National Survey of Victim Service Providers (NSVSP)

• BJS-2017-11460
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking an applicant to administer the 2018 National Survey of Victim Service Providers (NSVSP). The NSVSP is part of BJS's larger Victim Services Statistical Research Program, an effort to develop a statistical infrastructure around victim services and address major gaps in our knowledge about the availability and use of services to support victims of crime or abuse. As a follow-up to the National Census of Victim Service Providers (NCVSP) (see Survey Instruments), the NSVSP will collect more detailed information on services provided, staffing, and organizational constraints from a representative sample of victim service providers (VSPs).
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 15, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are national, regional, state, or local public and private entities, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, "(including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations)" faith-based and community organizations, institutions of higher education, federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and units of local government that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Barbara Oudekerk, Statistician and Project Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NSVSP17" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 283K) | Primary Survey Instrument (PDF 924K) | Secondary Survey Instrument (PDF 925K)
  
  

2017 NCS-X Implementation Assistance Program: Phase VI - Support for Small and Medium Local Law Enforcement Agencies

• BJS-2017-12781
  The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division established and maintains the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). To generate detailed national estimates of crime known to law enforcement (LE) using the NIBRS data, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the FBI are supporting the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative. To produce statistically sound national estimates of crime, the NCS-X program will support the transition to NIBRS reporting of a carefully selected sample of 400 LE agencies nationwide. Through this solicitation, BJS seeks proposals to enable up to 67 local LE agencies in the NCS-X sample--those agencies with fewer than 750 sworn officers that are currently not reporting incident-based data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program--to report incident-based crime data to the FBI's NIBRS, either through their state UCR Program or directly to the FBI. BJS funding decisions under this solicitation will be made in coordination with and concurrence of the FBI's CJIS Division.

  The FBI has formally announced its intention to establish NIBRS as the UCR crime data reporting standard for the nation, with a complementary plan to retire the Summary Reporting System (SRS) of the UCR Program. The typical mechanism by which a local agency contributes data to NIBRS is through its "state pipeline," where agencies report their state-specific incident-based crime data to the NIBRS-certified UCR Program in their respective state, and the state agency then sends the data from all of the state's contributing agencies to the FBI. The FBI advocates the use of the state pipeline for crime data reporting, a view that BJS supports. For those instances in which a state is not able to receive incident-based data from local LE agencies, the FBI is willing to receive the incident-based data directly from a local agency until the state pipeline is in place. However, agencies are strongly encouraged to report directly to their state UCR Program whenever possible. The plan to transition local agencies to incident-based reporting (IBR) requires that local LE agencies work closely with the state UCR Program to ensure the incident-based data submitted by the local agencies meet the requirements of the state program.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 eastern time on June 30, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are sixty-seven (67) small- and medium-sized local LE agencies selected for participation in the NCS-X that: (1) are located in states in which the state UCR Programs currently have or will have by October 2017 a state IBR standard; (2) currently do not report incident-based data to their state UCR Program or to the FBI's NIBRS; (3) have not previously received funding to transition to IBR/NIBRS; and (4) are not already in the process of transitioning to IBR/NIBRS.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Alexia Cooper, NCS-X Program Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCS-X Small and Medium" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 325K) | Teleconference #1 - June 1, 2016 (Audio) | Teleconference transcript #1 (PDF 216K) | Teleconference #2 - June 1, 2016 (Audio) | Teleconference transcript #2 (PDF 103K)
  
  

2017 NCS-X Implementation Assistance Program: Phase V - Support for Large Local Agencies

• BJS-2017-11641
  The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division established and maintains the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). To generate detailed national estimates of crime known to law enforcement (LE) using the NIBRS data, BJS and the FBI are supporting the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative. To produce statistically sound national estimates of crime, the NCS-X program will support the transition to NIBRS reporting of a carefully selected sample of 400 LE agencies nationwide. Through this solicitation, BJS seeks proposals to enable the largest local LE agencies in the NCS-X sample--those agencies with 750 or more sworn officers that are currently not reporting incident-based data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program--to report incident-based crime data to the FBI's NIBRS, either through their state NIBRS-certified UCR Program or directly to the FBI. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) funding decisions under this solicitation will be made in coordination and concurrence with the FBI's CJIS Division.

