NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on School Safety
Open Posted
- Opportunity number
- O-NIJ-2026-172796
- Agency
-
National Institute of Justice
Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice
- Applications due
- Award size
- Up to $5,000,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
- Funding instrument
- Cooperative Agreement
- Category
-
- Science and Technology and other Research and Development
- Eligible applicants
-
- Tribal Organizations (Not Federally Recognized)
- Special District Governments
- For Profit Organizations
- Higher Education Inst. (Public)
- Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- State Governments
- Public or Indian Housing Auth.
- Higher Education Inst. (Private)
- Independent School Districts
- County Governments
- 501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Non-501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Small Businesses
- City/Township Governments
- Points of contact
-
- OJP Response Center ojp.responsecenter@usdoj.gov (800) 851-3420
- Full announcement
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The National Institute of Justice is soliciting applications for rigorous research and evaluation projects on K-12 school safety, with applications due November 23, 2026, and full submissions due November 30, 2026. This cooperative agreement opportunity will distribute $5 million across 4 to 6 awards, with individual award amounts determined by project scope and expected awards by January 1, 2027.
Eligible applicants include state and local governments, tribal governments (federally and non-federally recognized), county and city governments, special district governments, independent school districts, public and private higher education institutions, public housing authorities, for-profit organizations, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits. All applicants must be U.S.-based institutions.
The program focuses specifically on outcome and impact evaluations paired with process and implementation evaluations assessing the effectiveness of anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence—including mobile applications, hotlines, and websites—and school threat assessment and intervention teams coordinating with law enforcement and school personnel. Projects may evaluate STOP School Violence Act (SVA) activities administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program or similar programs from other sources aligned with SVA goals. Applicants must include cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses if proposing evaluation research and are strongly encouraged to collaborate with educators, school stakeholders, and communities in research design and implementation.
The performance period extends up to 60 months. Proposal narratives are limited to 30 pages, double-spaced, and weighted as follows: Statement of the Problem (5%), Project Design and Implementation (40%), Capabilities and Competencies (15%), Potential Impact (25%), and Budget (15%). Applications require a two-step submission process via Grants.gov (SF-424) and JustGrants (full application). The funding opportunity is designated O-NIJ-2026-172796 under CFDA 16.560, National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants.
Synopsis
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on School Safety. This opportunity will support rigorous research and evaluation projects to fill key gaps regarding K-12 safety, specifically focusing on the development, deployment, and operation of: • Anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites • School threat assessment and intervention teams that include coordination with law enforcement agencies and school personnel This NOFO seeks rigorous outcome/impact evaluations paired with process/implementation evaluations to assess the effectiveness of activities supported by STOP1 School Violence Act (SVA) projects administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) or similar programs from other sources that align with STOP SVA's goals. To develop practical recommendations for K-12 school safety, applicants are strongly encouraged to work closely with educators, school stakeholders, and communities to develop questions, identify solutions, collect data, and interpret findings. Applicants should: • Clearly describe complex factors and how they will be measured. • Include letters of support confirming secondary data access and explain how datasets will be matched to support the analyses proposed. • Describe data limitations, how they will be addressed, and their potential impact on findings.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| PKG00294335.pdf |
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