Records System Improvement

NIJ FY25 Research and Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence for Criminal Justice Purposes

This funding opportunity seeks to support research and evaluation that advances the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the criminal justice system. The goal is to improve the fairness, accuracy, and effectiveness of criminal justice processes through AI applications in crime prevention, public safety, and justice system decision-making.

FY25 Justice Counts State Partnership Grants and Training and Technical Assistance Implementation Assistance Program

This program seeks applications for funding to support Justice Counts adoption and implementation. Justice Counts is part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative strategy to help states achieve fairer, effective, and efficient justice systems. Justice Counts provides policymakers with actionable data to more easily understand and make better informed changes to their criminal justice system. Funding will support states to adopt and utilize metrics through state agency and/or state-local partnerships. It will also support a training and technical assistance (TTA) provider to help state grantees and more broadly spur jurisdictional adoption and the use of system metrics across the nation.

NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

This program supports state and tribal efforts to enhance the completeness, automation, and transmittal of records to state and federal systems used by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Youth Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program

This competitive grant program provides funds to increase public safety by facilitating cross-system collaboration among youth justice, mental health, and substance use treatment agencies to improve response and outcomes for justice-involved youth with mental health disorders and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP)

1) NCHIP ($70,000,000)- This program aims to improve the nation’s safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information; and by ensuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and non-criminal justice background check systems. 2) NCHIP SF BSCA ($40,000,000) – This program furthers the DOJ’s mission to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal-history and related records in support of national record systems and their use for name- and fingerprint-based… criminal history background checks. This program was developed to implement Title III, Division B (3) – Appropriations outlined in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Pub. L. 117-159). 3) NARIP ($25,000,000)- This program provides grants to assist states, state court systems and tribal governments in updating the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) with certain mental health, protection and restraining order, domestic violence conviction, and other criminal history record information which may disqualify individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms. BJS coordinates its work on the NICS program with the efforts of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) to ensure that funded state and state court system programs are complementary and consistent with the overall goal of improving the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of state and national criminal records.

National Criminal History Improvement Program Supplemental Funding

This competitive grant program provides funds to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal-history and related records in support of national record systems and their use for name- and fingerprint-based criminal history background checks.

National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) Training and Technical Assistance Program

This program funds technical assistance to support state, territorial and tribal jurisdictions in insuring that their systems to implement the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP), and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act conform to FBI standards.

Byrne Discretionary Grants Program

This program provides Congressionally-earmarked funds to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system and to combat juvenile delinquency.

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program – State Awards

The JAG Program is the leading source of federal criminal justice grant funding for state and local jurisdictions, providing formula-based funding for a broad range of program areas.