  The FBI has formally announced its intention to establish NIBRS as the UCR crime data reporting standard for the nation, with a complementary plan to retire the Summary Reporting System (SRS) of the UCR Program. The typical mechanism by which a local agency contributes data to NIBRS is through its "state pipeline," where agencies report their state-specific incident-based crime data to the NIBRS-certified UCR Program in their respective state, and the state agency then sends the data from all of the state's contributing agencies to the FBI. The FBI advocates the use of the state pipeline for crime data reporting, a view that BJS supports. For those instances in which a state is not able to receive incident-based data from local LE agencies, the FBI is willing to receive the incident-based data directly from a local agency until the state pipeline is in place. The plan to transition local agencies to incident-based reporting (IBR) requires that local LE agencies work closely with the state UCR Program to ensure the incident-based data submitted by the local agencies meet the requirements of the state program.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 30, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are twenty-seven (27) local LE agencies with 750 or more sworn officers that (1) currently do not report incident-based data to their state UCR Program or to the FBI's NIBRS; (2) have had a readiness assessment completed through the NCS-X Initiative; (3) have not previously received funding to transition to IBR/NIBRS; and (4) are not already in the process of transitioning to IBR/NIBRS.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Alexia Cooper, NCS-X Program Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCS-X Local" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 405K) | Teleconference #1 - May 31, 2017 (Audio) | Teleconference transcript #1 (PDF 141K) | Teleconference #2 - May 31, 2017 (Audio) | Teleconference transcript #2 (PDF 234K)
  
  

State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers, 2017

• This program announcement describes the guidelines and requirements of the fiscal year (FY) 2017 State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program for Statistical Analysis Centers (SACs). Since 1972, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and its predecessor agency, the National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Service, have provided support to state and territorial governments to establish and operate SACs to collect, analyze, and report statistics on crime and justice to federal, state, and local levels of government and to share state-level information nationally. The information produced by SACs and their involvement in criminal justice projects are critical to federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies and community organizations as they develop programs and policies related to crime, illegal drugs, victim services, and the administration of justice.
  
  Deadline: All registrations and applications are due by 5:00 p.m. eastern time on March 15, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to Statistical Analysis Centers established by state legislation or executive order.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Devon B. Adams, Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Program by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "SJSSAC17" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 539K)
  
  

FY 2017 BJS Visiting Fellows: Criminal Justice Statistics Programs

• BJS-2017-11861
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking applications to fund one or more BJS visiting fellows to work in its Criminal Justice Statistics Programs. The purpose of this program is to address substantive, methodological, and analytic issues to enhance or inform BJS statistical programs; support the scholarly use of BJS data collections; and expand the body of policy-relevant research that uses these data to further knowledge about and understanding of the operation of the criminal justice system.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on May 4, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are individuals who have a nationally recognized research portfolio and considerable expertise in their area of proposed research. They should be willing to commit a substantial portion of their time over at least a 12-month period to undertake analyses of BJS data or statistical programs and produce at least one publishable-quality report summarizing their analysis.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Gerard F. Ramker, Deputy Director, BJS, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "2017VFCJSP" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 175K)
  
  

2017 NCS-X Implementation Assistance Program: Phase IV - Support for State Programs

• BJS-2017-11593
  In connection with its National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) program, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) seeks proposals from selected state Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programs to expand the state's capacity to report incident-based crime data to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). BJS has partnered with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, which established and maintains the NIBRS program, for this project. The FBI has formally announced its intention to establish NIBRS as the law enforcement (LE) crime data reporting standard for the nation, with a complementary plan to retire the Summary Reporting System (SRS) of the UCR Program. This will result in an increase in the number of local LE agencies reporting data to NIBRS. The typical mechanism by which a local agency contributes data to NIBRS is through its "state pipeline," where agencies report their incident-based crime data to the NIBRS-certified UCR Program in their respective state, and then the state agency sends data from all of the state's contributing agencies to the FBI. Transitioning local agencies to NIBRS reporting requires the state pipeline to be enhanced, to ensure state UCR Programs are capable of receiving and processing local incident-based crime data.

