Federal Law Justice and Legal Services Grants

Gabon has vast natural resources in its maritime and terrestrial ecosystems that are being exploited through illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; illegal logging; and poaching. According to a 2019 report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, illegal logging costs Gabon an estimated $1 billion per year, while WildAid reports IUU fishing results in $610 million in losses per year. Objective of the grant: Raise public awareness about the devastating effects of illegal fishing, logging and encourage the community of Gabon to act against these detrimental practices. The goals of the awareness campaign on illegal fishing and logging are as follows: Raise Public Awareness: The primary goal is to educate and inform the community of Libreville and Gabon in general about the detrimental effects of illegal fishing and logging. Increase public understanding of the environmental, economic, and social consequences associated with these activities. Behavior Change: Encourage individuals to take a stand against illegal fishing and logging by adopting sustainable practices. Motivate citizens to report illegal activities, support conservation efforts, and promote responsible fishing and logging practices. Community Engagement: Foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among the community members of Libreville, and Gabon. Encourage active participation in events, workshops, and seminars that promote environmental conservation and sustainable resource management. Advocacy and Policy Support: Generate public support for stronger regulations and enforcement measures against illegal fishing and logging. Advocate for policy changes that enhance the protection of marine resources and forests in Gabon. Partnerships and Collaborations: Establish partnerships and collaborations with local organizations, government bodies, press and influencers to create a united front against illegal activities. Leverage collective efforts to maximize the campaign's impact and sustainable outcomes. Long-Term Awareness and Behavior Shift: Create a lasting impact by instilling a sense of responsibility and understanding of the importance of preserving marine resources and forests. Lay the foundation for long-term behavior change and sustainable practices among individuals and communities.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office, https://cops.usdoj.gov) is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for funding for the FY24 Safer Outcomes: Enhancing De-Escalation and Crisis Response Training for Law Enforcement Support for Law Enforcement Agencies program. The goal of this solicitation is to promote safe outcomes during police encounters with persons in crisis through relevant training. Awards under this solicitation will be made to law enforcement agencies seeking to implement training and related supports on this topic. Training is supported for law enforcement officers, support personnel employed by law enforcement agencies, and mental health professionals working on crisis intervention teams as employees of a law enforcement agency or under a legal agreement with a law enforcement agency.

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to engage in prosecutorial development and training in the Pacific Islands, particularly in the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. To this end, the FAS Prosecutorial Development (FASPro) project will work with relevant justice sector actors (e.g., ministries of justice, training institutes and law schools, bar associations, law firms, alternative courts, legislative bodies, regional and international organizations) to strengthen workforce pipelines in the legal sector in order to stimulate the development of prosecutorial offices in the FAS.

OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. With this solicitation, BJA seeks to make funding available to state agencies designated by the governor to improve the recruitment and retention of local, state, and federal public defenders and local and state prosecutors (beneficiaries). States receiving funding will administer statewide John R. Justice Programs (JRJ) programs by soliciting applications from eligible beneficiaries. Beneficiaries selected must commit to an additional three years of qualifying service in exchange for partial loan repayment directly to the beneficiarys loan service provider.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to develop and promote post-secondary and professional continuing education for child protection professionals in the field, including law enforcement officers, social workers, mental and medical health professionals, and prosecutors.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for formula funding under the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (Byrne SCIP). Byrne SCIP provides funding for the creation and/or implementation of extreme risk protection order (ERPO) programs, state crisis intervention court proceedings, and related programs/initiatives. This program furthers DOJs mission by assisting state, local, and tribal efforts to prevent or reduce crime and violence, with a particular focus on gun violence and the programs and initiatives that target the risk factors that are likely to lead to this kind of violence.

