Nancy E. Gist, Director

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFF ICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

BJA NI J OJJDP BJS OVC

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has issued its FY 1998

Open Solicitation Announcement seeking innovative solutions

to problems faced by the criminal justice community. BJA invites eligible applicants to help us improve the criminal justice

system and build partnerships between the system and public

and private organizations. Awards will be worth up to $150,000

and cover a period of 18 months.

Submission Requirements

Applicants are limited to units and agencies of State, local, or

tribal governments. Eligibility includes, but is not limited to,

States, counties, municipalities, villages, towns, townships,

courts, prosecution, indigent defense, probation, parole, pretrial

services, corrections, law enforcement, and social services.

Submissions must follow the format outlined in the FY 1998

Open Solicitation Announcement’s Submission Criteria and

must not exceed six pages, excluding a cover page.

Submissions must be received by BJA

by close of business (5:30 p.m. eastern

time) on July 2, 1998.

For a description of submission requirements in their entirety,

applicants should refer to the FY 1998 Open Solicitation

Announcement now available from the BJA Clearinghouse at

1–800–688–4252 or via the BJA home page at http://www.ojp.

usdoj.gov/BJA.

Solicitation Topic Areas

Applicants may submit only one paper per topic area but may

apply under as many areas as desired. Papers must address the

following topic areas:

FY 1998 Open Solicitation Announcement:

Call for Concept Papers

❑ Topic Area 1: Community Justice

Applicants are invited to submit strategies to create partnerships between communities and local criminal justice

systems to combat crime.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 2: Law Enforcement Partnerships

To Address Hate Crimes

Applicants are invited to submit strategies that address

crimes committed against individuals or groups because

of their race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 3: Criminal Justice Challenges for

Rural or Tribal Communities

Applicants are invited to submit strategies that address

criminal justice challenges unique to rural or tribal

communities.

Eligibility: Units of government (including tribal governments) serving rural communities with populations of

less than 25,000 residents that are not located within a

metropolitan area or that have been designated by the

Federal Government as Rural Empowerment Zones,

Enterprise Communities, or Champion Communities

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 4: Criminal Justice System

Responses to Senior Citizens

Applicants are invited to submit strategies that address

issues presented by senior citizens, including meeting their

needs when they are victims, witnesses, defendants, offenders, and volunteers in the criminal justice communities.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).
2

❑ Topic Area 5: The Role of Alcohol and Crime

Applicants are invited to submit strategies that address

the link between alcohol and crime.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 6: Indigent Defense

Applicants are invited to submit strategies to enhance

the representation of indigent criminal defendants.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 7: Cultural Barriers to Justice

Applicants are invited to submit strategies for reducing

cultural barriers to justice, defined as barriers that prevent individuals from participating fully in the criminal

justice system by virtue of language, philosophy, or

experience.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 8: Nontraditional Uses of Prosecution Resources To Enhance Public Safety

Applicants are invited to submit strategies that use prosecutors or prosecution resources to enhance public safety

through nontraditional work, including, but not limited to,

work in schools, in the community, and/or with specialneeds populations.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 9: Public Health and Criminal

Justice Collaborations

Applicants are invited to submit strategies for the development of collaborative efforts among public health and

criminal justice agencies to prevent or reduce incidences of

violent crime in the community.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

❑ Topic Area 10: Local Priorities

Applicants are invited to submit innovative strategies to

address local problem areas not described in Topic Areas

1 through 9. Topics must specifically address criminal

justice issues, and applicants may not submit a concept

paper in this category that they have submitted in any other

topic area.

Eligibility: Units of State, local, or tribal government

(see Submission Requirements).

Note: Eligibility restrictions do not preclude private or not-forprofit agencies from collaborating with authorized applicants,

nor do they preclude two or more units of government from applying under the cover of one authorized applicant that will be

responsible for the administration of the award. Units of tribal

government must represent federally recognized tribes.

For More Information

Copies of the FY 1998 Open Solicitation Announcement are

available through the BJA Clearinghouse at 1–800–688–4252.

Questions concerning the solicitation should be directed to the

DOJ Response Center at 1–800–421–6770. Information about

the solicitation and other BJA programs is also available

through the BJA home page at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA.

FS 000220

May 1998

FY 1998 Open Solicitation Announcement:

Call for Concept Papers Fact Sheet

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

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U.S. POSTAGE PAID

DOJ/BJA

Permit No. G–91