  Funding under this solicitation can be used to support activities at the state level for receiving and processing incident-based data from local LE agencies for submission to NIBRS and activities required by eligible local LE agencies in the applicant state to transition to incident-based reporting (IBR) to the state UCR Program. Funding will be provided for activities at the state level that support (1) state programs transitioning from a SRS to a system capable of receiving state-specific incident-based crime data and reporting those data in the NIBRS format to the FBI; (2) the establishment of a new state UCR Program capable of receiving state-specific incident-based crime data and reporting those data in the NIBRS format to the FBI; or (3) state programs seeking to expand the capabilities of their current NIBRS-certified component to receive and process additional incident-based crime data. States may also apply for funding to support eligible local LE agencies in the state by (1) assessing the readiness of and costs to eligible agencies to report incident-based data to the state program, and/or (2) providing funding to those agencies to transition to IBR. BJS funding decisions under this solicitation will be made in coordination and concurrence with the FBI's CJIS Division.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 30, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to agencies that oversee the state Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Programs, responsible for reporting crime data to the FBI's UCR Program, in Alaska, Arizona, or New Mexico. By mutual agreement with the state UCR Program, another agency in these states may apply for and administer funds under this solicitation. See Solicitation for complete eligibility.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Alexia Cooper, NCS-X Program Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCS-X State" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 405K) | Teleconference - May 25, 2017 (Audio) | Teleconference transcript (PDF 190K)
  
  

FY 17 National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X-State) Project: Technical Assistance and Implementation Support

• BJS-2017-12780
  The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division established and maintains the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a part of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Currently, about 6,600 of the nearly 18,000 law enforcement (LE) agencies in the United States report their crime and arrest data to the UCR in the NIBRS format. Additional agencies continue to transition to NIBRS; however, at present, data submitted by the NIBRS-reporting agencies cannot be used to generate national-level estimates of crime known to LE. To generate national estimates based on the NIBRS data, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and FBI CJIS are co-sponsoring the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative. NCS-X seeks to transition a scientifically selected sample of 400 LE agencies from across the country to NIBRS, including all of the largest agencies. Once these 400 agencies have transitioned to NIBRS reporting, NIBRS data will be sufficient to produce timely, accurate, and detailed national measures of crime and arrest needed and expected by today's LE professionals, policymakers, and the public.

  BJS seeks applications from organizations or project teams to serve as the NCS-X Implementation Team and provide implementation and technical assistance support services to NCS-X grantees, sample agencies, state UCR Programs, and other NCS-X stakeholders. This team will work closely with BJS and FBI CJIS to transition the NCS-X sample agencies to NIBRS-compliant reporting. See full solicitation for complete description.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 19, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit and for-profit organizations, organizations, and institutions of higher education. For-profit organizations (and other recipients) must forgo any profit or management fee. Eligible nonprofit organizations must be exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and have a 501(c)(3) designation.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Alexia Cooper, NCS-X Program Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCS-X TAIS" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 224K)
  
  

Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (CSFACF)

• BJS-2017-11680
  The Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (CSFACF), first fielded in 1974, is part of the larger BJS portfolio of establishment surveys that inform the nation on the characteristics of adult correctional facilities and persons sentenced to state and federal prisons. BJS's National Prisoner Statistics Program (NPS) collects aggregate counts of male and female custody and jurisdictional prison populations on December 31 each year. Through the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), BJS collects individual-level data on prisoners entering or leaving the custody of state prison systems. While NPS and NCRP describe prisoners and their characteristics, the CSFACF collects corrections data at the facility level. Data obtained are intended to describe the characteristics of community-based and confinement adult correctional facilities operated by public authorities and private contractors and allow BJS to describe the conditions in which this population is being held. The information collected informs BJS on issues such as capacity and crowding, conditions of confinement, workload, facility function, including provision of medical and mental health care, safety and security, and inmate reentry.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 19, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are national, regional, state, or local public and private entities, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community organizations, institutions of higher education, federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and units of local government that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Laura Maruschak, BJS Statistician, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov . Include "CSFACF" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 214K)
  
