NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Sentencing and Resentencing | O NIJ 2023 171637

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2023 171637

The NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Sentencing and Resentencing opportunity is a discretionary grant program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). It funds science and technology and other research and development projects intended to produce rigorous evidence about how sentencing, resentencing, and prison release frameworks affect people, communities, and public safety. The overall policy context for the solicitation is OJP's stated commitment to advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting crime victims and others impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, protecting the public from evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and communities.

At its core, NIJ is looking for strong research and evaluation proposals that can credibly answer real-world questions about the consequences of sentencing and resentencing policies and prison release decision-making. Projects should be designed to generate findings that are useful for policy and practice, not just academic insight. NIJ encourages applicants to build multidisciplinary teams, which signals a preference for proposals that combine complementary expertise (for example, quantitative policy analysis alongside qualitative fieldwork, legal scholarship, implementation science, economics, criminology, sociology, public health, or other relevant areas) so that projects can address both outcomes and the mechanisms driving them.

A major emphasis of the solicitation is meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience related to the topic being studied. NIJ notes that it will give special consideration to methods that engage, in substantive ways, groups such as justice practitioners, community members, crime victims, service providers, and individuals with justice system involvement. In practice, this points toward research designs that do more than consult stakeholders at the end; NIJ is signaling interest in approaches where lived experience informs the research questions, measures, interpretation of results, and dissemination of findings, potentially through advisory boards, community-based participatory methods, structured listening sessions, co-design of instruments, or other engagement models.

NIJ also wants applicants to explicitly consider diversity, discrimination, and bias where relevant and measurable. The solicitation highlights a range of dimensions to address as applicable, including age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. This means proposals are strengthened when they specify how disparities will be measured, how subgroup analyses will be conducted responsibly, and how the project will handle issues like differential exposure to policies, differential decision-making at key points (charging, sentencing, release), and differential post-release outcomes.

For proposals that involve partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other agencies, NIJ requires clear documentation and planning. Applications should include a letter of support from an appropriate decision-making authority at each partnering agency. Importantly, the letter must acknowledge that de-identified data derived from, provided to, or obtained through an NIJ-funded award will be archived by the grant recipient with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the project. NIJ encourages applicants and partners to review NIJ data archiving guidance ahead of time, and if the project is selected for funding, the grantee is expected to have a formal agreement in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2024. That formal agreement must include provisions to satisfy the data archiving requirement, which is a key compliance and project management expectation rather than an optional add-on.

Another central feature of the opportunity is dissemination with an implementation-oriented mindset. NIJ is seeking robust, creative, and multi-pronged dissemination plans that are built around strategic partnerships with organizations and associations that are well positioned to translate research findings into actual policy or practice changes. This goes beyond publishing papers; it suggests producing practitioner-facing tools, briefings, trainings, policy memos, convenings, or other deliverables tailored to decision-makers and affected communities. NIJ will give special consideration to proposals that dedicate at least 15 percent of the requested project funding to dissemination strategies, and applicants are expected to demonstrate that commitment explicitly in both the Budget Worksheet and Budget Narrative.

The solicitation also clarifies how multi-entity collaborations should be structured under federal grant rules. Only one entity may apply as the applicant organization, even if multiple agencies or organizations will use federal award funds to carry out the project. Any additional participating entities that will carry out substantive work using grant funds must be included as subrecipients. NIJ further notes that the applicant is expected to conduct the majority of the work proposed, which is meant to prevent an applicant from serving primarily as a pass-through while most activities occur elsewhere.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status, excluding higher education institutions in that nonprofit category); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The program is listed under CFDA 16.560 and is administered by NIJ. The opportunity number is O-NIJ-2023-171637, the original closing date was May 16, 2023, and the maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $2,000,000.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Sentencing and Resentencing" 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 2023-02-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-05-16. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have 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, Unrestricted.

Apply for O NIJ 2023 171637

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