NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on the Administration of Justice: Diversion and Restorative Justice | O NIJ 2022 171225

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2022 171225

The NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on the Administration of Justice: Diversion and Restorative Justice opportunity is a discretionary research grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice. It funds rigorous research and evaluation focused on how courts and other criminal justice tools, practices, and policies affect the administration of justice and public safety across state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. The broader purpose aligns with DOJ priorities around advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, and building trust between law enforcement and communities. It also supports DOJ goals related to criminal justice reform and aligns with the NIJ Courts Strategic Research Plan (2020 to 2024).

The solicitation is organized around two main research priorities. First, NIJ seeks studies on diversion for people who experience mental health issues, which can include examining models that redirect individuals away from traditional prosecution or incarceration and toward treatment or supportive services, as well as evaluating impacts on outcomes like recidivism, case processing, well-being, service access, and system costs. Second, NIJ seeks research on restorative justice strategies, meaning approaches that emphasize accountability, repairing harm, and involving victims, offenders, and communities in structured processes. Proposals are expected to use strong research designs and produce findings that can inform policy and practice in real-world justice settings.

Partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other operational partners are strongly encouraged and come with specific documentation and planning expectations. Applications that involve agency partnerships should include a strong letter of support from an appropriate decision-making authority at each partnering agency. These letters are not meant to be generic endorsements; they must explicitly acknowledge that de-identified data connected to the project (data derived from, provided to, or obtained through the work) will be archived by the grant recipient with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the award. Applicants and partners are encouraged to review NACJD policies and protections in advance to ensure they can meet confidentiality, de-identification, and data governance expectations.

If an applicant is selected, NIJ expects the research team and partnering agencies to have a formal agreement in place by January 1, 2023. That agreement must include provisions that support the required data archiving with NACJD. The solicitation also clarifies how to structure multi-partner projects financially: only one entity can apply as the main applicant, and any additional agencies or organizations that will receive federal funds to carry out project work must be listed as subrecipients rather than co-applicants.

Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign colleges and universities are not eligible, and federal agencies are not eligible. A key funding condition is that all recipients and subrecipients, including for-profit entities, must forgo any profit or management fee, meaning the award supports allowable project costs but not profit.

A separate compliance requirement applies to projects involving law enforcement agencies. To advance Executive Order 13929 (Safe Policing for Safe Communities), state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body, or have started the certification process, to be eligible for FY 2022 DOJ discretionary grant funding. The certification standard includes two mandatory conditions: the agency use-of-force policies must adhere to applicable federal, state, and local laws, and the policies must prohibit chokeholds except where deadly force is legally permitted. This requirement also flows down to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary funding through subawards, so applicants building partnerships should confirm certification status early and consult DOJ guidance and the list of designated credentialing bodies.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include: Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2022-171225; CFDA 16.560; funding instrument type is a grant; the activity category is science and technology and other research and development; the application deadline was May 10, 2022; and the award ceiling listed is $1,000,000. Overall, the opportunity is aimed at producing credible, actionable evidence on diversion and restorative justice approaches, with an emphasis on strong partnerships, clear data-sharing commitments, and public archiving of de-identified data through NACJD.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY22 Research and Evaluation on the Administration of Justice: Diversion and Restorative Justice" 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 2022-03-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-05-10. (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 $1,000,000.00 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, Others.

Apply for O NIJ 2022 171225

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