Longitudinal Research on Delinquency and Crime, Fiscal Year 2021 | O NIJ 2021 45005

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2021 45005

The Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funding opportunity "Longitudinal Research on Delinquency and Crime, Fiscal Year 2021" supports research teams that want to expand or extend one or more existing longitudinal studies examining delinquency and crime across the life course. The central emphasis is on building directly on ongoing data collections rather than starting from scratch, with coverage that can span childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. NIJ is looking for work that treats development in a broad, integrated way, connecting individual development and social context to how delinquent and criminal behavior begins, continues, escalates, or stops over time.

The scientific purpose is practical as well as explanatory. NIJ wants findings that help identify risk factors and protective factors that are malleable, meaning they can realistically be changed through prevention programs, services, policies, or system-level interventions. The intent is to strengthen what the field knows about preventing the onset of delinquency and improving intervention strategies for juveniles and young adults who are already involved in offending. Proposals that can clarify why some individuals persist in offending while others desist, and which influences are most actionable, are aligned with the solicitation's goals.

Partnerships are encouraged, especially with criminal justice agencies or other organizations that can contribute data, operational insight, or implementation support. If a project includes such partnerships, the application is expected to include strong letters of support signed by decision-making authorities from each partner agency. These letters are not just general endorsements; they need to clearly confirm the agency's commitment to participate and, importantly, acknowledge that de-identified data associated with the project will be archived at the end of the award with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). NIJ signals that applicants and partners should review NACJD policies and protections in advance so that expectations about privacy, confidentiality, and data stewardship are understood before the award begins.

Data archiving and formalization of partnerships are treated as concrete compliance requirements rather than optional best practices. If selected for funding, the grantee is expected to have formal agreements in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2022, and those agreements must include a provision ensuring the required data archiving with NACJD. Where multiple agencies will be involved and federal funds would support more than one organization, NIJ clarifies the standard arrangement: only one entity can apply as the primary applicant, and any other participating entities must be included as subrecipients rather than co-applicants.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant program under CFDA 16.560, categorized as science and technology and other research and development. The opportunity number is O-NIJ-2021-45005. NIJ anticipated making about four awards, with an award ceiling of up to $2,000,000 per award. The solicitation was created on December 21, 2020, with an original application deadline of February 22, 2021. Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and certain tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities as permitted by the solicitation's additional eligibility guidance.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at strengthening long-term, developmentally informed evidence on delinquency and crime by leveraging existing longitudinal infrastructure, deepening follow-up or expanding measurement, and producing results that can inform prevention and intervention strategies. It places particular weight on usable knowledge about changeable drivers of offending and on responsible data sharing through required archiving of de-identified data with NACJD.

• The Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Longitudinal Research on Delinquency and Crime, Fiscal Year 2021" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 21, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 22, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O NIJ 2021 45005

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