Apply to be a Peer Reviewer for Competitive Grant Applications
Victim Assistance Section of the Iowa Attorney General's Office is creating a list of potential grant reviewers to assess victim services grant applications and make funding recommendations. Victim Assistance holds a competitive grant application review process every three years. Occasionally we releases special grant solicitations for other projects. We seek reviewers from diverse backgrounds, professions, geographic locations around Iowa (rural and urban), race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability and more to ensure a fair and equitable grant review process. Reviewers should have a good understanding of victim services; other relevant expertise in the purpose areas for which we issue grants; and/or from the specific type of community being served by grant proposals.
Typical grant purpose areas include, but are not limited to:
- Domestic Abuse Comprehensive Services
- Sexual Abuse Comprehensive Services
- Shelter Based Services
- Culturally Specific Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Comprehensive Services
- Homicide Survivor Comprehensive Services
- Human Trafficking Comprehensive Services
- Mental Health Services (Traditional & Alternative Healing options)
- Legal Services
- Law Enforcement response to victims of crime
- Violence Against Women Prosecutors
- Substance Abuse Services
- Services for Older Iowans who’ve experienced victimization
- Services for Youth/Children
- Court projects
- Services for Refugees & Immigrants
- Services for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC)
- Services for Men/Boys
- Medical services (Child Advocacy Centers, Forensic Exams, Forensic Interviewers, etc.)
- Services for LGBTQIA+ Individuals
- Service Coordination (Sexual Assault Coordinator, Domestic Violence Response Team, etc.)
- Training, Technical Assistance & Outreach
- Technology (requests for hardware, software, equipment, etc.)
All grant reviews are conducted either in-person, virtually, or a combination of the two. Reviewers typically assess 5-10 applications within a 3 to 4-week period. Before becoming a reviewer, you must attend a grant review orientation completed by telephone, or virtually, which covers the roles and responsibilities of the reviewers and the background, purpose and instructions of the grant purpose area to be reviewed. Reviewers must also have the means to read, review and enter their scores and comments into the automated grants management system. Grant reviewers must be available to participate in a consensus grant application review committee meeting (either virtually or in-person) with all other reviewers from their purpose area.
Reviewers will be required to sign a “conflict of interest” form. A conflict of interest exists when any of the following are true:
- The reviewer, reviewer’s immediate family, partner, or organization has a direct financial interest in the funding application assigned to the reviewer.
- When the reviewer is influenced, or may appear to be influenced by some consideration other than the merits of the application being reviewed.
- When the reviewer has strong feelings (positive or negative) towards any of the applicants they have been assigned to review that could create a bias, or perceived bias in reviewing.
- If the reviewer or, the reviewer’s family member(s), has worked with any of the applicant agencies in the past, or if they have a current affiliation with the applicant agency (employee, board member, contract work, etc.).
- Any other reason exists for which the reviewer cannot fairly and equitably review and score a specific grant application.
In the event the reviewer has a conflict of interest, that application will be reassigned to a different reviewer.
If you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer, please complete and submit your application using the button below. We will keep your name on file and, and if selected as a grant reviewer, will contact you. If you submit an application and wish to withdraw your application, please send an email to cvadinfo@ag.iowa.gov and we will remove your application from the system
