NIJ FY 2022 Invited to Apply - Research on the Impact of Public Policy on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System | O NIJ 2022 171403

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2022 171403

The NIJ FY 2022 Invited to Apply opportunity is a discretionary research grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), under the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (OJP). It is designed to support work aligned with OJP priorities around civil rights and racial equity, access to justice, support for victims and justice-involved individuals, stronger community safety, protection from crime and emerging threats, and improved trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The core purpose of the solicitation is to fund investigator-initiated, evidence-based, nonpartisan research that analyzes existing evidence to understand how public policy could reduce observed racial and ethnic disparities across the justice system.

The emphasis is on rigorous analysis of what is already known or already documented through available data and prior research, rather than advocacy or politically driven framing. NIJ is looking for proposals that can credibly connect policy choices to measurable disparity outcomes, identify mechanisms that produce unequal impacts, and clarify where policy reform or implementation changes could narrow gaps. While the topic is broad, the unifying theme is using empirical evidence to evaluate how justice policies contribute to disparities and what policy levers might reduce them.

Partnerships are allowed and can be important, especially when projects involve criminal justice agencies or other government entities that control administrative data or have operational insights. If an application includes such partnerships, NIJ expects a strong letter of support from each partnering agency. These letters must be signed by an appropriate decision-making authority and may use wet signatures or electronic/digital signatures. A key required element of the letter of support is an explicit acknowledgment that any de-identified data derived from, provided to, or obtained through the project will be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the award period. Applicants and partners are encouraged to review NACJD policies and protections in advance, since the data archiving expectation is not optional and should be planned for early (including decisions about de-identification, documentation, and data management).

If NIJ selects a project for funding, the award comes with a clear timeline expectation for partnerships: the grantee is expected to have a formal agreement in place with partnering agencies by July 1, 2023. That agreement must include language that enables the required NACJD data archiving. The solicitation also clarifies how to structure applications when multiple agencies are collaborating financially: only one entity can submit the application as the applicant, and any other participating entities must be included as subrecipients if they will receive federal funds to carry out part of the work.

Eligibility is restricted. This is an "invited to apply" solicitation, meaning only applicants that received an official invitation letter from NIJ are eligible to submit. The invitation letter governs eligibility requirements and effectively acts as the gatekeeping document for who can apply.

There are also important compliance conditions tied to Executive Order 13929, Safe Policing for Safe Communities. For state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies, eligibility for FY 2022 DOJ discretionary grant funding requires certification by an approved independent credentialing body or documented initiation of the certification process. The certification hinges on two mandatory policy conditions: the agency use-of-force policies must comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws, and those policies must prohibit chokeholds except where deadly force is legally authorized. This certification requirement applies not only to direct recipients but also to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary funds through a subaward, which matters for proposals that include law enforcement partners as subrecipients. The DOJ provides details, standards, implementation guidance, and a list of designated credentialing bodies through the COPS Office Safe Policing EO webpage referenced in the solicitation.

Financially, this opportunity is a grant (not a contract) under CFDA 16.560, categorized under science and technology and other research and development. The funding opportunity number is O-NIJ-2022-171403. The award ceiling listed is $49,837. The original closing date was July 15, 2022, and the posting reflects a creation date of July 14, 2022, underscoring that it was a narrow, time-bounded, invitation-only competition. Finally, the solicitation includes a strict cost principle: all recipients and subrecipients, including any for-profit organizations, must forgo any profit or management fee, meaning funds must be used for allowable project costs rather than profit-taking or management markups.

Statutory authority for NIJ to make these awards is provided under Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, specifically Sections 201 and 202.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY 2022 Invited to Apply - Research on the Impact of Public Policy on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System" 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 2022-07-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-07-15. (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 $49,837.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for O NIJ 2022 171403

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