National Institute of Justice grants

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on School Safety. This opportunity will support rigorous research and evaluation projects to fill key gaps regarding K-12 safety, specifically focusing on the development, deployment, and operation of: • Anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites • School threat assessment and intervention teams that include coordination with law enforcement agencies and school personnel This NOFO seeks rigorous outcome/impact evaluations paired with process/implementation evaluations to assess the effectiveness of activities supported by STOP1 School Violence Act (SVA) projects administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) or similar programs from other sources that align with STOP SVA's goals. To develop practical recommendations for K-12 school safety, applicants are strongly encouraged to work closely with educators, school stakeholders, and communities to develop questions, identify solutions, collect data, and interpret findings. Applicants should: • Clearly describe complex factors and how they will be measured. • Include letters of support confirming secondary data access and explain how datasets will be matched to support the analyses proposed. • Describe data limitations, how they will be addressed, and their potential impact on findings.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP).1 This opportunity will support research and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of programs funded under FYs 2022-2026 BJA’s Byrne SCIP NOFOs. BJA’s Byrne SCIP provides funding for the creation or enhancement of state crisis intervention court proceedings and related programs or initiatives, including extreme risk protection order (ERPO) programs, as well as mental health courts, drug courts, and veterans treatment courts. Such programs or initiatives can include, but are not limited to: 1) Law enforcement crisis interventions; 2) Court-based programming; 3) Referrals to treatment for people in crisis; and 4) ERPO programs. Applicants may apply to assess multiple program areas where applicable. NIJ anticipates making at least one award per topic area for a total of 4 awards. Applicants should clearly state the program area(s) on the title page. This NOFO invites applications proposing a two-phased evaluation strategy to assess Byrne SCIP. The approach includes: • Phase I: Evaluability Assessments. • Phase II: An Evaluation of the Byrne SCIP’s Effectiveness. Applications to this NOFO should include both phases. Applications that do not meet this requirement would not be considered responsive to this funding opportunity.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Crime and Justice Research. This opportunity NOFO calls for applications in two categories: Category 1: Crime and Justice Research: Category 1 will support applications for research on new programs, strategies, and technological solutions to improve workforce effectiveness, enhance operational readiness, and support safety in the adult criminal justice system. Category 2: Assessment of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) De-escalation Training Program: Category 2 will support proposals to study the implementation and impact of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) De-Escalation Training Program.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Justice System Responses to Illegal Immigration. This opportunity supports proposals for rigorous, applied research and evaluations examining the adult criminal justice system (courts, law enforcement, jails, prisons, and community supervision) challenges and responses to illegal immigration and crimes committed by aliens while in the U.S. illegally at the state, local, and tribal levels. This includes, but is not limited to, location and apprehension, court operations, transportation and detention, investigating fraud and other crimes committed by illegal aliens, including creating an accurate profile of their rates of criminal activity, counter gang and criminal activity including drug and human trafficking operations. Criminal justice agencies often develop innovative solutions to local challenges that may provide insight to other jurisdictions. Applicants may propose studies examining single or multiple states and jurisdictions and models of cooperation between federal, state, local and tribal justice systems and other stakeholders. The goal of this NOFO is to identify innovative local strategies, evaluate their effectiveness, and inform practical, data-driven solutions that inform and strengthen the strategies that state, local, and tribal justice systems use to address illegal immigration.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Human Trafficking. This opportunity supports proposals for rigorous research and evaluation projects to better understand, respond to, and reduce Human Trafficking in the United States in three areas: (1) prevention, including justice system and other initiatives to prevent trafficking in the first place or to prevent further harm after it has occurred, (2) evaluation of federal policies that may have the unintended consequence of perpetuating or increasing human trafficking, and (3) applied research and program evaluations that directly support effective services for American victims. This NOFO is released by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in collaboration with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Research on Gender Dysphoria and Violent Crime. This opportunity will support foundational research on gender dysphoria, its treatment, and the perpetration of violence and violent behavior. Available empirical evidence regarding this topic is limited, particularly in regard to underlying causal mechanisms. To address these gaps, NIJ is interested in retrospective, secondary data analyses that explore gender dysphoria, its treatment, and the perpetration of violence and violent behavior. Examples include, but are not limited to: • Prevalence rates of violent crime and behavior for this population, to include demographic information and crime type characteristics. • Post-conviction analyses, to include analyses based on individuals who have been incarcerated. • Analyses examining the relationship between violence and gender dysphoria diagnosis and/or treatment. • Research on the victim/offender overlap or other contextual factors to interpret trends. • Impact of comorbidities (e.g., substance use disorders and/or mental health disorders) on the relationship between violence and gender dysphoria diagnosis and/or treatment.