The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) Traffic Safety Division (TSD) is seeking proposals for the Comprehensive Highway Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP) Grant for FY 2026. This program provides federal funding to support traffic enforcement safety projects aimed at reducing fatalities and severe injuries on Indiana roadways. The funding focuses on high-visibility enforcement (HVE) efforts to improve occupant restraint use, reduce speeding, enforce impaired driving laws, and support pedestrian safety initiatives.

The CHIRP grant includes five specific project areas that applicants can apply for:

Click It to Live It (CITLI): Focused on enforcing seatbelt usage to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities.
Driving Under the Influence Task Force (DUITF): Aimed at preventing traffic incidents related to impaired driving.
Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE): Designed to address school bus stop arm violations and ensure safer school zones.
Motorcycle-High Visibility Awareness (MC-HVA): Focuses on reducing motorcycle-related crashes and fatalities.
Non-Motorist Safety (Ped-Bike): Works to prevent traffic injuries and fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
The award period runs from October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026, and applications must be submitted through IntelliGrants by March 31, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET. This is a reimbursement grant, meaning recipients must first expend funds and then request reimbursement. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications at least 48 hours before the deadline to avoid technical issues.

Eligible applicants include state agencies, units of local government, tribal governments, and Traffic Safety Partnerships (TSPs). To qualify, applicants must comply with federal regulations, including 2 CFR Part 200 and 23 CFR Part 1300, and agree to submit quarterly reports on performance and fiscal expenditures.

The CHIRP grant requires a 20% matching fund contribution from applicants, which can include personnel salaries, mileage, or other eligible expenses. Administrative costs cannot exceed 15% of the total requested funds. No equipment purchases are allowable under this grant.

Applications will be evaluated based on eligibility, completeness, alignment with priority areas, use of data-driven approaches, compliance with federal and state laws, and financial responsibility. Proposals must be evidence-based, aligning with national traffic safety countermeasures and using Indiana crash data sources such as the Automated Reporting Information Exchange System (ARIES) to demonstrate problem identification.

For technical assistance with IntelliGrants, applicants can contact the ICJI Helpdesk at CJIHelpDesk@cji.in.gov (Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM ET). For program-specific questions, applicants can reach out to Marissa Coffin at mcoffin@cji.in.gov.