AMENDMENT NOTICE

On April 16, 2015, NIJ hosted a webinar to discuss and answer questions about the Initiative 

and application requirements. This webinar included a Q & A period during which NIJ answered 

questions submitted before, and during, the event. View the webinar or read the transcript 

at http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/school-crime/Pages/school-safety-initiative-webinar.aspx.

NIJ plans to post FAQs for this funding opportunity. When posted, these FAQs will be available 

at http://nij.gov/funding/pages/solicitation-qa.aspx.

For any questions or concerns related to this solicitation, please 

contact NIJschoolsafety@usdoj.gov.
U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329

Office of Justice Programs Approval Expires 07/31/2016

National Institute of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of 

Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). This 

program furthers the Department’s mission by funding rigorous research to produce practical 

knowledge that can improve the safety of schools and students. The initiative is carried out 

through partnerships between researchers, educators and other stakeholders, including law 

enforcement and mental health professionals. Projects funded under the CSSI are designed to 

produce knowledge that can be applied to schools and school districts across the nation for 

years to come. This solicitation includes four funding categories with different expectations and 

requirements to accomplish the purposes of the CSSI.

NIJ FY15 Comprehensive School 

Safety Initiative

Eligibility

In general, NIJ is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative 

agreements with, States (including territories), units of local government (including federally 

recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit 

and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), institutions of 

higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education), and certain qualified 

individuals. Local education agencies (LEAs), public charter schools that are recognized as an 

LEA, and State education agencies (SEAs) also are eligible to apply.

For-profit organizations must agree to forgo any profit or management fee. Foreign 

governments, foreign organizations, and foreign institutions of higher education are not eligible 

to apply.

NIJ welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must 

be the applicant and the other(s) must be proposed as subrecipient(s). The applicant must be 

the entity with primary responsibility (the “prime”) for conducting and leading the project. If 

successful, the applicant will be responsible for monitoring and appropriately managing any 

subrecipients or, as applicable, for administering any procurement subcontracts that would 

receive federal program funds from the applicant under the award. While NIJ is open to 

considering applications submitted by entities other than the research entity, in cases where 

LEAs and SEAs partner with a researcher, NIJ strongly recommends that the research entity 

serve as the applicant.

An eligible applicant may submit more than one application, as long as each application 

proposes a different project in response to the solicitation. (Applicants should also review and 

consider the “Duplicate Applications” note under How to Apply in Section D. Application and 

Submission Information.) Subrecipients may be part of multiple proposals.

NIJ may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal 

years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

For additional eligibility information, see Section C. Eligibility Information.

1 NIJ-2015-4163
Deadline

Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are 

due to be submitted and in receipt of a successful validation message in Grants.gov by 

11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 12, 2015.

All applicants are encouraged to read this Important Notice: Applying for Grants in 

Grants.gov.

For additional information, see How to Apply in Section D. Application and Submission 

Information.

Contact Information

For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer 

Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035, or via e-mail to support@grants.gov.

The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except 

federal holidays.

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that 

prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must e-mail the NIJ contact 

identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline and request approval to 

submit their application. Additional information on reporting technical issues is found under 

“Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the How to Apply section.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, 

contact NIJschoolsafety@usdoj.gov. General information on applying for NIJ awards can be 

found at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx. Answers to frequently asked questions that 

may assist applicants are posted at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx.

NIJ intends to host a webinar at 3:00 p.m. eastern time on April 16, 2015 to answer questions 

related to this solicitation and the CSSI application process. Learn more about this webinar and 

register at http://nij.gov/cssi-webinar/. This webinar will be posted online – along with relevant 

questions and answers based on the webinar – shortly after the event.

Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement: NIJ-2015-4163

Release date: April 2, 2015

SL001161

2 NIJ-2015-4163
Contents

A. Program Description.................................................................................................................4

Overview ...................................................................................................................................4

Program-Specific Information....................................................................................................4

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products .......................................12

B. Federal Award Information .....................................................................................................13

Type of Award .........................................................................................................................14

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls.........................................................14

Budget Information ..................................................................................................................15

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement .......................................................................................16

Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals...............................................................................................16

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver...............................16

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs ...................17

Costs Associated With Language Assistance (if applicable)...................................................17

C. Eligibility Information ..............................................................................................................17

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement .......................................................................................17

Limit on Number of Application Submissions ..........................................................................18

D. Application and Submission Information ................................................................................18

What an Application Should Include........................................................................................18

How to Apply ...........................................................................................................................28

E. Application Review Information ..............................................................................................31

Selection Criteria.....................................................................................................................31

Review Process.......................................................................................................................32

F. Federal Award Administration Information..............................................................................33

Federal Award Notices ............................................................................................................33

Administrative, National Policy, and other Legal Requirements..............................................33

General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements..............................35

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) ....................................................................................37

H. Other Information ...................................................................................................................37

Provide Feedback to OJP .......................................................................................................37

Application Checklist ...............................................................................................................38

3 NIJ-2015-4163
NIJ FY15 Comprehensive School

Safety Initiative

(CFDA No. 16.560)

A. Program Description

Overview

The Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) funds rigorous research to produce practical 

knowledge that can improve the safety of schools and students. The initiative is carried out 

through partnerships between researchers, educators and other stakeholders, including law 

enforcement, behavioral and mental health professionals, courts, and other justice system 

professionals. Projects funded under the CSSI are designed to produce knowledge that can be 

applied to schools and school districts across the nation for years to come. This solicitation 

includes four funding categories with different expectations and requirements to accomplish the 

purposes of the CSSI.

Authorizing Legislation: Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-

235).

Program-Specific Information

With disturbing frequency in recent years, the nation has been shocked by news of violence in 

schools. Beyond the headlines that follow the most horrific of these events, school and public 

safety officials grapple with the daily challenges of creating and maintaining a safe and healthy 

learning environment for students. For the most part, schools are safe places for students; but 

when violence does occur in schools, it affects a particularly vulnerable population of children 

and adolescents, and strikes a blow against a fundamental public institution within our 

communities. Threats to school and student safety may come from outside the school or inside 

the school, and from adults or minors. Safeguarding against these threats may require a range 

of activities including building partnerships with law enforcement, creating a positive school 

climate, implementing effective disciplinary policies, assessing internal and external threats, 

controlling access and improving physical security, providing access to quality behavioral and 

mental health services, working with families, and developing school emergency operations 

plans.

The CSSI is an investment in building sound and objective knowledge to improve the safety of 

schools, students, and communities across the nation. The CSSI is focused on K-12 public 

schools (including public charter schools). The Initiative is concerned with all forms of 

interpersonal violence that occur on school property during or outside of school hours, on the 

way to and from school or school-sponsored events, on school-sponsored modes of transport, 

or during school-sponsored events. Interpersonal violence includes both minors and adults who 

perpetrate violence, are victims of violence, and are witnesses of violence.

CSSI funding may support and address a wide range of school safety activities. Within the 

program parameters and in furtherance of the goals and objectives detailed in this CSSI 

solicitation, applicants have considerable discretion in determining the kinds of school safety 

4 NIJ-2015-4163
initiatives they propose to address. For example, NIJ made 24 awards in 2014 related to topics 

including the following:

• School resource officer training.

• Mental health and trauma-informed response.

• Improved disciplinary policies.

• Restorative justice.

• Threat assessment using social media.

• Positive behavioral interventions and supports.

• Bullying prevention.

• Wraparound services/comprehensive approaches.

• Protecting students as they walk to and from school.

Applicants are strongly advised to review the previously funded projects.

1 While studies looking 

at similar topics will be considered, NIJ may give priority in award decisions to well-designed 

research that expands the range of issues and strategies beyond this current pool of funded 

projects.

There are multiple authoritative sources that provide recommendations and guidance for those 

seeking to improve school safety. For example, six relevant professional associations recently 

released A Framework for Safe and Successful Schools,

2 the Department of Education recently 

released Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline;

3

and a collection of federal agencies comprised of the Departments of Education, Justice, Health 

and Human Services, and Homeland Security released a Guide for Developing High-Quality 

School Emergency Operations Plans4 in 2013. NIJ, through its National Law Enforcement 

Corrections Technology Center system, recently released a two-volume report, Sharing Ideas & 

Resources to Keep Our Nation’s Schools Safe,

5 which features innovative ideas and practices 

1 Interested applicants are encouraged to review descriptions of the 24 awards made by NIJ under CSSI in 2014 

available at http://nij.gov/topics/crime/school-crime/documents/comprehensive-school-safety-initiative-awards-fy2014.pdf. 2 A Framework for Safe and Successful Schools was produced by National Association of Elementary School 

Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, American School Counselor Association, National 

Association of School Psychologists, School Social Work Association of America, and the National Association of 

School Resource Officers.

https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/Framework%20for%20Safe%20and%20Successful%20School%20Environm

ents_FINAL_0.pdf. 3 Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline is available at 

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/guiding-principles.pdf. 4 Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans is available at 

http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/Documents/eops-k-8.pdf. 5 Sharing Ideas & Resources to Keep Our Nation’s Schools Safe volume 1 is available at 

https://www.justnet.org/pdf/SharingResources_508.pdf and volume 2 is available at https://justnet.org/pdf/00-

Sharing%20Ideas_Vol2-JUSTNET%20508%200715.pdf.

5 NIJ-2015-4163

 
from the field. Applicants are encouraged to consider these resources and others when 

developing their projects. Applicants should also seek out and consider any available research 

and evaluation findings relevant to proposed projects.

