BJA FY 18 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Reducing Violent Crime by Improving Justice System Performance | BJA 2018 13700

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2018 13700

The BJA FY 18 Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI): Reducing Violent Crime by Improving Justice System Performance is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), focused on helping justice agencies and cross-system partners modernize how they operate so they can reduce violent crime and use public safety resources more effectively. Rather than treating crime reduction as a single-program problem, the solicitation frames JRI as a structured way for state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to take a hard look at what is driving crime and justice-system costs in their communities, then use that information to make targeted, performance-oriented improvements in policy and practice. The emphasis is on improving core “business management and operations processes” within the justice system, with the idea that better coordination, better decision-making, and better use of data can reduce violent crime while also improving outcomes across the system.

A central feature of this opportunity is its reliance on a five-step process modeled on Justice Reinvestment. While the solicitation text here does not list the steps in detail, justice reinvestment models generally follow a practical sequence: bringing the right stakeholders together, using data to diagnose drivers of crime and system growth, developing and adopting strategies that respond to those drivers, implementing changes with clear accountability, and then tracking outcomes to ensure reforms are working and to make course corrections. Applicants are expected to design their project around meeting the objectives and deliverables laid out in the solicitation through that kind of step-by-step framework. In plain terms, BJA is looking for proposals that show a credible plan to move from analysis to action, not just produce reports or one-off trainings, and to do so in a way that measurably improves justice system performance with an eye toward reducing violent crime.

The opportunity is identified by Funding Opportunity Number BJA 2018 13700 and is tied to CFDA 16.827. It supports activities in the broad areas of law, justice, and legal services (the listing also references humanities/cultural affairs and an “other” category per the original notice), reflecting that projects may include a mix of operational improvement, planning, cross-agency collaboration, and performance management work. Because JRI projects typically require multiple parts of the system to work together, applicants often include or coordinate with partners such as courts, prosecutors, defenders, law enforcement, community supervision, corrections, behavioral health, victim services, and community-based organizations. The solicitation’s framing makes it clear that BJA expects applicants to focus on the complex, interconnected factors that drive both crime and the consumption of justice resources, especially at state, local, and tribal levels.

Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; 501(c)(3) nonprofits (other than IHEs); for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); and small businesses. This wide eligibility suggests BJA anticipated applications not only from governmental agencies, but also from research institutions, technical assistance providers, and implementation partners that can support jurisdictions with analytics, performance measurement, process improvement, and change management. Even so, because the initiative is designed to improve justice system performance within jurisdictions, competitive proposals typically demonstrate strong buy-in from the agencies that control key policies and operations, along with a clear governance structure for decision-making across partners.

Key timing and funding details include a posting/creation date of November 8, 2018, and an original closing date of January 7, 2019. BJA anticipated making around five awards under this solicitation, with an award ceiling of $1,250,000 per award. In practical terms, that level of funding is consistent with multi-year, multi-agency initiatives that include data capacity building, coordinated planning and implementation, and ongoing performance tracking. With only a handful of expected awards nationwide, the competition would likely favor applicants able to show both a strong problem statement related to violent crime and system performance and a realistic plan to deliver measurable improvements using the justice reinvestment approach.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as an investment in system-level improvement: using data and cross-agency collaboration to identify what is driving violent crime and resource use, implementing targeted reforms or operational changes, and then measuring whether those changes actually improve outcomes. The solicitation’s message is that sustainable violent crime reduction is closely tied to how well justice institutions manage their core functions, share information, align incentives, and follow through with accountable implementation.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), law, justice and legal services, other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 18 Justice Reinvestment Initiative: Reducing Violent Crime by Improving Justice System Performance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.827.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 08, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 07, 2019. (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 $1,250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

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