The purpose of the new RLG activity is to support LEGI in improving its planning and responsiveness to the concerns and public and private service delivery needs of their communities, making sure no group is excluded. With the new LG activity, USAID will support an inclusive and localized approach to ensure citizen accountability. Activity Goal: More effective and responsive local governance and practices. Activity Objective: To develop LEGIs as an effective, responsive, inclusive, and accountable institution to address social issues and provide quality basic services to the most marginalized. Intermediate Result-1: Strengthened LEGI capacity to be more transparent and accountable to the community and to monitor the quality of public and private services: Under this IR, the RLG activity will develop tools and practices that enable local systems to become more accountable, gender-sensitive, effective, and responsive institutions. For sustainability, RLG will work closely with the National Institution of Local Government (NILG) to incorporate successful training interventions in their curriculum (more will be explored in the LG Assessment for sustainability). Under this IR, the activity will support policy advocacy by LEGIs to encourage the national government to adopt legal and policy reforms to expand roles, authorities, and resource allocations for local governments so that they can improve service delivery by the cognizant offices. RLG will make efforts to promote e-governance practices within the LEGI and also to make them instrumental for overall e-governance practices at the community level. Through this IR, USAID intends to work with relevant local government actors to refine and institutionalize participatory practices in annual planning and budgeting for their areas. Intermediate Result-2: Improved civil society, community-based organization, and citizen participation in local decision-making and in monitoring public service delivery, including those contracted out to the private sector: This IR will work on citizen participation in local decision-making by developing Citizens Forums, including training and technical assistance to enhance the forums ability to play an effective and active role in public management oversight. The training will include immediate and ongoing opportunities over an extended period of time for participants to practice and apply their new knowledge, skills, and tools to their participation in local governance, with accompanying coaching by the RLG activity. The LG Assessment will explore existing Citizen Forums at the community level and recommend if those can be included in the RLG activity. Through the existing forums or new forums, the activity will prepare the community to participate in the annual planning and budget session and at the same time strengthen their advocacy capacity for better services. Illustrative interventions: Intermediate Result-3: Strengthened LEGI-private-sector-civil society organization (CSO) coordination to improve the quality of public and private services: Coordination among central government (both field administration and service delivery offices), CSOs and the LEGIs are crucial to ensure optimal governance at the local level. Recent studies[1] indicate that NGOs have crucial roles in improving local governance, especially during the post-pandemic era. Both LEGIs and CSOs/CBOs work very closely with citizens and, with support, can form a tight alliance to advocate for better services for the community. In doing so, this activity will strongly encourage civil society and LEGI to partner with the private sector for improving service delivery.

This program provides for the development, operation, and management of a training and technical assistance (TTA) program for justice-focused community-based organizations directly serving communities disproportionately impacted by crime, violence, and victimization. The TTA provider will facilitate the delivery of national-scale, high-quality TTA to increase the administrative, financial, and programmatic capacity of justice-focused community-based organizations designed to primarily serve historically marginalized and underserved communities, including rural communities; increase awareness of OJP funding opportunities to targeted organizations and provide skill-building and other TTA to support the ability for these organizations to apply for and maintain OJP funding, if received; improve the quality of their programming and service delivery; and build support for their infrastructure and administrative and financial controls to successfully meet OJP program goals and objectives to strengthen their role as coproducers of safety and justice.

