BJS FY25 Survey of Public Defenders (SPD)
Closed Posted
- Opportunity number
- O-BJS-2025-172531
- Agency
-
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice
- Applications due
- Award size
- Up to $1,000,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
- Funding instrument
- Cooperative Agreement
- Category
-
- Information and Statistics
- Eligible applicants
-
- For Profit Organizations
- Higher Education Inst. (Private)
- Independent School Districts
- Higher Education Inst. (Public)
- 501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Small Businesses
- Non-501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Points of contact
-
- Steven W. Perry askbjs@usdoj.gov (202) 307-0765
- Full announcement
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), within the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, is seeking applicants to conduct the FY2025 Survey of Public Defenders (SPD), a comprehensive national data collection initiative designed to capture attorney-level information on public defense provision, including demographics, caseloads, clients, and resource access. The cooperative agreement will leverage the newly completed 2025 Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO) and implement lessons learned from the SPD pilot study conducted in 2021 to execute a full national collection. Eligible applicants include for-profit organizations, higher education institutions (both public and private), nonprofit organizations (501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), small businesses, and independent school districts. The primary objective is to produce relevant, accurate, timely, and reliable statistical information about the public defense system to inform federal, state, local, and tribal policy-making. Applications must be submitted via the Office of Justice Programs Justice Grants System (JustGrants) or grants.gov by the March 2, 2026 deadline, with a deadline for questions preceding the final submission date.
Award values for this solicitation are expected to fall within the range of $300,000 to $4.9 million, consistent with historical awards under the Special Data Collections and Statistical Studies program (CFDA 16.734), with most project periods lasting between two to five years. The performance location will typically be at the awardee's research facilities, where data collection, processing, analysis, and reporting activities will be conducted. Successful applicants will be notified through JustGrants and must accept the award electronically through an authorized official. Awardees must comply with federal audit requirements outlined in 2 CFR 200 and maintain records according to 2 C.F.R. 200.334 retention standards.
Synopsis
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) FY 2025 Survey of Public Defenders (SPD) is a new data collection to capture questions about the provision of public defense, including demographics, caseloads, clients, and access to resources, directly from attorneys. BJS's history studying public defense dates back to 1986, and has periodically updated and modernized its knowledge of public defense field. In 1986 BJS looked more generally at criminal defense with the Criminal Defense System Study, and targeted studies at public defense with the National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems (NSIDS) as a probability sample in 1999 and a census in 2013. In response to lessons learned from the 1999 NSIDS, BJS also conducted the Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO) in 2007, focusing on publicly-funded defender offices. Each of BJS's prior collections examined public defense at the office level. After consideration of the results of these efforts, BJS determined that some questions about the provision of public defense. In 2021, the SPD survey instrument and sample design were created and pilot tested. In response to sampling challenges arising from an incomplete current frame of public defender offices, in 2025 BJS ran a new CPDO. The purpose of FY2025SPD solicitation is to use the 2025 CPDO and to implement lessons learned and recommendations from the pilot study into the full national collection of the SPD.
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