The transition from justice system involvement back into society is fraught with challenges. Reducing recidivism, providing second chances, expanding opportunity and ending the cycle of crime and confinement require a willingness to invest in community-based solutions, including treatment and other services for individuals with behavioral health disorders, a challenge given particular urgency by the continued rise in overdose deaths in America.

Over the last two years, the Office of Justice Programs has made substantial investments in programs that support partnerships between justice system officials, health and mental health professionals, and community providers designed to reduce arrests, divert individuals from the justice system and deliver treatment and other support to those in need. We have also continued our long-standing commitment to community reintegration by providing funding for adult and juvenile reentry programs.

We are renewing and building on those investments this year with programs focused on building our capacity to respond to behavioral health disorders while reducing the burden on law enforcement, including the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program, our Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program and its companion effort, Connect and Protect, and a collaborative crisis response training initiative.

This year’s solicitations continue our robust investments in treatment strategies through substance use recovery and treatment services, adult treatment courts, veteran treatment courts and community courts, aided by a program designed to provide wide-ranging assistance and support to treatment courts. We are also soliciting applications to collect, analyze and disseminate data on opioids, stimulants and other substances.

We continue our steady commitment to reentry programming through the Second Chance Act Community-Based Reentry Program, adding a new community incubator program that will fund intermediary organizations to deliver both subawards and technical assistance to smaller reentry providers. New opportunities are available to address education and employment outcomes for returning individuals, improve community supervision approaches and support performance- and outcome-based strategies through a pay-for-success program. And we will once again support wide-ranging training and assistance through the National Reentry Resource Center.

We encourage you to explore these opportunities and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership as we work to provide safe alternatives to arrest and incarceration, address the needs of those who come into contact with the justice system and help individuals make a successful transition back into their communities.

Over the past two decades, juvenile justice reform efforts designed to intervene in young people’s lives with developmentally appropriate strategies have helped make communities safer by holding young people accountable, providing opportunities for development and reducing reoffending.

The Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is making critical investments in programs that are designed to make youth contact with the system rare, fair and beneficial. We are working to expand alternatives to detention and incarceration, whenever possible, by focusing on community-based alternatives that advance community safety, reduce reoffending, and keep young people connected to their homes and communities. We are supporting evidence-based juvenile justice reforms and reinvestments designed to reduce reoffending and racial disparities and improve outcomes for youth.

OJJDP will fund proposals to address the unique needs of girls in the juvenile justice system, expand the network of effective mentoring programs throughout the nation and help jurisdictions lower the barriers to success by sealing or expunging juvenile justice records.

We hope you will explore these offerings and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership as we work to make our country safer for our children and expand the horizon of opportunity for all our young people.

New data from the FBI show that hate crimes rose almost 12% in 2021. We share in the collective responsibility to root out prejudice and ensure that hate and bias do not find expression in violence or other harms. The Office of Justice Programs and the Department of Justice are working to extend our resources into communities that have been targeted by hate and support their efforts to prevent the violence and other acts of hate fomented by racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and religious intolerance.

Over the last two years, we have awarded more than $32 million in grants to address the rise in hate crimes. These grants help improve the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes, expand services to hate crime victims and support research and evaluation to bring a better understanding of the nature of hate crime offending and victimization.

We have recently issued a slate of solicitations that build on these investments. We are looking for applications to support comprehensive community-based approaches to preventing and addressing hate crimes. We are continuing our commitment to improving the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes and cold cases through the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program and the Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations and Prosecution Program.

The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act authorized funding for new state hate crimes hotlines. And we have opened a solicitation for rigorous research and evaluation projects to better understand efforts to prevent hate crimes.

We encourage you to explore these offerings and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership as we work together to bridge the gaps of empathy, root out intolerance in all its forms and send a clear message that the future belongs to every American.

Gun violence has taken a massive toll on American society. Between inhumane acts of mass homicide and the senseless murders that occur every day in communities across the nation, families regularly face the fear that they or a loved one may become the next victims. Historically marginalized communities and neighborhoods with the least resources have been hit the hardest.

The Office of Justice Programs is investing unprecedented, dedicated resources in programs designed to reduce gun crime and community violence. Last September, we awarded $100 million in grant funding under our Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative to support site-based programs, training, technical assistance and research across the country. This is the largest targeted federal investment in these strategies in history.

We are building on these investments with new solicitations focused on a range of efforts designed to advance public safety, reduce violent crime and increase community trust. OJP will continue its historic commitment to community violence intervention and prevention through both site-based programs and research and evaluation projects. A trio of offerings support cornerstone public safety efforts, including Project Safe Neighborhoods, the National Public Safety Partnership and the national network of crime gun intelligence centers.

Opportunities are available to support innovative evidence-based policing and prosecution practices under our Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Smart Suite. Solicitations are designed to support small and rural law enforcement agencies, help police address cybercrime and expand the ranks of women in the law enforcement profession. Funding will help jurisdictions prevent school violence and deliver training and technical assistance to recipients of STOP School Violence grants. Finally, we will continue our long-standing support of state and local public safety efforts under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants program.

We encourage you to consider applying for these funding opportunities and share them with your networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to working with you to strengthen our communities, break the cycle of trauma and violence, and achieve a just and equitable society for all Americans.

A fair and equitable system of justice is one that honors the needs, respects the rights and elevates the voices of all crime victims. The Office of Justice Programs remains committed to working with states and with local and tribal communities to provide trauma-informed, victim-centered and culturally responsive services to survivors and to prevent further victimization by the system.

In addition to funding thousands of local victim assistance organizations and victim compensation programs in every state and territory and the District of Columbia, OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime is supporting innovative efforts designed to interrupt the cycle of trauma and victimization and expand access to high-quality victim services in historically marginalized and underserved communities.

This year, OVC has opened new funding opportunities to build the capacity of victim service programs and widen the reach of services. OVC initiatives will deepen expertise and improve cultural responsiveness through fellowships, peer-to-peer support networks and professional development programs in tribal communities. We will also solicit field-generated proposals to help close the gap between victims’ needs and available services.

We encourage you to explore these offerings and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to working with you to meet the needs of crime victims throughout America.

Proven and sustainable public safety strategies rest on a solid foundation of evidence. The Office of Justice Programs is committed to building a strong infrastructure of research and data to help meet the most pressing safety and justice challenges our communities are facing.

Recent investments from our science components—the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics—are helping to drive innovation and reform in the criminal justice arena. NIJ’s focus on inclusive research—grounding scientific investigation in the insights and experiences of practitioners—and BJS’s strong and steady commitment to data collection on a host of crime and justice topics are bringing greater clarity to the complex public safety issues facing Americans today.

This year, NIJ is inviting proposals to deliver insights on some of the biggest challenges of our time, including firearms violence and mass shootings and police accountability and officer wellness. Open solicitations seek to study racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system and the impact of court tools, practices and policies on indigent defense services in light of the 60^th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. New opportunities are also available to add to the body of empirical knowledge around jails and to develop our nation’s forensic capacity.

We encourage you to explore these and other offerings and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to working with you to put science at the center of public safety in America.

Public safety and equal justice are twin goals, each reinforcing the other. The Office of Justice Programs has been working across its program offices to advance reforms that promote community safety while promoting racial equity and improving access to justice.

In his budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2024, President Biden , proposed $15 billion over 10 years to support reforms aimed at curbing unnecessary arrest and incarceration, expanding justice system alternatives and reducing racial disparities.

The ambitious Accelerating Justice System Reform initiative is described in the Safer America Plan. At OJP, work is well underway to create an ecosystem of evidence-based prevention, intervention and diversion programs that can build stronger, safer communities while achieving more equitable outcomes. Our commitment is reflected in many of the funding solicitations we have announced for fiscal year 2023.

New opportunities are available to support a wide range of reform efforts, including family-based diversion and alternative justice programs, technical assistance to jurisdictions seeking to move away from policies and practices focused on fees and fines, and educate and train the field in restorative justice practices. We continue to reimagine justice by soliciting proposals that expand safety solutions designed and led by communities.

Solicitations will open for field-generated proposals and training and technical assistance for Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation sites, all in an effort to empower communities as co-producers of safety and justice.

We encourage you to consider applying for these funding opportunities and share them with your colleagues and networks. Some solicitations are now open, while others will be posted in the coming days and weeks. Please click here for more information about OJP funding opportunities.

Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to continuing our work together as we reimagine public safety, advance racial equity and expand access to justice for all Americans.