Every award made under CSSI must include a carefully developed research strategy with clear 

potential for producing findings that have practical benefits for schools, students and 

communities at large. Research strategies should include clearly stated research questions; the 

most rigorous appropriate research design to answer those questions; a minimally intrusive data 

collection strategy; provisions for protecting students from unintended harm during the research 

process; and a plan for sharing findings with practitioners and policymakers who can most 

benefit from them. NIJ is open to supporting a wide range of appropriate and rigorous research 

designs to address and better understand the full range of school and student safety issues and 

activities.

Partnerships are essential to completing studies on school safety. Educators and other 

stakeholders within the schools and in the community must work closely with researchers to ask 

the right questions, prioritize challenges, identify solutions, collect data, and make sense of the 

findings. No single profession or discipline holds all of the answers to the complex challenges of 

creating and maintaining safe learning environments for children. NIJ expects applications for 

CSSI to prominently feature close collaboration and partnerships involving schools, researchers, 

and others as necessary (e.g., law enforcement behavioral and mental health professionals, 

courts, criminal and juvenile justice professionals, parents, students) to implement and study the 

proposed issues and activities related to school and student safety.

As noted on page 1, NIJ strongly recommends that research organizations be designated as the 

applicant (the “prime”) for CSSI awards, making subawards to participating stakeholders as 

appropriate for the proposed project. This arrangement is preferred in order to produce the 

highest quality research while reducing administrative burdens to SEAs, LEAs, and other

stakeholders. Research organizations may be institutions of higher education, nonprofit or forprofit organizations, or public entities that have experience in conducting applied research and 

evaluation. However, the important role of research and the research partner should not be 

confused with how funding will be awarded under CSSI: the majority of the CSSI funding will be 

allocated to fund costs that directly support school safety efforts such as paying for programs, 

personnel, equipment, and related activities (see Section B. Federal Award Information).

Applicants may propose to work with any combination of elementary, middle, or high schools or 

may choose to focus solely on a single type of school or range of grades. Applicants should 

consider carefully the schools and grades on which they will focus based on the research 

questions they propose to address. Care should be taken to assure that proposed programmatic 

and research activities are developmentally appropriate for the impacted student population. 

Applicants are also encouraged to consider appropriate ways to involve students and parents in 

safety planning and activities.

Applicants should consider interventions that include coordination with diverse partners 

including local law enforcement, behavioral and mental health professionals, courts, criminal 

and juvenile justice professionals, as well as parents and youth. Proposed interventions should 

also take into account recent research findings related to disciplinary policies and practices that 

may be overly harsh or exclusionary. Such policies and practices have created what some refer 

to as a “school-to-prison pipeline” in which relatively minor student misconduct is subject to 

suspensions, expulsions, and involvement with the justice system.

6 NIJ-2015-4163
For FY2015, CSSI funding is available in the following four categories:

Category 1: Developing Knowledge About What Works to Make Schools Safe

The purpose of Category 1 funding is to support demonstrations and evaluations of programs, 

practices, policies, and strategies designed to enhance school and student safety. Applicants in 

this category are encouraged strongly to focus their efforts on a limited range of specific, locally 

implemented, interventions so that they can develop the most robust research designs possible 

and produce scientific evidence regarding the efficacy, effectiveness, and cost/benefit of these 

interventions.

The purpose of efficacy research6 is to determine whether an intervention or strategy can 

improve outcomes under what are sometimes called “ideal” conditions. For example, these 

conditions may include more implementation support or more highly trained personnel than 

would be expected under routine practice, or may be implemented in contexts that include a 

more homogeneous sample of students, teachers, schools, and/or districts than is typical.

Although efficacy studies may involve the developer of the intervention or strategy in the 

implementation of the intervention or strategy, such studies should include reasonable 

safeguards for ensuring the objectivity and integrity of the study. Sometimes efficacy studies are 

used to replicate previous evaluations of an intervention, but under different conditions (e.g., 

with a different population or using a variant of the intervention or strategy).

Effectiveness research has a slightly different purpose. The purpose of effectiveness research is 

to estimate the impacts of an intervention or strategy when implemented under conditions of 

routine practice. To this end, implementation should be similar to what would occur if a study 

were not being conducted. Importantly, an effectiveness study should be carried out with no 

more developer involvement than what would be expected under typical implementation.

Applications must feature close partnerships involving SEAs or LEAs (including public charter 

schools that are recognized as LEAs) and a researcher or research organization that has 

considerable experience conducting research and evaluation, preferably, in school settings. NIJ 

recommends that the research organization serve as the applicant and make one or more 

subawards to participating SEAs or LEAs.

The partnership should be based on a formal agreement that demonstrates value placed upon 

open communication and the sharing of information and ideas. Prior to NIJ releasing funds, 

grantees must produce a formalized (i.e., written and fully-executed by authorized 

representatives of all parties) memorandum of understanding or agreement that outlines the 

roles and responsibilities of all entities. The goal of the partnership should be to implement 

school safety activities that are paired with objective, high-quality research and evaluation 

activities with emphasis on fidelity to research designs.

Research studies may include such things as:

• Evaluation of innovative programs or commonly implemented and under-evaluated 

programs.

6 For more information and guidance on developing efficacy and effectiveness studies, see Common Guidelines of 

Education Research and Development available at http://ies.ed.gov/pdf/CommonGuidelines.pdf.

7 NIJ-2015-4163

 
• Examination and validation of school climate and school safety assessment instruments.

• Examination of unintended consequences of interventions.

• Examination of costs and benefits.

• Evaluation of training methods for specific audiences of school personnel, including 

school teachers, classroom teachers, support staff, school resource officers and others.

• Evaluation of training programs for educators on topics such as implicit bias.

• Assessment of the roles and effectiveness of different types of personnel; and evaluation

of technology solutions and the practices that accompany them.

Applicants for Category 1 should:

• Dedicate up to 1/3 (one-third) of funding directly to research partners to develop and 

carry out a rigorous program of evaluation. No less than 2/3 (two-thirds) of funding 

should go toward the personnel, programs, equipment, materials, and activities intended 

to advance school and student safety that will be subject to evaluation. A budget should 

be prepared for the full project period that clearly reflects the 1/3 and 2/3 split. See below 

in What an Application Should Include for more details on expectations and 

requirements.

• Incorporate findings from any local school climate and safety assessments and, as 

appropriate, plan to update or align activities with existing frameworks for promoting safe 

school climates and existing school emergency operations plans.

• Coordinate with local law enforcement, juvenile justice, courts, and behavioral and 

mental health professionals, as well as parents and students as appropriate.

• Consider the availability and quality of local administrative data as it relates to school 

climate and school safety. Applicants may propose and evaluate improvements to 

relevant administrative data collection practices as part of their project design.

• Submit along with their applications an administrative agreement or, at a minimum, a 

letter of support from all project partners. At a minimum, this will include LEAs or SEAs 

and research partners, but it may also include behavioral and mental health service

providers, law enforcement, courts, municipal government partners, and others as 

appropriate. If an award is made, funds will be withheld until a fully executed, written 

agreement between the relevant LEAs or SEAs and research partner is in place. This 

agreement must provide detail on the roles and responsibilities of each party, and on 

what will be done to ensure that the independence and objectivity of the research is 

maintained.

Category 2: Causes and Consequences of School Violence

The purpose of Category 2 funding is to support research to better understand the potential root 

causes and related factors that contribute to school violence, as well as the impact and 

8 NIJ-2015-4163
consequences of school violence. The foundational research funded under Category 2 should 

have the potential to produce advances in theory, methodology, and/or understanding of 

important constructs with clear potential implications for policy or practice related to school and 

student safety. Projects funded under Category 2 will answer questions about why school 

violence occurs, where and when it occurs, who is involved, and how schools and people are 

affected. Research on root causes may include those factors that increase the risk of school 

violence and protective factors that buffer against risk. Applicants are encouraged to consider a 

variety of research questions and research methods to improve the understanding of violence in 

schools, among students, and directed at students. NIJ encourages applicants to consider 

longitudinal studies, mixed methods approaches, and studies that incorporate multiple existing 

data sources.

Category 3: Shorter Term Studies on School Safety

The purpose of Category 3 funding is to produce research findings with implications for school 

safety practice and policy with project periods that are no longer than 24 months. Applicants are 

encouraged to consider topics and research designs that are amenable to shorter timeframes. 

For example, this timeframe may only allow for new data collection during a single school year, 

with advance planning, analysis and reporting occurring in the months before and after the 

academic year. Studies that can be implemented within this timeframe might include highquality case studies or mixed methods comparative research focused on the challenges, 

opportunities, and lessons learned from efforts to increase school and student safety under 

different circumstances. Two examples of acceptable topics are outlined below:

• While the federal government has provided guidance and assistance regarding 

emergency operations plans, States and localities may take very different approaches to 

this work and schools across the nation operate with different resources under different 

circumstances. Short-term studies may help build a body of knowledge about variations 

in school emergency operations planning and shed light on the strengths and limitations 

of these variations.

• School districts across the nation have launched initiatives to address the “school-toprison pipeline,” and many have put into place new policies and agreements impacting 

school discipline. Short-term studies may help build knowledge about how specific policy 

changes – such as prevention-based codes of student conduct; initiatives to narrow the 

scope of behaviors for which removals are allowed; and memoranda of understanding 

between schools and local law enforcement – impact school discipline, school climate, 

and school safety, and what factors are key to their success or failure.

As with the examples listed above, short-term research may also set the stage for more 

extensive or rigorous projects to follow. For example, such research may help to identify factors 

that are likely to mediate or modify relationships between school safety activities and intended 

outcomes in particular settings or with particular populations (e.g., tribal schools). Or they may 

be used to carry out pilot tests or early stage evaluations of innovative approaches.

