BJA FY 2026 Crisis Response Training Program

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance is offering the BJA Crisis Response Training Program to support public safety agencies in developing, implementing, or expanding crisis response training. The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, funding, and resources that support law enforcement, combat violent crime, protect children, assist crime victims, and address other public safety challenges. Through this funding opportunity, the Bureau of Justice Assistance seeks to improve law enforcement and correctional responses to individuals in crisis who have behavioral health conditions, including mental health and substance use disorders, intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries. The program has two funding categories. Category 1, Training Program for Law Enforcement Agencies, supports training for sworn law enforcement, including police departments, sheriff's offices, field probation and parole officers, and campus police. Category 2, Training Program for Jails, Prisons, and Correctional Agencies, supports training for facility-based officers, including institutional probation and parole staff, sheriff's office detention personnel, and officers in other correctional facilities. Under either category, applicants may seek funding for crisis response and intervention training, virtual reality training systems appropriate to the applicable setting, or both. The program is intended to improve crisis response skills and the strategic application of techniques that prevent escalation. Applicants proposing virtual reality technology must describe the platform, accompanying evidence-based curriculum, outcome data that will demonstrate effectiveness, and plans for fully immersive, multiparticipant technology that can support customized training scenarios. Approximately $5,256,751 is expected to be available. BJA anticipates four awards under Category 1 and four awards under Category 2, with awards of up to $650,000 in each category. Awards are grants with an expected 36-month performance period beginning January 1, 2027. No cost sharing or matching contribution is required. Budgeted costs must be reasonable, allocable, necessary to implement the project, allowable under the funding statute, and consistent with agency requirements. The notice also identifies activities and costs that are outside program scope or unallowable, including activities that violate applicable federal immigration law or applicable federal civil rights or nondiscrimination law and certain legal services for removable aliens or aliens otherwise unlawfully present in the United States, subject to the exceptions stated in the notice. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, federally recognized Native American Tribal governments, Native American Tribal governments other than federally recognized tribes, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, units of local government, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education with on-campus police departments, and public or state-controlled hospitals with on-campus police departments. For this opportunity, state includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Other units of local government include towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, and other general purpose political subdivisions of a state. Applicants may submit more than one application when each proposes a different project, but each application must apply to only one funding category. For projects involving multiple entities, only one entity may apply, with other project partners proposed as subrecipients rather than co-applicants. Application submission occurs in two required steps. Applicants must complete the SF-424 and submit it through Grants.gov by October 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The full application must then be submitted through JustGrants by October 13, 2026, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Required components include the SF-424, Standard Applicant Information, Proposal Narrative, and Budget. Other application materials include a proposal abstract, Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire, Agency Funding Priorities Inventory, applicable budget and financial attachments, a Memorandum of Understanding or letter of intent for project partners, applicable Tribal Authorizing Resolution, timeline, and required disclosures and assurances. The proposal abstract is limited to 2,000 characters. The Proposal Narrative must be double-spaced using a standard 12-point font, have margins of at least one inch, contain numbered pages, and not exceed 10 pages. Peer review scoring assigns 5 percent to Description of the Need, 15 percent to Project Goals and Objectives, 35 percent to Project Design and Implementation, 30 percent to Capabilities and Competencies, and 15 percent to the Budget. Applicants must use specific, current, local data in the need section rather than relying solely on national or generalized statistics. OJP may also give priority consideration to projects advancing identified agency priorities. Additional priority consideration is available for qualifying state or local law enforcement efforts coordinated with federal law enforcement through specified 287(g) partnerships or Homeland Security Task Force participation, with supporting documentation required. Priority consideration does not guarantee funding. Recipients must submit regular performance reports, although no program-specific deliverables beyond standard post-award requirements are required. The NOFO was released August 25, 2026. Applicants are advised to begin SAM.gov registration or renewal by September 5, 2026, and no later than September 21, 2026, although registration is not treated as a pre-application gating deadline. The Grants.gov submission deadline is October 5, 2026, and the final JustGrants deadline is October 13, 2026. The expected award period is 36 months beginning January 1, 2027. The source does not state that this funding opportunity recurs annually or on another regular schedule. Program questions may be directed to the OJP Response Center at OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov or 800-851-3420. Grants.gov technical support is available at 800-518-4726 and support@grants.gov, and JustGrants support is available at 833-872-5175 and JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov.

Prioritize Project Design and Implementation and Capabilities and Competencies because they account for 35 percent and 30 percent of the score respectively. Use specific, current, local data to establish need because national or generalized statistics alone will not satisfy that section. Ensure the requested amount does not exceed the award ceiling and the project is responsive to the NOFO scope. Clearly connect budget costs to project goals, objectives, and activities. For VR projects, describe the platform, evidence-based curriculum, outcome data, and fully immersive multiparticipant scenario capabilities. Applicants seeking priority consideration should explicitly identify the priorities advanced and provide the required supporting documentation.