Deadline extended for several BJA grants

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) just extended the deadlines on several of its grant solicitations giving grant seekers additional time to complete application packages.

State, local and nonprofit agencies now have until July 15 to submit applications under the following programs:

Innovations in Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Program

The CBCR Program supports the U.S. Department of Justice’s priorities to reduce violent crime, dismantle gang activity , assist communities struggling with drug abuse and support law enforcement agencies by integrating enforcement strategies into community-based crime reduction efforts. Core elements must include a place-based strategy, community engagement, data-driven efforts, partnerships and capacity building.

Grant awards of up to $1 million. Eligible applicants are limited to institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education), units of local government, nonprofit organizations (including tribal nonprofit organizations), and federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) acting as a fiscal agent thereof.

Innovations in Supervision Initiative: Building Capacity to Create Safer Communities

The goal of the FY 2019 Innovations in Supervision Initiative (ISI) is to improve the capacity and effectiveness of probation and parole agencies to increase probation and parole success rates, and reduce the rate of recidivism for those under supervision. These efforts would reduce crime, admissions to prisons and jails, and save taxpayer dollars. Priority consideration will be given to applicants who propose strategies to reduce violent recidivism among high risk offenders, collaborate with justice partners, and employ randomized control trial (RCT) methods to evaluate effectiveness.

Grant awards of up to $1 million. Eligible applicants include states, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior).

Innovative Reentry Initiatives: Building System Capacity & Testing Strategies to Reduce Recidivism

This program, funded under the Second Chance Act, supports projects that develop and implement comprehensive reentry strategies to reduce recidivism among offenders who are at medium to high risk for recidivating upon release from prison or jail. Applicants must comply with all of the Second Chance Act requirements including multi-agency community collaboration, use of evidenced-based methods to conduct an independent evaluation and engagement of a reentry task force.

Grant awards of up to $1 million. Eligible applicants include states, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior).

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

Grants support cross-system collaboration to assist states, local government and tribal organizations improve responses to people with mental disorders or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse who are involved also with the criminal justice system.

Funding can be used to develop and implement innovative programs, training, policy development, evaluation, and data and technology programs that increase the collaboration between criminal justice (police, corrections, supervision) and behavior health partners.

Grant awards vary by category:

Category 1: Collaborative County Approaches to Reducing the Prevalence of Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses in Jails

• Up to $300,000 for jurisdictions with populations fewer than 100,000
• Up to $400,000 for jurisdictions with populations between 100,000 and 499,999
• Up to $500,000 for jurisdictions with populations of 500,000 or more

Category 2: Strategic Planning for Law Enforcement and Mental Health Collaboration Grant

• Up to $100,000

Category 3: Implementation and Expansion Grants

• Up to $750,000

Eligible applicants are states, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior). However, BJA will only accept applications that demonstrate that the proposed project will be administered jointly by an agency with responsibility for criminal or juvenile justice activities and a mental health agency.

BJA STOP School Violence Technology and Threat Assessment Solutions for Safer Schools Program

The purpose of this program is to address specific areas of concern related to preventing and reducing school violence . Grants will support state, local, territorial and tribal jurisdictions in improving efforts to reduce violent crime through the creation of school threat assessment teams , the use of technology for anonymously reporting suspicious activity as it relates to violence in schools, and by supporting the creation and enhancement of State School Safety Centers.

Grant awards vary across six categories ranging from $1 million for state agencies with populations greater than 5 million to $100,000 for federally recognized Indian tribes. Eligible applicants are limited to states, units of local government, federally recognized Indian tribes, and public agencies (school districts, police departments, sheriff’s departments, etc.) as defined in 34 U.S.C. 10251(a)(6).

Reach out to the team at PoliceGrantsHelp for assistance as you prepare your grant applications. Our grant assistance program includes a number of options including grant writing and grant application assembly and review.