  

National Victimization Statistical Support Program

• BJS-2017-11480
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) seeks an agent to implement the National Victimization Statistical Support Program (NVSSP) project, which is designed to provide scientific and technical support for statistical and methodological research, statistical analyses, documentation, and dissemination related to BJS work on crime and victimization. Specifically, the NVSSP will support general methodological research related to improving the utility and cost effectiveness of BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), including the continued development of the NCVS subnational estimation program; efforts to improve the efficiency of the survey mode and sample design; efforts to enhance the ability to measure emerging crime trends and other issues related to contact with and use of the criminal and civil justice system; and continued research on improving the measurement of sensitive crime types and topics, including rape, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence. BJS intends to fund the NVSSP project through a cooperative agreement for a 3-year period.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 24, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are national, regional, state, or local private entities, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community organizations, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. For-profit organizations must forgo any profit or management fee.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Grace Kena, BJS Statistician, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NVSSP" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 369K)
  
  

FY 2017 BJS Faculty Research Fellowship Program in Criminal Justice Statistics

• BJS-2017-11501
  Through this competitive solicitation the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking a non-profit professional or scientific membership organization to administer a BJS- sponsored Faculty Research Fellowship Program. The ultimate goal of the fellowship program is to increase the pool of researchers using criminal justice statistical data generated by BJS, thereby contributing solutions that better prevent and control crime and help ensure the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States. The research fellowships envisioned will be relatively small-scale projects that can be completed within 6 months.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on March 2, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are non-profit professional or scientific membership organizations based in the United States whose members pursue scholarly, scientific, and professional knowledge concerning the measurement, etiology, consequences, prevention, control, and treatment of crime and delinquency. The organization should also have a history of promoting criminal justice education, scholarly research and policy analysis.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Dr. Gerard F. Ramker, Deputy Director, BJS by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "2017FRFPCJS" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 275K)
  
  

FY 2017 National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP)

• BJS-2017-11621
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is publishing this notice to announce the continuation of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) in fiscal year (FY) 2017, identify the program priorities, and provide information on application requirements.

  The NCHIP grant program aims to improve the nation's safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information and by ensuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and noncriminal justice background check systems.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 5, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: The NCHIP application must be submitted by the agency designated by the governor to administer the NCHIP program or a federally recognized Indian tribe. States and tribes may choose to submit applications as part of a multi-state consortium, multi-tribe consortium, or other entity.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Devon B. Adams, Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Program, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCHIP17" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 313K)
  
  

FY 2017 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

• BJS-2017-11590
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is publishing this notice to announce the continuation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) in fiscal year (FY) 2017, identify the program priorities, and provide information on application requirements.

  The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 (NIAA or the Act), was signed into law on January 8, 2008, in the wake of the April 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech shooter was able to purchase firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) because information about his prohibiting mental health history was not available to the NICS, and the system was therefore unable to deny the transfer of the firearms used in the shootings. The NIAA seeks to address the gap in information available to NICS about such prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments, and other prohibiting factors. Filling these information gaps will better enable the system to operate as intended to keep guns out of the hands of persons prohibited by federal or state law from receiving or possessing firearms. The automation of records will also reduce delays for law-abiding persons to purchase firearms.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 19, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to (a) the agency designated by the Governor to administer the NARIP, (b) the state or territory central administrative office or similar entity designated by statute or regulation to administer federal grant funds on behalf of the jurisdiction's court system, or (c) federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Devon B. Adams, Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Program, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NARIP17" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 293K)
  
  

