BJA FY 2026 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Strengthening State and Local Operations to Reduce Crime and Recidivism
This grant funds state, local, and tribal government projects that use existing justice-system data to identify operational inefficiencies and redirect resources to strategies intended to reduce crime and recidivism.
RESTRICTED TO: STATE LOCAL GOV · TRIBAL ENTITIES
⚑ Eligibility is limited to government applicants, including other units of local government as defined in the notice; universities are not eligible to apply directly. · Projects must use existing data and information; this is not a general research-only competition. · Focus is on justice-system operations and resource reallocation to reduce crime/recidivism, not on clinical or service delivery activities.
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 25 weak | funds applied research; deep-tech content |
| IPPRA | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
Description
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Strengthening State and Local Operations to Reduce Crime and Recidivism. This opportunity will support state, local, and tribal government efforts to reduce wasteful spending and inefficient uses of funds across justice system operations and redirect that funding to target crime and other public safety and/or justice system challenges. Applicants should propose projects that address one or more urgent local justice system challenge. Applicants should use existing data and information to identify the specific challenges they will focus on and how they will refocus resources on the strategies and populations most likely to reduce crime. Jurisdictions may consider addressing challenges across the judicial system, including those related to law enforcement, prosecution, sentencing, jails and prisons, probation, and parole.
Eligibility
Other units of local government: For the purposes of this notice of funding opportunity, other units of local government include towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general purpose political subdivisions of a state.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Bureau of Justice Assistance <OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · Federal (generic) conventions SEE A FEDERAL EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — Federal (generic)'s document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.