Category 4: Developing and Evaluating a Comprehensive School Safety Framework

The purpose of Category 4 funding is to support the development and testing of comprehensive 

approaches to school safety. This funding will support two to three multidisciplinary partnerships 

that will develop a comprehensive school safety framework, implement that framework within 

local school districts, and evaluate outcomes and costs. These efforts are intended to produce a 

9 NIJ-2015-4163
single comprehensive school safety framework that can inform school safety activities across 

the nation.

A variety of activities, skillsets, and disciplines are required to develop and carry out the full 

range of school and student safety efforts that might be envisioned in a comprehensive school 

safety framework. Educators, school safety personnel, law enforcement, behavioral and mental 

health professionals and others must anticipate and plan for potential safety threats that may 

arise from within the school and from outside of the school. NIJ is not advancing a specific 

comprehensive school safety framework in this solicitation; however, NIJ is identifying potential 

elements and activities that may be part of a comprehensive framework. These include, but are 

not limited to, the following:

• School culture and climate interventions that reduce likelihood of violence through 

primary prevention.

• Disciplinary policies and practices based on clear expectations that hold students 

accountable for misbehavior through a continuum of developmentally appropriate and 

proportional consequences, without imposing overly severe or unnecessarily 

exclusionary sanctions.

• Training for school staff on disciplinary policies and practices that promote classroom 

engagement, provide alternatives to removal, and raise awareness and provide means 

for addressing implicit bias.

• Systems (which may include efforts to promote positive student/faculty relationships and 

open communication) to identify, assess, communicate, and manage threats before

violent acts occur.

• Systems to manage and provide coordinated mental health and behavioral health 

services, including victim services.

• Physical security and technology solutions that provide access control and take 

appropriate steps to prevent instruments of violence (i.e., firearms, knives, other 

weapons) from entering schools.

• Crime prevention through environmental design.

• School-level assessments of school climate and potential and likely hazards and safety 

threats, including but not limited to violence.

• School-level emergency plans that encompass all hazards.

• Targeted programs to address school-level needs or challenges based on local 

assessments (e.g., gang prevention, bullying prevention, teen dating violence 

prevention).

Projects funded under Category 4 will be carried out by a diverse, multidisciplinary team of 

subject matter experts and researchers, working closely with educators, law enforcement, 

behavioral and mental health professionals, and others in one or more local school districts. A 

single organization or agency (the applicant) should be designated as the project lead that will 

10 NIJ-2015-4163
assure that all components of the project are implemented as intended. The applicant that 

serves as the project lead will enter into a cooperative agreement with NIJ (see below for more 

information about cooperative agreements) and will make subawards (with entities expected to 

receive a portion of award funds to carry out part of the funded project) and/or enter into 

administrative agreements with other entities working on the project. Project components 

include the following:

• Developing the comprehensive school safety framework. Applicants should 

anticipate spending up to 12 months in the planning process, working with participating 

local school districts and relevant stakeholders. This framework should be based on a 

careful synthesis of evidence from prior research, best practices based on the judgment 

of subject matter experts and local practitioners, and assessment of local challenges, 

needs, and existing resources.

• Implementing the comprehensive school safety framework. The framework should 

be implemented in multiple schools within one or more school districts. Implementation 

should occur in at least two stages with implementation beginning in one set of schools 

in one year and another set of schools in the following year. High-quality implementation 

across the full-range of activities envisioned within the comprehensive framework must 

be supported with appropriate training and technical assistance by subject matter 

experts.

• Evaluating the comprehensive school safety framework. The research team will 

coordinate with all project stakeholders throughout the process, but will be primarily 

concerned with developing and carrying out an evaluation design that will address the 

process and the outcomes of the comprehensive framework. During the planning period, 

research partners should be working with local schools and others to collect baseline 

data to allow for within-school pre-post comparisons. The staged implementation 

approach should be developed to aid the evaluation by allowing for between-school

comparisons of schools that have received the intervention and similar schools that have 

not yet received the intervention.

Applicants for Category 4 should:

• Dedicate up to 1/3 (one-third) of funding to research and evaluation activities. No less 

than 2/3 (two-thirds) of funding should go toward the personnel, programs, equipment, 

materials, and activities involved in developing and implementing the comprehensive 

school safety framework. The 2/3 portion can include costs for subject matter experts 

involved in developing the comprehensive framework and providing training and 

technical assistance to local schools.

• Provide a budget for the full project period that clearly reflects the 1/3 and 2/3 split. The 

budget should also be broken into project stages with more detail provided for the initial 

planning stage and more general detail following that stage. After the development of the 

comprehensive framework, it will be necessary to modify the project budget for the 

remainder of the project period. However, the 1/3 and 2/3 split will be retained 

throughout the project period and any budget modifications.

• Plan to participate in annual meetings with NIJ and representatives from up to two other 

funded efforts carrying out similar work. NIJ expects to make up to three awards in this 

11 NIJ-2015-4163
category. Successful applicants will be expected to share information and contribute to 

peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

• Submit along with their applications an administrative agreement or, at a minimum, a 

letter of support from all project partners. At a minimum, this will include the project lead, 

LEAs or SEAs and research partners, but it may also include mental health service 

providers, law enforcement, municipal government partners, and others as appropriate. 

If an award is made, funds will be withheld until a fully executed, written agreement 

between the relevant LEAs or SEAs and research partner is in place. This agreement 

must provide detail on the roles and responsibilities of each party, and on what will be 

done to ensure that the independence and objectivity of the research is maintained.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The goal of this CSSI solicitation is to fund rigorous research that produces practical knowledge 

that can improve the safety of schools and students across the nation. This is accomplished 

through partnerships involving educators, researchers, and other stakeholders (e.g., law 

enforcement, behavioral and mental health professionals) working toward the following 

objectives:

• Increasing scientific knowledge about the root causes, characteristics, and 

consequences of school violence and other threats to school and student safety.

• Developing, supporting, and rigorously evaluating a wide range of school and student 

safety programs, practices, and strategies.

• Developing a comprehensive school safety framework based on the best available 

information and evidence and testing it in selected school districts.

In addition to required data sets, a draft and final summary overview of research results, interim 

and final progress and financial reports,7 NIJ expects scholarly products to result from each 

award under this solicitation, taking the form of one or more published, peer-reviewed, scientific 

journal articles, and/or (if appropriate) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in 

the academic press, or similar scientific products. Please note: final reporting requirements 

differ for projects that involve program evaluations and those that do not (see Section F.

Federal Award Administration Information, below).

In addition, one or more products should be developed to inform and influence practice and/or 

policy as it relates to school safety. Award recipients are expected to make at least one 

professional presentation directed to an audience (preferably a national audience) of 

practitioners and/or policymakers involved in advancing practice or policy related to school 

safety. The project team may also be asked to present findings and/or lessons learned through 

one of NIJ’s dissemination vehicles such as a webinar, on-site presentation, and/or NIJ 

publication.

7 See “Federal Award Administration Information” (“General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting 

Requirements”) section of this solicitation, below, for additional information.

12 NIJ-2015-4163

 
Evaluation Research

If an application includes an evaluation research component (or consists entirely of evaluation 

research), and the primary purpose of this evaluation is to determine the effectiveness or impact 

of an intervention (e.g., program, practice, or policy), the application is expected to propose the 

most rigorous evaluation design appropriate for the research questions to be addressed. This 

may include random selection and assignment of participants (or other appropriate units of 

analysis) to experimental and control conditions. In cases where randomization is not feasible, 

applicants should propose a strong quasi-experimental design that can address the risk of 

selection bias. Applications that propose meta-analysis of existing evaluation studies must 

establish clear inclusion criteria that favor and provide separate analysis of effect sizes for 

randomized and strong quasi-experimental studies. Applicants are encouraged to review 

evidence rating criteria on the CrimeSolutions.gov website for further information on high-quality 

evaluation design elements.

Also, applications that include evaluation research should consider including cost/benefit 

analysis. In cases where evaluations find that interventions have produced the intended benefit, 

cost/benefit analysis provides valuable and practical information for practitioners and 

policymakers that aids decision-making.

B. Federal Award Information

For Category 1: NIJ estimates that a total of up to $40 million will become available. NIJ 

anticipates awards will be made in amounts ranging from $1 million to $5 million with project 

periods ranging from 24 to 48 months. NIJ expects to make awards in this category in the form 

of grants.

For Category 2: NIJ estimates that a total of up to $6 million will become available. NIJ 

anticipates awards will be made in amounts up to $2 million with project periods ranging from 24 

to 36 months. NIJ expects to make awards in this category in the form of grants.

For Category 3: NIJ estimates that a total of up to $4 million will become available. NIJ 

anticipates awards will be made in amounts ranging from $200,000 to $1 million with project 

periods ranging from 12 to 24 months. NIJ expects to make awards in this category in the form 

of grants.

For Category 4: NIJ estimates that a total of up to $15 million will become available. NIJ 

anticipates that it will make two to three awards in amounts up to $7.5 million with project 

periods ranging from 48 to 60 months. NIJ expects to make awards in this category in the form 

of cooperative agreements.

To allow time for, among other things, any necessary post-award review, modification, and 

clearance by OJP of the proposed budget, applicants should propose an award start date of 

January 1, 2016.

If the applicant is proposing a project that reasonably could be conducted in discrete phases, 

with each phase resulting in completion of one or more significant, defined milestones, then NIJ

strongly recommends that the applicant structure the application – specifically including the 

narrative, expected scholarly products, timelines/milestones, and budget detail worksheet and 

budget narrative – to clearly set out each phase. (This is particularly the case if the applicant 

13 NIJ-2015-4163
proposes a project that will exceed – in cost or length of project period – the amount or length 

anticipated for an individual award (or awards) under this solicitation.) Given limitations on the 

availability to NIJ of funds for research, development, and evaluation awards, this information 

will assist NIJ in considering whether partial funding of proposals that would not receive full 

funding would be productive. (If NIJ elects to fund only certain phases of a proposed project in 

FY 2015, the expected scholarly products from the partial-funding award may, in some cases, 

vary from those described above.)

