Notice regarding the solicitation “Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building 

Grants”

April 13, 2018: Grants.gov will be offline for scheduled maintenance from 12:01am ET on April 

21 through 6am ET on April 23. 

March 12, 2018: Links directing to "Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to 

OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2017 Awards" have been updated to the FY 

2018 link throughout this funding opportunity document. 

March 6, 2018: NIJ hosted a webinar discussion on February 22, 2018, that provided an 

overview of this solicitation. The transcripts and slides have been appended to this document. 

The original solicitation document begins on the next page. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMB No. 1121-0329 

Approval Expires 11/30/2020 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

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 funding for grants to support research involving federally 

recognized tribes (or tribally based organizations) on issues of crime and justice in the United 

States. This program furthers the Department’s mission by sponsoring research to provide 

objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime 

and justice, particularly at the tribal level. 

Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants 

Applications Due: April 23, 2018 

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, federally recognized 

Indian tribal governments that perform law enforcement functions (as determined by the 

Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and 

for-profit organizations), institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher 

education), and certain qualified individuals. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and 

foreign colleges and universities are not eligible to apply. 

All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or 

management fee. 

NIJ welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award; 

however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any others must be proposed as subrecipients 

(subgrantees)1. The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for 

carrying out the award, including administering funding, managing the entire project, and 

monitoring and appropriately managing any subawards (“subgrants”). 

Under this solicitation, any particular applicant entity may submit more than one application, as 

long as each application proposes a different project in response to the solicitation. Also, an 

entity may be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application. 

NIJ may elect to fund applications submitted under this FY 2018 solicitation in future fiscal 

years, dependent on, among other considerations, the merit of the applications and on the 

availability of appropriations. 

1 For additional information on subawards, see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D. Application 

and Submission Information 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deadline 

Applicants must register with Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html 

prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 

23, 2018. 

To be considered timely, an application must be submitted by the application deadline using 

Grants.gov, and the applicant must have received a validation message from Grants.gov that 

indicates successful and timely submission. OJP urges applicants to submit applications at least 

72 hours prior to the application due date, to allow time for the applicant 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. 

OJP encourages all applicants 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, 606-545-5035, 

at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or via email to support@grants.gov. 

The Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal 

holidays. 

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that 

prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline may email the NIJ contact identified 

below within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its 

application. Additional information on reporting technical issues appears under Experiencing 

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

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact the National Criminal 

Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 1-800-851-3420; via TTY at 

301-240-6310 (hearing impaired only); email grants@ncjrs.gov; fax to 301-240-5830; or web 

chat at https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. The NCJRS Response Center hours of 

operation are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 

8:00 p.m. eastern time on the solicitation close date. 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. 

Grants.gov number assigned to this solicitation: NIJ-2018-13840 

Release date: February 1, 2018 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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Contents 

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

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

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

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products .........................................5 

B. Federal Award Information .......................................................................................................8 

Type of Award ...........................................................................................................................8 

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls...........................................................8 

Budget Information ....................................................................................................................9 

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement ..................................................................................10 

Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) ........................................................10 

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver...............................10 

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs ...................11 

Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable) ...................................................11 

C. Eligibility Information ..............................................................................................................11 

D. Application and Submission Information ................................................................................11 

What an Application Should Include........................................................................................11 

How to Apply ...........................................................................................................................25 

E. Application Review Information ..............................................................................................29 

Review Criteria ........................................................................................................................29 

Review Process.......................................................................................................................30 

F. Federal Award Administration Information..............................................................................32 

Federal Award Notices ............................................................................................................32 

Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements.............................................32 

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements..............................33 

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) ....................................................................................34 

H. Other Information ...................................................................................................................34 

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a) ....................34 

Provide Feedback to OJP .......................................................................................................34 

Application Checklist ...............................................................................................................36 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants 

(CFDA # 16.560) 

A. Program Description 

Overview 

NIJ actively supports research that involves federally recognized tribes (or tribally based 

organizations) on issues of crime and justice in the United States. In doing so, NIJ is committed 

to ethical and engaged efforts in line with responsible research conduct and federal trust 

responsibilities. This solicitation seeks to enhance and expand such research through the 

provision of grants to support development of relevant, new and innovative research projects. 

To ensure proposed projects result in tangible and mutually beneficial studies, they must include 

a new tribal-researcher partnership component. 

Statutory Authority: Any awards under this solicitation would be made under statutory 

authority provided by a full-year appropriations act for FY 2018. As of the writing of this 

solicitation, the Department of Justice is operating under a short-term "Continuing Resolution"; 

no full-year appropriation for the Department has been enacted for FY 2018. 

Program-Specific Information 

Through this solicitation, NIJ will provide small grants to fund applicants that wish to both (1) 

initiate new and innovative research projects involving federally recognized tribes (or tribally 

based organizations) and (2) to facilitate a new tribal-researcher investigator partnership.2 

Under this solicitation, grant funding may be awarded to cover costs associated with: 

• Engaging and conferring with tribal nations on criminal justice research, development, 

testing (e.g., technology), and evaluation aimed to improve public safety in tribal 

communities; 

• Establishing new tribal nation and tribal program partnerships and participation (e.g., 

technical and factual presentations to tribal leadership or governing bodies, including 

those requested by a tribe in connection with its process for providing its authorization 

(through tribal resolution or other appropriate documentation) to participate in the funded 

project; obtaining participatory agreements; and securing tribal Institutional Review 

Board (IRB) approvals); 

• Developing research questions and study designs using community-based participatory 

research principles that involve the tribal partner in all aspects of the research process; 

• Conducting pilot, feasibility, or evaluability assessment studies that may involve 

collecting preliminary data and/or secondary data analysis; and 

• Drafting a tribal-researcher investigator criminal justice proposal for submission based 

on the new partnership. 

2 Under such an arrangement, the applicant research entity (or applicant researcher) may make subawards to tribal 

(or tribal organization-) partners that would participate in the funded project. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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While the scope of this solicitation is defined as investigator initiated, the following research 

topics are of particular interest to the U.S. Department of Justice: 

• Administration of justice for Native youth and adults 

• Alcohol and other drugs of use and abuse 

• Crime prevention and intervention efforts 

• Criminal offending 

• Enhancing investigations and prosecutions in Indian country 

• Murdered, missing, and trafficked women and girls 

• Reducing violent crime 

• Responding to and reducing victimization 

• Strengthening tribal justice systems 

• Tools and technologies to improve policy and practice in Indian country 

The period of performance is limited to 18 months and is not renewable. 

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products 

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to build an increased capability to conduct rigorous 

research and evaluation projects in Indian Country and Alaska native Villages through 

promotion of engagement between researchers and tribal nations. The objective of this 

solicitation is to fund multiple planning grants for projects promoting such engagements that 

address criminal justice issues in Indian country and Alaska Native villages. 

Final Research Report. Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be expected to 

submit a final research report in the form of a research or evaluation proposal based on the 

results of the activities funded under the planning grant. Such proposal will comport with the 

instructions provided in Section D Application and Submission Information of this solicitation. 

NIJ will consider such proposals for potential award based on the criteria provided in Section E 

Application Review Information of this solicitation. Additional information on the final research 

report requirement for the solicitation is posted on the Post Award Reporting Requirements 

Page on NIJ’s website. 

Special Report. The awardee will be expected to submit a special report detailing the tribalresearch partnership. The report should thoroughly capture the process and substance of the 

collaboration including lessons learned, challenges and successes experienced, and overall 

reflections. The special report should also map out key issues that can help inform existing or 

future partnerships of a similar nature. 

Required Data Sets and Associated Files and Documentation. Any recipient of an award under 

this solicitation will be expected to submit to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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(NACJD) all data sets that result in whole or in part from the work funded by the award, along 

with associated files and any documentation necessary 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. For more information, see Program Narrative in Section D. Application and 

Submission Information. 

In addition to these deliverables (and the required reports and data on performance measures 

described in Section F. Federal Award Administration Information), 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, technological prototypes, patented 

inventions, or similar scientific products. 

NIJ also expects copies of products developed specifically for the tribal partner (e.g., interim or 

final reports, presentations, newsletters/articles), 

The Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products are directly related to the 

performance measures that demonstrate the results of the work completed. 

Performance Measures 

OJP will require each successful applicant to submit regular performance data that demonstrate 

the results of the work carried out under the award (see “General Information about PostFederal Award Reporting Requirements” in Section F. Federal Award Administration 

Information). 

Applicants should visit OJP’s performance measurement page at www.ojp.gov/performance to 

view the specific reporting requirements for this grant program. 

The application should demonstrate the applicant’s understanding of the performance data 

reporting requirements for this grant program and detail how the applicant will gather the 

required data should it receive funding. 

Please note that applicants are not required to submit performance data with the application. 

Performance measures information is included as an alert that successful applicants will be 

required to submit performance data as part of the reporting requirements under an award. 

Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Recipient Provides 

Conduct research in 

science, technology, 

engineering, and/or 

mathematics having clear 

implications for criminal 

justice policy and practice 

in the United States. 

Conduct research in social 

and behavioral sciences 

having clear implications 

Relevance to the needs of the 

field as measured by whether the 

project’s substantive scope did 

not deviate from the funded 

project or any subsequent 

agency-approved modifications 

to the scope. 

Quality of the research as 

demonstrated by the scholarly 

products that result in whole or in 

Quarterly financial reports, semiannual and final progress reports, and 

products of the work performed under 

the NIJ award (including, at minimum, 

a final research report and special 

report on the partnership). 

If applicable, an annual audit report. 

List of citation(s) to all scholarly 

products that resulted in whole or in 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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for criminal justice policy 

and practice in the United 

States. 

part from work funded under the 

NIJ award, such as 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. 

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. 

Number of technologies fielded 

as a result (in whole or in part) of 

work funded under the NIJ award. 

part from work funded under the NIJ 

award. 

Description of all technologies fielded 

as a result (in whole or in part) of 

work funded under the NIJ award (if 

applicable). 

Evaluation Research 

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

research), the application is expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design 

appropriate for the research questions to be addressed. If the primary purpose of the evaluation 

is to determine the effectiveness or impact of an intervention (e.g., program, practice, or policy), 

the most rigorous evaluation designs 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 quasiexperimental design that can address the risk of selection bias. 

Applications that include evaluation research should consider the feasibility of 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. 

Evaluation research projects may also address a wide range of research questions beyond 

those focused on the effectiveness or impact of an intervention. Different research designs may 

be more appropriate for different research questions and at different stages of program 

development. The intervention strategies, setting, other contextual factors, and resources 

should be taken into account when selecting an evaluation design. In all cases, applications are 

expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design appropriate for the research questions 

to be addressed. 

Applicants are encouraged to review evidence rating criteria 

at https://www.crimesolutions.gov/about_starttofinish.aspx for further information on high-quality 

evaluation design elements. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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B. Federal Award Information

NIJ expects to make up to five awards with an estimated total amount awarded of up to 

$500,000. Awards will normally not exceed an 18-month period of performance. 

