OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs

The U.S. Department of Justice, through the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), has released the fiscal year 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity titled OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs. This program is designed to strengthen public safety by addressing youth delinquency, victimization, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. OJJDP, as a central component of the Department of Justice, provides leadership and resources for law enforcement, crime prevention, victim services, and programs protecting vulnerable populations, particularly children. This funding opportunity reflects OJJDP’s mission to improve outcomes for youth while supporting broader Department of Justice priorities such as upholding the rule of law, protecting civil rights, and combating violent crime. The funding supports the implementation and delivery of mentoring services for at-risk and high-risk youth. Eligible youth are those aged 17 or younger who may be at risk of delinquency due to individual, family, school, or community risk factors. This includes youth already involved in the juvenile justice system or residing in communities affected by parental incarceration, violence, drugs, or gangs. The program strongly encourages outreach to youth who have not previously accessed mentoring due to limited local services or a shortage of trained mentors. Mentoring may take the form of one-on-one, group, peer, or hybrid models. Mentors must be adults, with exceptions for supervised peer mentors who are older minors. The total program funding is estimated at $44,000,000, with up to three awards anticipated. The award ceiling is $30,000,000, and performance periods may run from 12 to 36 months, beginning October 1, 2025. Successful applicants are expected to subaward at least 90 percent of funds to active affiliates or subrecipients in at least 38 states. Allowable costs include program delivery and enhancements in six core mentoring practice areas: recruitment, screening, training, matching, monitoring and support, and closure. Unallowable costs include immigration law violations, civil rights violations, legal services for certain categories of immigrants, and unrelated activities such as entertainment. Eligibility is limited to national organizations that maintain active affiliates or subawardees in at least 45 states. Collaboratives of smaller organizations do not qualify as national organizations for this opportunity. The application must be submitted by the national headquarters of the eligible organization. Applicants may only submit one proposal per category of the funding announcement. There is no cost-sharing or match requirement associated with this opportunity. The application process is conducted in two stages. Applicants must first submit the SF-424 form via Grants.gov by October 27, 2025, followed by a complete application in JustGrants by November 3, 2025. Registration in SAM.gov is required prior to application submission. The proposal must include a project abstract, a detailed narrative outlining need, goals, objectives, and design, resumes of key staff, a budget detail form, an executive summary chart, a mentoring program profile, and other supporting attachments such as timelines and organizational charts. Applicants are also required to provide assurances of compliance with federal civil rights and financial management standards. Applications will be reviewed in three stages: responsiveness screening, peer review, and financial/programmatic review. Evaluation criteria focus on problem statement, goals and objectives, project design, applicant capacity, and budget appropriateness. Final funding decisions will be made by the Assistant Attorney General. Award notifications will be issued through JustGrants, and recipients must comply with all reporting requirements, including quarterly financial reports, semiannual performance reports, and final closeout reports. For questions regarding this funding opportunity, applicants may contact the OJP Response Center at 800-851-3420 or 202-353-5556, email OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov, or access help through SAM.gov, Grants.gov, or JustGrants service desks as appropriate. The application window opens September 18, 2025, with final JustGrants submissions due November 3, 2025.

Submit SF-424 and JustGrants components at least 48 hours before deadlines. Begin SAM.gov registration no later than 10 business days before Grants.gov deadline. Include detailed logic models, organizational charts, and staff resumes. Ensure consistency between proposal narrative and mentoring program profile.