NIJ may, in certain cases, provide supplemental funding in future years to awards under its 

research, development, and evaluation solicitations. Important considerations in decisions 

regarding supplemental funding include, among other factors, the availability of funding, 

strategic priorities, NIJ’s assessment of the quality of the management of the award (for 

example, timeliness and quality of progress reports), and NIJ’s assessment of the progress of 

the work funded under the award.

All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or 

additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Type of Award8

NIJ expects that it will make any awards from funding Categories 1, 2, and 3 in the form of a 

grant. However, NIJ reserves the authority to make selected awards from Categories 1, 2, or 3 

as cooperative agreements on a case-by-case basis, where NIJ determines that a cooperative 

agreement relationship is more appropriate for the implementation of the funded project.

NIJ expects that it will make any award from Category 4 in the form of a cooperative agreement, 

which is a particular type of grant used if NIJ expects to have ongoing substantial involvement in 

award activities. Substantial involvement includes direct oversight and involvement with the 

grantee organization in implementation of the grant, but does not involve day-to-day project 

management. See Administrative, National Policy, and other Legal Requirements, under 

Section F. Federal Award Administration Information, for details regarding the federal 

involvement anticipated under an award from Category 4 of this solicitation.

As discussed later in the solicitation, important rules (including limitations) apply to any 

conference/meeting/training costs under cooperative agreements.

Please note: Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to comply with 

Department of Justice regulations on confidentiality and human subjects’ protection. See 

“Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Guidance and Requirements” under “Solicitation 

Requirements” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls

If selected for funding, the award recipient must:

a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides 

reasonable assurance that the non-federal entity is managing the federal award in 

8 See generally 31 U.S.C. §§ 6301-6305 (defines and describes various forms of federal assistance relationships, 

including grants and cooperative agreements (a type of grant)).

14 NIJ-2015-4163

 
compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal 

award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for 

Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the 

United States and the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee 

of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

b) Comply with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal 

awards.

c) Evaluate and monitor the non-federal entity's compliance with statute, regulations and 

the terms and conditions of federal awards.

d) Take prompt action when instances of noncompliance are identified including 

noncompliance identified in audit findings.

e) Take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable information 

and other information the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity designates as 

sensitive or the non-federal entity considers sensitive consistent with applicable federal, 

State and local laws regarding privacy and obligations of confidentiality.

In order to better understand administrative requirements and cost principles, award applicants 

are encouraged to enroll, at no charge, in the Department of Justice Grants Financial 

Management Online Training available here.

Budget Information

What will not be funded:

• Proposals primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. (A budget may 

include these items if they are necessary to conduct research, development, 

demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.)

• Proposals that are not responsive to the categories of funding available in this specific 

solicitation.

Supplanting

Federal funds must be used to supplement existing State and local funds for program activities 

and must not supplant those funds that have been appropriated for the same purpose. 

Supplanting will be reviewed during the application process, post-award monitoring, and audit. If 

reviewers think that supplanting may have occurred, then the applicant or recipient will be 

required to supply documentation demonstrating that the reduction in non-Federal resources 

occurred for reasons other than the receipt or expected receipt of Federal funds.

Applicants or recipients are expected to notify NIJ, in writing, promptly, in the event that the 

applicant or recipient identifies potential supplanting so that, as the circumstances may require, 

appropriate action(s) can be taken to avoid or address its occurrence.

To help clarify the difference between supplementing and supplanting, we provide the following 

example:

15 NIJ-2015-4163
State funds are appropriated to hire 50 new police officers, and federal funds are awarded for 

hiring 60 new police officers. At the end of the year, the State has hired 60 new police officers, 

and the federal funds have been exhausted. The State has not used its funds towards hiring 

new officers, but instead reduced its appropriation for that purpose and assigned or 

appropriated the funds to another purpose. In this case, the State has supplanted its 

appropriation with the federal funds. If supplanting had not occurred, 110 new officers would 

have been hired using federal funds for 60 officers and State funds for 50 officers.

Participant Support Costs and Incentives

While NIJ discourages applicants from proposing the use of incentives in a school setting, 

participant support costs are generally allowed with appropriate justification. See NIJ’s webpage 

for guidance http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/research-participant-costs-and-incentives.aspx.

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement

See “Cofunding” paragraph under item 4 (“Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative”) 

under What an Application Should Include in Section D. Application and Submission 

Information.

This solicitation does not require a match. However, if a successful application proposes a 

voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated 

into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit.

For additional cost sharing and match information, see Section C. Eligibility Information.

Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals

OJP does not typically approve pre-agreement costs; an applicant must request and obtain the 

prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. If approved, pre-agreement costs could be paid 

from grant funds consistent with a grantee’s approved budget, and under applicable cost 

standards. However, all such costs prior to award and prior to approval of the costs are incurred 

at the sole risk of an applicant. Generally, no applicant should incur project costs before

submitting an application requesting federal funding for those costs. Should there be 

extenuating circumstances that appear to be appropriate for OJP’s consideration as preagreement costs, the applicant should contact the point of contact listed on the title page of this 

announcement for details on the requirements for submitting a written request for approval. See 

the section on Costs Requiring Prior Approval in the Financial Guide, for more information.

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver

With respect to any award of more than $250,000 made under this solicitation, recipients may 

not use federal funds to pay total cash compensation (salary plus cash bonuses) to any 

employee of the award recipient at a rate that exceeds 110% of the maximum annual salary 

payable to a member of the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) at an 

agency with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System for that year.9 The 2015 salary 

table for SES employees is available at the Office of Personnel Management website. Note: A 

9 This limitation on use of award funds does not apply to the non-profit organizations specifically named at Appendix 

VIII to 2 C.F.R. part 200.

16 NIJ-2015-4163

 
recipient may compensate an employee at a greater rate, provided the amount in excess of this 

compensation limitation is paid with non-federal funds. (Any such additional compensation will 

not be considered matching funds where match requirements apply.)

The Director of the National Institute of Justice may exercise discretion to waive, on an 

individual basis, the limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award. An applicant 

requesting a waiver should include a detailed justification in the budget narrative of the 

application. Unless the applicant submits a waiver request and justification with the application, 

the applicant should anticipate that OJP will request the applicant to adjust and resubmit the 

budget.

The justification should include the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the 

uniqueness of the service the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the 

program or project being undertaken with award funds, and a statement explaining that the 

individual’s salary is commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with 

his/her qualifications and expertise, and for the work to be done.

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs

OJP strongly encourages applicants that propose to use award funds for any 

conference-, meeting-, or training-related activity to review carefully – before submitting 

an application – the OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, planning, and 

reporting available at www.ojp.gov/funding/confcost.htm. OJP policy and guidance (1) 

encourage minimization of conference, meeting, and training costs; (2) require prior written 

approval (which may affect project timelines) of most such costs for cooperative agreement 

recipients and of some such costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, including a 

general prohibition of all food and beverage costs.

Costs Associated With Language Assistance (if applicable)

If an applicant proposes a program or activity that would deliver services or benefits to 

individuals, the costs of taking reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to those services 

or benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency may be allowable. Reasonable steps 

to provide meaningful access to services or benefits may include interpretation or translation 

services where appropriate.

For additional information, see the "Civil Rights Compliance" section under “Solicitation 

Requirements” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

C. Eligibility Information

Eligibility

For additional eligibility information, see Title page.

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement

For additional information on cost sharing and match requirement, see Section B. Federal 

Award Information.

17 NIJ-2015-4163
Limit on Number of Application Submissions

If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, NIJ will review only the most 

recent system-validated version submitted. For more information on system-validated versions, 

see How to Apply.

D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include

Applicants should anticipate that if they fail to submit an application that contains all of the 

specified elements, it may affect negatively the review of their application; and, should a 

decision be made to make an award, it may result in the inclusion of special conditions that 

preclude the recipient from accessing or using award funds pending satisfaction of the 

conditions.

Moreover, applicants should anticipate that applications determined to be nonresponsive to the 

scope of the solicitation, or that do not include the application elements that NIJ has designated 

to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review nor receive further consideration. Under this 

solicitation, NIJ has designated the following application elements as critical: Program Narrative, 

Budget Detail Worksheet, Budget Narrative, and resumes/curriculum vitae of key personnel. For 

purposes of this solicitation, “key personnel” means the principal investigator, and any and all 

co-principal investigators. Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How to 

Apply to be sure applications are submitted in permitted formats.

OJP strongly recommends that applicants use appropriately descriptive file names (e.g., 

“Program Narrative,” “Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative,” “Timelines,” 

“Memoranda of Understanding,” “Resumes”) for all attachments. Also, OJP recommends that 

applicants include resumes in a single file.

1. Information to Complete the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

The SF-424 is a required standard form used as a cover sheet for submission of preapplications, applications, and related information. Grants.gov and OJP’s Grants 

Management System (GMS) take information from the applicant’s profile to populate the 

fields on this form. When selecting "type of applicant," if the applicant is a for-profit entity, 

select "For-Profit Organization" or "Small Business" (as applicable).

Intergovernmental Review: This funding opportunity (program) is not subject to Executive 

Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, applicants are to make the appropriate selection in 

response to question 19 to indicate that the “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.”)

2. Project Abstract

The project abstract is a very important part of the application, and serves as an introduction 

to the proposed project. NIJ uses the project abstract for a number of purposes, including 

assignment of the application to an appropriate review panel. If the application is funded, the 

project abstract typically will become public information and be used to describe the project.

