National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants
Active
- Assistance listing
- 16.560
- Agency
-
Office of Justice Programs
Department of Justice
- Grant awards
- 4,385 $2,268,192,572 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Assistance types
-
- Cooperative Agreement
- Project Grant
- Block Grant
- Treasury account
-
- 15-0401-0-1-754
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs operates the National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program (CFDA 16.560), which has awarded $2.27 billion across 4,385 grants since 1987 with the most recent award dated June 2025.
The program funds research, development, and evaluation projects to build evidence improving justice system policies and practices at state and local levels. Funded activities span youth and juvenile justice, school safety, drug-crime intersections, forensic science, correctional workforce development, policing practices, and emerging justice technologies. Recent grants exemplify this scope: evaluating relationship violence intervention programs for survivors ($838,966 to develop peer advocacy interventions); examining plea bargaining practices shaped by pretrial detention ($699,257); studying facility safety and service engagement effects on justice-involved youth trajectories ($88,304); applying artificial intelligence to skeletal trauma analysis ($10,047); and investigating body-worn camera evidence processing impacts on prosecutor workload ($612,685). Forensic science research receives substantial investment—recent awards support hand image comparison standardization ($746,866), gunshot residue detection ($556,572), tire rubber elemental profiling ($299,344), and fingerprint aging kinetics modeling ($399,437).
The portfolio is predominantly Project Grants (50% of 2,191 awards) with a substantial Cooperative Agreement share (44% of 1,924 awards) and smaller Block Grant component (6% of 270 awards). The National Institute of Justice dominates funding, accounting for 1,272 awards totaling $977.8 million in federal dollars obligated. The broader Office of Justice Programs structure (including NIJ and subordinate components) represents 3,017 awards at $1.25 billion. Award cadence has moderated from 144 awards in 2021 to 73 in 2025, averaging roughly 70–95 awards annually in recent years.
Award economics range from under $50,000 for dissertations and focused studies to over $2 million for multi-site longitudinal research. Recent representative awards cluster at $400,000–$1.2 million for comprehensive evaluations and $100,000–$250,000 for specialized forensic or analytical studies.
Multiple solicitations remain open. NIJ FY 2026 opportunities posted in October 2026 include evaluation of Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program effectiveness (due November 16), research on school safety anonymous reporting systems and threat assessment teams (due November 23), human trafficking prevention and victim services research (due November 16), justice system responses to illegal immigration (due November 16), and broad crime and justice research (due November 16). FY 2025 opportunities remain active with concept paper stage deadlines in May–June 2026 for research on emerging technology implementation, artificial intelligence for criminal justice, and policing practices. Earlier cycles on forensic science systems, corrections workforce management, and elder abuse also remain open with deadlines through June 2026.
Objective and description
- Objective
Program goal(s) name: Develop evidence to improve policies and practices across the justice system. Program goal(s) description: Build knowledge and tools that can be applied at the state and local levels to reduce crime and advance justice. Progra
- Description
This program supports research, development, and evaluation to inform and improve policy and practice on the ground on a variety of topics, including but not limited to youth and the juvenile justice system, school safety, the intersection of drugs and crime, forensic science, correctional workforce, policing, and other emerging topics and technologies that impact the justice system.
Eligibility
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Award periods for Office of Justice programs generally range from 12 to 36 months. For specifics pertaining to this program, please see the current fiscal year's program solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site (http://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/CurrentFundingOpportunities.htm). For additional information, see the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide section on "Period of Availability of Funds" at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview . Method of awarding/releasing assistance: quarterly
How to apply
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Criteria for selecting proposals is determined as part of the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).
- Award procedure
All final award decisions will be made by the Assistant Attorney General, unless a statute explicitly authorizes award decisions by another official or there is written delegation of authority to another official. For successful applicants, JustGrants will send a system-generated email to the Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator with information on accessing their official award package in JustGrants. The award package will include key information (such as funding amount and period of performance) as well as award conditions that must be followed. The Authorized Representative for the entity should accept or decline the award within 45 days of the notification.
- Time to approval or disapproval
The review procedure for applications is specified in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and generally includes eligibility and responsiveness, merit, programmatic, budget, and risk reviews.
- Renewals
In some cases, award periods may be extended if specific criteria are met. For details, please review the discussion of no-cost extensions in the Criteria for Award Extension section of the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide available at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview
Grant opportunities
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Latest 50 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 4,385 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Research Triangle Institute | $127,868,720 | 6% |
| 2 | The Rand Corporation | $62,953,641 | 3% |
| 3 | National Forensic Science Technology Center, Inc. | $39,593,218 | 2% |
| 4 | The University Of North Texas Health Science Center At Fort Worth | $37,134,690 | 2% |
| 5 | The Urban Institute | $29,507,481 | 1% |
| 6 | The Pennsylvania State University | $29,263,135 | 1% |
| 7 | Michigan State University | $25,384,998 | 1% |
| 8 | National Opinion Research Center | $21,934,634 | 1% |
| 9 | The CNA Corporation | $21,552,039 | 1% |
| 10 | Lockheed Martin Services, LLC | $20,383,958 | 1% |
10 of 671 recipients listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $3,923,091 |
| FY2025 | $1,195,234 |
| FY2024 | $57,195,491 |
| FY2023 | $43,553,692 |
| FY2022 | $110,663,479 |
| FY2021 | $15,672,449 |
| FY2020 | $59,512,851 |
| FY2019 | $81,997,785 |
| FY2018 | $101,441,552 |
| FY2017 | $104,470,006 |
| FY2016 | $141,813,238 |
| FY2015 | $174,897,949 |
| FY2014 | $131,103,938 |
| FY2013 | $65,691,617 |
| FY2012 | $72,099,966 |
| FY2011 | $83,537,496 |
| FY2010 | $142,339,092 |
| FY2009 | $135,339,022 |
| FY2008 | $94,086,905 |
| FY2007 | $116,412,098 |
| FY2006 | $83,653,130 |
| FY2005 | $142,410,809 |
| FY2004 | $142,177,066 |
| FY2003 | $59,227,875 |
| FY2002 | $77,460,828 |
| FY2001 | $46,229,027 |
Show all 26
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 16.560?
Assistance Listing 16.560 is National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants, a federal grant program run by Office of Justice Programs (Department of Justice).
What is the CFDA number for National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants?
Its CFDA number is 16.560: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 16.560 awarded?
4,385 grant awards under 16.560 have obligated $2,268,192,572 in federal funds to 671 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 16.560?
The recipients obligated the most under National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants are Research Triangle Institute ($127,868,720), The Rand Corporation ($62,953,641) and National Forensic Science Technology Center, Inc. ($39,593,218).
How much did 16.560 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 16.560 obligated $1,195,234 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 16.560?
9 of the latest 50 opportunities under 16.560 are open or forecasted. The latest, NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Drones as First Responders, was posted on October 22, 2026.
On GovTribe
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