To allow time for (among other things) any necessary post-award review and financial clearance 

by OJP of the proposed budget and for any associated responses or other action(s) that may be 

required of the recipient, applicants should propose an award start date of January 1, 2019. 

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

research, development, and evaluation solicitations, through continuation awards. In making 

decisions regarding continuation awards, OJP will consider, among other factors, the availability 

of appropriations, when the program or project was last competed, OJP’s strategic priorities, 

and OJP’s assessment of both the management of the award (for example, timeliness and

quality of progress reports), and 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 Award 

NIJ expects to make any award under this solicitation in the form of a grant. See Administrative, 

National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements, under Section F. Federal Award Administration 

Information, for a brief discussion of important statutes, regulations, and award conditions that

apply to many (or in some cases, all) OJP grants. 

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

DOJ regulations on confidentiality and protection of human subjects. See “Requirements related 

to Research” under “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and

Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center 

at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls 

Award recipients and subrecipients (including recipients or subrecipients that are pass-through 

entities3

) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements4 as set out at 2 C.F.R. 

200.303: 

(a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that

provides reasonable assurance that [the recipient (and any subrecipient)] is

managing the Federal award in 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

3 For purposes of this solicitation, the phrase “pass-through entity” includes any recipient or subrecipient that provides 

a subaward (“subgrant”) to carry out part of the funded award or program.

4 The "Part 200 Uniform Requirements” means the DOJ regulation at 2 C.F.R Part 2800, which adopts (with certain 

modifications) the provisions of 2 C.F.R. Part 200. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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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 recipient’s (and any subrecipient’s)] compliance with 

statutes, 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 recipient (or any subrecipient)] considers 

sensitive consistent with applicable Federal, state, local, and tribal laws regarding 

privacy and obligations of confidentiality. 

To help ensure that applicants understand applicable administrative requirements and cost 

principles, OJP encourages prospective applicants to enroll, at no charge, in the DOJ Grants 

Financial Management Online Training, available at https://ojpfgm.webfirst.com/. (This training 

is required for all OJP recipients.) 

Also, applicants should be aware that OJP collects information from applicants on their financial 

management and systems of internal controls (among other information) which is used to make 

award decisions. Under Section D. Application and Submission Information, applicants may 

access and review the OJP Financial Management and System of Internal Controls 

Questionnaire (https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf) that OJP 

requires all applicants (other than an individual applying in his/her personal capacity) to 

download, complete, and submit as part of the application. 

Budget Information 

What will not be funded: 

• Applications 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.) 

• Applications that are not responsive to this specific solicitation. 

• Programs or services unrelated to the scope of the project or existing programs or 

services being evaluated. 

• Training in support of programs or direct services unrelated to or associated with the 

proposed project. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 

See “Cofunding” paragraph under item 4 (“Budget and Associated Documentation”) under What 

an Application Should Include in Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) 

Pre-agreement costs are costs incurred by the applicant prior to the start date of the period of 

performance of the federal award. 

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

prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. All such costs incurred prior to award and prior 

to approval of the costs are incurred at the sole risk of the applicant. (Generally, no applicant 

should incur project costs before submitting an application requesting federal funding for those 

costs.) Should there be extenuating circumstances that make it appropriate for OJP to consider 

approving pre-agreement costs, the applicant may contact the point of contact listed on the title 

page of this solicitation for the requirements concerning written requests for approval. If 

approved in advance by OJP, award funds may be used for pre-agreement costs, consistent 

with the recipient’s approved budget and applicable cost principles. See the section on “Costs 

Requiring Prior Approval” in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide 

at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm 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, a recipient may 

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

employee of the recipient at a rate that exceeds 110 percent 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 year5. The 2018 salary 

table for SES employees is available at the Office of Personnel Management website 

at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salarytables/18Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx. Note: A recipient may compensate an employee at a 

greater rate, provided the amount in excess of this compensation limitation is paid with nonfederal funds. (Non-federal funds used for any such additional compensation will not be 

considered matching funds, where match requirements apply.) If only a portion of an 

employee’s time is charged to an OJP award, the maximum allowable compensation is equal to 

the percentage of time worked times the maximum salary limitation. 

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

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

that requests a waiver should include a detailed justification in the budget narrative of its 

application. An applicant that does not submit a waiver request and justification with its 

application should anticipate that OJP will require the applicant to adjust and resubmit the 

budget. 

The justification should address, in the context of the work the individual would do under the 

award, the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the uniqueness of a service 

the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the proposed program or 

5 OJP does not apply this limitation on the use of award funds to the nonprofit organizations listed in Appendix VIII to 

2 C.F.R. Part 200. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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project, and a statement that explains whether and how the individual’s salary under the award 

would be commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with his/her 

qualifications and expertise, and for the work he/she would do under the award. 

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

OJP strongly encourages every applicant that proposes to use award funds for any conference-,

meeting-, or training-related activity (or similar event) to review carefully—before submitting an 

application—the OJP policy and guidance on approval, planning, and reporting of such events, 

available at www.ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.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 conference, meeting, 

and training costs for cooperative agreement recipients and of some conference, meeting, and 

training costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, which include 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 “Overview of Legal 

Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 

Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center athttps://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

C. Eligibility Information

For eligibility information, see title page. 

For information on cost sharing or match requirements, see “What an Application Should 

Include” in Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include 

This section describes in detail what an application should include. An applicant should 

anticipate that if it fails to submit an application that contains all of the specified elements, it may 

negatively affect the review of its application; and, should a decision be made to make an 

award, it may result in the inclusion of award conditions that preclude the recipient from 

accessing or using award funds until the recipient satisfies the conditions and OJP makes the

funds available. 

Moreover, an applicant should anticipate that an application that OJP determines is 

nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation, or that OJP determines does not include the 

application elements that NIJ has designated to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review 

nor receive further consideration. For this solicitation, NIJ has designated the following 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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application elements as critical: Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet and 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.) 

NOTE: OJP has combined the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative in a single 

document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. See “Budget Information and 

Associated Documentation” below for more information about the Budget Detail Worksheet and 

where it can be accessed. 

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

“Program Narrative,” “Budget Detail Worksheet,” “Timelines,” “Memoranda of Understanding,” 

“Resumes”) for all attachments. Also, OJP recommends that applicants include resumes in a 

single file. 

Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How to Apply to be sure 

applications are submitted in permitted formats. 

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). 

To avoid processing delays, an applicant must include an accurate legal name on its SF424. On the SF-424, current OJP award recipients, when completing the field for “Legal 

Name” (box 8a), should use the same legal name that appears on the prior year award 

document (which is also the legal name stored in OJP’s financial system.) Also, these 

recipients should enter the Employer Identification Number (EIN) in box 8c exactly as it 

appears on the prior year award document. An applicant with a current, active award(s) 

must ensure that its GMS profile is current. If the profile is not current, the applicant should 

submit a Grant Adjustment Notice updating the information on its GMS profile prior to 

applying under this solicitation. 

A new applicant entity should enter its official legal name in box 8a, its address in box 8d, its 

EIN in box 8b, and its Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in box 8c of the 

SF-424. A new applicant entity should attach official legal documents to its application (e.g., 

articles of incorporation, 501(c)(3) status documentation, organizational letterhead ) to 

confirm the legal name, address, and EIN entered into the SF-424. OJP will use the System 

for Award Management (SAM) to confirm the legal name and DUNS number entered in the 

SF-424; therefore, an applicant should ensure that the information entered in the SF-424 

matches its current registration in SAM. See the How to Apply section for more information 

on SAM and DUNS numbers. 

Intergovernmental Review: This solicitation ("funding opportunity") is not subject 

to Executive Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, an applicant is to answer question 19 

by selecting the response 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 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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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. 

Applications should include a high-quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed 

project in 250-400 words. Project abstracts not submitted in the template below 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 the form’s standard 12-point font (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. 

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 and the 

principal investigator. 

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

narrative limit). 

If an applicant is resubmitting an application 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, and NIJassigned application number of the previous application, and (2) a brief summary 

of revisions to the application, including responses to previous feedback received 

from NIJ. 

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

limit). 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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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 and Research Questions. The statement of the 

problem should address the need for research in this area. Applicants should 

discuss current gaps in data, research, and knowledge, including those for 

particular justice sectors, for certain populations, and to answer questions 

relevant to current policy and practice needs and public interests. As part of this 

discussion, applicants should present a review of previous literature and discuss 

previous research related to these problems. 

This section should also identify the proposed research questions and discuss 

the purpose, goals, and objectives of the proposed project. 

• Project Design and Implementation. Applicants should provide a detailed 

description of the strategies to implement this research project and address the 

research questions. Design elements should follow directly from the research 

project’s goals and objectives and address the program-specific information 

noted on page 4. Applicants should describe the research methodology in detail 

and demonstrate the validity and usefulness of the data they will collect. 

Applicants should consider the rigor and soundness of the methodology and 

analytical and technical approaches for the proposed research and address the 

feasibility of the proposed project and potential challenges or problems in 

carrying out the activities. 

• Potential Impact. Applicants should describe the potential impact of the 

research and how it may inform or improve criminal or juvenile justice-related 

policy, practice, or theory in the United States. 

The discussion of impact should include a discussion of the deliverables, 

including planned scholarly products indicated in the project-specific 

information on page 5 and a plan for dissemination to appropriate audiences. 

Applicants should identify plans to produce or make available to broader 

interested practitioners and policy makers in a form that is designed to be 

readily accessible and useful to them. 

• Capabilities/Competencies. This section should describe the experience 

and capability of the applicant organization, key staff, and any proposed 

subgrantees (including consultants) that the applicant will use to implement and 

manage this effort and the federal funds under this award, highlighting any 

previous experience implementing projects of similar scope, design, and 

magnitude. Applicants should address: 

• Experience and capacity to work with the proposed data sources in the 

conduct of similar research efforts. 

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• Experience and capacity to design and implement rigorous research and 

data analysis projects. 

• Experience producing and disseminating meaningful deliverables. 

Applicants should also outline the management plan and organization that connects to 

the goals and objectives of the project. 

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

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

be significantly involved in substantive aspects of the proposed project 

(including, for example, individuals such as statisticians used to conduct 

proposed data analysis) 

• To assist OJP in assessing actual or apparent conflicts of interest (including 

such conflicts on the part of prospective reviewers of the application), a 

complete list of the individuals named or otherwise identified anywhere in the 

application (including in the budget or in any other attachment) who will or 

may work (or advise or consult) on the proposed research, development, or 

evaluation project. This applies to all such individuals, including, for example, 

individuals who are or would be employees of the applicant or employees of 

any proposed subrecipient entity, any individuals who themselves may be a 

subrecipient, and individuals who may (or will) work without compensation 

(such as advisory board members). This appendix to the program narrative is 

to include, for each listed individual: name, title, employer, any other 

potentially-pertinent organizational affiliation(s), and the individual's proposed 

roles and responsibilities in carrying out the proposed project. If the 

application identifies any specific entities or organizations (other than the 

applicant) that will or may work (or advise or consult) on the proposed project, 

without also naming any associated individuals, the name of each such 

organization also should be included on this list. Applicants should use the 

“Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form available 

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

provide this list. 