18 NIJ-2015-4163
Applications should include a high-quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed 

project in 250-400 words. Project abstracts should be—

• Written for a general public audience.

• Submitted as a separate attachment with “Project Abstract” as part of its file name.

• Single-spaced, using a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman) with 1-inch margins.

As a separate attachment, the project abstract will not count against the page limit for the 

program narrative.

Project abstracts should follow the detailed template (including the detailed instructions as to 

content) available at www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-abstract-template.pdf.

3. Program Narrative

The program narrative section of the application should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages 

in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If included in the main body of the program narrative, 

tables, charts, figures, and other illustrations count toward the 30-page limit for the narrative 

section. The project abstract, table of contents, appendices, and government forms do not 

count toward the 30-page limit.

If the program narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, NIJ may 

consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions.

The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative.10

Program Narrative Guidelines:

a. Title Page (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit).

The title page should include the title of the project, submission date, funding 

opportunity number, and the name and complete contact information (that is,

address, telephone number, and e-mail address) for both the applicant 

organization and the principal investigator. This page should also specify clearly 

the category of CSSI funding to which the application is directed. NIJ reserves 

the authority to designate a category for an application if the application does not 

specify a category, or if NIJ, upon review of the application, identifies another 

category under which the application appears to fit better than the category the 

application specifies. If NIJ should decide to designate or change the category for 

an application, the point of contact for the application will be notified and will have 

an opportunity to object to the move.

10 As noted earlier, if the proposed program or project reasonably could be conducted in discrete phases, with each 

phase resulting in completion of one or more significant, defined milestones, then NIJ strongly recommends that the 

applicant structure the application – specifically including the narrative, expected scholarly products, 

timelines/milestones, and budget detail worksheet and budget narrative – to set out each phase clearly. (In 

appropriate cases, the expected scholarly product(s) from a particular phase may vary from those described above.) 

See generally, “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific 

Information,” above.

19 NIJ-2015-4163

 
b. Resubmit Response (if applicable) (not counted against the 30-page program 

narrative limit).

If an applicant is resubmitting a proposal presented previously to NIJ, but not 

funded, the applicant should indicate this. A statement should be provided, no 

more than two pages, addressing: (1) the title, submission date, NIJ-assigned 

application number of the previous proposal, and (2) a brief summary of revisions 

to the proposal, including responses to previous feedback received from NIJ.

c. Table of Contents and Figures (not counted against the 30-page program narrative 

limit).

d. Main Body.

The main body of the program narrative should describe the proposed project in 

depth. The following sections should be included as part of the program 

narrative:

• Statement of the Problem.

• Project Design and Implementation.

• Potential Impact.

• Capabilities/Competencies.

Within these sections, the narrative should address:

• Purpose, goals, and objectives.

• Review of relevant literature.

• Detailed description of research design and methods, such as research 

questions, hypotheses, description of sample, and analysis plan.

• Planned Scholarly Products (See Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and 

Expected Scholarly Products under Program-Specific Information, above, 

for a discussion of expected scholarly products.)

• Implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States.

• Management plan and organization.

• Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences. Applicants should identify 

plans to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences –

such as education practitioners, mental health practitioners, justice 

practitioners, and policymakers – summary information from the planned 

scholarly products of the proposed project (such as summaries of articles 

in peer-reviewed scientific journals), in a form designed to be readily 

20 NIJ-2015-4163
accessible and useful to those audiences. (Such dissemination might 

include, for example, trade press articles and webinars.)

e. Appendices (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit) include:

• Bibliography/references.

• Any tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps 

pertaining to the proposed project that are supplemental to such items 

included in the main body of the narrative.

• Curriculum vitae or resumes of the principal investigator and any and all coprincipal investigators. In addition, curriculum vitae, resumes, or biographical 

sketches of all other individuals (regardless of “investigator” status) who will 

be significantly involved in substantive aspects of the proposal (including, for 

example, individuals such as statisticians serving as consultants to conduct

proposed data analysis).

• List (to the extent known) of all proposed project staff members, including 

those affiliated with the applicant organization or any proposed subrecipient 

organization(s), any proposed consultant(s) and contractors (whether 

individuals or organizations), and any proposed members of an advisory 

board for the project (if applicable). The list should include, for each individual 

and organization: name, title (if applicable), employer or other organizational

affiliation, and roles and responsibilities proposed for the project. Applicants 

should use the “Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form available 

at www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-staff-template.xlsx to provide 

this listing.

• Proposed project timeline and expected milestones.

• Human Subjects Protection paperwork (documentation and forms related to 

Institutional Review Board (IRB) review). 

(See nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/Pages/welcome.aspx) NOTE: Final IRB 

approval is not required at the time an application is submitted.

• Privacy Certificate (for further guidance go 

to nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/pages/confidentiality.aspx).

• List of any previous and current NIJ awards to applicant organization and 

investigator(s), including the NIJ-assigned award numbers and a brief 

description of any scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from 

work funded under the NIJ award(s). (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, 

and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” 

above, for definition of “scholarly products.”)

• Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from 

organizations collaborating in the project, such as SEAs, LEAs, research 

partners, law enforcement and mental health agencies (if applicable).

21 NIJ-2015-4163
• If proposing the use of participant support costs or incentives, include

justification as called for on NIJ’s Participant Support Costs and Incentives for 

Social Science Research webpage.

• List of other agencies, organizations, or funding sources to which this 

proposal has been submitted (if applicable).

• Data archiving plan. Applicants should anticipate that NIJ will require (through 

special award conditions, including a partial withholding of award funds) that 

data sets resulting in whole or in part from projects funded under this 

solicitation be submitted for archiving with the National Archive of Criminal 

Justice Data (NACJD) (See www.nij.gov/funding/data-resourcesprogram/applying/Pages/data-archiving-strategies.aspx).

Applications should include as an appendix a brief plan – labeled “Data 

Archiving Plan” – to comply with data archiving requirements. The plan 

should provide brief details about proposed data management and archiving,

including submission to NIJ (through NACJD) of all files and documentation

necessary to allow for future efforts by others to reproduce the project’s 

findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the data set through 

secondary analysis. Pertinent files and documentation include, among other 

things, qualitative and quantitative data produced, instrumentation and data 

collection forms, codebook(s), any specialized programming code necessary 

to reproduce all constructed measures and the original data analysis,

description of necessary de-identification procedures, and (when required) a 

copy of the privacy certificate and informed consent protocols.

The plan should be one or two pages in length and include the level of effort 

associated with meeting archiving requirements.

Note that required data sets are to be submitted 90 days before the end of 

the project period.

4. Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative

a. Budget Detail Worksheet

A sample Budget Detail Worksheet can be found 

at www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/BudgetDetailWorksheet.pdf. Applicants that 

submit their budget in a different format should include the budget categories listed in 

the sample budget worksheet. (Work associated with satisfying data archiving 

requirements should be reflected.) NIJ expects applicants to provide a thorough 

narrative to each section of the Budget Detail Worksheet.

For questions pertaining to budget and examples of allowable and unallowable costs,

see the Financial Guide at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm.

b. Budget Narrative

The budget narrative should thoroughly and clearly describe every category of expense 

listed in the Budget Detail Worksheet. OJP expects proposed budgets to be complete,

22 NIJ-2015-4163
cost effective, and allowable (e.g., reasonable, allocable, and necessary for project 

activities).

Applicants should demonstrate in their budget narratives how they will maximize cost 

effectiveness of grant expenditures. Budget narratives should generally describe cost 

effectiveness in relation to potential alternatives and the goals of the project. For 

example, a budget narrative should detail why planned in-person meetings are 

necessary, or how technology and collaboration with outside organizations could be 

used to reduce costs, without compromising quality.

The narrative should be sound mathematically, and correspond with the information and 

figures provided in the Budget Detail Worksheet. The narrative should explain how the 

applicant estimated and calculated all costs, and how they are relevant to the completion 

of the proposed project. The narrative may include tables for clarification purposes but 

need not be in a spreadsheet format. As with the Budget Detail Worksheet, the Budget 

Narrative should be broken down by year.

c. Cofunding

An award made by NIJ under this solicitation may account for up to 100 percent of the 

total cost of the project. The application should indicate whether it is feasible for the 

applicant to contribute cash, facilities, or services as non-federal support for the project. 

The application should identify generally any such contributions that the applicant 

expects to make and the proposed budget should indicate in detail which items, if any, 

will be supported with non-federal contributions.

For additional match information, see the Cost Sharing or Match Requirement section 

under B. Federal Award Information.

If a successful application proposes a voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the 

budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes 

mandatory and subject to audit.

d. Non-Competitive Procurement Contracts In Excess of Simplified Acquisition 

Threshold

If an applicant proposes to make one or more non-competitive procurements of products 

or services, where the non-competitive procurement will exceed the simplified 

acquisition threshold (also known as the small purchase threshold), which is currently 

set at $150,000, the application should address the considerations outlined in 

the Financial Guide.

e. Pre-Agreement Cost Approvals

For information on pre-agreement costs approvals, see Section B. Federal Award 

Information.

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

Indirect costs are allowed only if the applicant has a current federally approved indirect cost

rate. (This requirement does not apply to units of local government.) Attach a copy of the 

23 NIJ-2015-4163
federally approved indirect cost rate agreement to the application. Applicants that do not 

have an approved rate may request one through their cognizant federal agency, which will

review all documentation and approve a rate for the applicant organization, or, if the 

applicant’s accounting system permits, costs may be allocated in the direct cost categories.

