NIJ FY23 Tribal-Researcher Capacity-Building Grants | O NIJ 2023 171631

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2023 171631

The NIJ FY23 Tribal-Researcher Capacity-Building Grants opportunity is a National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP) discretionary grant program meant to strengthen the ability of Tribal communities and their research partners to develop, carry out, and use high-quality justice-related research and evaluation. The broader policy goals tied to the solicitation are explicitly framed around advancing civil rights and racial equity, improving access to justice, supporting crime victims and people affected by the justice system, strengthening community safety, responding to evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. In practice, NIJ is looking for projects that not only produce credible evidence, but also do so in ways that respect Tribal sovereignty, elevate community priorities, and translate findings into real policy and practice improvements.

Funding is available under two main categories. First are Tribal-researcher capacity-building (TRCB) planning grants, which focus on building the foundational infrastructure needed for sustainable research partnerships and future studies. These planning awards are generally about setting up the conditions for successful work: establishing partnerships, aligning on research questions, improving readiness to collect and manage data, clarifying governance and decision-making, and preparing for later implementation research or evaluation. Second are research and evaluation proposals submitted by prior TRCB planning grantees from FY 2018, FY 2019, FY 2020, and FY 2021. This second track is designed to help earlier planning-grant teams move from preparation to action by proposing a full research or evaluation project grounded in what they learned and built during their original capacity-building award.

A central requirement of this solicitation is documented authorization for any work that involves Tribal governments and/or occurs on Tribal sovereign lands. Applications in those circumstances must include an executed Tribal resolution or executive order from the Tribal authorized representative, such as the Tribal council or Tribal government, clearly sanctioning both the partnership and the project. If the partnership involves staff within government agencies or programs that are directed and administered by a Tribal government, the solicitation emphasizes that approval must come from the appropriate governing body. For projects involving Tribally based organizations that are not governmental entities, such as a Tribal nonprofit, NIJ requires a letter of commitment from the organization’s authorized legal representative (for example, an administrator or executive director) confirming support for the partnership and the proposed work. These documentation expectations signal that NIJ is treating community governance, legitimacy, and formal consent as non-negotiable components of a compliant application.

NIJ also signals strong preferences about how projects should be designed and carried out. Special consideration is given to proposals that meaningfully engage people with lived experience related to the subject being studied. This can include justice practitioners, community members, victims of crime, service providers, and individuals who have been involved with the justice system. The solicitation encourages multidisciplinary research teams, reflecting NIJ’s interest in combining complementary methods and subject-matter expertise to produce stronger, more actionable findings. Applicants are also encouraged to explicitly consider and measure issues connected to diversity, discrimination, and bias when relevant, including across age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. In other words, NIJ is not just asking whether a program “works,” but whether it works equitably, for whom, and under what conditions.

For proposals that rely on partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other organizations that will support the research, NIJ expects formal signs of commitment. Applications should include letters of support from appropriate decision-making authorities for each partnering agency. These letters should also acknowledge NIJ’s data archiving requirement: de-identified data produced through the award must be archived 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 early so they can plan for consent, privacy protections, data use agreements, and the practical steps needed to deliver an archive-ready dataset. If an award is made, the recipient is expected to have formal agreements in place with partner agencies by January 1, 2024, and those agreements must include provisions that support meeting the data archiving obligations.

Another emphasis in the solicitation is dissemination and real-world impact. NIJ is looking for dissemination plans that are robust, creative, and multi-pronged, and that rely on strategic partnerships with organizations and associations well-positioned to move findings into policy and practice. This goes beyond publishing a final report; it implies targeted outreach, practitioner-facing products, briefings, trainings, toolkits, and ongoing engagement with the stakeholders who can implement changes. Proposals receive special consideration if they allocate at least 15 percent of the requested award amount to dissemination activities, and applicants are expected to demonstrate that commitment clearly in both the budget worksheet and the budget narrative.

The opportunity allows a wide range of applicant types, reflecting the partnership-heavy nature of the program. Eligible applicants include Tribal governments and Tribal organizations, state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including those without 501(c)(3) status), and for-profit entities other than small businesses, as well as small businesses. Even though partnerships may involve several entities, NIJ’s structure requires that only one organization applies as the official applicant; any other entities carrying out part of the work must be included as subrecipients. The lead applicant is expected to complete the majority of the proposed work, reinforcing NIJ’s expectation that the prime recipient maintains real control and capacity rather than acting as a pass-through.

Key administrative details provided include that the awarding agency is the National Institute of Justice, the funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development under CFDA 16.560. The funding opportunity number is O-NIJ-2023-171631. The original closing date listed is May 16, 2023, and the maximum award ceiling shown is $1,500,000. Overall, the solicitation is designed to support Tribal-centered research capacity and follow-on studies that are properly authorized, ethically and collaboratively designed, attentive to equity considerations, capable of producing shareable de-identified data for long-term public value, and paired with dissemination efforts strong enough to influence practice rather than sit on a shelf.

• 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 Tribal-Researcher Capacity-Building Grants" 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 2023-02-27.
• 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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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.

Apply for O NIJ 2023 171631

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