BJS FY 2026 National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) Training and Technical Assistance

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics is offering the National Criminal History Improvement Program NCHIP Training and Technical Assistance Program to provide training and technical assistance supporting the National Criminal History Improvement Program, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Act Record Improvement Program, and portions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The program supports improvements to criminal history record systems and information sharing. Technical assistance is intended to help states, territories, and tribal jurisdictions develop and manage record systems consistent with FBI standards, use appropriate technologies, protect privacy and confidentiality, and assess improvements in state and national record holdings and information exchanges. The program seeks a recipient capable of delivering technical assistance and training to state, local, and tribal justice agencies, including courts, for the development, management, improvement, acquisition, and integration of automated criminal history and related information systems. Objectives include assisting multidisciplinary justice agencies with integrated information systems, addressing information management and exchange problems, improving the quality and completeness of criminal history records, supporting background checks and automated expungement and sealing practices, identifying records eligible for entry into NICS, using the Interstate Identification Index for appropriate noncriminal justice background checks, tailoring assistance for courts including juvenile justice courts, and ensuring information sharing practices comply with laws and expectations governing personally identifiable information. Expected activities include virtual or direct on site technical assistance visits, telephone and web based technical assistance, and at least two virtual workshops addressing issues important to criminal record repositories and relevant criminal justice agencies. The recipient is also expected to collect, analyze, and publish criminal history related survey data and materials, including administration of the biennial survey of state record repositories and collaboration with BJS, the FBI, and state agencies. Regular performance reports are required. Costs must be reasonable, allocable, necessary, and allowable under the funding statute and agency requirements. Travel for program specific meetings is allowed. Budget documentation must provide details for personnel tasks, breakdowns for each subaward or subgrant, and vendor quotes for equipment costs and contractual services. The program does not require cost sharing or matching. Activities that violate applicable federal immigration, civil rights, or nondiscrimination laws are outside program scope, and specified legal services for removable aliens or aliens otherwise unlawfully present are unallowable except for identified exceptions. Eligible applicants are public and state controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with or without IRS 501c3 status other than institutions of higher education, and for profit organizations other than small businesses. If two or more entities will carry out a project, only one may submit the application and the other project partners must be proposed as subrecipients rather than co applicants. The recipient must have significant demonstrable expertise in the creation, maintenance, and transmission of criminal history record information among federal, state, and local repositories. Relevant expertise includes criminal history repositories and expungement and sealing practices, NICS and background checks, the Interstate Identification Index, court systems and records, integration planning, the National Information Exchange Model, Justice Reference Architecture, Web Services, and privacy and information quality policy. Application submission has two required steps. Applicants must submit the SF 424 through Grants.gov by September 28, 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time and submit the full application through JustGrants by October 5, 2026, at 8:59 PM Eastern Time. Required application components include Standard Applicant Information, a Proposal Abstract of no more than 2,000 characters, a Proposal Narrative, and a Budget. The narrative must be double spaced in a standard 12 point font, use margins of at least one inch, have numbered pages, and not exceed 30 pages. Other application materials include financial management and internal controls information, the Agency Funding Priorities Inventory when priority consideration is sought, applicable budget and financial attachments, an MOU or letter of intent for project partners, curricula vitae or resumes for key personnel, applicable disclosures and assurances, and other applicable supporting documents. 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. OJP may also consider agency funding priorities concerning support for law enforcement operations, combating violent crime, services to American citizens, protection of American children, and support for American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, although priority consideration does not guarantee funding. Applications must be submitted by an eligible applicant, request no more than the award ceiling, and be responsive to the scope of the funding opportunity. OJP expects to make one cooperative agreement of up to USD 1,500,000 from total expected program funding of USD 1,500,000. The expected award period is 18 months, beginning no earlier than October 1, 2026, and no later than January 1, 2027. The NOFO was released August 18, 2026. The anticipated notification date is December 1, 2026. No recurring application cycle is stated. The program contact is Stephanie Burroughs at AskBJS@usdoj.gov or 202-307-0765. Grants.gov assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726, and JustGrants assistance is available at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175.

Prioritize Project Design and Implementation and Capabilities and Competencies because they represent 35 percent and 30 percent of the application score. Clearly connect goals and objectives to the NOFO, describe methods and timing for each activity, identify staff and beneficiaries, specify deliverables, and demonstrate significant expertise with criminal history repositories, NICS, the Interstate Identification Index, court records, integration, NIEM, JRA, Web Services, privacy, and information quality. Keep the request at or below the award ceiling and ensure the project is responsive to the NOFO scope.