If the application (including the budget) identifies any proposed noncompetitive agreements that are or may be considered procurement 

"contracts" (rather than subawards) for purposes of federal grants 

administrative requirements the applicant also must list the entities with which 

the applicant proposes to contract. Applicants should provide this list as a 

separate sheet entitled "Proposed non-competitive procurement contracts." 

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For information on distinctions -- for purposes of federal grants administrative 

requirements -- between subawards and procurement contracts under 

awards, see “Budget and Associated Documentation,” below. 

• 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 the applicant 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.”) 

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

application has been submitted (if applicable) 

• Applicants proposing to use incentives or stipends payments as part of their 

research project design, must submit an incentive or stipend approval 

request, as a separate document, according to the requirements set forth 

at https://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/research-participant-costs-andincentives.aspx 

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

special award conditions, that data sets resulting in whole or in part from 

projects funded under this solicitation be submitted for archiving with the 

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. 

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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 period of performance. 

• Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from 

organizations collaborating in the project, such as law enforcement and 

correctional agencies (if applicable). 

4. Budget and Associated Documentation 

The Budget Detail Worksheet and the Budget Narrative are now combined in a single 

document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. The Budget Detail 

Worksheet is a user-friendly, fillable, Microsoft Excel-based document designed to calculate 

totals. Additionally, the Excel workbook contains worksheets for multiple budget years that 

can be completed as necessary. All applicants should use the Excel version when 

completing the proposed budget in an application, except in cases where the 

applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences technical 

difficulties. If an applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences 

technical difficulties with the Excel version, then the applicant should use the 508-compliant 

accessible Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) version. 

Both versions of the Budget Detail Worksheet can be accessed 

at https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Forms/BudgetDetailWorksheet.htm. 

a. Budget Detail Worksheet 

The Budget Detail Worksheet should provide the detailed computation for each budget 

line item, listing the total cost of each and showing how it was calculated by the 

applicant. For example, costs for personnel should show the annual salary rate and the 

percentage of time devoted to the project for each employee paid with grant funds. The 

Budget Detail Worksheet should present a complete itemization of all proposed costs. 

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

see the DOJ Grants Financial Guide at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/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, 

cost effective, and allowable (e.g., reasonable, allocable, and necessary for project 

activities). 

An applicant should demonstrate in its budget narrative how it will maximize cost 

effectiveness of award 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 budget narrative should be mathematically sound and correspond clearly 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 those costs are 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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necessary 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 describe costs 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 Section 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. Information on Proposed Subawards (if any), as well as on Proposed Procurement 

Contracts (if any) 

Applicants for OJP awards typically may propose to make subawards. Applicants also 

may propose to enter into procurement contracts under the award. 

Whether an action – for federal grants administrative purposes – is a subaward or 

procurement contract is a critical distinction as significantly different rules apply to 

subawards and procurement contracts. If a recipient enters into an agreement that is a 

subaward of an OJP award, specific rules apply – many of which are set by federal 

statutes and DOJ regulations; others by award conditions. These rules place particular 

responsibilities on an OJP recipient for any subawards the OJP recipient may make. The 

rules determine much of what the written subaward agreement itself must require or 

provide. The rules also determine much of what an OJP recipient must do both before 

and after it makes a subaward. If a recipient enters into an agreement that is a 

procurement contract under an OJP award, a substantially different set of federal rules 

applies. 

OJP has developed the following guidance documents to help clarify the differences 

between subawards and procurement contracts under an OJP award and outline the 

compliance and reporting requirements for each. This information can be accessed 

online at https://ojp.gov/training/training.htm. 

• Subawards under OJP Awards and Procurement Contracts under Awards: A 

Toolkit for OJP Recipients. 

• Checklist to Determine Subrecipient or Contractor Classification. 

• Sole Source Justification Fact Sheet and Sole Source Review Checklist. 

In general, the central question is the relationship between what the third-party will do 

under its agreement with the recipient and what the recipient has committed (to OJP) to 

do under its award to further a public purpose (e.g., services the recipient will provide, 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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products it will develop or modify, research or evaluation it will conduct). If a third party 

will provide some of the services the recipient has committed (to OJP) to provide, will 

develop or modify all or part of a product the recipient has committed (to OJP) to 

develop or modify, or will conduct part of the research or evaluation the recipient has 

committed (to OJP) to conduct, OJP will consider the agreement with the third party a 

subaward for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements. 

This will be true even if the recipient, for internal or other non-federal purposes, labels or 

treats its agreement as a procurement, a contract, or a procurement contract. Neither 

the title nor the structure of an agreement determines whether the agreement -- for 

purposes of federal grants administrative requirements -- is a subaward or is instead a 

procurement contract under an award. The substance of the relationship should be given 

greater consideration than the form of agreement between the recipient and the outside 

entity. 

1. Information on proposed subawards 

A recipient of an OJP award may not make subawards ("subgrants") unless the recipient 

has specific federal authorization to do so. Unless an applicable statute or DOJ 

regulation specifically authorizes (or requires) subawards, a recipient must have 

authorization from OJP before it may make a subaward. 

A particular subaward may be authorized by OJP because the recipient included a 

sufficiently-detailed description and justification of the proposed subaward in the 

Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, and Budget Narrative as approved by 

OJP. If, however, a particular subaward is not authorized by federal statute or regulation, 

and is not approved by OJP, the recipient will be required, post-award, to request and 

obtain written authorization from OJP before it may make the subaward. 

If an applicant proposes to make one or more subawards to carry out the federal award 

and program, the applicant should-- (1) identify (if known) the proposed subrecipient(s), 

(2) describe in detail what each subrecipient will do to carry out the federal award and 

federal program, and (3) provide a justification for the subaward(s), with details on 

pertinent matters such as special qualifications and areas of expertise. Pertinent 

information on subawards should appear not only in the Program Narrative, but also in 

the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative. 

2. Information on proposed procurement contracts (with specific justification for 

proposed noncompetitive contracts over $150,000) 

Unlike a recipient contemplating a subaward, a recipient of an OJP award generally 

does not need specific prior federal authorization to enter into an agreement that -- for 

purposes of federal grants administrative requirements -- is considered a procurement 

contract, provided that (1) the recipient uses its own documented procurement 

procedures and (2) those procedures conform to applicable federal law, including the 

Procurement Standards of the (DOJ) Part 200 Uniform Requirements (as set out at 2 

C.F.R. 200.317 - 200.326). The Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative should 

identify proposed procurement contracts. (As discussed above, subawards must be 

identified and described separately from procurement contracts.) 

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The Procurement Standards in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, however, reflect a 

general expectation that agreements that (for purposes of federal grants administrative 

requirements) constitute procurement “contracts” under awards will be entered into on 

the basis of full and open competition. All noncompetitive (sole source) procurement 

contracts must meet the OJP requirements outlined at 

https://ojp.gov/training/subawards-procurement.htm. If a proposed procurement contract 

would exceed the simplified acquisition threshold -- currently, $150,000 -- a recipient of 

an OJP award may not proceed without competition unless and until the recipient 

receives specific advance authorization from OJP to use a non-competitive approach for 

the procurement. An applicant that (at the time of its application) intends – without 

competition – to enter into a procurement contract that would exceed $150,000 should 

include a detailed justification that explains to OJP why, in the particular circumstances, 

it is appropriate to proceed without competition. 

If the applicant receives an award, sole source procurements that do not exceed the 

Simplified Acquisition Threshold (currently $150,000) must have written justification for 

the noncompetitive procurement action maintained in the procurement file. If a 

procurement file does not have the documentation that meets the criteria outlined in 2 

C.F.R. 200, the procurement expenditures may not be allowable. Sole source 

procurement over the $150,000 Simplified Acquisition Threshold must have prior 

approval from OJP using a Sole Source Grant Adjustment Notice (GAN). Written 

documentation justifying the noncompetitive procurement must be submitted with the 

GAN and maintained in the procurement file. 

e. Pre-Agreement Costs 

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

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) 

Indirect costs may be charged to an award only if: 

(a) The recipient has a current (unexpired), federally approved indirect cost rate; 

or 

(b) The recipient is eligible to use, and elects to use, the “de minimis” indirect cost rate 

described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, as set out at 2 C.F.R. 200.414(f). 

An applicant with a current (unexpired) federally-approved indirect cost rate is to attach a 

copy of the indirect cost rate agreement to the application. An applicant that does not have a 

current federally-approved rate may request one through its cognizant federal agency, which 

will review all documentation and approve a rate for the applicant entity, or, if the applicant’s 

accounting system permits, applicants may propose to allocate costs in the direct cost 

categories. 

For assistance with identifying the appropriate cognizant federal agency for indirect costs, 

please contact the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Customer Service Center at 

1-800-458-0786 or at ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov. If DOJ is the cognizant federal agency, an 

applicant may obtain information needed to submit an indirect cost rate proposal 

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

Certain OJP recipients have the option of electing to use the “de minimis” indirect cost rate. 

An applicant that is eligible to use the “de minimis” rate that wishes to use the "de minimis" 

rate should attach written documentation to the application that advises OJP of both-- (1) the 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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applicant’s eligibility to use the “de minimis” rate, and (2) its election to do so. If an eligible 

applicant elects the “de minimis” rate, costs must be consistently charged as either indirect 

or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. The "de 

minimis" rate may no longer be used once an approved federally-negotiated indirect cost 

rate is in place. (No entity that ever has had a federally-approved negotiated indirect cost 

rate is eligible to use the "de minimis" rate.) For additional eligibility requirements please see 

Part 200 Uniform Requirements, as set out at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?node=se2.1.200_1414&rgn=div8 

Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) 

A tribe, tribal organization, or third party that proposes to provide direct services or 

assistance to residents on tribal lands should include in its application a resolution, letter, 

affidavit, or other documentation, as appropriate, that demonstrates (as a legal matter) that 

the applicant has the requisite authorization from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed 

project on tribal lands. In those instances when an organization or consortium of tribes 

applies for an award 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 award. 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. 

6. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (including 

applicant disclosure of high-risk status) 

Every OJP applicant (other than an individual applying in his or her personal capacity) is 

required to download, complete, and submit the OJP Financial Management and System of 

Internal Controls Questionnaire (Questionnaire) 

at https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf as part of its application. 

The Questionnaire helps OJP assess the financial management and internal control 

systems, and the associated potential risks of an applicant as part of the pre-award risk 

assessment process. 

The Questionnaire should only be completed by financial staff most familiar with the 

applicant's systems, policies, and procedures in order to ensure that the correct responses 

are recorded and submitted to OJP. The responses on the Questionnaire directly impact the 

pre-award risk assessment and should accurately reflect the applicant’s financial 

management and internal control system at the time of the application. The pre-award risk 

assessment is only one of multiple factors and criteria used in determining funding. 

However, a pre-award risk assessment that indicates that an applicant poses a higher risk to 

OJP may affect the funding decision and/or result in additional reporting requirements, 

monitoring, special conditions, withholding of award funds, or other additional award 

requirements. 

