BJA FY 2026 Invited to Apply – Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grants/Byrne Discretionary Grants Program

Who is eligible?

Applicant types: Invitation-only recipients designated by Congress and invited by BJA

Only recipients identified in the Congressional Joint Explanatory Statement for projects designated under the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2026, and invited by BJA may apply. The legal or doing-business-as name associated with the applicant's UEI in SAM.gov must coincide with the designated recipient. A police department, sheriff's office, corrections agency, prosecutor, or other criminal-justice entity is eligible only if it is the identified and invited recipient for a designated project.

What can the funding be used for?

Costs must be reasonable, allocable, necessary, and clearly support the specifically designated project. Program purposes are improving the functioning of the criminal justice system, preventing or combating juvenile delinquency, and assisting crime victims other than through compensation. OJP priorities expressly include directly supporting law-enforcement operations and combating violent crime, but expenditures remain limited to each congressionally designated project.

Restrictions

Funds may not be transferred to purposes other than the designated project. Funds may not be used for security enhancements or equipment for a nongovernmental entity that is not engaged in criminal justice or public safety. Recipients and subrecipients must forgo profit and management fees. Out-of-scope activities include activities that violate or impede enforcement of federal immigration law, activities that violate applicable federal civil-rights or nondiscrimination law, and generally legal services for removable or unlawfully present aliens, subject to the stated protection-order and other legally authorized exceptions.

How to apply

Complete the SF-424 in Grants.gov by October 6, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, and submit the full application in JustGrants by October 9, 2026, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern. These webpage deadlines reflect announced extensions and supersede the July deadlines printed in the embedded NOFO. The SF-424 project title must exactly match the congressional designation, and the applicant name associated with its UEI in SAM.gov must match the listed recipient.

Required materials

Step 1 requires the SF-424 through Grants.gov. Step 2 in JustGrants requires standard applicant information, a proposal abstract, the Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire, a proposal narrative, and a budget. As applicable, applicants must also provide an indirect-cost-rate agreement, consultant-rate documentation, an employee-compensation waiver, and a Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity Statement, along with applicable disclosures, assurances, and certifications. The proposal narrative may not exceed 10 pages and must address need, goals and objectives, project design and implementation, and capabilities and competencies.

Program contact

OJP Response Center
[email protected]
800-851-3420; 202-353-5556 (TTY only)