Alternatives to OJJDP FY 2026 Multistate Mentoring Programs

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is committed to advancing work that furthers the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) mission to keep our country safe and secure and uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of American citizens. OJP provides federal leadership, funding, and other critical resources to directly support law enforcement, combat violent crime, protect American children, provide services to American crime victims, and address public safety challenges, including human trafficking and the opioid crisis. This NOFO, as authorized by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, will provide 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.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR)—Formula Grants Program. This opportunity will support states and units of local government with existing crime laboratories that conduct DNA analysis to process, and/or to increase the capacity to process, more DNA samples for entry into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), thereby helping to reduce the number of forensic DNA and DNA database samples awaiting analysis and/or to prevent a backlog of forensic and database DNA samples.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 National Center for Veterans Justice. This opportunity will establish a national center to provide specialized support to state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies; treatment and service providers; courts; corrections systems; and community supervision agencies to effectively support and respond to the needs of veterans across the justice system, improve outcomes, and strengthen public safety. The Center will serve as a one stop shop to address critical gaps in veteran identification, cross-system coordination, and implementation of evidence-based interventions by providing criminal justice professionals with specialized tools, training, and technical assistance on military culture, combat trauma, military sexual trauma (MST), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other veteran-specific considerations. Providing resources and specialized technical assistance through a centralized location and entity is essential to effectively supporting veterans whose needs require coordination across multiple systems, including criminal justice, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), behavioral health, and social service systems that operate under distinct legal frameworks and institutional priorities.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-Based Program (COSSUP). This opportunity supports the development, implementation, or expansion of comprehensive programs in response to overdose deaths, illicit opioids, stimulants, and other substances. Through this program, state, territorial, local, and tribal governments can support law enforcement-related activities, including efforts to locate and investigate illicit activities related to the unlawful distribution of opioids; increase access to prevention programs and overdose reversal medications; and expand treatment and recovery support services in the community, within correctional facilities, and upon reentry.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the FY26 Students, Teachers, and Officers Prevention (STOP) School Violence Program. This opportunity supports programs to prevent and reduce school violence by implementing training, developing school threat assessment teams and/or intervention teams to identify violence risks, introducing technologies like anonymous reporting tools, or applying other school safety strategies that assist in preventing violence. The Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act) describes the following allowable uses of funding for school safety projects: • Training to prevent student violence against others and self, including training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students. • The development and operation of technology solutions such as anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites. • The development and deployment of: o School threat assessment and intervention teams that include coordination with law enforcement agencies and school personnel or o Specialized training for school officials in responding to mental health crises. BJA’s STOP School Violence Program improves school safety and security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence. Activities that go beyond the allowable uses of funding as described above will not be funded.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the OJJDP FY 2026 Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance program. This opportunity will build the capacity of state, Tribal, and local agencies to effectively investigate and prosecute cases of missing and exploited children. The program provides assistance to multidisciplinary teams of prosecutors, state and local law enforcement, child protection personnel, medical providers, and other child-serving professionals to strengthen multidisciplinary responses to cases of missing and exploited children and improve the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY2026 Public Safety and Mental Health Initiative (PSMHI). This opportunity supports comprehensive service networks addressing untreated mental illness and substance use to reduce the burden of on law enforcement and the justice system; restore order in communities affected by homelessness, mental illness, and substance use; decrease recidivism; reduce crime; and improve overall public safety and restore confidence in public spaces. This initiative supports coordinated, direct intervention efforts across public safety, justice, mental health, and substance use agencies to increase access to mental health and substance use treatment through civil commitment, institutional treatment, and step-down approaches from pre-arrest through reentry, using accountability measures that ensure compliance with treatment plans. This program moves beyond temporary interventions by supporting appropriate institutional care and civil commitment processes, when appropriate, for individuals unable to care for themselves.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Comprehensive Opioid Stimulant and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA). This opportunity will provide training and technical assistance to BJA COSSUP grantees to address technical operational challenges to improve responses to overdose deaths, illicit opioids, stimulants, and other substances.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 Investigating and Prosecuting Sexual Assaults in Confinement Facilities Program. This opportunity supports state, local, and tribal efforts to enhance their capacity to investigate and prosecute incidents of sexual assault in confinement facilities. State agencies, law enforcement, and prosecutorial agencies may utilize this funding for investigative and prosecutorial activities to decrease incidents of sexual assault in confinement facilities and increase the rate of successful prosecutions in such cases.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY2026 Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). This opportunity seeks to enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health officials to collect and analyze controlled substance prescription data and other scheduled chemical products through a centralized database administered by an authorized agency. PDMPs help state and local governments to detect and prevent the diversion and abuse of pharmaceutically controlled substances such as opioids and other prescription drugs. The primary function of a PDMP is to facilitate the collection, analysis, and reporting of information on the prescribing, dispensing, and use of prescription drugs with a state, commonwealth, district, or territory. The goal of the Harold Rogers PDMP is to strengthen states’ and territories’ ability to maintain and enhance their existing PDMPs by accommodating local decision-making based on state laws and preferences and replicating promising practices. As part of supporting the enhancement of PDMPs, the Harold Rogers PDMP supports the integration of PDMP data with health information exchanges, electronic health records, or pharmacy dispensing systems, including engaging with tribal entities and rural areas where integration rates may be lower. This program helps to break the cycle of drug addiction and violence by reducing the demand, use, and the illegal trafficking of controlled substances.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the OJJDP FY 2026 Strengthening Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)Technological Investigative Capacity program. This opportunity will increase the technological investigative capacity and associated training of ICAC task force personnel nationwide through the development, refinement, and advancement of widely used investigative tools, methods, and technologies that address child sexual abuse material (CSAM), exploitation, and sex trafficking.

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions Program. This opportunity strengthens the capacity of wrongful conviction review (WCR) entities and their criminal justice and victims’ services partners to more effectively and efficiently identify, assess, and manage post-conviction claims of innocence. Additionally, it aims to enhance public safety by preventing future errors, identifying actual perpetrators of crimes, and delivering justice to victims.