Among other things, the form requires each applicant to disclose whether it currently is 

designated “high risk” by a federal grant-making agency outside of DOJ. For purposes of 

this disclosure, high risk includes any status under which a federal awarding agency 

provides additional oversight due to the applicant’s past performance, or other programmatic 

or financial concerns with the applicant. If an applicant is designated high risk by another 

federal awarding agency, the applicant must provide the following information: 

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• The federal awarding agency that currently designates the applicant high risk. 

• The date the applicant was designated high risk. 

• The high-risk point of contact at that federal awarding agency (name, phone number, 

and email address). 

• The reasons for the high-risk status, as set out by the federal awarding agency. 

OJP seeks this information to help ensure appropriate federal oversight of OJP awards. An 

applicant that is considered “high-risk” by another federal awarding agency is not 

automatically disqualified from receiving an OJP award. OJP may, however, consider the 

information in award decisions, and may impose additional OJP oversight of any award 

under this solicitation (including through the conditions that accompany the award 

document). 

7. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities 

Each applicant must complete and submit this information. An applicant that expends any 

funds for lobbying activities is to provide all of the information requested on the form 

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) posted 

at https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/Disclosure.pdf. An applicant that does not 

expend any funds for lobbying activities is to enter “N/A” in the text boxes for item 10 (“a. 

Name and Address of Lobbying Registrant” and “b. Individuals Performing Services”). 

8. Additional Attachments 

a. Applicant disclosure of pending applications6 

Each applicant is to disclose whether it has (or is proposed as a subrecipient under) any 

pending applications for federally-funded grants or cooperative agreements that (1) 

include requests for funding to support the same project being proposed in the 

application under this solicitation, and (2) would cover the identical cost items outlined in 

the budget submitted to OJP under this solicitation. The applicant is to disclose both 

applications made directly to federal awarding agencies, and also applications for 

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

(“subgrant”) federal funds). 

OJP seeks this information to help avoid 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. 

Each applicant that has one or more pending applications as described above is 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 federal or State funding agency 

6 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. 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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Federal or State 

Funding Agency 

Solicitation 

Name/Project 

Name S

Name/Phone/E-mail for Point of Contact 

at Federal or State Funding Agency 

DOJ/

Community 

Office of AMPLE 

Oriented Policing 

Services (COPS) 

COPS Hiring 

Program 

Jane Doe, 202/000-0000; 

jane.doe@usdoj.gov 

Health and Human 

Services/ 

Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health 

Services 

Administration 

Drug-Free 

Communities 

Mentoring 

Program/North 

County Youth 

Mentoring Program 

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

Each applicant should include the table as a separate attachment to its application. The 

file should be named “Disclosure of Pending Applications.” The applicant’s Legal Name 

on the application must match the entity named on the disclosure of pending 

applications statement. 

Any applicant that does not have any pending applications as described above is to 

submit, as a separate attachment, a statement to this effect: “[Applicant Name on SF424] does not have (and is not proposed as a subrecipient under) any pending 

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

cooperative agreements or for subawards under federal grants or cooperative 

agreements) that request funding to support the same project being proposed in this 

application to OJP and that would cover the identical cost items outlined in the budget 

submitted as part of this application.” 

b. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity 

When an application proposes research (including research and development) and/or 

evaluation, the applicant must demonstrate research/evaluation independence and 

integrity, including appropriate safeguards, before it may receive award funds. The 

applicant must demonstrate independence and integrity regarding both this proposed 

research and/or evaluation, and any current or prior related projects. 

Each application should include an attachment that addresses both i. and ii. below. 

i. For purposes of this solicitation, each applicant is to document research and 

evaluation independence and integrity by including one of the following two items: 

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

any actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest (including through review 

of pertinent information on the principal investigator, any co-principal 

investigators, and any subrecipients), and that the applicant has identified no 

such conflicts of interest – whether personal or financial or organizational 

(including on the part of the applicant entity or on the part of staff, 

investigators, or subrecipients) – that could affect the independence or 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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integrity of the research, including the design, conduct, and reporting of the 

research. 

OR 

b. A specific description of actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest that 

the applicant has identified – including through review of pertinent information 

on the principal investigator, any co-principal investigators, and any 

subrecipients – that could affect the independence or integrity of the 

research, including the design, conduct, or reporting of the research. These 

conflicts may be personal (e.g., on the part of investigators or other staff), 

financial, or organizational (related to the applicant or any subrecipient entity). 

Some examples of potential investigator (or other personal) conflict situations 

are 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 would not be given an award 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), because the organization 

in such an instance might 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, each applicant is to address possible 

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

following two items: 

a. If an applicant reasonably believes that no actual or potential apparent 

conflicts of interest (personal, financial, or organizational) exist, then the 

applicant should provide a brief narrative explanation of how and why it 

reached that conclusion. The applicant also is to include an explanation of the 

specific processes and procedures that the applicant has in place, or will put 

in place, to identify and prevent (or, at the very least, mitigate) any such 

conflicts of interest pertinent to the funded project during the period of 

performance. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard may include 

organizational codes of ethics/conduct and policies regarding organizational, 

personal, and financial conflicts of interest. There is no guarantee that the 

plan, if any, will be accepted as proposed. 

OR 

b. If the applicant has identified actual or potential apparent conflicts of interest 

(personal, financial, or organizational) that could affect the independence and 

integrity of the research, including the design, conduct, or reporting of the 

research, the applicant is to provide a specific and robust mitigation plan to 

address each of those conflicts. At a minimum, the applicant is expected to 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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explain the specific processes and procedures that the applicant has in place, 

or will put in place, to identify and eliminate (or, at the very least, mitigate) 

any such conflicts of interest pertinent to the funded project during the period 

of performance. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard may 

include organizational codes of ethics/conduct and policies regarding 

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

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

OJP will assess research and evaluation independence and integrity based on 

considerations such as the adequacy of the applicant’s efforts to identify factors that 

could affect the objectivity or integrity of the proposed staff and/or the applicant entity 

(and any subrecipients) 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. 

How to Apply 

Applicants must register in and submit applications through Grants.gov, a primary source to find 

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

register and submit an application at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html. 

Applicants that experience technical difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov 

Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606–545–5035, which operates 24 hours a day, 7 

days a week, except on federal holidays. 

Important Grants.gov update. Grants.gov has updated its application tool. The legacy PDF 

application package was phased out on December 31, 2017. Grants.gov Workspace is now the 

standard application method for applying for grants. OJP applicants should familiarize 

themselves with the Workspace option now. For complete information and instructions on using 

Workspace (and other changes), go to the Workspace Overview page 

at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html. 

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 of registration 

and a user password. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the 

application submission deadline. In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications at 

least 72 hours prior to the application due date, in order to allow time for the applicant 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. 

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

regarding this solicitation at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html. If 

this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with Grants.gov for updates will 

be automatically notified. 

Browser Information: Grants.gov was built to be compatible with Internet Explorer. For 

technical assistance with Google Chrome, or another browser, contact Grants.gov Customer 

Support. 

Note on Attachments. Grants.gov has two categories of files for attachments: “mandatory” and 

“optional.” OJP receives all files attached in both categories. Attachments are also labeled to 

describe the file being attached (e.g., Project Narrative, Budget Narrative, Other, etc.) Please 

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ensure that all required documents are attached in the correct Grants.gov category and are 

labeled correctly. Do not embed “mandatory” attachments within another file. 

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

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

in the table below. Grants.gov rejects any application that includes an attachment(s) with a file 

name that contains any characters not shown in the table below. Grants.gov forwards 

successfully-submitted applications to the OJP Grants Management System (GMS). 

Characters 

Upper case (A – Z) 

Lower case (a – z) 

Underscore (__) 

Hyphen ( - ) 

Space 

Period (.) 

Special Characters Special Characters Special Characters 

Parenthesis ( ) Curly braces { } Square brackets [ ] 

Ampersand (&)* Tilde (~) Exclamation point (!) 

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

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

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

*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: 

Unique Entity Identifier (DUNS Number) and System for Award Management (SAM) 

Every applicant entity must comply with all applicable System for Award Management (SAM) 

and unique entity identifier (currently, a Data Universal Numbering System [DUNS] number) 

requirements. SAM is the repository for certain standard information about federal financial 

assistance applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. A DUNS number is a unique nine-digit 

identification number provided by the commercial company Dun and Bradstreet. More detailed 

information about SAM and the DUNS number is in the numbered sections below. 

If an applicant entity has not fully complied with the applicable SAM and unique identifier 

requirements by the time OJP makes award decisions, OJP may determine that the applicant is 

not qualified to receive an award and may use that determination as a basis for making the 

award to a different applicant. 

Applying as an Individual 

An individual who wishes to apply in his/her personal capacity should search Grants.gov for 

funding opportunities for which individuals are eligible to apply. Use the Funding Opportunity 

Number (FON) to register. (An applicant applying as an individual must comply with all 

applicable Grants.gov individual registration requirements.) 

Enter the FON at https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/IndCPRegister to complete the registration 

form and create a username and password for Grants.gov. (An applicant applying as an 

individual should complete all steps except 1, 2 and 4.) 

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Registration and Submission Steps 

1. Acquire a unique entity identifier (currently, a DUNS number). In general, the Office of

Management and Budget requires every applicant for a federal award (other than an

individual) to include a "unique entity identifier" in each application, including an application

for a supplemental award. Currently, a DUNS number is the required unique entity identifier.

This unique entity identifier is used for tracking purposes, and to validate address and point

of contact information for applicants, recipients, and subrecipients. It will be used throughout

the life cycle of an OJP award. 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 https://www.dnb.com. A DUNS number is usually received within 1-2 business days.

2. Acquire or maintain registration with SAM. All applicants for OJP awards (other than

individuals) must maintain current registrations in the SAM database. Applicants will need

the authorizing official of the organization and an Employer Identification Number (EIN). An

applicant must be registered in SAM to successfully register in Grants.gov. Each applicant

must update or renew its SAM registration at least annually to maintain an active status.

SAM registration and renewal can take as long as 10 business days to complete (2 more

weeks to acquire an EIN).

An application cannot be successfully submitted in Grants.gov until Grants.gov receives the

SAM registration information. Once the SAM registration/renewal is complete, the

information transfer from SAM to Grants.gov can take as long as 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. An applicant entity’s "unique entity identifier" (DUNS number) must be used

to complete this step. For more information about the registration process for organizations

and other entities, go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organizationregistration.html. Individuals registering with Grants.gov should go

to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/registration.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. The E-Biz POC will need the Marketing Partner Identification

Number (MPIN) password obtained when registering with SAM to complete this step. 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 (CFDA) number for this solicitation is16.560; National Institute

of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants and the funding

opportunity number is NIJ-2018-13840.

6. Access Funding Opportunity and Application Package from Grants.gov. Select “Apply

for Grants” under the “Applicants” column. Enter your email address to be notified of any 

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changes to the opportunity package before the closing date. Click the Workspace icon to 

use Grants.gov Workspace. 

