BJA 2023 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for funding to improve forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services, including services provided by forensic science laboratories operated by states and units of local government, under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program. This program furthers the DOJ’s mission by providing states with tools needed to meet the challenges of crime and justice.

Donor Name: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 05/24/2023

Size of the Grant: $26,580,165

Grant Duration: 24 months

Details:

This solicitation is ONLY for SAAs applying for the formula funds. An applicant seeking to apply for Coverdell competitive funds (consistent with 34 U.S.C. §. Reduction in forensic analysis backlogs is considered an improvement in timeliness of services.

Objectives

An applicant should address the objectives that are relevant to their proposed program/ project in the Goals, Objectives, Deliverables and Timeline web-based form.

A state or unit of local government that receives formula funding from a Coverdell grant must use the grant for one or more of the following six objectives:

To carry out all or a substantial part of a program intended to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiner/coroner services in the state, including those services provided by laboratories operated by the state and those operated by units of local government within the state.
To eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence, including, among other things, a backlog with respect to firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence. A backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence exists if forensic evidence has been stored in a laboratory, medical examiner office, coroner office, law enforcement storage facility, or medical facility and has not been subjected to all appropriate forensic testing because of lack of resources or personnel.
To train, assist, and employ forensic laboratory personnel and medicolegal death investigators, as needed, to eliminate such a backlog.
To address emerging forensic science issues (such as statistics, contextual bias, and uncertainty of measurement) and emerging forensic science technology (such as high throughput automation, statistical software, and new types of instrumentation).
To educate and train forensic pathologists.
To fund medicolegal death investigation systems to facilitate accreditation of medical examiner and coroner offices and certification of medicolegal death investigators.

Important Note: Congress has appropriated funding to help the forensic science community address the specific challenges that crime laboratories are confronting related to the proliferation of opioids and synthetic drugs. To address these issues, BJA plans to allocate approximately 55 percent of available funds to specifically target the challenges that opioid and synthetic drugs have brought to the forensic science community.

Funding Information