Grants / Department of Justice / Bureau of Justice Assistance

O-BJA-2021-94001: BJA FY 21 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program (BCJI)

Closed Closed June 22, 2021 Opportunity O-BJA-2021-94001 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Bureau of Justice Assistance notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$1.0 million
• Total funding$18.9 million
• Expected awards20
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments and tribes.

The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program, formerly titled “Innovations in Community Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Program,” targets distressed neighborhoods facing concentrated crime challenges, particularly serious and violent crime, composing a large proportion of crime as compared to other parts of the jurisdiction. Therefore, applying jurisdictions are strongly encouraged to coordinate with and seek the support of their local U.S. Attorney’s Office and local policymakers, and to connect BCJI programming with other violent crime and community revitalization efforts. To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, as of October 28, 2020, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be allocated FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding, as either a recipient or a subrecipient. For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO. All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program awards averaged $779,793; this notice allows up to $1.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (62% over five years) went to state and local governments.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Department of Justice is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights, increases access to justice, supports crime victims, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program supports Department priorities to reduce serious and violent crime, including gun violence; dismantle gang activity; and strengthen local capacity to combat drug abuse. BCJI helps communities build trust and support law enforcement agencies working with these communities by integrating enforcement strategies into community- based crime reduction efforts and using this information to understand and target the issues. A critical pillar of the BCJI Program is neighborhood empowerment. Community-oriented approaches build trust, facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, enhance the community's perception of the fairness and effectiveness of policies and interventions, and increase the willingness of the community and those in the criminal justice system to comply with the social mores in the community. Implementing these approaches without strong community collaboration will likely be unsuccessful and may overlook a community or neighborhood's unique needs and challenges as well as the ability to develop and implement sustainable change. Community leaders and residents are often in the best position to motivate, implement, and sustain change over time; therefore, applications should be developed in collaboration with community members to build community support for community needs as they evolve over time and indicate how community residents will be involved as full partners throughout the project.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.