NIJ FY 2022 Invited to Apply - Criminal Justice Requirements and Resources Consortium | O NIJ 2022 171379

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2022 171379

The NIJ FY 2022 Invited to Apply - Criminal Justice Requirements and Resources Consortium opportunity is a continuation grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), under the agency's Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program. Its central aim is to strengthen criminal justice policy and practice in the United States by supporting work that systematically identifies, prioritizes, and evaluates the most pressing needs across criminal justice communities. Rather than focusing on a single narrow research topic, the solicitation is designed to help NIJ and the broader criminal justice field understand what problems and capability gaps matter most right now, what resources are missing, and what kinds of solutions or innovations are most likely to have real-world impact.

A key emphasis of the solicitation is "needs assessment" for criminal justice: gathering input from practitioners and stakeholders, translating operational challenges into clear research and development requirements, and assessing those requirements so they can inform future research agendas, technology development, and policy decisions. The results are intended to guide not only NIJ's investments, but also to provide actionable information to practitioners, policymakers, industry providers, and other federal agencies that support public safety and justice work. In practice, this kind of consortium effort typically helps bridge the gap between the day-to-day realities of law enforcement, courts, corrections, and community partners and the research community that develops and evaluates new methods, tools, and interventions.

The opportunity also reflects NIJ's view that innovation is not only something that comes from universities or external laboratories, but also from within criminal justice agencies themselves. For that reason, the solicitation signals ongoing support for capacity-building efforts such as Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS). LEADS is an NIJ program aimed at increasing the internal research and analytics capabilities of law enforcement officers and agencies, so they can better use data, partner effectively with researchers, and apply evidence-based approaches to operational and strategic decisions. By elevating initiatives like LEADS, NIJ is underscoring the importance of building long-term, in-house competence in research, evaluation, and data-driven problem solving as part of the broader needs-and-requirements ecosystem.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is listed as a grant in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category, with CFDA number 16.560. It is identified as a continuation opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: O-NIJ-2022-171379), which generally indicates it is intended for current or prior recipients invited to apply, rather than an open competition for all applicants. Eligibility is described as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," reinforcing that this is an invited or limited-eligibility solicitation. The posting date is June 24, 2022, with an original closing date of July 1, 2022, indicating a short turnaround consistent with an invited continuation process. NIJ anticipated making up to two awards, with an award ceiling of $1,250,000.

The solicitation cites several statutory authorities that underpin NIJ's ability to fund this work: Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (sections 201 and 202), the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (sections 231-233 and 235), and 28 U.S.C. 530C. In practical terms, those authorities support NIJ's mission to sponsor research, development, evaluation, and related activities that improve the effectiveness, fairness, and efficiency of the criminal justice system, including work tied to technology, capability development, and evidence generation.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as NIJ investing in a structured, consortium-based approach to surfacing and validating criminal justice priorities, turning those priorities into well-defined research and development requirements, and making that information usable for decision-makers across government, practice settings, and industry. The expected outcome is a clearer, field-informed roadmap for innovation and evidence building, paired with support for strengthening the internal research capacity of criminal justice agencies so they can play a more active role in identifying problems, testing solutions, and sustaining improvements over time.

• The Department of Justice, 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 - Criminal Justice Requirements and Resources Consortium" 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 Jun 24, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 01, 2022. (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 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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