BJA FY 19 Innovative Prosecution Solutions for Combatting Violent Crime | BJA 2019 15225

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2019 15225

The BJA FY 19 Innovative Prosecution Solutions for Combatting Violent Crime grant opportunity is a discretionary funding program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to help state, local, and tribal prosecutor offices strengthen how they prevent, respond to, and reduce violent crime. The central idea is that prosecutors are uniquely positioned to lead coordinated, jurisdiction-wide strategies because they sit at the intersection of law enforcement, courts, community partners, service providers, and other local agencies. Through this program, BJA aims to equip prosecutor offices with practical resources, information, and training and technical assistance (TTA) so they can build more effective violent crime approaches that reflect what data shows is happening locally, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all tactics.

A major emphasis of the program is data-driven prosecution and the use of analysis to guide decision-making. Applicants are expected to use crime data and related justice system information to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in their communities, understand patterns and drivers (such as repeat locations, repeat victimization, group-related violence, firearm violence, or domestic violence dynamics), and then design prosecution strategies that target those patterns in a focused and measurable way. The opportunity encourages approaches grounded in promising practices and evidence-based prosecution, meaning strategies should be informed by research when possible and structured so they can be tested, improved, and shown to produce results.

Funded projects under this program are intended to do more than routine operations. The grant is meant to support innovative and economical responses that improve both outcomes and internal performance. This includes testing promising prevention, response, and reduction practices; implementing evidence-based interventions; and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of prosecutorial processes and procedures. In practice, this could involve redesigning case screening and charging practices using data, improving coordination with police for stronger investigations in violent crime cases, developing specialized approaches for particular violent crime categories, strengthening victim and witness engagement strategies, or improving how prosecutors prioritize and manage high-impact cases. The focus is on building solutions that can be sustained and that improve how the prosecution function contributes to community safety.

Another key feature is evaluation and partnerships with researchers. The program explicitly calls for recipients to establish sustainable partnerships with researchers to evaluate effectiveness. This signals that BJA is looking for projects that build in learning and accountability from the start, such as defining clear performance measures, tracking implementation fidelity, and assessing whether the strategy actually reduces violent crime or improves justice system performance. Rather than treating evaluation as an afterthought, the program encourages prosecutor offices to work alongside research partners to understand what is working, for whom, and under what conditions, so successful models can be replicated or scaled.

Administratively, this opportunity was offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means BJA expects substantial involvement during the project period, often through guidance, collaboration, and required reporting or participation in program activities tied to training and technical assistance. The opportunity number is BJA 2019 15225 and the CFDA number listed is 16.825. Eligible applicants included state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments, reflecting that the program is meant to reach prosecutor offices operating at different levels of government and in different community contexts.

The solicitation was created on February 12, 2019, with an original closing date of April 16, 2019. BJA anticipated making about 6 awards, with an award ceiling of $360,000 per award. Overall, the grant targets prosecutor-led innovation that uses data to drive strategy, strengthens cross-system coordination, tests and implements evidence-based interventions, improves internal prosecution operations, and builds lasting relationships with researchers to evaluate and refine violent crime solutions.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the employment, labor and training, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 19 Innovative Prosecution Solutions for Combatting Violent Crime" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.825.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 12, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 16, 2019. (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 $360,000.00 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, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for BJA 2019 15225

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