Research and Evaluation on a National Model for Technical Violations, Fiscal Year 2021 | O NIJ 2021 99001

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2021 99001

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), within the U.S. Department of Justice, offered this Fiscal Year 2021 grant to support research and evaluation aimed at improving how the justice system responds to "technical violations" of probation or parole. Technical violations are supervision rule breaches (for example, missing an appointment or failing a drug test) that are not new criminal offenses, yet they can still trigger revocation proceedings and lead to jail or prison time. The core idea behind the solicitation is to develop and test a national model that speeds up judicial review for people being held or facing revocation because of technical violations, while also connecting them to proven, evidence-based services that address underlying drivers of repeat involvement in the system, such as substance use, mental health needs, housing instability, or unemployment. In short, NIJ was looking for rigorous, actionable research that both improves court and supervision processes and reduces recidivism by tackling root causes rather than relying primarily on detention.

Eligibility was tightly limited to accredited academic institutions. NIJ explicitly stated that applications from entities other than accredited colleges or universities would not be accepted. The opportunity category was discretionary and the funding instrument was a grant, listed under the research and development/science and technology activity area. Eligible applicants included public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education, with the key condition being accreditation. The solicitation anticipated making a single award, with a maximum award amount (ceiling) of $4,000,000, indicating NIJ intended to fund one major, nationally relevant project rather than several smaller efforts.

A major emphasis of the solicitation was on practical partnerships and real-world implementation. While the applicant had to be an accredited academic institution, NIJ encouraged research designs that involved partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other relevant organizations (such as courts, community supervision agencies, jails, service providers, or local government partners). If an application proposed such partnerships, NIJ required a strong letter of support from each partnering agency, signed by an appropriate decision-making authority. This requirement signals that NIJ wanted more than informal cooperation; it wanted evidence that leadership at partner agencies was committed to participating, sharing data, and supporting the evaluation work needed to test an expedited judicial review model and service linkage strategy.

Data sharing and long-term data stewardship were also central requirements. Partner letters of support had to specifically acknowledge that de-identified data produced through the project would be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the award. NIJ also encouraged applicants and partners to review NACJD policies and protections, reinforcing that archiving is not a casual add-on but a planned deliverable with privacy and governance expectations. Beyond letters of support, NIJ stated that if an award was made, the grantee would be expected to have formal agreements in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2022, and those agreements had to include language that ensures the project can meet the required data archiving obligations. This effectively made early, written interagency coordination a condition of successful project launch.

The solicitation also clarified how multi-agency funding arrangements needed to be structured. Even if multiple agencies were involved in carrying out the project and using federal award funds, only one entity could be the applicant, consistent with standard federal grant rules. Any other participating entities that would receive or spend federal funds had to be listed and managed as subrecipients rather than co-applicants. This matters for budgeting, oversight, reporting responsibilities, and compliance, because the primary grantee (the academic institution) would be accountable for ensuring subrecipients follow federal grant requirements and that the overall project meets NIJ expectations.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on May 3, 2021, with an original application closing date of June 10, 2021, under Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2021-99001 and CFDA 16.560. Taken together, the solicitation reflects DOJ and NIJ priorities around civil rights, access to justice, public safety, and trust in the justice system, translated into a targeted research agenda: reduce unnecessary detention and delays for technical violations, improve fairness and efficiency in revocation decision-making, and pair supervision responses with interventions that have evidence behind them, all while producing high-quality findings and shareable data that can support future policy and practice nationwide.

• 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 "Research and Evaluation on a National Model for Technical Violations, Fiscal Year 2021" 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 May 03, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 10, 2021. (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 $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O NIJ 2021 99001

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