BJA FY 2026 Public Safety and Mental Health Initiative
This grant funds coordinated public-safety and mental-health service networks and treatment pathways for people with untreated mental illness or substance use, for eligible state/local government applicants and designated nonprofit or for-profit mental health agencies acting as units of government.
RESTRICTED TO: STATE LOCAL GOV
⚑ Nonprofit or for-profit mental health agencies may apply only if designated by the state mental health authority as a unit of state or local government and documentation is attached. · Program emphasizes direct service networks, institutional treatment, civil commitment, and reentry/step-down pathways rather than research. · Award ceiling $3,000,000.
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 10 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
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.
Eligibility
Other units of local government; Nonprofit or for-profit mental health agencies or other non-governmental applicants are eligible to apply only if they meet two requirements: (1) The applicant is designated by the state mental health authority to provide services as a unit of the state or local government. (2) The applicant should attach documentation to support this designation
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Bureau of Justice Assistance <OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov>
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