BJS FY 2026 Consolidated National Criminal History Improvement Program

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics administers the Consolidated National Criminal History Improvement Program. The opportunity supports the Department of Justice mission to promote public safety, support law enforcement, combat violent crime, protect children and crime victims, and address public safety challenges. Funding combines the National Criminal History Improvement Program, National Criminal History Improvement Program Supplemental Funding under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Act Record Improvement Program. The program is intended to improve the accuracy, utility, completeness, timeliness, and interstate accessibility of criminal history and related records used in national record systems and name- and fingerprint-based criminal history background checks. Applicants may propose projects addressing one or more of five program areas: automation and completeness of criminal history records; full participation in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; full participation in the Interstate Identification Index; automation and reporting of relevant juvenile records; and record sealing and expungement. Allowable activities include automating and linking arrests, fingerprints, court dispositions, and prosecutor records; reducing missing disposition backlogs; converting manual records to electronic records; improving compatible equipment and systems; improving reporting of firearm-prohibiting records; supporting National Fingerprint File participation; improving relevant juvenile record reporting where permitted by law; and automating record sealing and expungement processes. Systems funded through the program must meet applicable FBI standards. Certain ongoing equipment and maintenance costs are allowable only during the initial 12-month period. Funds may not primarily support investigative capabilities such as latent workstations, palm-print capture, facial recognition, or DNA capture, and vehicles may not be purchased or leased. Ongoing presale firearm background check costs are also excluded. Staff overtime is allowable with BJS approval, and program-specific meeting and conference travel is allowable. Eligible applicants are state governments, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and courts, with courts defined as the state central administrative office or a similar entity designated by statute or regulation to administer federal grant funds for the jurisdiction's court system. Up to two applications may be submitted for each state when one is submitted by the designated NCHIP agency or state record repository and the other by the state court. An entity may participate as a subrecipient in more than one application. The opportunity does not require cost sharing or matching. BJS expects approximately 56 cooperative agreement awards from total expected funding of 123000000 dollars, with an anticipated award amount of up to 2196429 dollars. The expected award period is 36 months beginning October 1, 2026. Submission uses a two-step process. Applicants must first complete and submit the required SF-424 through Grants.gov by September 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. They must then submit the full application through JustGrants by October 5, 2026, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Required application elements include Standard Applicant Information, a Proposal Abstract, a Proposal Narrative, and a Budget. The proposal abstract is limited to 2000 characters and should address the project name, purpose, location or service area, population served, activities, partners or subrecipients if known, deliverables, and expected outcomes. The proposal 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, applicable budget and financial attachments, a Memorandum of Understanding or letter of intent for project partners, a detailed project timeline, applicable tribal authorizing documentation, applicable research and evaluation documentation, and required disclosures and assurances. The proposal narrative is evaluated on Description of the Need at 5 percent, Project Goals and Objectives at 20 percent, Project Design and Implementation at 35 percent, and Capabilities and Competencies at 25 percent. The required Budget accounts for the remaining 15 percent. Applicants should substantiate the problem or need with supporting information, connect project goals and objectives to the funding opportunity, explain activities and implementation responsibilities, identify beneficiaries and deliverables, and demonstrate sufficient administrative and technical capacity. Budgets must clearly identify and calculate reasonable, allocable, necessary, and allowable costs. OJP may also give priority consideration to projects supporting law enforcement operations, combating violent crime, supporting services to American citizens, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, although priority consideration does not guarantee an award. Applications must also be submitted by an eligible applicant and be responsive to the scope of the funding opportunity. The NOFO was released August 18, 2026. Applicants are directed to begin SAM.gov registration or renewal as soon as possible, although registration is not treated as a separate pre-application gating deadline. The Grants.gov submission deadline is September 28, 2026, and the JustGrants full application deadline is October 5, 2026. Anticipated award notification is December 1, 2026, and the expected 36-month award period begins October 1, 2026. The source does not state that the opportunity is annual, recurring, rolling, or continuously open, so no recurrence is inferred. Recipients must submit regular performance reports communicating progress toward program goals and objectives, and OJP expects substantial federal involvement because awards are cooperative agreements. The NOFO contact is Stephanie Burroughs at AskBJS@usdoj.gov or 202-307-0765. Grants.gov technical 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. The anticipated notification date is December 1, 2026. OJP will assess recipient success through required performance reports and data and through the extent to which implementation demonstrates progress toward the stated program goals and objectives.

Follow the required two-step submission process and complete the Grants.gov SF-424 before the September 28 deadline and the full JustGrants application before October 5. Ensure the application is submitted by an eligible applicant and is responsive to the NOFO scope. Give greatest narrative attention to Project Design and Implementation because it carries 35 percent of the score, followed by Capabilities and Competencies at 25 percent and Project Goals and Objectives at 20 percent. Support the stated need with data or evidence and explicitly connect goals and objectives to the funding opportunity. Keep the proposal narrative within 30 pages, double-spaced in a standard 12-point font with at least one-inch margins and numbered pages because failure to follow the format may reduce the score or ranking. Clearly calculate and justify every budget cost and include only reasonable, allocable, necessary, and allowable expenses. If seeking agency priority consideration, identify the applicable priority in the narrative, explain how the project advances it, and complete the Agency Funding Priorities Inventory.