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. The second will state whether the application has been validated and 

successfully submitted, or whether it has been 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 an application well ahead 

of the deadline provides time to correct the problem(s) that caused the rejection. Important: 

OJP urges each applicant to submit its application 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. Applications must be successfully submitted through Grants.gov by 

11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 23, 2018. 

Click https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html for further 

details on DUNS numbers, SAM, and Grants.gov registration steps and timeframes. 

Note: Application Versions 

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

recent system-validated version submitted. 

Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues 

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that 

prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must contact the Grants.gov Customer 

Support Hotline at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html or the SAM Help Desk 

(Federal Service Desk) at https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/home.do to report the technical issue and 

receive a tracking number. The applicant must e-mail the NIJ contact identified in the Contact 

Information section on the title page within 24 hours after the application deadline to request 

approval to submit its application after the deadline. The applicant’s e-mail must describe the 

technical difficulties, and must 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: OJP does not automatically approve requests to submit a late application. After 

OJP reviews the applicant’s request, and contacts the Grants.gov or SAM Help Desks to verify 

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 untimely application 

submission was due to the applicant’s failure to follow all required procedures, OJP will deny the 

applicant’s request to submit its application. 

The following conditions generally are insufficient to justify late submissions: 

• Failure to register in SAM or Grants.gov in sufficient time (SAM registration and renewal 

can take as long as 10 business days to complete. The information transfer from SAM to 

Grants.gov can take up to 48 hours.) 

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• 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, 

such as issues with firewalls or browser incompatibility 

Notifications regarding known technical problems with Grants.gov, if any, are posted at

the top of the OJP Funding Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

E. Application Review Information 

Review Criteria 

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using 

the following review criteria. Each individual criterion is assigned a different weight based on the 

percentage value listed. For example, the first criterion, Statement of the Problem, is worth 20 

percent of the score in the assessment of an application’s technical merit. 

Statement of the Problem and Research Questions (Understanding of the problem, research 

questions, and their importance) – 20% 

1. Demonstrated understanding of the problem. 

2. Demonstrated importance of research questions, goals and objectives, including 

alignment with the aims of the solicitation. 

3. Demonstrated awareness of the state of current research. 

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 30% 

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. 

4. Feasibility of completing the deliverables noted in the solicitation. 

Potential Impact – 15% 

Potential for a significant scientific or technical advance(s) that will improve criminal/juvenile 

justice in the United States, such as: 

• Potential for significantly improved understanding of the stated criminal/juvenile justice 

problem. 

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• Potential for innovative solution to address (all or a significant part of) the stated 

criminal/juvenile justice problem. 

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the 

applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 35% 

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 proposed project). 

2. Demonstrated ability of the applicant organization to implement the proposed strategies 

and manage the effort. 

3. Relationship between the capabilities/competencies of the proposed project staff 

(including the applicant organization) and the scope and strategies of the proposed 

project. 

Budget 

In addition, 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. Alignment of the proposed budget with proposed project activities 

5. 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. 

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 making awards. 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 an application meets basic 

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minimum requirements and should proceed to further consideration, OJP screens applications 

for compliance with those requirements. Although specific requirements may vary, the following 

are common requirements applicable to all solicitations for funding under OJP programs: 

• The application must be submitted by an eligible type of applicant. 

• The application must request funding within programmatic funding constraints (if 

applicable). 

• The application must be responsive to the scope of the solicitation. 

• The application must include all items designated as “critical elements.” 

• The applicant must not be identified in SAM as excluded from receiving federal 

awards. 

For a list of the critical elements for this solicitation, see “What an Application Should Include” 

under Section D. Application and Submission Information. 

Peer review panels will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum 

requirements. NIJ may use internal peer reviewers, external peer reviewers, or a combination, 

to assess applications on technical merit using the solicitation’s review 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. Peer reviewers’ ratings and any resulting 

recommendations are advisory only, although reviewer views are considered carefully. Other 

important considerations for NIJ include underserved populations, geographic diversity, 

strategic priorities, and available funding, as well as the planned scholarly products and the 

extent to which the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative accurately explain project 

costs that are reasonable, necessary, and otherwise allowable under federal law and applicable 

federal cost principles. 

Pursuant to the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, before award decisions are made, OJP also 

reviews information related to the degree of risk posed by applicants. Among other things to 

help assess whether an applicant that has one or more prior federal awards has a satisfactory 

record with respect to performance, integrity, and business ethics, OJP checks whether the 

applicant is listed in SAM as excluded from receiving a federal award. In addition, if OJP 

anticipates that an award will exceed $150,000 in federal funds, OJP also must review and 

consider any information about the applicant that appears in the non-public segment of the 

integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (currently, the Federal Awardee 

Performance and Integrity Information System; "FAPIIS") 

Important note on FAPIIS: An applicant, at its option, may review and comment on any 

information about itself that currently appears in FAPIIS and was entered by a federal awarding 

agency. OJP will consider any such comments by the applicant, in addition to the other 

information in FAPIIS, in its assessment of the risk posed by the applicant. 

The evaluation of risks goes beyond information in SAM, however. OJP itself has in place a 

framework for evaluating risks posed by applicants for competitive awards. OJP takes into 

account information pertinent to matters such as — 

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1. Applicant financial stability and fiscal integrity

2. Quality of the applicant’s management systems, and applicant’s ability to meet

prescribed management standards, including those outlined in the DOJ Grants Financial

Guide

3. Applicant’s history of performance under OJP and other DOJ awards (including scholarly

products, and compliance with reporting requirements and award conditions), as well as

awards from other federal agencies

4. Reports and findings from audits of the applicant, including audits under the Part 200

Uniform Requirements

5. Applicant's ability to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements, and to effectively

implement other award requirements

All final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice, who 

may take into account not only peer review ratings and NIJ recommendations, but also other 

factors as indicated in this section. 

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notices 

Award notifications will be made by September 30, 2018. OJP sends award notifications by 

email through GMS to the individuals listed in the application as the point of contact and the 

authorizing official (E-Biz POC and AOR). The email notification includes detailed instructions 

on how to access and view the award documents, and steps to take in GMS to start the award 

acceptance process. GMS automatically issues the notifications at 9:00 p.m. eastern time on 

the award date. 

For each successful applicant, an individual with the necessary authority to bind the applicant 

will be required to login; execute a set of legal certifications and a set of legal assurances; 

designate a financial point of contact; thoroughly review the award, including all award 

conditions; and sign and accept the award. The award acceptance process requires physical 

signature of the award document by the authorized representative and the scanning and 

submission of the fully-executed 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 OJPapproved application, the recipient must comply with all award conditions, as well as all 

applicable requirements of federal statutes and regulations (including applicable requirements 

referred to in the assurances and certifications executed in connection with award acceptance). 

OJP strongly encourages prospective applicants to review information on post-award legal 

requirements and common OJP award conditions prior to submitting an application. 

Applicants should consult the “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards”, available in the OJP Funding 

Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. In addition, applicants should examine 

the following two legal documents, as each successful applicant must execute both documents 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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before it may receive any award funds. (An applicant is not required to submit these documents 

as part of an application.) 

• Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility

Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements

• Certified Standard Assurances

The webpages accessible through the “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable 

to OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” are intended to give applicants 

for OJP awards a general overview of important statutes, regulations, and award conditions that 

apply to many (or in some cases, all) OJP grants and cooperative agreements awarded in FY 

2018. Individual OJP awards typically also will include additional award conditions. Those 

additional conditions may relate to the particular statute, program, or solicitation under which the 

award is made; to the substance of the funded application; to the recipient's performance under 

other federal awards; to the recipient's legal status (e.g., as a for-profit entity); or to other 

pertinent considerations. 

As stated above, NIJ expects that it will make any award under this solicitation in the form of a 

cooperative agreement. 

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements 

In addition to the deliverables and expected scholarly products described in Section A. Program 

Description, any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to submit the 

following reports and data. 

Required reports. Recipients typically must submit quarterly financial reports, semi-annual 

progress reports, final financial and progress reports, and, if applicable, an annual audit report in 

accordance with the Part 200 Uniform Requirements or specific award conditions. Applicants 

should anticipate that progress reports will be required to follow the non-budgetary 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. (In appropriate cases, OJP may require additional 

reports.) 

Awards that exceed $500,000 will include an additional condition that, under specific 

circumstances, will require the recipient to report (to FAPIIS) information on civil, criminal, and 

administrative proceedings connected with (or connected to the performance of) either the OJP 

award or any other grant, cooperative agreement, or procurement contract from the federal 

government. Additional information on this reporting requirement appears in the text of the 

award condition posted on the OJP webpage at https://ojp.gov/funding/FAPIIS.htm. 

Data on performance measures. In addition to required reports, an award recipient under this 

solicitation also must provide data that measure the results of the work done under the award. 

To demonstrate program progress and success, as well as to assist DOJ 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, OJP will require 

any award recipient, post award, to provide performance data listed as part of regular progress

reporting. Successful applicants will be required to access OJP’s performance measurement 

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page at www.ojp.gov/performance to view the specific reporting requirements for this grant 

program. 

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) 

For questions directed to the Federal Awarding Agency, see NCJRS contact information on the 

title page. For contact information for Grants.gov, see the title page. 

H. Other Information 

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a) 

All applications submitted to OJP (including all attachments to applications) are subject to the 

federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to the Privacy Act. By law, DOJ may withhold 

information that is responsive to a request pursuant to FOIA if DOJ determines that the 

responsive information either is protected under the Privacy Act or falls within the scope of one 

of nine statutory exemptions under FOIA. DOJ cannot agree in advance of a request pursuant 

to FOIA not to release some or all portions of an application. 

In its review of records that are responsive to a FOIA request, OJP will withhold information in 

those records that plainly falls within the scope of the Privacy Act or one of the statutory 

exemptions under FOIA. (Some examples include certain types of information in budgets, and 

names and contact information for project staff other than certain key personnel.) In appropriate 

circumstances, OJP will request the views of the applicant/recipient that submitted a responsive 

document. 

For example, if OJP receives a request pursuant to FOIA for an application submitted by a 

nonprofit or for-profit organization or an institution of higher education, or for an application that 

involves research, OJP typically will contact the applicant/recipient that submitted the 

application and ask it to identify -- quite precisely -- any particular information in the application 

that the applicant/recipient believes falls under a FOIA exemption, the specific exemption it 

believes applies, and why. After considering the submission by the applicant/recipient, OJP 

makes an independent assessment regarding withholding information. OJP generally follows a 

similar process for requests pursuant to FOIA for applications that may contain law-enforcement 

sensitive information. 

Provide Feedback to OJP 

To assist OJP in improving its application and award processes, OJP encourages applicants to 

provide feedback on this solicitation, the application submission process, and/or the application 

review process. Provide feedback to OJPSolicitationFeedback@usdoj.gov. 

IMPORTANT: This e-mail is for feedback and suggestions only. OJP does not send replies from 

this mailbox to messages it receives in this mailbox. Any prospective applicant that has specific 

questions on any program or technical aspect of the solicitation must use the appropriate 

telephone number or e-mail listed on the front of this solicitation document to obtain information. 

