Awards of up to $250,000
Deadline: All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 30, 2018.
Forensic Science Improvement Grants for Law Enforcement Agencies
About
The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program funding is available as two separate solicitations – formula and competitive.
Register & Apply
Applicants to the competitive solicitation must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application under this solicitation.
Both State Administering Agencies (SAAs) and units of local government are eligible to apply for the competitive funds.
Full Description
With this solicitation, NIJ seeks proposals for competitive funding under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program (the Coverdell program), which awards grants to States and units of local government to help improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical examiner/coroner’s office services.
Among other things, funds may be used to eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic evidence and to train and employ forensic laboratory personnel and mediocolegal death investigators, as needed, to eliminate such a backlog.
Under the Coverdell program, State Administering Agencies (SAAs) are eligible to apply for both formula and competitive funds. Units of local government are eligible to apply for competitive funds only. This solicitation is ONLY for the competitive funds.
NIJ staff cannot have individual conversations with prospective applicants. Any questions should be submitted to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service: 1-800-851-3420; TTY at 301-240-6310 (for hearing impaired only); email [email protected]; fax 301-240-5830; or web chat https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. See also NIJ.gov’s funding FAQ page.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are limited to States (including territories) and units of local government.
State Administering Agencies (SAAs) apply on behalf of States, including any State government
entity.
For information on eligibility, see Section C. Eligibility Information.
All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or
management fee.
Grant Purposes
A State or unit of local government that receives a Coverdell grant must use the grant for one or
more of these six purposes:
- To carry out all or a substantial part of a program intended to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiner/coroner’s office services in the State, including those services provided by laboratories operated by the State and those operated by units of local government within the State.
- To eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence, including, among other things, a backlog with respect to firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence.
- To train, assist, and employ forensic laboratory personnel and medicolegal death investigators, as needed to eliminate such a backlog.
- To address emerging forensic science issues (such as statistics, contextual bias, and uncertainty of measurement) and emerging forensic science technology (such as high throughput automation, statistical software, and new types of instrumentation).
- To educate and train forensic pathologists.
- To fund medicolegal death investigation systems to facilitate accreditation of medical examiner and coroner offices and certification of medicolegal death investigators.
Federal Award Information
NIJ expects to make awards of up to $250,000, with an estimated total amount awarded of up to $2,875,000. NIJ expects to make awards for a 12-month period of performance, to begin on January 1, 2019. Applicants should be aware that the total period of an award, including one that receives a project period extension, ordinarily will not exceed three years.
All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.
Available Funding: As of the writing of this solicitation, no full-year appropriation has been enacted for the Department of Justice for FY 2018 and thus the amount (if any) that will be made available for the Coverdell program is not known. The figures and calculations reflected in this solicitation (for example, the estimated minimum award to States and the estimated amount of formula funds, by State) are based on an estimated total amount available of $11,500,000, although the amount ultimately made available could be higher or lower (or even zero). Applicants are strongly advised to check for updates to the solicitation prior to submitting applications.