Under the MUHR Program, BJA will provide funding to eligible entities to expand upon the reporting, transportation, processing, and identification of missing persons (MP) and unidentified human remains (UHR) cases in their jurisdictions, including migrants. This program increases public safety by providing resources to locate and identify MP and UHR in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) invites applicants who received an official request from BJA to apply for funding to continue work on a specific prior grant award. This correspondence would have been sent to applicants with instructions to apply to this solicitation. All programs will follow guidelines detailed in the original solicitation under which funding was provided. The scope, purpose, award amount, and performance period of the new project will be substantially the same as the previous one.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) invites applicants who received an official request from BJA to apply for funding to continue work on a specific prior grant award. This correspondence would have been sent to applicants with instructions to apply to this solicitation. All programs will follow guidelines detailed in the original solicitation under which funding was provided. The scope, purpose, award amount, and performance period of the new project will be substantially the same as the previous one.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to provide funding for state and local prosecutors and local law enforcement agencies who have participated in the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) to secure resources that will help reduce crime and increase public safety and trust in the criminal justice system. The grant program is open to PSP sites that have completed a minimum of two years and/or completed the program and will provide resources to assist with the implementation of the PSP strategic plan and recommendation goals resulting from PSP assessments.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to support training and technical assistance (TTA) providers assisting states to use the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) to enhance the fairness, effectiveness, and efficiency of their criminal justice system. JRIs flexible, tailored, and data-driven approach helps states identify and implement policies that are customized to address each states specific challenges and the unique structure and dynamics within each of their systems. This program reduces crime and recidivism by helping states more effectively and equitably allocate resources to address pressing criminal justice challenges and improve system outcomes.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is seeking applications for funding.OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.With this solicitation, OVC seeks applications from state agencies to establish state-run hate crime reporting hotlines designed to assist victims who might otherwise be reluctant to report hate crimes.This program furthers the DOJs mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to build on its history and leadership in addressing youth violence prevention by providing the field and practitioners with comprehensive resources and training materials through the OJJDP National Youth Violence Prevention Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program. A web-based resource hub will provide guidance to anyone seeking to implement effective and quality evidence-based programming in the specified topic areas.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks applications for funding to assist jurisdictions in planning and assessing promising and evidence-based prevention and intervention services that will inform the development of a community-based continuum of care for youth at risk of becoming or already involved in the juvenile justice system. The long-term goal of this effort is to support sustainable, research-based, and data-informed recidivism-reduction policies, practices, and programming, and the strategic reinvestment of cost savings realized through accompanying reforms into effective prevention and intervention programs for our nations youth.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to support the purchase and lease of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by publicly funded law enforcement and corrections agencies as part of comprehensive BWC programs guided by sound policy and broad stakeholder input. In addition, the solicitation seeks to support demonstration projects that advance digital evidence management, leveraging BWC digital footage to promote evidence-based and procedurally just practices in agencies with established BWC programs.

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out several projects supporting rule of law and justice sector reforms intended to enhance the timely delivery of justice for citizens of UzbekistanThe INL Empowering Defense Attorneys Initiative is an 18 month, USD500 000 project with a main goal of strengthening the professional capacities, independence, and role of defense attorneys in UzbekistanThe INL Investigative Journalism to Combat Corruption is a 18 month USD500 000 project aimed at supporting and strengthening the role of investigative journalism in promoting transparency, accountability, and uncovering systemic corruption as well as addressing existing gaps in journalism educationThe INL Supporting New Constitution Implementation is a 18 month USD500 000 project aiming to facilitate the effective implementation and integration of the reformed constitutional framework into Uzbekistan's legal, administrative, and societal structures

The Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the United States Department of State calls for an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to improve and strengthen the institutional capacities of the Colombian National Police (CNP) - Directorate of Health (DISAN) and the Directorate of Veterans and Inclusive Rehabilitation (DIVRI) to provide CNP officers and Colombian military personnel permanently injured in the course of eradication, drug interdiction, rural security, anti-terrorism and anti-drug trafficking operations; access to optimal physical and psychological rehabilitation services (functional and holistic). Additionally, the project design should implement strategies and actions aimed at making wounded and disabled Colombian military and police forces personnel, who have leadership experience in their territories, the main facilitators for providing mobility devices to disabled officers in rural areas. Applicants should expect to work collaboratively with the CNP-DICAR (Rural Police Directorate) to develop brigades, public campaigns and/or community activities that serve to connect wounded Colombian Military Personnel and CNP Officers to appropriate rehabilitative resources.

With this solicitation OJJDP seeks to provide funding for the development and implementation of comprehensive and culturally relevant training and technical assistance designed to support Tribal efforts to create, enhance, and/or sustain programs, services, and supports for youth in Tribal communities.