These contacts are provided to help ensure that prospective applicants can directly reach an 

individual who can address 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@l-secb.com. (Do not send your resume to the OJP Solicitation 

NIJ-2018-13840 

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Feedback email account.) Note: Neither you nor anyone else from your organization or entity 

can be a peer reviewer in a competition in which you or your organization/entity has submitted 

an application. 

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Application Checklist 

Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants 

This application checklist has been created as an aid in developing an application. 

What an Applicant Should Do: 

Prior to Registering in Grants.gov: 

_____ Acquire a DUNS Number (see page 27) 

_____ Acquire or renew registration with SAM (see page 27) 

To Register with Grants.gov: 

_____ Acquire AOR and Grants.gov username/password (see page 27) 

_____ Acquire AOR confirmation from the E-Biz POC (see page 27) 

To Find Funding Opportunity: 

_____ Search for the funding opportunity on Grants.gov (see page 27) 

_____ Access Funding Opportunity and Application Package (see page 27) 

_____ Sign up for Grants.gov email notifications (optional) (see page 25) 

_____ Read Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov 

_____ Read OJP policy and guidance on conference approval, planning, and reporting 

available at ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm 

(see page 11) 

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 28) 

If no Grants.gov receipt, and validation or error notifications are received: 

_____ Please refer to the section: Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues (see 

page 28) 

Overview of Post-Award Legal Requirements: 

_____ Review the Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and

Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards in the OJP Funding Resource Center 

at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm. 

Scope Requirement: 

_____ The federal amount requested is within the allowable limit(s). 

Eligibility Requirement: See cover page.

What an Application Should Include: 

_____ Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) (see page 12) 

_____ Project Abstract (if applicable) (see page 12) 

_____ Program Narrative (critical element) (see page 13) 

_____ Budget Detail Worksheet (critical element) (see page 17) 

_____ Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) (see page 20) 

_____ Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable) (see page 21) 

_____ Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire 

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(see page 21) 

_____ Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) (see page 22) 

_____ Additional Attachments 

_____ Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications (see page 22) 

_____ Curriculum vitae or resume (critical element) (see page 15) 

_____ Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity 

(see page 23) 

_____ Request and Justification for Employee Compensation; Waiver (if applicable) 

(see page 10) 

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i

Funding Webinar Transcript 

On Thursday, February 22, 2018, NIJ hosted a webinar that provided an overview of our 

open solicitation Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants

Following are the transcript and slide presentation from that webinar. 

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's webinar, Funding 

Opportunities through NIJ for Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants in FY 2018. At this 

time, I would like to introduce you to Tina Crossland, Senior Social Science Analyst with the 

National Institute of Justice.

TINA CROSSLAND: Thank you Mary Jo and welcome everyone, and thank you for taking part 

in today's webinar. The key goals of this webinar are to highlight the solicitation’s purpose, 

goals, and expectations; review areas of interest and what activities are permissible under the 

request for proposals; provide a general overview of the application requirements; identify tools 

and resources for applicants that will facilitate the submission process; explain the application 

review process; and then offer an opportunity for prospective applicants and partners to ask 

questions.

NIJ respects the government-to-government relationship that exists between the federal 

government and tribes as sovereign nations, by ensuring all research efforts are tribally 

engaged. NIJ has also committed to activities that maintain high standards of scientific integrity, 

rigor, and ethics to fill our federal trust responsibility. To ensure the work of tribal nations and 

people takes the most appropriate approach and is of the highest quality, NIJ understands the 

need to continually improve its funding priorities and processes. Consequently, NIJ is 

introducing a new solicitation to address research capacity. This solicitation came about after a 

year of engaging with tribal leaders, community members, researchers, and other federal 

agency officials. The purpose of the outreach was to gather information, feedback, suggestions, 

and to coordinate information and resources. Feedback from these listening sessions was 

generally positive and there was a strong preference for a program that was responsive to tribal 

needs and focused on building the capacity of tribal people.

It was emphasized that we should focus on building research capacity using a tribe-centered 

approach. Previous tribal-researcher partnerships have been unsuccessful in part because of 

the limited amount of time a solicitation is open and the ability to conduct outreach to tribal 

stakeholders in order to enter into mutually beneficial and equitable partnerships. This process 

is counter to community-based participatory research principles, and lacks the tribe-centered 

approach to address public safety issues most important to tribal partners. One of the key 

recommendations coming out of this effort is the need to provide planning grants to ensure that 

a tribal-researcher partnership has sufficient time and resources to develop. Through this 

solicitation, NIJ will provide small grants to fund applicants that wish to both facilitate a new 

tribal-researcher partnership and initiate a new and innovative research project involving 

federally recognized tribes or tribally based organizations.

Tribal organizations could include a tribal coalition, regional intertribal co-organizations, tribal 

training and technical assistance provider serving tribal citizens, and so on. NIJ expects to make 

at least five awards this year, with individual awards not exceeding $100,000. In addition, 

awards will not exceed an 18-month period of performance. Future funding may be made based 

upon the final deliverables that I will discuss later in this webinar.
ii

NIJ has been supporting and directing research and evaluation studies on tribal crime and 

justice issues since the 1980s. Knowing the long history of unethical and unequitable research 

practices that so many indigenous populations have been subjected to, NIJ follows a basic 

premise that all of our tribal studies must establish equitable and mutually beneficial research 

partnerships, which means both partners benefit from the partnership and relationship.

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to build an increased capacity to conduct rigorous 

research and evaluation projects in Indian country and Alaska Native villages or other tribal 

communities or settings through promotion of engagement between researchers and tribal 

nations, citizens, and stakeholders. The objective of this solicitation is to fund multiple planning 

grants for projects promoting such engagements that address criminal justice issues that tribal 

partners wish to address. NIJ encourages research that will support tribal nation building and 

cultural goals and values. Specifically, we encourage studies designed to acquire information 

and knowledge that will enable tribes to make informed decisions about policies, programs, and 

community action that address crime and victimization. Therefore, research teams are expected 

to demonstrate a commitment to conducting sensitive research with tribal communities using a 

collaborative and participatory approach that ensures transparency, local buying, and 

coordination. Research teams must go into this process with an understanding that developing 

and implementing project activities must be done collaboratively with tribal partners. By doing 

so, results from these studies are expected to help establish and enhance justice systems that 

successfully restore safety and promote healing.

While the scope of this solicitation is defined as investigator-initiated, the following research 

topics are of particular interest: administration of justice for Native youth and adults, alcohol and 

other drugs of use and abuse, crime prevention and intervention efforts, criminal offending, 

enhancing investigations and prosecutions in Indian country and Alaska, murdered and missing 

indigenous people, trafficking of Native women and girls, reducing violent crimes, responding to 

and reducing victimization, strengthening tribal justice systems, and the development, testing,

and evaluation of tools and technology to improve policy and practice in tribal communities.

Clearly this list is not exhaustive; other investigated initiative criminal justice topics will be 

considered, especially since the focus will be driven by the tribal partner. This partnership 

should prioritize tribal issues for the benefit of the tribal community.

Under this solicitation, outreach and engagement activities are permissible. Given the nature of 

the partnership, conferring with tribal partners will be a key task. Types of engagement may 

include developing and presenting technical and factual presentations for tribal leadership or 

other governing bodies and to the tribal communities at large. Documentation of the partnership 

is also required.

All projects involving tribal nations and/or citizens will be required to secure appropriate 

authorizations to engage in research activities. This may require obtaining a tribal resolution or 

executive order, or some other appropriate documentation from authorized tribal officials. Other 

similar tasks may include obtaining participatory agreements that set out the goals, objectives, 

priorities, and plans, and the roles and responsibilities of each partner. It also requires securing 

a tribal institutional review approval where required or from some other analogous bodies, such 

as the tribal research board or subcommittee. That is in addition to the applicant’s Institutional 

Review Board. This will most likely entail several site visits and meetings of tribal executive 

branch and program staff, and presentations to the tribal council and other offshoot, such as a 

district within a tribal nation.
iii

Once legal documents and agreements have been put in place, the tribal research team should 

develop research questions and an appropriate study design. The entire process should use 

community-based participatory research principles that involve the tribal partner in all aspects of 

the research process; in general, NIJ funds quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies 

that includes indigenous research methodologies. Projects to be considered under this 

solicitation include social and behavioral science projects, forensic sciences such as enhancing 

forensic investigations in Indian country, as well as technology development testing and 

evaluation. One tribal partner or community may want to do a cost of crime study, while another 

may wish to test out new technology (for example, a study of body-worn cameras of tribal law 

enforcement), and others may wish to test and evaluate correctional equipment or technologies 

or engage in geospatial analysis and crime mapping. Once again, the research must be driven 

by the tribal partner.

In preparation of developing final deliverables, the team may conduct pilot tests or feasibility or 

evaluability assessment studies that may involve collecting preliminary data and/or conducting 

secondary data analysis.

Besides the standard grant reporting requirements like semi-annual research performance 

progress and quarterly financial reports, there are three key deliverables under this solicitation.

They include a final research report in the form of a research or evaluation proposal based on 

the results of the activities funded under the grant. NIJ will consider such proposals for potential 

funding moving forward. A special report is also required that shall describe the tribal-researcher 

partnership in detail. The report should thoroughly capture the process, acceptance of the 

collaboration including lessons learned, challenges and successes experienced, and overall 

reflections. This report should also map out key issues that may help inform existing or future 

partnerships of a similar nature. One of the strengths of the program lies in disseminating 

lessons learned to the tribal community at large. Additionally, any data sets and associated files 

and documentation are required if applicable and appropriate. However, NIJ will not archive any 

data that are identifiable to an individual or tribe.

In addition to the three key deliverables mentioned before, NIJ wishes to get copies of products 

developed by the partnership that were created specifically for tribal stakeholders. However, 

tribal permission must be obtained before this dissemination. NIJ also anticipates copies of 

materials taking the form of one or more published, periodic scientific journal articles or similar 

scientific products that a tribal partner authorized.

Specific expenses that are not allowed are listed in this solicitation, By way of reminder, NIJ will 

not fund applications that are not responsive to the specific solicitation. We will not fund 

applications whose primary purpose is to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. However, 

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

testing, and evaluation. NIJ will not fund applications whose work is funded under another 

federal award (for example, ongoing work or a similar project). NIJ will not fund training in 

support of programs or direct services unrelated to or associated with the proposed project. And 

NIJ will not fund programs or services unrelated to the scope of the project or existing programs 

and services being evaluated.

As I mentioned earlier, we held several listening sessions on capacity building and what tribalresearcher partnership should look like. In many cases, we were told that these partnerships 

should involve a mentorship component, where the researcher works with tribal members to 

help develop the research and evaluation capacity and infrastructure in tribal communities and 

in turn the tribal partner can mentor researchers on tribal issues and affairs. Therefore, these 
iv

activities are permissible. As always, please see the solicitation for more information on what 

will not be funded.

To ensure costs are allowable, we strongly encourage applicants to review the Funding 

Resource Center for additional information and helpful guidance. In addition, we also encourage 

applicants to review the Department Grant Financial Guide and take the online training, which is 

a requirement for all funded grantees.