For the definition of Cognizant Federal Agency, see the “Glossary of Terms” in the Financial 

Guide. For assistance with identifying your cognizant agency, please contact the Customer 

Service Center at 1-800-458-0786 or at ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov. If DOJ is the cognizant federal 

agency, applicants may obtain information needed to submit an indirect cost rate proposal 

at www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/IndirectCosts.pdf.

6. Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable)

Tribes, tribal organizations, or third parties proposing to provide direct services or assistance 

to residents on tribal lands should include in their applications a resolution, a letter, affidavit, 

or other documentation, as appropriate, that certifies that the applicant has the legal 

authority from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed project on tribal lands. In those 

instances when an organization or consortium of tribes applies for a grant on behalf of a 

tribe or multiple specific tribes, the application should include appropriate legal 

documentation, as described above, from all tribes that would receive services or assistance 

under the grant. A consortium of tribes for which existing consortium bylaws allow action 

without support from all tribes in the consortium (i.e., without an authorizing resolution or 

comparable legal documentation from each tribal governing body) may submit, instead, a 

copy of its consortium bylaws with the application.

7. Applicant Disclosure of High-Risk Status

Applicants are to disclose whether they are currently designated high risk by another federal 

grant making agency. This includes any status requiring additional oversight by the federal 

agency due to past programmatic or financial concerns. If an applicant is designated high 

risk by another federal grant making agency, you must email the following information 

to OJPComplianceReporting@usdoj.gov at the time of application submission:

• The federal agency that currently designated the applicant as high risk;

• Date the applicant was designated high risk;

• The high-risk point of contact name, phone number, and email address, from that 

federal agency; and

• Reasons for the high risk status.

OJP seeks this information to ensure appropriate federal oversight of any grant award. 

Unlike the Excluded Parties List, this high risk information does not disqualify any 

organization from receiving an OJP award. However, additional grant oversight may be 

included, if necessary, in award documentation.

24 NIJ-2015-4163
SAMPLE

8. Additional Attachments

a. Applicant disclosure of pending applications11

Applicants are to disclose whether they have pending applications for federally funded 

grants or subgrants (including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding 

to support the same project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the 

identical cost items outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application 

under this solicitation. The disclosure should include both direct applications for federal 

funding (e.g., applications to federal agencies) and indirect applications for such funding 

(e.g., applications to State agencies that will subaward federal funds).

OJP seeks this information to help avoid any inappropriate duplication of funding. 

Leveraging multiple funding sources in a complementary manner to implement 

comprehensive programs or projects is encouraged and is not seen as inappropriate 

duplication.

Applicants that have pending applications as described above are to provide the 

following information about pending applications submitted within the last 12 months:

• The federal or State funding agency.

• The solicitation name/project name.

• The point of contact information at the applicable funding agency.

Applicants should include the table as a separate attachment, with the file name 

“Disclosure of Pending Applications,” to their application. Applicants that do not have 

pending applications as described above are to include a statement to this effect in the 

separate attachment page (e.g., “[Applicant Name on SF-424] does not have pending 

applications submitted within the last 12 months for federally funded grants or subgrants 

(including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding to support the same 

11 Typically, the applicant is not the principal investigator; rather, the applicant, most frequently, is the institution, 

organization, or company in which the principal investigator is employed.

Federal or 

State 

Funding 

Agency 

Solicitation 

Name/Project 

Name

Name/Phone/E-mail for Point of Contact at 

Funding Agency

DOJ/COPS COPS Hiring 

Program

Jane Doe, 202/000-0000; jane.doe@usdoj.gov

HHS/ 

Substance 

Abuse & 

Mental Health 

Services 

Administration

Drug Free 

Communities

Mentoring Program/ 

North County Youth 

Mentoring Program

John Doe, 202/000-0000; john.doe@hhs.gov

25 NIJ-2015-4163

 
project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the identical cost items 

outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application under this solicitation.”).

b. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity

If a proposal involves research and/or evaluation, regardless of the proposal’s other 

merits, in order to receive funds, the applicant must demonstrate research/evaluation 

independence, including appropriate safeguards to ensure research/evaluation 

objectivity and integrity, both in this proposal and as it may relate to the applicant’s other 

current or prior related projects. This documentation may be included as an attachment 

to the application which addresses BOTH i. and ii. below.

i. For purposes of this solicitation, applicants must document research and evaluation 

independence and integrity by including, at a minimum, one of the following two 

items:

a. A specific assurance that the applicant has reviewed its proposal to identify 

any research integrity issues (including all principal investigators and subrecipients) and it has concluded that the design, conduct, or reporting of 

research and evaluation funded by NIJ grants, cooperative agreements, or 

contracts will not be biased by any personal or financial conflict of interest on 

the part of part of its staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients responsible for 

the research and evaluation or on the part of the applicant organization;

OR

b. A specific listing of actual or perceived conflicts of interest that the applicant 

has identified in relation to this proposal. These conflicts could be either 

personal (related to specific staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients) or 

organizational (related to the applicant or any subgrantee organization). 

Examples of potential investigator (or other personal) conflict situations may 

include, but are not limited to, those in which an investigator would be in a 

position to evaluate a spouse’s work product (actual conflict), or an 

investigator would be in a position to evaluate the work of a former or current 

colleague (potential apparent conflict). With regard to potential organizational 

conflicts of interest, as one example, generally an organization could not be 

given a grant to evaluate a project if that organization had itself provided 

substantial prior technical assistance to that specific project or a location 

implementing the project (whether funded by OJP or other sources), as the 

organization in such an instance would appear to be evaluating the 

effectiveness of its own prior work. The key is whether a reasonable person 

understanding all of the facts would be able to have confidence that the 

results of any research or evaluation project are objective and reliable. Any 

outside personal or financial interest that casts doubt on that objectivity and 

reliability of an evaluation or research product is a problem and must be 

disclosed.

ii. In addition, for purposes of this solicitation applicants must address the issue of 

possible mitigation of research integrity concerns by including, at a minimum, one of 

the following two items:

26 NIJ-2015-4163
a. If an applicant reasonably believes that no potential personal or 

organizational conflicts of interest exist, then the applicant should provide a 

brief narrative explanation of how and why it reached that conclusion.

Applicants MUST also include an explanation of the specific processes and 

procedures that the applicant will put in place to identify and eliminate (or, at 

the very least, mitigate) potential personal or financial conflicts of interest on 

the part of its staff, consultants, and/or sub-recipients for this particular 

project, should that be necessary during the grant period. Documentation that 

may be helpful in this regard could include organizational codes of 

ethics/conduct or policies regarding organizational, personal, and financial 

conflicts of interest.

OR

b. If the applicant has identified specific personal or organizational conflicts of 

interest in its proposal during this review, the applicant must propose a 

specific and robust mitigation plan to address conflicts noted above. At a 

minimum, the plan must include specific processes and procedures that the 

applicant will put in place to eliminate (or, at the very least, mitigate) potential 

personal or financial conflicts of interest on the part of its staff, consultants, 

and/or sub-recipients for this particular project, should that be necessary 

during the grant period. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard 

could include organizational codes of ethics/conduct or policies regarding 

organizational, personal, and financial conflicts of interest. There is no 

guarantee that the plan, if any, will be accepted as proposed.

Considerations in assessing research and evaluation independence and integrity will 

include, but are not be limited to, the adequacy of the applicant’s efforts to identify 

factors that could affect the objectivity or integrity of the proposed staff and/or the 

organization in carrying out the research, development, or evaluation activity; and the 

adequacy of the applicant’s existing or proposed remedies to control any such factors.

9. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire

In accordance with 2 CFR 200.205, Federal agencies must have in place a framework for 

evaluating the risks posed by applicants before they receive a Federal award. To facilitate 

part of this risk evaluation, all applicants (other than an individual) are to download, 

complete, and submit this form.

10. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

All applicants must complete this information. Applicants that expend any funds for lobbying 

activities are to provide the detailed information requested on the form Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL). Applicants that do not expend any funds for lobbying activities 

are to enter “N/A” in the text boxes for item 10 (“a. Name and Address of Lobbying 

Registrant” and “b. Individuals Performing Services”).

27 NIJ-2015-4163
How to Apply

Applicants must register in, and submit applications through Grants.gov, a “one-stop storefront” 

to find federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to 

register and submit an application at www.Grants.gov. Applicants that experience technical 

difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-

4726 or 606–545–5035, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. Registering 

with Grants.gov is a one-time process; however, processing delays may occur, and it can 

take several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation and a user password. OJP 

encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline. 

In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications 72 hours prior to the application due 

date to allow time to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and 

to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

NIJ strongly encourages all prospective applicants to sign up for Grants.gov email notifications

regarding this solicitation. If this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with 

Grants.gov for updates will be automatically notified.

Note on File Names and File Types: Grants.gov only permits the use of certain specific

characters in names of attachment files. Valid file names may include only the characters shown 

in the table below. Grants.gov is designed to reject any application that includes an 

attachment(s) with a file name that contains any characters not shown in the table below. 

Grants.gov is designed to forward successfully submitted applications to OJP’s Grants 

Management System (GMS).

Characters Special Characters

Upper case (A – Z) Parenthesis ( ) Curly braces { } Square brackets [ ]

Lower case (a – z) Ampersand (&) Tilde (~) Exclamation point (!)

Underscore (__) Comma ( , ) Semicolon ( ; ) Apostrophe ( ‘ )

Hyphen ( - ) At sign (@) Number sign (#) Dollar sign ($)

Space Percent sign (%) Plus sign (+) Equal sign (=)

Period (.) When using the ampersand (&) in XML, applicants must use the “&” 

format.

