technical assistance to support a diverse pool of applicants from across the state.

MCW highly encourages interested applicants to connect with our team to discuss your project idea. Our goal is to help you align your idea with our funding requirements. Reach out today!

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