The Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program is a separate DHS funding stream from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) — jointly run by DHS's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) and FEMA. Instead of paying for cameras, locks, or fencing, TVTP funds prevention capabilities: training programs, multidisciplinary threat-assessment teams, and community referral networks that identify and support people before they act violently. Congregations, mosques, synagogues, and temples fall under TVTP's "nonprofit" eligible-applicant category, but most awards historically go to local governments, universities, and established violence-prevention nonprofits leading coalitions — a congregation is far more competitive as a coalition partner or co-applicant than as a solo, first-time applicant.
A congregation that has already applied for NSGP funding for cameras and door hardware is often surprised to learn there's a second, entirely separate DHS grant program aimed at preventing violence before it reaches the building. The Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program doesn't fund equipment at all — it funds the human infrastructure of prevention: trained staff, referral relationships, and threat-assessment processes that catch warning signs long before a security camera would ever see them.
Most church security guides never mention TVTP, because it isn't a "get money for locks" program and doesn't fit neatly next to NSGP write-ups. But for congregations that already run counseling ministries, host community mental-health partnerships, or want to build a formal way to respond when a member or visitor shows warning signs of violence, it's worth understanding — even if your congregation ends up participating as a partner rather than the lead applicant.
TVTP is jointly administered by DHS's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) and FEMA. Per DHS's own program description, it exists to bring together "mental health providers, educators, faith leaders, public health and safety officials, social services, nonprofits, and others in communities across the country to help people who are on a pathway to violence before harm occurs." The program funds the development of "sustainable, multidisciplinary prevention capabilities" and supports piloting "innovative prevention approaches."
In practice, that means TVTP dollars pay for things like: training frontline staff and volunteers to recognize behavioral warning signs, standing up or formalizing a multidisciplinary threat-assessment team, building referral pathways into mental health and social services, and running community education programs. Since 2020, DHS reports distributing nearly $90 million across five funding cycles through 178 total awards — an average of roughly $500,000 per award — training more than 38,000 people and reaching an estimated 28.3 million people across 41 states and the District of Columbia.
Congregations already familiar with our NSGP 2026 guide should think of TVTP as solving a completely different problem, not a bigger version of the same one.
| NSGP | TVTP | |
|---|---|---|
| Administered by | FEMA, via your state's SAA | DHS CP3 and FEMA jointly |
| What it funds | Cameras, access control, lighting, reinforced doors, alarms, hardening | Training, threat-assessment teams, referral networks, prevention pilots |
| Who typically applies | Individual houses of worship and nonprofits | Local governments, universities, coalitions, established prevention nonprofits |
| Can a first-time small church win solo? | Yes — common and realistic | Uncommon — competitive against established multidisciplinary programs |
| Best fit for | Physical facility risk | Behavioral / early-warning risk |
The two programs are not mutually exclusive. A congregation could reasonably pursue NSGP funding for cameras and doors in one cycle while participating in a community TVTP-funded threat-assessment coalition in another — they address different layers of the same underlying safety goal. See our church security grants overview for how the two fit into a broader funding strategy.
DHS's eligible-applicant list for TVTP names three categories: state, local, tribal, and territorial governments; nonprofits; and institutions of higher education. Notably, the program's own description of its work names faith leaders as one of the groups prevention networks are built around — alongside mental health providers, educators, and public health and safety officials — rather than listing "houses of worship" as a distinct applicant category the way NSGP does.
In practice, that framing matches how the money has actually flowed. A review of past TVTP grantee announcements shows the lead applicants are overwhelmingly local government public safety offices, universities running behavioral threat-assessment research centers, and nonprofits whose core mission is violence prevention or intervention — not individual congregations applying on their own. That doesn't mean churches are excluded; a 501(c)(3) house of worship is a "nonprofit" under the program's own eligibility language. It means a congregation with no prior prevention programming, applying solo, is competing directly against organizations that have run these programs for years.
The honest answer depends on what your congregation already does. If your church runs a counseling ministry, hosts a recovery or crisis-support group, partners with local schools on mentoring, or already has relationships with law enforcement and mental health providers, you have the beginnings of a credible TVTP applicant profile — either as a lead applicant or, more realistically for a first attempt, as a named partner in a coalition led by your city, county, or a regional violence-prevention nonprofit.
If your congregation has none of that infrastructure yet, applying solo in the next open cycle is unlikely to be competitive. That's not a reason to ignore the program — it's a reason to start building the relationships now, so your congregation is positioned to participate meaningfully when a local coalition forms, or to lead one in a future cycle once you have a track record.
Our free eligibility review takes under 2 minutes and helps match your organization to the security and safety funding programs most relevant to your situation.
Check Your Grant Eligibility →Congregations interested in TVTP — whether as a future lead applicant or a stronger coalition partner — should focus on four things well before any application window opens:
DHS publishes applicant resources and funding notices on its TVTP program pages, and CP3 accepts applicant questions directly at TerrorismPrevention@hq.dhs.gov. Before reaching out, congregations should first connect with local violence-prevention infrastructure that may already exist in their area — county behavioral health departments, school district safety offices, and regional Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) teams are common hubs where TVTP-funded coalitions form. Ask whether a coalition is already active in your area and whether your congregation could join as a faith-community partner before attempting to build a standalone application.
If your congregation's more immediate need is physical security funding rather than prevention-capacity funding, start with our NSGP eligible expenses guide and check whether your state runs its own supplemental program in our state-by-state security grant breakdown.
For a broader view of how security funding fits into your overall grant strategy, see our security grants guide for small congregations and our full church security grants overview.