FY 2017 Graduate Research Fellowship Program for Criminal Justice Statistics

• BJS-2017-11485
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking applications under its Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) Program. This program provides awards to accredited universities for doctoral research that uses BJS's criminal justice data or statistical series and focuses on crime, violence, and other criminal justice-related topics. BJS invests in doctoral education by supporting universities that sponsor students who demonstrate the potential to complete doctoral degree programs successfully in disciplines relevant to the mission of BJS, and who are in the final stages of graduate study. The primary goal of this solicitation is to increase the pool of researchers using criminal justice statistical data generated by BJS, thereby contributing solutions that better prevent and control crime and help ensure the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States.

  Applicant institutions sponsoring doctoral students are eligible to apply if the doctoral research dissertation has direct implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States. BJS encourages institutions to consider sponsoring qualified doctoral students from social and behavioral sciences, mathematics, or statistics for their applications. Applicant institutions are strongly encouraged to sponsor minority and female student candidates. Awards are anticipated to be made to successful applicant institutions in the form of a grant to cover a doctoral student fellowship. Awards are anticipated to be made to successful applicant institutions on behalf of the sponsored doctoral student. Awards will not exceed the amount of $45,000. Awarded funds are to be used to cover all allowable expenses over the project period. Additional funds will not be provided (see B. Federal Award Information). If the doctoral student's dissertation is not completed and delivered to BJS within 5 years from the date of the fellowship award, the academic institution may be required to return the full award amount to BJS. The Director of BJS will make final award decisions.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on February 24, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to degree-granting educational institutions in the United States. To be eligible, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Historically black colleges and universities historically black colleges and universities, and Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal universities are encouraged to apply for a fellowship.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Dr. Gerard F. Ramker, Deputy Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "2017GRFPCJS" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 375K)
  
  

Census of Medical Examiners and Coroners' Offices

• BJS-2017-12660
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in collaboration with the National Institute of Justice, seeks applications for the administration of the 2018 Census of Medical Examiners and Coroners' Offices (CMEC). The new census will obtain and update information about operations, workload (including backlogs), staffing, training, policies, and procedures of approximately 2,400 medical examiners and coroners' (ME/C) offices that are responsible for providing medicolegal death investigation (MDI) services to America's criminal justice system. Among other responsibilities, the recipient of funds will act as the data collection agent, update the roster of ME/C offices, revise and update the previous data collection instrument as necessary, administer the 2018 census, and transmit final deliverables and data files to BJS.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 24, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are national, regional, state, or local public and private entities, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community organizations, institutions of higher education, federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and units of local government that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. For-profit organizations must forgo any profit or management fee.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Connor Brooks, BJS Statistician, by telephone at 202-307-0765 or by email at AskBJS@usdoj.gov. Include "CMEC" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 537K)
  
  

National Inmate Survey (NIS-4) 2018-19

• BJS-2017-12782
  On September 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-79)("PREA," or "the Act"). The Act requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to "carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape." The Act further instructs BJS to collect survey data: "the Bureau shall...use surveys and other statistical studies of current and former inmates...." The law was passed in part to overcome a shortage of available research on the incidence and prevalence of sexual violence in correctional facilities.

  To implement the Act, BJS developed the National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which includes four separate data collection efforts: the Survey of Sexual Victimization (SSV, formerly Survey of Sexual Violence), National Inmate Survey (NIS), National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), and National Former Prisoner Survey (NFPS).

  Each of these collections is independent and, while not directly comparable, they provide measures of the prevalence and characteristics of sexual assault in correctional facilities. The SSV collects information about incidents of sexual violence reported to and investigated by adult and juvenile correctional authorities and characteristics of substantiated incidents. The NIS collects allegations of sexual assault self-reported by adult and juvenile inmates in correctional facilities. The NSYC gathers self-reported sexual assault data from youth in juvenile correctional facilities. The NFPS measures allegations of sexual assault experienced during a person's last incarceration, as reported by former inmates under community active supervision.

