Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women, Fiscal Year 2021 | O NIJ 2021 45009

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2021 45009

The Department of Justice, through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), offered the Fiscal Year 2021 grant opportunity titled "Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women" (Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2021-45009) to fund rigorous, independent research and evaluation aimed at reducing violence against women and improving justice system responses. The central purpose of the solicitation is to build objective evidence and validated tools that can help prevent and respond to violence against women (VAW), promote justice for victims, and strengthen criminal justice policies and practices. The scope explicitly includes violence against elderly women as well as American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, reflecting NIJ's interest in supporting work that addresses both general and population-specific challenges.

The solicitation invited proposals covering a broad range of VAW-related crimes and the systems that respond to them. Topic areas included domestic and family violence, homicide connected to VAW, intimate partner violence and dating violence, rape and sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking. NIJ made clear that applications could focus not only on the victimization itself, but also on associated criminal justice responses, procedures, and policies, such as how cases are investigated, prosecuted, adjudicated, and supported through victim services and coordinated community responses.

For FY 2021, NIJ highlighted two priority research directions. The first priority area emphasized evaluation research on VAW programs, models, and practices, meaning studies that test how well specific interventions or approaches work in real-world settings, under what conditions they work, and for whom. The second priority area was broader VAW research, which can include studies that advance understanding of VAW dynamics, risk factors, offender behavior, victim needs, system gaps, and the development or validation of tools and methods that can improve prevention and response. Across both priorities, the consistent theme was methodological rigor and practical usefulness for policy and practice.

Applicants were encouraged, but not required, to submit a non-binding letter of intent by February 8, 2021, via email to NIJFY2021VAWResearch@usdoj.gov. The application deadline (original closing date) was March 16, 2021. NIJ anticipated making about six awards, with an award ceiling of up to $2,500,000 per award, indicating support for multi-year, resource-intensive studies such as impact evaluations, large-scale data analyses, or multi-site research collaborations.

A major emphasis of the solicitation was on research partnerships, particularly with criminal justice agencies or other organizations that would provide data access, operational cooperation, or implementation sites for evaluations. Applications proposing these partnerships were expected to include strong letters of support signed by appropriate decision-making authorities from each partnering agency. Those letters needed to confirm the partner's awareness of, and agreement with, NIJ's data archiving expectations: specifically, that the grant recipient will archive de-identified project data with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the project. NIJ encouraged applicants and partners to review NACJD policies and protections in advance. If an award was made, NIJ expected grantees to have formal agreements with partnering agencies in place by January 1, 2022, and those agreements had to include provisions ensuring the project would meet the data archiving requirements. The solicitation also clarified that when multiple agencies would use federal funds to carry out the work, only one entity could be the applicant; additional partners would need to be included as subrecipients rather than co-applicants.

Eligibility was broad and included state, county, and city governments; public and independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and certain tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); and for-profit organizations, including small businesses. The funding instrument was a discretionary grant under CFDA 16.560, categorized under science, technology, and other research and development activities.

Finally, the solicitation was framed as supporting DOJ Strategic Objective 3.1: to combat violent crime, promote safe communities, and uphold the rights of victims of crime. In practical terms, NIJ was looking for studies that can credibly inform what works, what does not, and how criminal justice systems and partner organizations can better prevent VAW, hold offenders accountable, and improve outcomes for victims through evidence-based decision-making.

• 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 Violence Against Women, 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 Dec 31, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 16, 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 $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township 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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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