NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation of Services for Victims of Crime | O NIJ 2023 171534

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2023 171534

The NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation of Services for Victims of Crime grant (Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2023-171534; CFDA 16.560) is a discretionary federal research grant offered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), developed in collaboration with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). The overall purpose is to fund strong, rigorous research and evaluation that can improve how the justice system and community-based providers support people who have been harmed by crime. The opportunity is framed within OJP priorities that emphasize civil rights and racial equity, access to justice, victim support, community safety, and strengthening trust between law enforcement and communities.

Applicants are required to focus their proposal on one of three specific topic areas. The first area is the evaluation of programs that provide services for victims of crime, which can include assessing whether victim service models achieve intended outcomes, how they are implemented in real-world settings, and what factors influence program effectiveness. The second area is research on supporting victims of community violence, aimed at building knowledge about the needs of individuals and communities affected by ongoing or neighborhood-based violence and identifying service approaches that are responsive and effective in those contexts. The third area addresses the financial costs of crime victimization, supporting studies that estimate, document, or analyze the economic burden of victimization on individuals, families, communities, and systems, potentially including direct costs, indirect costs, and longer-term impacts.

A major emphasis of the solicitation is meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience related to the research topic. NIJ indicates it will give special consideration to projects that incorporate authentic involvement from groups such as crime victims, community members, service providers, justice practitioners, and people who have experienced justice system involvement. In practice, this signals a preference for research designs that do not treat affected communities merely as subjects of study, but as contributors to shaping research questions, interpreting findings, and guiding dissemination in ways that are useful and respectful. NIJ also encourages multidisciplinary teams, reflecting an interest in proposals that combine complementary expertise such as program evaluation, victimology, economics, public health, sociology, criminology, implementation science, and qualitative and quantitative methods.

Equity considerations are woven throughout the expectations for the work. NIJ is looking for proposals that explicitly consider and measure issues tied to diversity, discrimination, and bias, when relevant to the topic and study population. The solicitation specifically references factors such as age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. This means competitive proposals are expected to move beyond broad statements about equity and instead build in concrete measurement plans, analytic strategies, and interpretations that can detect differential experiences or outcomes across populations.

For projects that involve partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other organizations, the application should include letters of support signed by an appropriate decision-making authority at each partnering agency. These letters are expected to do more than simply endorse the project; they should confirm the partner’s role and include acknowledgement that de-identified data produced or used through the NIJ-funded award will be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the project. NIJ strongly points applicants and partners to review its data archiving guidance, signaling that data stewardship, documentation, and planning for eventual archiving are core compliance expectations, not optional add-ons. If an award is made, grantees are expected to have formal agreements with partner agencies in place by January 1, 2024, and those agreements must include provisions that enable the required data archiving.

The solicitation also places unusual weight on dissemination and real-world impact. NIJ is seeking robust, creative, multi-pronged dissemination strategies designed to ensure findings translate into policy and practice improvements related to victim services, community violence victim support, or the costs of victimization. It is not limited to academic publications; NIJ is explicitly encouraging strategic partnerships with organizations and associations that can move evidence into practice. Importantly, NIJ will give special consideration to proposals that devote at least 15% of the requested project budget to dissemination activities, and applicants are expected to clearly demonstrate this allocation in both the budget worksheet and narrative. This effectively elevates dissemination from a standard reporting obligation to a resourced, planned project component.

In terms of applicant eligibility, the opportunity is broadly open, including state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); small businesses; and other unrestricted applicants. The funding mechanism is a grant, the opportunity falls under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and the maximum award amount listed is $3,000,000. While the total number of expected awards is not specified in the provided text, the solicitation makes clear that the applicant organization must conduct the majority of the proposed work. If multiple agencies will use federal funds to carry out the project, only one entity can submit as the applicant; other partners must be structured as subrecipients, preserving a single accountable lead for performance and compliance.

Key administrative details include the original closing date of April 13, 2023, and the creation date of January 27, 2023. Overall, this funding opportunity is designed for applicants who can produce methodologically rigorous, practically relevant research, grounded in lived experience and equity-aware measurement, with clear plans for partnership governance, data archiving to NACJD, and well-funded dissemination that increases the chances the findings will actually change systems and services for victims of crime.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation of Services for Victims of Crime" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-01-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-13. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Unrestricted.

Apply for O NIJ 2023 171534

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