NIJ FY24 Research and Evaluation on Corrections | O NIJ 2024 171970

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2024 171970

The NIJ FY24 Research and Evaluation on Corrections opportunity is a discretionary federal grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, through the National Institute of Justice. It is designed to fund rigorous applied research and evaluation studies focused on corrections, with an emphasis on testing, assessing, and learning from real-world innovations, initiatives, and strategies used in both institutional corrections (such as prisons and jails) and community corrections (such as probation, parole, reentry supervision, and related community-based models). The overall intent is to strengthen the evidence base around what works in corrections, under what conditions, for whom, and at what cost, while aligning the work with DOJ and OJP priorities around civil rights, equity, access to justice, community safety, support for victims and justice-impacted individuals, and improving trust between justice agencies and the communities they serve.

At its core, this solicitation is about evaluation and research that can guide policy and practice. NIJ is looking for studies that do more than describe a program or report outputs; the emphasis is on careful study design and credible methods that can produce findings decision-makers can use. That can include evaluations of new or established correctional approaches, implementation studies that examine how strategies are carried out in practice, impact evaluations that measure outcomes, and other applied research that addresses operational and strategic correctional questions. The topic area spans the corrections continuum, which means projects may focus inside facilities (for example, safety, programming, staffing models, behavior management, health or mental health responses, programming delivery, technology use, or operational reforms) and/or in the community (for example, supervision strategies, risk and needs practices, reentry supports, service coordination, compliance and incentives, alternatives to incarceration, and strategies intended to reduce recidivism or improve stability and well-being).

The opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2024-171970, with assistance listing CFDA 16.560. The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development, which signals that NIJ expects applicants to use research standards appropriate for producing defensible evidence. Awards can be substantial, with an award ceiling of up to $3,000,000 per award, and NIJ anticipated making about 5 awards under this solicitation. The original application closing date was May 7, 2024, and the opportunity record indicates a creation date of February 6, 2024, which places it within NIJ's FY24 grant cycle.

Eligibility is broad and includes most of the common applicant types for justice research funding. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities. The solicitation language also highlights units of local government, reflecting NIJ's interest in research that is grounded in the operational realities of local corrections systems, which is where many correctional policy changes and program innovations are implemented and tested.

In practical terms, the grant is aimed at building actionable knowledge for correctional leaders, policymakers, practitioners, and communities. A competitive proposal under this opportunity would typically be expected to clearly define the correctional problem or practice issue being studied, describe the innovation or strategy to be evaluated, lay out a strong and transparent research design, specify measurable outcomes, and explain how the findings will be useful to the field. Because the program is tied to DOJ priorities on civil rights and equity, applicants should also be prepared to address how their research approach considers fairness, disparate impacts, and the experiences of populations disproportionately affected by the justice system, and how results could help improve correctional decision-making in ways that are both effective and rights-respecting.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY24 Research and Evaluation on Corrections" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for O NIJ 2024 171970

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