BJA FY24 Extreme Risk Protective Order and Firearm Crisis Intervention Training and Technical Assistance Initiative- Invited to Apply | O BJA 2024 172224

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2024 172224

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) FY24 Extreme Risk Protective Order and Firearm Crisis Intervention Training and Technical Assistance Initiative is a continuation cooperative agreement opportunity designed to fund training and technical assistance (TTA) providers that will help jurisdictions carrying out state crisis intervention and firearm-related violence prevention work. The core purpose is not to directly fund states to run programs, but to fund organizations that can deliver structured support, expertise, and implementation assistance to the grantees who receive funding under BJA's companion program: the FY 2024 Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) Formula Solicitation. In practical terms, this initiative is meant to strengthen how states and subrecipients stand up, improve, and sustain crisis intervention court processes and related firearm-risk interventions by giving them access to specialized guidance, tools, and training.

This TTA effort is closely tied to the SCIP Formula program, which funds states and their subrecipients to create and/or implement state crisis intervention court proceedings, extreme risk protection order (ERPO) programs, and other gun violence reduction programs or initiatives. The solicitation highlights that these funded programs may include strategies that build on existing problem-solving court models. Examples mentioned include drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans treatment courts. The intent is to leverage the established infrastructure of these courts, expand their scope where appropriate, and support more consistent assessment of risks and needs for people involved in gun-related offenses. It also emphasizes research-driven approaches that address underlying needs (such as behavioral health concerns, substance use, or other risk factors) with the goal of preventing future violence. The TTA providers funded through this opportunity would be expected to help grantees translate these concepts into workable policies, procedures, training curricula, and operational practices.

A second major driver of this opportunity is the expanded crisis intervention focus within the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, following changes made by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022. The law modified the JAG statute to explicitly include a program area focused on implementing state crisis intervention court proceedings and related programs or initiatives, including mental health courts, drug courts, veterans courts, and ERPO programs. It also added a reporting and evaluation component for grants awarded for crisis intervention programs or initiatives. Because of that, this TTA initiative is positioned not only to support SCIP recipients, but also to provide assistance relevant to JAG recipients implementing or reporting on crisis intervention and related court-based or ERPO activities. In other words, the TTA providers are expected to help jurisdictions meet both operational implementation needs and the newer reporting and evaluation expectations that come with these grant funds.

This is an invited, limited-eligibility continuation opportunity. Only applicants that received an official request from BJA to apply, specifically to continue work connected to a prior BJA grant award, are eligible. Applications will only be accepted from three named organizations: The John Hopkins University, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the National Criminal Justice Association. That structure signals that BJA is continuing or scaling existing lines of TTA work with experienced providers rather than opening competition to the broader field.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number O-BJA-2024-172224 and falls under the "Continuation" opportunity category. Awards will be made as cooperative agreements, which generally indicates substantial federal involvement in shaping, guiding, or collaborating on the project during the period of performance, rather than a more hands-off grant. The activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services, and the CFDA (assistance listing) number is 16.738. BJA expects to make three awards, with an award ceiling of $1,500,000. The original application closing date is August 5, 2024, and the opportunity was created on July 29, 2024.

Overall, the grant is best understood as infrastructure support for crisis intervention and ERPO implementation nationwide: it funds the expert organizations that will train practitioners, provide technical guidance, and help states and local partners implement effective, legally sound, and evidence-informed crisis intervention court proceedings and related firearm-risk reduction initiatives, while also helping grantees align with evolving federal requirements around reporting and evaluation.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY24 Extreme Risk Protective Order and Firearm Crisis Intervention Training and Technical Assistance Initiative- Invited to Apply" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-07-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-05. (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.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for O BJA 2024 172224

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