NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Hate Crimes | O NIJ 2023 171634

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2023 171634

The NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Hate Crimes opportunity is a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) discretionary grant program under the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) focused on building practical, evidence-based knowledge about how to prevent and respond to hate crimes and reduce their harmful effects. The solicitation is grounded in OJP priorities around advancing civil rights and racial equity, expanding access to justice, supporting victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, addressing evolving threats, and improving trust between law enforcement and communities. In plain terms, NIJ is looking for rigorous research and evaluation projects that can produce findings useful to practitioners and policymakers, not just academic outputs.

NIJ is soliciting proposals in two main research categories. Category 1 centers on preventing and addressing hate crimes more broadly. Within that category, NIJ highlights three especially important lines of work: research or evaluations that improve hate crime prevention efforts, projects that strengthen the reporting of hate crimes and hate incidents (including understanding barriers to reporting and strategies that raise reporting quality and consistency), and studies that better identify and address the needs of victims and affected communities. Category 2 focuses specifically on school-based hate crimes, and the eligibility rules are narrower there: only accredited research universities may apply to Category 2. Across both categories, NIJ encourages applicants to assemble multidisciplinary teams that combine complementary skills and methods (for example, pairing quantitative analysis with qualitative fieldwork, policy analysis, community-based research, or implementation science).

A major theme in the solicitation is meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience related to the topic being studied. NIJ indicates it will give special consideration to projects that incorporate this kind of engagement in a substantive way, which can include collaboration or input from justice practitioners, community members, victims, service providers, and individuals who have experienced justice system involvement. The idea is to ensure research questions, measures, and interpretations reflect real-world conditions and that the work is more likely to translate into practice. NIJ also expects proposals, where applicable, to explicitly consider and measure issues tied to diversity, discrimination, and bias across characteristics such as age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. This is framed as part of understanding how hate crimes occur, how they are perceived and handled, and how impacts vary across communities.

For projects that rely on partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other organizations, the solicitation puts clear expectations on documentation and data stewardship. Applications proposing agency partnerships should include a letter of support from an appropriate decision-making authority at each partner agency. That letter should confirm the partner understands that de-identified data generated through the NIJ-funded work (whether derived from, provided to, or obtained through the award) will be archived by the grant recipient with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the project. NIJ encourages applicants and partners to review its data archiving guidance early. If an award is made, grantees are expected to have a formal agreement in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2024, and that agreement must include language that supports the required data archiving.

NIJ also emphasizes dissemination as more than an afterthought. Applicants are asked to propose robust, creative, multi-pronged strategies for getting results into the hands of the organizations most able to turn findings into changes in policy and practice. The solicitation specifically mentions strategic partnerships with organizations and associations positioned to drive real-world adoption of evidence. Proposals that dedicate at least 15 percent of the requested award funding to dissemination activities receive special consideration, and applicants are expected to show this clearly in the budget worksheet and narrative.

The solicitation allows a wide range of applicant types overall, including various levels of government, tribal governments and organizations, independent school districts, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), public housing authorities, and other unrestricted applicants. That broad eligibility is tempered by the earlier restriction that only accredited research universities may apply to the school-based hate crimes category. If multiple agencies will use federal funds to carry out the work, NIJ requires a single applicant entity; other participating organizations should be included as subrecipients, and the primary applicant is expected to conduct the majority of the proposed work.

Key administrative details from the posting include the funding instrument (grant), the activity category (science and technology and other research and development), and the CFDA number 16.560. The opportunity number is O-NIJ-2023-171634. The original closing date listed is May 16, 2023, and the award ceiling is $3,100,000.

• 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 on Hate Crimes" 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 2023-02-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-05-16. (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 $3,100,000.00 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, Others, Unrestricted.

Apply for O NIJ 2023 171634

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