Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP)

Description

Since the September 11th attacks, terrorist threats to the United States have evolved and diversified but remain dynamic and volatile. The most significant terrorist threat currently facing the homeland comes from lone offenders and small groups of individuals who commit acts of violence. They are motivated by a broad range of violent racial, ethnic, political, religious, anti-government, societal, or personal ideological beliefs and grievances. Pandemic‑related stressors also have contributed to increased societal strains and tensions, including grievances over public health measures and perceived government restrictions. Violent extremists¿ motivations and grievances are often influenced and exacerbated by conspiracy theories online in the form of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. Many violent extremists exploit online platforms to spread hate, sow discord and division, and promote narratives to encourage violence. Domestic violent extremists (DVEs) represent the most persistent terrorism-related threat facing the United States. Among DVEs, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, including white supremacists, likely will remain the most lethal DVE threats in the United States. Since 2020, however, we have also seen a significant increase in anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism, particularly from militia violent extremists, which typically target law enforcement, elected officials, and government personnel and facilities. Foreign terrorist organizations still have the intent to carry out attacks in the United States or inspire others, known as Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs), to do so, both within and from beyond our borders. Al-Qa¿ida and ISIS have been diminished by longstanding pressure, but their networks and affiliates have diffused and persisted, often in areas of enduring conflict or lacking governance. Terrorism and targeted violence have harmful effects on our communities. Preventing acts of terrorism and targeted violence requires a whole of society approach and is part of Goal 1 of the DHS Strategic Plan. The DHS Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program supports the creation of sustainable prevention capabilities, both online and in local communities. This program supports the development of promising practices by reserving a portion of the funds for innovative approaches. This program supports projects that prevent all forms of targeted violence and terrorism as well as projects that seek to prevent emerging or growing threats. In particular, individuals and organizations with violent ideologies, conspiracies, and grievances of all kinds are weaponizing online platforms to radicalize individuals to commit targeted violence; this program supports online, offline, and hybrid programs thar address this threat. The TVTP Grant Program seeks to supports the development of local prevention programs and online prevention capabilities in accordance with the September 2019 Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence and in support of the terrorism prevention objectives in the March 2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance. This grant program also directly supports Strategic Goal 2.1, Strengthen Domestic Terrorism Prevention Resources and Services of the June 2021 National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. The objectives of the TVTP Grant Program align with the objectives of developing local prevention frameworks (see Appendix A for additional details): Raising awareness of all aspects of why and how individuals radicalize to violence; Ensuring members of the local community are equipped and empowered to engage the broadest set of local stakeholders; Ensuring members of the local community have access to multi-disciplinary threat assessment and management teams; Ensuring members of the local community have the ability to act on their awareness training by knowing how to contact ¿ and understanding the role of ¿ threat assessment and management teams; and Ensuring the local community has programs that address risk factors while also providing services supporting threat management approaches. The TVTP Grant Program seeks to provide funding to applications that align with these objectives and that protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. Please see Appendix D of the NOFO for research, logic model, performance measurement, and other resources that can be referenced to design project proposals. The FY22 TVTP Grant Program has the following priorities: Implementing Prevention Capabilities in Small and Mid-Sized Communities; Advancing Equity in Awards and Engaging Underserved Communities in Prevention; Addressing Online Aspects of Terrorism and Targeted Violence; Preventing Domestic Violent Extremism; and Enhancing Local Threat Assessment and Management Capabilities.

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