  This award will provide funding through a cooperative agreement for a collection agent to administer the fourth round of the NIS (NIS-4). The NIS is an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) instrument administered to inmates in correctional facilities to measure the prevalence of sexual assault at the facility level. Project activities include drawing a national sample of federal and state-operated prison facilities and privately operated prison facilities that house inmates under federal or state jurisdiction; administering the survey to sampled inmates in these facilities; and conducting all data collection, analyses, and reporting activities.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 26, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are national, regional, state, or local public and private entities, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community organizations, institutions of higher education, federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and units of local government that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. For-profit organizations must forgo any profit or management fee.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Jessica Stroop, BJS Statistician, by telephone at 202-307-0765 or by email at AskBJS@usdoj.gov. Include "NIS-4" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF) | Recommendations for Updating the NIS Prison Frame (PDF 156K) | Sample Design Evaluation and Recommendations (PDF 370K)
  
  

Federal Justice Statistics Analytical Support Program

• BJS-2017-127000
  The Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) collects, standardizes, and publishes statistics about the federal response to crime and the operation of the federal criminal justice system. The FJSP produces annual standard analysis files (SAFs), which document the federal criminal case processing stages from arrest to prosecution, pretrial release, adjudication, sentencing, appeals, and corrections. The FJSP also produces linking files that permit analysis of defendants and cases across stages of the federal criminal justice system. With this solicitation, BJS seeks an agent to implement the Federal Justice Statistics Analytical Support Program (FJSASP) project. This project is designed to provide scientific and technical support to BJS for methodological research, statistical analysis, and the generation of statistical reports using data from the FJSP. In addition, the FJSASP will work with BJS to identify additional sources of data to further enhance the FJSP (e.g., immigration enforcement and court statistics, enforcement data from federal regulatory agencies, civil data from the federal courts, and staffing and budget statistics).

  There are three priority areas for this project: (1) using the FJSP data to address pressing substantive questions about the federal justice system through the production of statistical reports, (2) assessing the strengths and shortcomings of the FJSP data for federal criminal justice statistical reporting purposes and proposing and implementing methodological solutions to address deficiencies, and (3) identifying and assisting to integrate outside data sources with FJSP data files.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on August 7, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to for-profit (commercial) organizations, nonprofit organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), faith-based and community organizations, and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). For-profit organizations (as well as other recipients) must forgo any profit or management fee.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Mark Motivans, BJS Statistician, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "2017FJSASP" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 488K)
  
  

2017 NCS-X NIBRS Estimation Project

• BJS-2017-12800
  The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division established and maintains the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a part of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Currently, about 6,600 of the nearly 18,000 law enforcement (LE) agencies in the United States report their crime and arrest data to the UCR in the NIBRS format. Additional agencies continue to transition to NIBRS; however, at present, data submitted by the NIBRS-reporting agencies cannot be used to generate national- level estimates of crime and arrest known to law enforcement. To generate national estimates based on NIBRS data prior to the full transition of all of the nearly 18,000 LE agencies, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and FBI CJIS are cosponsoring the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) Initiative. NCS-X seeks to transition to NIBRS a carefully selected sample of 400 LE agencies from across the country, including all of the largest LE agencies. Once these 400 agencies have transitioned to NIBRS reporting and their data are combined with data from LE agencies already reporting to NIBRS, NIBRS data will be sufficient to produce the timely, accurate, and detailed national measures of crime and arrest needed and expected by today's LE professionals, policymakers, and the public.
  
  Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on August 25, 2017.
  
  Eligibility: Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit and for-profit (commercial) organizations (including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). For-profit organizations (as well as other recipients) must forgo any profit or management fee. Eligible nonprofit organizations must be exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and have a 501(c) (3) designation.
  
  Contact Information: For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact Kimberly Martin, Grant Manager, by telephone at 202-307-0765, or by email at askbjs@usdoj.gov. Include "NCS-X NIBRS Estimation Project" in the subject line.
  
  Full solicitation in PDF format (PDF 599K)
  
  

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