GMS does not accept executable file types as application attachments. These disallowed 

file types include, but are not limited to, the following extensions: “.com,” “.bat,” “.exe,” “.vbs,” 

“.cfg,” “.dat,” “.db,” “.dbf,” “.dll,” “.ini,” “.log,” “.ora,” “.sys,” and “.zip.” GMS may reject applications 

with files that use these extensions. It is important to allow time to change the type of file(s) if 

the application is rejected.

All applicants are required to complete the following steps:

OJP may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all 

applicable DUNS and SAM requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the 

requirements by the time the federal awarding agency is ready to make a federal award, the 

federal awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal 

award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

1. Acquire a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. In general, the Office of 

Management and Budget requires that all applicants (other than individuals) for federal 

28 NIJ-2015-4163
funds include a DUNS number in their applications for a new award or a supplement to an 

existing award. A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit sequence recognized as the 

universal standard for identifying and differentiating entities receiving federal funds. The 

identifier is used for tracking purposes and to validate address and point of contact 

information for federal assistance applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. The DUNS 

number will be used throughout the grant life cycle. Obtaining a DUNS number is a free, 

one-time activity. Call Dun and Bradstreet at 866–705–5711 to obtain a DUNS number or 

apply online at www.dnb.com. A DUNS number is usually received within 1-2 business days.

2. Acquire registration with the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is the 

repository for standard information about federal financial assistance applicants, recipients, 

and subrecipients. OJP requires all applicants (other than individuals) for federal financial 

assistance to maintain current registrations in the SAM database. Applicants must be 

registered in SAM to successfully register in Grants.gov. Applicants must update or renew 

their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status.

Applications cannot be successfully submitted in Grants.gov until Grants.gov receives the 

SAM registration information. The information transfer from SAM to Grants.gov can take up 

to 48 hours. OJP recommends that the applicant register or renew registration with SAM as 

early as possible.

Information about SAM registration procedures can be accessed at www.sam.gov.

3. Acquire an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) and a Grants.gov 

username and password. Complete the AOR profile on Grants.gov and create a username 

and password. The applicant organization’s DUNS number must be used to complete this 

step. For more information about the registration process, go 

to www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html.

4. Acquire confirmation for the AOR from the E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC). 

The E-Biz POC at the applicant organization must log into Grants.gov to confirm the 

applicant organization’s AOR. Note that an organization can have more than one AOR.

5. Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov. Use the following identifying 

information when searching for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov. The Catalog of 

Federal Domestic Assistance number for this solicitation is 16.560, titled “National Institute 

of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants” and the funding 

opportunity number is NIJ-2015-4163.

6. Select the correct Competition ID. This solicitation will be posted to Grants.gov and 

contains multiple purpose areas, denoted by the individual Competition ID. If applying to a 

solicitation with multiple Competition IDs, select the appropriate Competition ID for the 

intended purpose area of the application.

7. Submit a valid application consistent with this solicitation by following the directions 

in Grants.gov. Within 24–48 hours after submitting the electronic application, the applicant 

should receive two notifications from Grants.gov. The first will confirm the receipt of the 

application and the second will state whether the application has been successfully

validated, or rejected due to errors, with an explanation. It is possible to first receive a 

message indicating that the application is received and then receive a rejection notice a few 

minutes or hours later. Submitting well ahead of the deadline provides time to correct the 

29 NIJ-2015-4163
problem(s) that caused the rejection. Important: OJP urges applicants to submit 

applications at least 72 hours prior to the application due date to allow time to receive 

validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely 

fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

Click here for further details on DUNS, SAM, and Grants.gov registration steps and 

timeframes.

Note: Duplicate Applications

If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, NIJ will review only the most 

recent system-validated version submitted. See Note on File Names and File Types under How 

To Apply.

Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that 

prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must contact the Grants.gov 

Customer Support Hotline or the SAM Help Desk to report the technical issue and receive a 

tracking number. Then applicant must e-mail the NIJ contact identified in the Contact 

Information section on page 2 within 24 hours after the application deadline and request 

approval to submit their application. The e-mail must describe the technical difficulties, and 

include a timeline of the applicant’s submission efforts, the complete grant application, the 

applicant’s DUNS number, and any Grants.gov Help Desk or SAM tracking number(s). Note: 

NIJ does not automatically approve requests. After the program office reviews the 

submission, and contacts the Grants.gov or SAM Help Desks to validate the reported technical 

issues, OJP will inform the applicant whether the request to submit a late application has been 

approved or denied. If OJP determines that the applicant failed to follow all required procedures, 

which resulted in an untimely application submission, OJP will deny the applicant’s request to 

submit their application.

The following conditions are generally insufficient to justify late submissions:

• Failure to register in SAM or Grants.gov in sufficient time.

• Failure to follow Grants.gov instructions on how to register and apply as posted on its 

website.

• Failure to follow each instruction in the OJP solicitation.

• Technical issues with the applicant’s computer or information technology environment, 

including firewalls.

Notifications regarding known technical problems with Grants.gov, if any, are posted at 

the top of the OJP funding Web page 

at www.ojp.gov/funding/Explore/CurrentFundingOpportunities.htm.

30 NIJ-2015-4163
E. Application Review Information

Selection Criteria

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using 

the following review criteria.

Statement of the Problem (Understanding of the problem and its importance) – 10%

1. Demonstrated understanding of the problem.

2. Demonstrated awareness of the state of current research.

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 50%

1. Soundness of methods and analytic and technical approach to addressing the stated 

aim(s) of the proposed project.

2. Feasibility of proposed project.

3. Awareness of potential pitfalls of proposed project design and feasibility of proposed 

actions to minimize and/or mitigate them.

Potential Impact – 20%

Potential for a significant scientific or technical advance(s) that will improve school safety or 

criminal/juvenile justice in the United States, such as—

• Potential for significantly improved understanding of the stated school safety or 

criminal/juvenile justice problem.

• Potential for innovative solution to address (all or a significant part of) the stated school 

safety or criminal/juvenile justice problem.

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the 

applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 20%

1. Qualifications and experience of proposed project staff (that is, the principal investigator, 

any and all co-principal investigators, and all other individuals (and organizations)

identified in the application (regardless of “investigator” status) who will be significantly 

involved in substantive aspects of the proposal).

2. Demonstrated ability of the applicant organization to manage the effort.

3. Relationship between the capabilities/competencies of the proposed project staff 

(including the applicant organization) and the scope of the proposed project.

31 NIJ-2015-4163
Budget

Peer reviewers will consider and may comment on the following additional items in the context 

of scientific and technical merit.

1. Total cost of the project relative to the perceived benefit (cost effectiveness).

2. Appropriateness of the budget relative to the level of effort.

3. Use of existing resources to conserve costs.

4. Proposed budget alignment with proposed project activities.

Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences (if applicable to the proposed project)

Peer reviewers may comment – in the context of scientific and technical merit – on the proposed 

plan (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences, such as 

criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers, summary information from the planned 

scholarly products of the project.

Review Process

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for awarding grants. NIJ reviews the 

application to make sure that the information presented is reasonable, understandable, 

measurable, and achievable, as well as consistent with the solicitation.

Peer reviewers will review the applications submitted under this solicitation that meet basic 

minimum requirements. For purposes of assessing whether applicants have met basic minimum 

requirements, OJP screens applications for compliance with specified program requirements to 

help determine which applications should proceed to further consideration for award. Although 

program requirements may vary, the following are common requirements applicable to all 

solicitations for funding under OJP grant programs:

• Applications must be submitted by an eligible type of applicant.

• Applications must request funding within programmatic funding constraints (if 

applicable).

• Applications must be responsive to the scope of the solicitation.

• Applications must include all items designated as “critical elements.”

• Applicants will be checked against the General Services Administration’s Excluded 

Parties List.

For a list of critical elements, see “What an Application Should Include” under Section D. 

Application and Submission Information.

32 NIJ-2015-4163
NIJ may use internal peer reviewers, external peer reviewers, or a combination, to assess 

applications meeting basic minimum requirements on technical merit using the solicitation’s 

selection criteria. An external peer reviewer is an expert in the subject matter of a given 

solicitation who is not a current DOJ employee. An internal reviewer is a current DOJ employee 

who is well-versed or has expertise in the subject matter of this solicitation. A peer review panel 

will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum requirements.

OJP reviews applications for potential discretionary awards to evaluate the risks posed by 

applicants before they receive an award. This review may include but is not limited to the 

following:

1. Financial stability and fiscal integrity

2. Quality of management systems and ability to meet the management standards 

prescribed in the Financial Guide

3. History of performance

4. Reports and findings from audits

5. The applicant's ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other 

requirements imposed on non-Federal entities

6. Proposed costs to determine if the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative 

accurately explain project costs, and whether those costs are reasonable, necessary, 

and allowable under applicable federal cost principles and agency regulations

All final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice. Peer 

reviewers’ ratings and any resulting recommendations are advisory only, although their views 

are considered carefully. In addition to peer review ratings, considerations for award 

recommendations and decisions may include, but are not limited to, planned scholarly products, 

proposed budgets, past performance (including scholarly products) under prior NIJ and OJP 

awards, research independence and integrity, strategic priorities, and available funding when 

making awards.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notices

OJP award notification will be sent from GMS. Recipients will be required to login; accept any 

outstanding assurances and certifications on the award; designate a financial point of contact; 

and review, sign, and accept the award. The award acceptance process involves physical 

signature of the award document by the authorized representative and the scanning of the fullyexecuted award document to OJP.

Administrative, National Policy, and other Legal Requirements

If selected for funding, in addition to implementing the funded project consistent with the 

agency-approved project proposal and budget, the recipient must comply with award terms and 

conditions, and other legal requirements, that are included in the award, incorporated into the 

33 NIJ-2015-4163
award by reference, or are otherwise applicable to the award. OJP strongly encourages 

prospective applicants to review the information pertaining to these requirements prior to 

submitting an application. To assist applicants and recipients in accessing and reviewing this 

information, OJP has placed it on its Solicitation Requirements page of the OJP Funding 

Resource Center.