Next, I'll be talking about the application process. The application checklist can be found on 

pages 36 and 37 of the solicitation. Please carefully review the checklist when preparing your 

application and prior to submission. NIJ has designated application elements as critical and they 

are shown on this slide with an asterisk. If any of these elements are missing, a proposal will not 

move into the peer review phase. The four critical elements are the program narrative, budget 

detail worksheet, budget narrative, and résumés or curriculum vitae of key personnel. For 

purposes of this solicitation, key personnel means principal investigator and any and all coprincipal investigators and/or project director, coordinator, tribal partners, and key staff.

As it pertains to legal documentation of the tribal partnership, a tribal resolution, letter, affidavit, 

or other documentation, as appropriate, that demonstrates (as a legal matter) that the applicant 

has the requisite authorization from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed project should be 

provided. In those instances when an organization or consortium of tribes applies for an award 

on behalf of a tribe or multiple specific tribes, the application should include appropriate legal 

documentation, from all tribes.

To further clarify, letters of support or commitment are not equivalent to a tribal legal document. 

For example, a tribal program manager does not have the authority to commit to the partnership 

and project unless legal documentation is provided by the tribal government stating otherwise. 

Similarly, if a tribally-based organization is the partner, the authorized representative or 

executive authority is the only one authorized to commit to the project (e.g., executive director).

If a tribal resolution or other legal documentation cannot be secured prior to the application 

submission, a copy of the draft document should be provided with information indicating when it 

was submitted and when an anticipated response is expected. Be mindful, no awards will be 

made without fully executed tribal documents.

Please see the solicitation for guidance and details on each of these items.

Other items that may be included in appendices of the application include bibliography and 

references; any tools, instruments, questionnaires, tables, charts, graphs, or maps pertaining to 

the proposed project; a proposed project timeline and expected milestones; human subjects

protection paperwork; a list of any previous and current NIJ awards to the applicant and 

partners; justification for stipends or compensation payments as part of the project; a data 

archiving plan, if applicable; and letters of cooperation or support or administrative agreements 

from organizations collaborating on the project. Once again, these are not in lieu of tribal legal 

documents. As a reminder, if you have submitted questions, we will answer them during the 

Q&A section at the end of the webinar. Once again, please see the solicitation for guidance and 

more information on application submissions.

Some key application processes that are time sensitive include registering for Grants.gov.

Registering with Grants.gov is a one-time process. However, processing delays may occur and 

it can take several weeks for first-time recipients. We strongly encourage applicants to register 

several weeks before the application submission deadline, which is April 23. In addition, we 
v

urge applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior to the application due date in order 

to allow time for the applicants 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 

notice. For any technical difficulties, you will contact Grants.gov customer support.

Finally, Grants.gov has two categories of files per attachment: mandatory and optional. NIJ 

receives all files attached in those categories. Attachments are also labeled to describe the file 

being attached. Therefore, mandatory files include the program narrative, budget narrative, and 

budget worksheet, and curriculum vitae/résumés of the key staff. Optional files include the other 

forms and appendices mentioned earlier. Please ensure that all of the required documents are 

attached in the correct Grants.gov category and labeled correctly.

Now we'll talk about the review process. Once again, there are four critical elements for the 

application. The program narrative of the application that 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.

Other expected documents include a program abstract that summarizes the project in 250-400 

words and a the title page that includes 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 and the principal investigator and 

partners. There are other attachments that should be included with an application, such as the 

Application for Federal Assistance also known as the SF-424, and Human Subjects and Privacy 

documentation, which is required for ALL projects, whether human subjects are involved or not. 

While these are not critical elements, failure to include these items may result in a less favorable 

review, or a delay in releasing funds if awarded.

As you can see, proposals received under the solicitation will be evaluated according to four 

criteria, each of which carries a different weight based on its importance. The statement of the 

problem should address the needs of the research in the area. Applicants should discuss

current gaps in data, research, and knowledge, including those for a particular justice sector, 

and to answer questions relevant to current policy and practice needs. This section should also 

identify any initial research questions and discuss the purpose, goals, and objectives of the 

proposed project. Once again, input from the tribal partner is key.

Applicants should provide a detailed description of the strategies to implement the project.

Design elements should follow directly from the research project goals and objectives and 

address the program's specific information. Applicants should consider the rigor and soundness 

of the methods and the analytical and technical approaches for the proposed research, and 

address the feasibility of the proposed project and potential challenges or problems in carrying 

out the activities. Applicants should describe the potential impact of the research and how it may 

inform or improve criminal or juvenile justice-related policy, practice, or theory in the United 

States, but most importantly for the tribal partner. The discussion of impact should include a

discussion of the deliverables. Applicants should identify plans to produce or make the 

deliverables available to a broader, interested group of practitioners and policymakers in a form 

that is designed to be readily accessible and useful.

Finally, the experience and capability of the applicant organization’s key staff and any of the 

proposed subgrantees, including consultants that the applicant will use to implement and 
vi

manage this effort and the federal funds under the award, should be described. It's important to 

highlight any previous experience implementing projects of similar scope, design, and 

magnitude. In addition, the budget and dissemination plans are elements of consideration when 

making funding recommendations.

After the solicitation closes, all applications will receive a preliminary review. Applications will be 

evaluated, determined if they have been submitted by an eligible type of applicant, whether they 

are responsive to the scope of the solicitation, and whether the four basic minimum required 

elements have been included. All applications that pass the preliminary review will be forwarded 

for external peer review, which is composed of technical and practitioner reviewers with 

expertise in research methods, analyses, and the subject matter, as well as tribal affairs and 

matters. This process includes those individual reviews by a panelist and a consensus review

developed by the entire panel. These reviewers will discuss the merits and limitations of each 

proposal. In addition, an internal review by NIJ's scientific staff, department subject-matter 

experts, and leadership will also be completed. Both the external and internal reviews are 

provided to the NIJ director. All funding decisions are ultimately at the discretion of the NIJ 

director.

We are providing an estimated application and award timeline for the solicitation. The closing 

date is April 23. We will immediately commence the basic minimum requirements review after 

that date. Applicants who did not provide the required elements of the application, or did not 

meet the scope, will receive notification in May. External and internal peer review will also 

commence immediately and continue until late June. Funding decisions are expected in June 

and July but the processing of awards will continue over the summer, with anticipated awards 

announced between August and October. To allow time for, among other things, any necessary 

post-award review and financial clearances of the proposed budget, and for any associated 

responses or other actions that may be required of the recipient, applicants should propose an 

award start date of January 1, 2019.

And now we'll open it up for questions. If you have not done so already, please remember to 

submit your question via the Q&A panel, not the chat panel, and make sure it's directed to all.

Mary Jo what is our first question.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Hi, everyone. Thank you. We do have some questions here. So the 

first question is, can the tribal partnership be with a Native American researcher who works with 

specific tribes and is a member of a tribe, or does it need to be directly with the tribes?

TINA CROSSLAND: The answer is yes. The tribal partnership can be with Native American 

researcher who works with tribes.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Must a partnership between a university and a tribe be new?

Meaning that the two groups have never worked together before?

TINA CROSSLAND: New in the sense that it's a new project, not in the sense that it's a 

completely new partnership.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Given the research is driven by the tribal partner, will the narrative be 

expected to be detailed regarding these research methods?

TINA CROSSLAND: No, and that's what makes this particular solicitation perhaps a little bit 

more difficult in developing, but as you reach out to your tribal research partners, you can come 
vii

up with some preliminary areas that the tribal partner is interested in examining. So the research 

questions and the methods won't be fully vetted until after these awards are made, and so, no, 

the answer is it can be a little bit ambiguous, but it should be clear that the tribal partner has 

already provided direct input into what they would like to see happen in the project.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: For Institutional Review Board approval, do you mean tribal IRB or 

institutional IRB, or both? What if the tribe does not have its own IRB?

TINA CROSSLAND: If the tribe doesn't have an IRB, they may have another analogous body.

Sometimes the tribal council may have a subcommittee or a board. If the tribe doesn't have any 

of those things, we will go with the Institutional Review Board of the applicant. All recipients of 

awards with the department have to have a federal-wide assurance with HHS [U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services]. So, we will be looking at the applicant's Institutional Review 

Board, but if a tribe is involved and they do have an Institutional Review Board, additional

reviews will be required.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can charts, graphs, and textboxes be single spaced?

TINA CROSSLAND: Yes.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Does the $100,000 budget apply to direct cost or to total cost? Direct 

cost plus negotiated F&A [Facilities and Administrative]?

TINA CROSSLAND: Total cost.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can grant funds be used for a single training as part of the building 

capacity designed in the planning phase?

TINA CROSSLAND: I probably have to know a little bit more about what the training involves

and how it relates to the project, unfortunately, because I can't get into the details of the project 

and the design. I really can't answer that question at this time.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What would be an example of appropriate legal documentation from 

a tribal-serving organization?

TINA CROSSLAND: Whoever is the authorized representative. So for instance, if that 

organization has ever applied for funding, whoever that organization has deemed as the legal 

authority. In many cases, it may be the executive director or president, or however it's been 

organized and set up.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is a list of tribal partners and their locations available online?

TINA CROSSLAND: I don't understand the question. As far as federally recognized tribes, there

are currently 573. Those tribes can be found on the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian 

Affairs page that lists all of the tribes. As far as research partners, we don't have a specific list 

for those.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is there a cap on indirect cost rate admin overhead that can be 

included in the project budget?

TINA CROSSLAND: No.
viii

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is there a cross-match share required for this project?

TINA CROSSLAND: No.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: So the main point is to focus on research questions, not methods?

TINA CROSSLAND: You may have initially discussed with your research partner what they feel 

is the best method or what is the preferred method driven by the tribe. In other words, they may 

want to do more oral histories rather than quantitative work. All of that can be discussed in 

general terms.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Given the funding limitations, is NIJ paying full and direct rates on 

these projects? Universities with higher indirect rates will end up not leaving much left to the 

project.

TINA CROSSLAND: We go with the negotiated indirect rates that are provided. So, that may be 

a consideration in who becomes the applicant and who is the subrecipient of the grant.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What if funding from another federal grant uncovered gaps or areas 

for additional research with a tribal organization? Is this acceptable?

TINA CROSSLAND: Since apparently there's already a pre-established relationship there and 

the project was previously done, that would not qualify under this solicitation.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: And this last question I'll actually answer. Would all the slides be 

available following the webinar? Yes. The slides and a full transcript of the webinar will be 

posted to the NIJ website in approximately 10 business days. And you will also receive an email 

notifying you that the information has been posted and how to access it. How many grants do 

you anticipate rewarding? In other words, are you trying to fund a certain number of projects?

TINA CROSSLAND: We're not exactly sure how many applications we'll receive, since this is 

the first time that we released this solicitation. I've mentioned earlier that we plan on funding at 

least five this year. And then based on the final deliverable, that is the research proposal, we 

could fund one or all, depending what happens with those particular projects. We hope that this 

will be an ongoing program, so as it's released, we'll be looking at expanding the program.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Who should we contact if we have additional questions following the 

webinar? And I moved the slide to show the National Criminal Justice Reference Service 

Response Center and their 800 number. They have a TTY line and email address, and a web 

chat as well. Can equipment purchased through the grant for research purposes be retained by 

the tribal organization or the university that retains the equipment?

