With this solicitation, NIJ seeks rigorous, applied evaluative research on: (1) police training; (2) police accountability policies and practices; (3) investigative practices to enhance clearance rates; and (4) police officer health and wellness programs. Successful applicants should propose the most rigorous design to answer their proposed
research questions. NIJ will consider research designs that include qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed methods designs. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and strong quasi-experimental
designs are required for proposals to conduct outcome evaluations.
NIJ will give special consideration to proposals with methods that include meaningful
engagement with the people closest to the subject of study, including practitioners as well as
community members representing crime victims, people under criminal justice supervision, and
members of high-crime communities.
Applicants are encouraged to propose multidisciplinary research teams to build on the
complementary strengths of different methods and areas of subject matter expertise. NIJ also
seeks proposals that include consideration and measurement of issues of diversity,
discrimination, and bias across age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation, as
applicable.
Applications proposing research involving partnerships with juvenile justice, criminal justice or
other agencies should include a strong letter of support, signed by an appropriate decisionmaking authority from each proposed, partnering agency. A letter of support should include the
partnering agency’s acknowledgment that de-identified data derived from, provided to, or
obtained through an award funded by NIJ will be archived by the grant recipient with the
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the conclusion of the award. Applicants
and their potential partners are encouraged to review NIJ’s data archiving guidance. If selected
for an award, grantees will be expected to have a formal agreement in place with partnering
agencies by January 1, 2025. That formal agreement must include a provision to meet the data
archiving requirements of the award.
NIJ seeks proposals that include robust, creative, and multi-pronged dissemination strategies
that include strategic partnerships with organizations and associations that are best equipped to
ensure that research findings lead to changes in policies and practices. Special consideration
will be given to proposals that dedicate at least 15% of the requested project award funding
toward implementing such strategies, as demonstrated in the “Budget Worksheet and Budget
Narrative.”
In the case of partnerships that will involve the use of federal award funds by multiple partnering
agencies to carry out the proposed project, only one entity/partnering agency may be the
applicant (as is the case with any application submitted in response to this solicitation); any
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others must be proposed as subrecipients. The applicant is expected to conduct the
preponderance of the work proposed.