Federal Law Justice and Legal Services Grants

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) is pleased to invite eligible organizations to submit applications for a grant to conduct explosive hazards survey and clearance operations as well as deliver explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) in Iraq during fiscal year 2024. Specific goals, objectives, and technical requirements for application packages are detailed below. PM/WRA anticipates awarding up to $4,000,000 under this funding opportunity.

The purpose of this award is to help EXBS partners in the Western Hemisphere build capacity to implement and enforce strategic trade controls and related mechanisms (e.g., foreign direct investment screening regimes) to mitigate proliferation risks.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to provide funding to communities to develop coordinated and comprehensive community-based approaches to help children and their families who are exposed to violence build resilience, restore their safety, heal their social and emotional wounds, and prevent future violence and delinquency. Funding can be used to develop and/or enhance support services for children exposed to violence to reduce the adverse impact of violence on youth, families, and communities, and to help family-serving organizations better recognize and help families at risk for exposure to violence.

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to increase judicial transparency, independence, and efficiency in Mongolia.

Nigeria is ranked 8th most impacted country by terrorism globally according to the 2023 Global Terrorism index. Groups like ISIS West Africa (ISIS-WA) and Boko Haram have committed horrendous atrocities like massacres and mass killings, use of sexual violence and enslavement, suicide bombings, abductions, and forced conscription. These atrocities, especially in Nigerias northern region, have caused widespread fear among citizens, worsened a humanitarian crisis, and increased gross violations of human rights. To hold the perpetrators of these atrocities accountable, Nigerias Federal Ministry of Justice has assigned the prosecution of terrorism and atrocities cases to the ministrys Complex Case Group. Furthermore, the Federal High Court of Nigeria, which has jurisdiction over terrorism cases, has assigned a number of judges to adjudicate these cases. Nigerias Legal Aid Council (LACON) also provides defense to the persons charged with committing atrocities. In addition to these, the National Human Rights Commission is tasked with the responsibility of promoting and protecting human rights and the investigation of human rights violations. Thousands of terrorism cases in Nigeria remain backlogged. The backlog results from prosecutors and judges limited knowledge of prosecuting atrocities cases. Existing cases languish because of institutional administrative problems, including Nigerian judges transcribing court proceedings by hand, resulting in delays and errors. Lawyers at the Legal Aid Council also have limited specialized training which contributes to delays in the process and lack of proper defense for suspects. Detainees are kept in government detention facilities located at significant distances from the government officials responsible for the prosecution, defense and judgements, creating significant logistical challenges. Poor case management, disorganized court administration, and a lack of coordination between the Complex Case Group, Federal High Court, and the Joint Investigative Center (the unit responsible for investigating terrorism cases comprised of military, police and state security service investigators) further impede progress on atrocity cases.

Through the new Civil Society Activity in the Kyrgyz Republic, USAID/Kyrgyz Republic will support Kyrgyz civil society to build stronger relationships with their constituencies, enhance their resilience in the face of democratic backsliding, strengthen trust-based relationships and networks among diverse civic actors, andgenerate support for promotion of democratic values through value-based messaging.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to provide funding to communities to develop intervention and supervision services for youth with problematic or illegal sexual behavior, and to provide treatment services for their victims and families/caregivers. Under this initiative, successful applicants are expected to have an established multidisciplinary team that (1) supports a comprehensive holistic approach to treating youth with problematic or illegal sexual behavior and (2) provides support services to victims and families/caregivers.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to support the development and dissemination of translational tools and resources current knowledge about what works packaged in accessible, comprehensible, actionable form for use by everyday youth serving (nonresearcher) practitioners, and lay persons to effect and sustain positive change on key topics spanning the juvenile justice continuum in order to improve the juvenile justice system and prevent juvenile delinquency.

There are over 3,100 local jails and 80 Indian country jails in the United States with a combined population on any given day of over 660,000 people. While these facilities vary drastically in size and age, the leaders of these facilities have more in common than not. Large or small, rural, or urban, the vast majority face the same challenges: staffing, succession planning, training, culture, resource shortages, data analysis, health care, substance abuse disorders, mental illness, facility design and operations, and early identification of trends and emerging issues within their populations, to name a few. And while there are commonalities among the many, the responsibility to the public for the life, health, and safety of the people in their custody and their employees while administering a constitutionally run jail is considerable and common to all.The Institute for Jail Administration (IJA) provides training to personnel in positions of leadership within local or tribal organizations responsible for operating a jail or that have a nexus to jail operations. The IJA assists them as leaders within their organizations and equips them to manage essential aspects of administering a jail and prepares them for positions of greater responsibility.

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to create and provide state and local criminal justice policy teams or pretrial services agencies with an implementation toolkit using A Framework for Pretrial Justice: Essential Elements of a Pretrial System and Agency Implementation. Some pretrial essential elements may need revisions based on changes in case law, state statutes, research evidence, standards, and organizational theory/implementation science. This new toolkit will be called Essential Elements of a Pretrial System and Agency Toolkit. The foundation for the development of the Essential Elements of a Pretrial System and Agency Toolkit shall be based on four elements: (1) the law, (2) pretrial standards adopted by the ABA and NAPSA, (3) pretrial system/services research and LEBP, and (4) organizational theory/implementation science. NIC supports the use of policy teams or other collaborative criminal justice teams to achieve meaningful and sustained pretrial system and agency improvements. The awardee is encouraged to leverage NICs Evidence-Based Decision Making (EBDM) and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council resources with the development of the Essential Elements of a Pretrial System and Agency Toolkit.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for formula funding. With this solicitation, BJA seeks to fund improvements to forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services, including services provided by forensic science laboratories operated by states and units of local government. Under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program (the Coverdell Program), state administering agencies (SAAs) may apply for both formula and competitive funds. This solicitation is ONLY for SAAs applying for the formula funds. An applicant seeking to apply for Coverdell competitive funds (consistent with 34 U.S.C. 10563(a)(2)) available to eligible states and units of local government would need to apply separately under BJAs FY 2024 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program (Competitive) solicitation.

With this solicitation, BJA seeks to support efforts by state, local, and federally recognized American Indian tribal governments to establish and enhance community courts in their jurisdictions. This program furthers the DOJs mission by providing resources to communities to enhance public safety and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks applications for funding to support cross-system collaboration to improve responses and outcomes for youth under the age of 18 or youth under the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system with mental health disorders (MHD) or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (MHSUDs) who come in contact with the juvenile justice system. This program supports public safety efforts through partnerships with youth justice, mental health, and substance use agencies to enhance responses to justice-involved youth with MHD and MHSUDs.

Open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to create a trusted judicial advocacy network, modeled after the American Inns of Court, that furthers professionalism, integrity, and mutual respect among peers in North Macedonias legal community. Through this network, members will learn from one another and through targeted training and other opportunities to promote judicial independence, thereby contributing to strengthening rule of law.

The purpose of the Research and Evaluation (R) Initiative is to research and evaluate approaches to combatting domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking (hereafter referred to as VAWA crimes). By generating more knowledge about strategies for serving victims and holding offenders accountable, communities that benefit from VAWA funding will be better equipped to align their work with practices that are known to be effective, and they will be more capable of generating empirical knowledge on the efficacy of new and promising ways of doing things. The initiative is designed to support researcher-practitioner partnerships and a broad range of research and evaluation methods, including qualitative, mixed-method, quasi-experimental, and experimental designs. Because OVW has very limited funds to support research and evaluation, this initiative prioritizes topics for which a stronger evidence base would help OVW grantees use federal funds most effectively.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nations state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. The 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 FY 24 Tribal Resources Grant Program Technical Assistance (TRGP-TA) Alaska Tribal Law Enforcement Technical Assistance Project. FY24 TRGP-TA funds will be used to support technical assistance efforts to assist Alaska Tribes with law enforcementspecific needs, including starting law enforcement agencies, developing policies and procedures, addressing jurisdictional challenges, and other needs unique to Alaska Tribes and tribal law enforcement. Program funds will also support the development of a current State of Tribal Law Enforcement in Alaska report with an assessment of tribal law enforcement services and needs, challenges, areas of greatest need, and any unique barriers. The assessment will help shape technical assistance offered under the program along with areas for the COPS Office to focus on in future efforts.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to provide support to CACs through a variety of subgrant assistance designed to enhance effective interventions in child abuse cases. CACs provide a coordinated response to child abuse victims through multidisciplinary teams composed of representatives from the agencies involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that respond to child abuse.

The USAID funded Libya EVER Activity is a new five-year activity whose goal is to improve the effectiveness of key Libyan institutions and build the capacity of a diverse set of Libyan actors to advance the democratic political transition, including national and local elections, and support a stronger more inclusive democratic culture in Libya. The Libya EVER Activity (The Activity) has two main objectives: Objective 1: Strengthen Libyas election institutions and government stakeholders to carry out credible electoral and political processes at the local and national levels Objective 2: Empower the diversity of Libyas citizens and civil society to advance the democratic process in Libya.

The Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to build the Kingdom of Jordans ability to screen for, identify, and counter the illicit transfer of weapons, explosives, and related materials efficiently and effectively.

With this solicitation, OJJDP seeks to address the needs of minor children with incarcerated parents by providing training and technical assistance to organization funded by OJJDP to work with this population.