TINA CROSSLAND: It would have to depend on what the equipment is and I would recommend 

that you read the financial guide, which provides information on equipment and so forth in the 

budget.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Are in-kind contributions required?

TINA CROSSLAND: In-kind contributions are not required.
ix

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can a partnership be between two different departments in a large 

organization, such as between a research department and a hospital both owned by the same 

organization?

TINA CROSSLAND: I would have to know a little bit more information about that setup. So if 

you could provide more detail by sending that specific question to NCJRS [National Criminal 

Justice Reference Service], we may be able to have a better response for you.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If the researcher has previously worked with a tribal organization, 

would they be excluded?

TINA CROSSLAND: No. So once again, although we were hoping to develop new research 

partnerships, whatever the project is, it should be new. It’s something that should not already 

have been in development or already been implemented. We're really looking at new projects.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: At this time, all the questions have been answered. There is one 

question that really would pertain more to the scope of the design and would not be able to be 

answered at this time. So we'll give you a few more minutes just to see if any other questions 

come through. One more question just came through. I think this is a follow-up to the last 

question. The organization is a tribally affiliated organization or a tribally sanctioned organization 

that owns a hospital and research department.

TINA CROSSLAND: They would be eligible.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: It looks like we have some questions that are going directly to one 

individual. The question is, you mentioned a second phase of potential funding. When do you 

anticipate that being made available?

TINA CROSSLAND: The awards are currently established where they cannot exceed an 18-

month period. So, depending on when these projects are submitted, we will be reviewing those 

proposals, which is the first deliverable (the research proposal), and making determinations. It 

would more than likely follow the same fiscal funding award cycle that we have at the institute, 

which means awards would be announced in an August to October timeframe from the time that 

it's submitted and reviewed.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I forgot to mention earlier, when you send your messages or your 

questions, please send them to all the panelists, not directly to an individual person or to the 

host directly. How do you define tribal nation building in the context of an RFP?

TINA CROSSLAND: The project should be supporting a tribal nation. That's what was meant by

my statement earlier. So once again, the projects really should be driven by the tribal partner, 

whoever that is, a tribal organization or a tribal nation, or a tribal stakeholder.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Would a nonprofit tribal organization that works with Native 

Americans in an urban area be considered a tribally based organization?

TINA CROSSLAND: Yes.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Just looking to see if we've missed any questions. I don't think we've 

asked this question. Our tribe has its own research department. Can a university partner be a 

consultant or do they have to be a subaward?
x

TINA CROSSLAND: They can be a consultant.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: One more question, is there a good resource for understanding what 

the NIJ scientific reviews tend to look for?

TINA CROSSLAND: In the solicitation, under the review criteria, it gives you a list of items there

and specifically what the reviewers will be looking for.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: So to be clear, a Native American community services that serves all 

nations in the urban area can be a tribal partner?

TINA CROSSLAND: Yes.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: It looks like that's all of the questions. So again, right now, on the 

screen, you're looking at a slide that has contact information for the National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service Response Center. If you have any questions after the webinar, please feel 

free to contact them. You may contact them via the 800 number that you see or the email 

address listed. They also have a chat feature available on a limited basis. As a reminder, the

slides and the presentation will be posted to the NIJ website and you will receive notification via 

the email address that you registered. We have one more question. We have worked with the 

tribal organization, and through previous data analysis uncovered a large number of missing 

persons. This is not a focus of an implementation strategy. Could a project focusing on this be 

acceptable? Again, as a reminder, NIJ staff cannot answer questions regarding the scope or 

design of your proposal.

TINA CROSSLAND: Once again, if you do have questions that you would like answered or you 

received answers for which you would like further clarification, please contact the National 

Criminal Justice Reference Service and they will be addressed. I do want to thank everybody for 

participating today and we look forward to your submissions. Thank you.
Funding Opportunities through NIJ for TribalResearcher Capacity Building Grants in FY 2018

February 22, 2018 | 3:00 PM EST

The webinar will begin shortly
• Live-captioning is available for the hearing impaired. Please click on the “Media Viewer” to 

log in.

• Difficulty hearing via your computer? Click on “Communicate” at the top left, and then 

“Audio Connection” to adjust the speakers. Still can’t hear? Dial in using the information 

located in the meeting invite.

• Need technical assistance? Please use the Chat Box, and send your issue to the Host.

• Questions about the presentation? Submit questions at any time by using the Q&A box and 

selecting all panelists. Questions will be answered at the end of the presentation.

• A transcript of this presentation, and the related slides will be posted to the NIJ website.

Important Information for Today’s Webinar
Funding Opportunities through NIJ for TribalResearcher Capacity Building Grants in FY 2018

Solicitation: NIJ-2018-13840

Solicitation Post Date: February 1, 2018

Solicitation Close Date: April 23, 2018 11:59 PM EDT

Today’s Presenter: 

Christine “Tina” Crossland, Senior Social Science Analyst

Office of Research & Evaluation
Webinar Overview

• Background & Purpose

• Goals & Expectations

• Areas of Inquiry & Permissible Activities

• Application Requirements & Submission Procedure

• Tools and Resources

• Review Process & Selection Criteria

• Q&A Session

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Background and Purpose

• NEW! 

– Recommendation coming from tribal engagement

– Focuses on building research capacity using a tribe-centered approach

• Objective

– Facilitate a new tribal-researcher partnership; and 

– Initiate new and innovative research projects involving federally recognized tribes (or tribally- based organizations)

• Science Areas

– Social and behavioral science

– Investigative forensics science

– Technology development, testing, and evaluation

• Funds awarded through a competitive process with future funding possible

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Goals and Expectations

• Promote engagement between researchers and tribal nations, 

citizens, and stakeholders

• Establish equitable and mutually beneficial research partnerships

• Develop research plans that address criminal justice issues of 

importance to tribal partners

• Increase the ability to conduct rigorous research and evaluation 

projects in tribal communities

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Areas of Inquiry

• Administration of justice for Native youth and adults

• Alcohol and other drugs of use and abuse

• Crime prevention and intervention efforts

• Criminal offending

• Enhancing investigations and prosecutions in Indian country and Alaska

• Murdered, missing, and trafficked Native women and girls

• Reducing violent crime

• Responding to and reducing victimization

• Strengthening tribal justice systems

• Tools and technologies to improve policy and practice 

• Other criminal justice investigator initiated topics

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Types Of Activities That Can Be Funded

• Outreach and Engagement Activities

– Developing, presenting, and disseminating materials for tribal 

leadership (or governing bodies), communities members, and 

stakeholders

• Presentations, FAQs, newsletter articles, infographics

– Drafting and securing tribal resolutions or executive orders

– Drafting and executing participatory agreements and/or data 

sharing agreements

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Types Of Activities (cont.)

• Conducting Research

– Developing research questions and study designs with tribal 

partner

–community-based participatory research principals

– Securing tribal institutional review board approval

– Conducting pilot studies 

– Performing feasibility or evaluability assessments

– Completing secondary data analysis

– Drafting a tribal-researcher criminal justice research proposal

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Expected Deliverables

• Standard grant reporting requirements

– Quarterly and final financial reports

– Semi-annual research performance progress reports

• Criminal justice research or evaluation proposal

• Special report describing the tribal-researcher partnership

• Associated data sets or files, if appropriate

• Community and scholarly products

• Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Presentations to tribe stakeholders and at appropriate scientific conferences

• The strength of the research lies in disseminating the results to the tribal 

community at large.

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
What will not be funded

• Applications...

– that are not responsive to this specific solicitation

– whose primary purpose is to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies

– whose work is funded under another federal award

– that request training in support of programs or direct services unrelated to or 

associated with the proposed project

– that request programs or services unrelated to the scope of the project or 

existing programs or services being evaluated

• However: “A budget may include these items if they are necessary to conduct 

research, development, demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.” 

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Recommended Resources

• OJP Funding Resource Center

– https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm

• DOJ Grants Financial Guide

– https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm

• DOJ Grants Financial Management Online Training

– https://ojpfgm.webfirst.com/

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
APPLICATION PROCESS

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Application Checklist | Requirements

– See pages 36- 37 of the solicitation

• What an Application Should Include: 

– Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

– Project Abstract 

– Program Narrative (critical element) *

– Budget Detail Worksheet & Narrative (critical elements) *

– Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable) 

– Tribal Authorizing Resolution or Executive Order 

– Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire

– Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL)

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Application Checklist | Requirements

– See pages 36- 37 of the solicitation

• Additional Attachments 

– Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications 

– Curriculum vitae or resume (critical element) *

– Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity 

– Request and Justification for Employee Compensation; Waiver 

(if applicable)

– Complete list of the individuals named or otherwise identified 

anywhere in the application 

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Application Submission 

• Grants.gov

– Registering in advance of deadline

– Acquire a unique entity identifier (currently, a DUNS number).

– Acquire or maintain registration with SAM

– Submit application packet at least 72 hours prior to deadline

– Workspace

– Mandatory and Optional Attachments

• Files labeled to describe the file being attached (e.g., program 

narrative)

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
REVIEW PROCESS

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Basic Minimum Requirements

1. Program narrative 

2. Budget detail worksheet

3. Budget narrative

4. CVs, resumes, or biographical sketches of key 

personnel

•Other key elements

• Tribal resolution or other tribal legal documentation

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Selection Criteria

• Statement of the Problem and Research Questions 20%

– Understanding of the problem, research questions, and their importance 

• Project Design and Implementation 30%

– Quality and technical merit

• Potential Impact – 15% 

• Capabilities/Competencies – 35%

– Demonstrated productivity, and experience of the applicant organization 

and proposed project staff

• Budget 

• Dissemination plans

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
External and Internal Review

• BMR/Responsiveness Review

– Submitted by an eligible type applicant

– Responsive to the scope of the solicitation

– Basic Minimum Requirements included

• External Peer Reviewer

• Technical and practitioner reviewers

• Tribal Expertise

• Internal Review

– NIJ scientific staff and leadership

– Department subject matter experts

• All funding decisions are at the discretion of the NIJ Director

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Application and Award Timeline

• Solicitation closing date – April 23, 2018 at 11:59 PM EDT

• Basic Minimal Review – April 2018

– Notification to non-BMR applicants – May 2018

• External and Internal Peer Review – April to June 2018

• Funding Decisions – June to July 2018

• Award Processing – July to September 2018

• Award Announcements – August to October 2018

• Project Start Date – No sooner than January 1, 2019

– Project Period – Not to exceed 18 months (not renewable)

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

DISCUSSION

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
Contact Information

National Criminal Justice Reference Service Response Center (NCJRS)

Toll-free +1 (800) 851-3420 

TTY +1 (301) 240-6310 for hearing impaired only

Email Grants@ncjrs.gov

Fax +1 (301) 240-5830

Web chat https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp 

NIJ FAQs https://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx

NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation
NIJ FY18 Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation