BJA FY24 Second Chance Act Community-based Reentry Incubator Initiative | O BJA 2024 172081

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2024 172081

The BJA FY24 Second Chance Act Community-based Reentry Incubator Initiative is a discretionary federal grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to strengthen community-based reentry services by investing in organizations that can act as both funders and capacity-builders. Rather than primarily funding direct service providers one-by-one, BJA is looking for a small number of strong nonprofit organizations to function as financial intermediaries. These intermediaries would receive federal funds and then make subawards to multiple community-based reentry programs (the subawardees). Alongside subgrantmaking, the intermediaries are expected to provide structured support using an "incubator" model, meaning hands-on assistance meant to help smaller or developing reentry organizations grow their internal capability, stability, and overall organizational capacity.

At its core, the opportunity is about improving the effectiveness and readiness of local reentry providers by pairing money with sustained technical support. Community-based reentry programs often have strong community ties and practical knowledge of what justice-involved people need, but they may lack back-office infrastructure, consistent funding systems, evaluation capacity, strong governance, or compliance experience required to scale services and manage federal funds. Under this initiative, the intermediary organization is meant to help close those gaps. The incubator-style support typically implies a more intensive approach than basic technical assistance: structured coaching, tools and templates, training, peer learning opportunities, and ongoing problem-solving focused on areas such as program design, financial management, performance measurement, strategic planning, partnership building, and readiness for future public funding.

The program aligns with the Department of Justice mission by focusing on safer communities and civil rights through improved reentry outcomes. In practical terms, stronger reentry organizations can help reduce recidivism, stabilize individuals returning from incarceration, and support access to services like housing, employment, behavioral health care, substance use treatment, and other supports that reduce the likelihood of reoffending. By building the strength of community-based organizations, the initiative aims to make reentry services more consistent, more accountable, and more sustainable over time, including in communities that may be underserved or disproportionately impacted by the justice system.

This solicitation is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates a more active federal role during the award period compared to a standard grant. Cooperative agreements often involve ongoing coordination with BJA, including collaboration on implementation approaches, reporting expectations, and possibly participation in learning communities or other DOJ-directed activities. The funding activity category is listed as Humanities in the source data, though the administering agency and program focus clearly sit within criminal justice and reentry.

Eligibility is limited to nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, excluding institutions of higher education. The expectation is that the selected nonprofits will have the capacity to responsibly manage a large federal award, administer a subaward process, monitor subrecipient performance and compliance, and deliver meaningful capacity-building support across a portfolio of community-based reentry subawardees. Because the intermediaries will be distributing funds onward, they typically must demonstrate strong internal controls, grant management systems, and the ability to set clear subaward requirements while helping subawardees meet them.

Key administrative details include the funding opportunity number O-BJA-2024-172081 and CFDA number 16.812. The opportunity was created on April 16, 2024, and the original closing date was July 8, 2024. BJA anticipated making 2 awards under this solicitation, with an award ceiling of $4,000,000 per award. With only two awards expected, this is a highly competitive opportunity aimed at selecting intermediaries with a demonstrated ability to support multiple local organizations at once and to drive measurable improvements in organizational capacity across the subaward network.

In summary, this grant is not primarily aimed at a single community reentry program delivering direct services. It is aimed at building an intermediary-led reentry ecosystem: a small number of well-qualified nonprofits will receive large cooperative agreements to (1) regrant funds to community-based reentry providers and (2) operate an incubator that strengthens those providers so they can deliver better services, manage funding responsibly, and sustain and scale their impact in line with DOJ and BJA public safety and civil rights goals.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY24 Second Chance Act Community-based Reentry Incubator Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.812.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-08. (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 $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for O BJA 2024 172081

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