Please note in particular the following two forms, which applicants must submit in GMS prior to 

the receipt of any award funds, as each details legal requirements with which applicants must 

provide specific assurances and certifications of compliance. Applicants may view these forms

in the OJP Funding Resource Center and are strongly encouraged to review and consider them 

carefully prior to making an application for OJP grant funds.

• Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility 

Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements

• Standard Assurances

Upon grant approval, OJP electronically transmits (via GMS) the award document to the 

prospective award recipient. In addition to other award information, the award document 

contains award terms and conditions that specify national policy requirements12 with which 

recipients of federal funding must comply; uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, 

and audit requirements; and program-specific terms and conditions required based on 

applicable program (statutory) authority or requirements set forth in OJP solicitations and 

program announcements. For example, certain efforts may call for special requirements, terms, 

or conditions relating to intellectual property, data/information-sharing or -access, or information 

security; or audit requirements, expenditures and milestones, or publications and/or press 

releases.

OJP also may place additional terms and conditions on an award based on its risk assessment 

of the applicant, or for other reasons it determines necessary to fulfill the goals and objectives of 

the program.

Prospective applicants may access and review the text of mandatory conditions OJP includes in 

all OJP awards, as well as the text of certain other conditions, such as administrative conditions, 

via OJP’s Mandatory Award Terms and Conditions page of the Funding Resource Center.

As stated above, NIJ expects that it will make any award from Category 4 of this solicitation

(and, in appropriate circumstances, should NIJ choose, selected awards from Categories 1, 2, 

and 3) in the form of a cooperative agreement. Cooperative agreement awards include standard 

“federal involvement” conditions that describe the general allocation of responsibility for 

execution of the funded program. Generally-stated, under cooperative agreement awards, 

responsibility for the day-to-day conduct of the funded project rests with the recipient in 

implementing the funded and approved proposal and budget, and the award terms and 

conditions. Responsibility for oversight and redirection of the project, if necessary, rests with

NIJ.

12 See generally 2 C.F.R. 200.300 (provides a general description of national policy requirements typically applicable 

to recipients of Federal awards, including the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 

(FFATA)).

34 NIJ-2015-4163

 
In addition to any “federal involvement” condition(s), OJP cooperative agreement awards 

include a special condition specifying certain reporting requirements required in connection with 

conferences, meetings, retreats, seminars, symposium, training activities, or similar events 

funded under the award, consistent with OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, 

planning, and reporting.

Category 4 award recipients will be expected to work closely with NIJ on tasks related to 

developing and refining the comprehensive school safety framework and the evaluation design.

NIJ will exercise careful oversight on all project elements, with particular attention to collection 

of baseline data, fidelity to program and evaluation designs, and adherence to data collection 

protocols. Category 4 award recipients will participate in annual meetings with NIJ and

representatives from up to two other funded efforts carrying out similar work. Successful 

applicants will be expected to share information and contribute to peer-to-peer learning 

opportunities.

General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements

Recipients must submit quarterly financial reports, semi-annual progress reports, final financial 

and progress reports, and, if applicable, an annual audit report in accordance with 2 CFR Part 

200. Applicants should anticipate that progress reports will be required to follow the nonbudgetary components of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) template/format. 

General information on RPPRs may be found at www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rppr/. Future

awards and fund drawdowns may be withheld if reports are delinquent.

Special Reporting requirements may be required by OJP depending on the statutory, legislative 

or administrative requirements of the recipient or the program.

As indicated earlier in this solicitation, NIJ expects scholarly products to result from any award 

under this solicitation. Please review the Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected 

Scholarly Products segment of the “Program-Specific Information” section of this solicitation, as 

well as the “Performance Measures” section.

In addition to the expectation of scholarly products, successful applicants under this solicitation 

will be required to submit the following deliverables regarding the work funded by the NIJ award.

Draft and Final Summary Overview of the Work Conducted Under the Award

The overview is expected to provide an overall summary of the work under, and results of, the 

project funded by NIJ under this solicitation. Among other things, the summary overview should 

address the purpose of the project, project subjects (if applicable), project design and methods, 

data analysis, project findings, and implications for school safety, juvenile and criminal justice 

policy and practice in the United States.

Award recipients for projects that do not include a program evaluation must submit a draft 

summary overview no longer than ten pages long (double-spaced) 90 days prior to the end of 

the project period for NIJ review and comment. For projects that include program evaluation, 

a complete final report must be submitted 90 days prior to the end of the project period.

35 NIJ-2015-4163
Required Data Sets and Associated Files and Documentation

As discussed earlier, NIJ requires recipients of an award under this solicitation to submit to 

NACJD all data sets that result in whole or in part from the work funded by NIJ, along with 

associated files and any documentation necessary to allow for future efforts by others to 

reproduce the project’s findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the data set through 

secondary analysis. All data sets and necessary documentation are to be submitted 90 days 

prior to the end of the project period. For more information, see the “Program Narrative” section 

of What an Application Should Include.

Performance Measures

To assist the Department with fulfilling its responsibilities under the Government Performance 

and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Public Law 103-62, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, 

Public Law 111–352, applicants that receive funding under this solicitation must provide data 

that measure the results of their work done under this solicitation. OJP will require any award 

recipient, post award, to provide the data requested in the “Data Grantee Provides” column so 

that OJP can calculate values for the “Performance Measures” column. (Submission of 

performance measures data is not required for the application.) Performance measures for this 

solicitation are as follows:

Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Grantee Provides

Conduct research in social 

and behavioral sciences 

having clear implications for 

school safety and 

criminal/juvenile justice policy 

and practice in the United 

States.

1. Relevance to the needs of the field as 

measured by whether the project’s 

substantive scope did not deviate from the 

funded proposal or any subsequent 

agency-approved modifications to the 

scope.

2. Quality of the research as demonstrated by 

the scholarly products that result in whole 

or in part from work funded under the NIJ 

award (published, peer-reviewed, scientific 

journal articles, and/or (as appropriate for 

the funded project) law review journal 

articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the 

academic press, technological prototypes, 

patented inventions, or similar scientific 

products).

3. Quality of management as measured by 

such factors as whether significant project 

milestones were achieved, reporting and 

other deadlines were met, and costs 

remained within approved limits.

1. Quarterly financial 

reports, semi-annual 

and final progress 

reports, and a draft 

and final summary 

overview of the work 

performed under the 

NIJ award.

2. List of citation(s) to all 

scholarly products 

that resulted in whole 

or in part from work 

funded under the NIJ 

award.

3. If applicable, each 

data set that resulted 

in whole or in part 

from work funded 

under the NIJ award.

36 NIJ-2015-4163
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s)

For additional Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s), see the Title page.

For additional contact information for Grants.gov, see the Title page.

H. Other Information

Provide Feedback to OJP

To assist OJP in improving its application and award processes, we encourage applicants to 

provide feedback on this solicitation, the application submission process, and/or the application 

review/peer review process. Provide feedback to OJPSolicitationFeedback@usdoj.gov.

IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for feedback and suggestions only. Replies are not sent from this 

mailbox. If you have specific questions on any program or technical aspect of the solicitation, 

you must directly contact the appropriate number or e-mail listed on the front of this solicitation 

document. These contacts are provided to help ensure that you can directly reach an individual 

who can address your specific questions in a timely manner.

If you are interested in being a reviewer for other OJP grant applications, please e-mail your 

resume to ojppeerreview@lmbps.com. The OJP Solicitation Feedback email account will not 

forward your resume. Note: Neither you nor anyone else from your organization can be a peer 

reviewer in a competition in which you or your organization have submitted an application.

37 NIJ-2015-4163
Application Checklist

NIJ FY15 Comprehensive School Safety Initiative

This application checklist has been created to assist in developing an application.

What an Applicant Should Do:

Prior to Registering in Grants.gov:

_____ Acquire a DUNS Number (see page 28)

_____ Acquire or renew registration with SAM (see page 29)

To Register with Grants.gov:

_____ Acquire AOR and Grants.gov username/password (see page 29)

_____ Acquire AOR confirmation from the E-Biz POC (see page 29)

To Find Funding Opportunity: 

_____ Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov (see page 29)

_____ Download Funding Opportunity and Application Package (see page 29)

_____ Sign up for Grants.gov email notifications (optional) (see page 28)

_____ Read Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov

After application submission, receive Grants.gov email notifications that:

_____ (1) Application has been received

_____ (2) Application has either been successfully validated or rejected with errors 

 (see page 29)

If no Grants.gov receipt, and validation or error notifications are received:

_____ Contact NIJ regarding experiencing technical difficulties (see page 30)

General Requirements:

_____ Review the Solicitation Requirements in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

What an Application Should Include:

_____ Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) (see page 18)

_____ Project Abstract (see page 18)

_____ Program Narrative (see page 19)

_____ Appendices (see page 21)

_____ Budget Detail Worksheet (see page 22)

_____ Budget Narrative (see page 22)

_____ Employee Compensation Waiver request and justification (if applicable) 

(see page 16)

_____ Read OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, planning, and reporting

available 

at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/PostawardRequirements/chapter15page1.htm (

see page 17)

_____ Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) (see page 27)

_____ Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) (see page 23)

_____ Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) (see page 24)

_____ Applicant Disclosure of High-Risk Status (see page 24)

38 NIJ-2015-4163
_____ Additional Attachments

_____ Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications (see page 25)

_____ Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity (see page 26)

_____ Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (if applicable) 

(see page 27)

39 NIJ-2015-4163