FY 2026 Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Program
🏛 Bureau of Justice Assistance (USDOJ-OJP-BJA)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Oct 7, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for school safety initiatives that prevent and reduce school violence. Public school districts, charter schools, private K-12 schools (applying as nonprofits), local governments, and law enforcement agencies can apply. Programs must focus on training, threat assessment teams, anonymous reporting systems, or other school violence prevention strategies. Applicants must demonstrate capacity to implement school safety projects with proper coordination between school personnel and law enforcement.
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Program description
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the FY26 Students, Teachers, and Officers Prevention (STOP) School Violence Program. This opportunity supports programs to prevent and reduce school violence by implementing training, developing school threat assessment teams and/or intervention teams to identify violence risks, introducing technologies like anonymous reporting tools, or applying other school safety strategies that assist in preventing violence. The Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act) describes the following allowable uses of funding for school safety projects:
• Training to prevent student violence against others and self, including training for local law enforcement officers, school personnel, and students.
• The development and operation of technology solutions such as anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites.
• The development and deployment of:
o School threat assessment and intervention teams that include coordination with law enforcement agencies and school personnel or
o Specialized training for school officials in responding to mental health crises.
BJA’s STOP School Violence Program improves school safety and security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence. Activities that go beyond the allowable uses of funding as described above will not be funded.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
- 501(c)(3) Public Charity
- Charter School
- City / Municipal Government
- County Government
- Nonprofits
- Police Department
- Private University
- Public K-12 School
- Public University
- Special District
- State Government
- Tribal Nation
Demographic focus
How to apply
Application links
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project narrative describing the school violence prevention strategy
- Budget and budget justification
- Organizational capacity documentation
- Letters of support from school districts and law enforcement partners
- Data on school violence incidents or risk factors in target schools
Program contact
- 👤 Bureau of Justice Assistance
- 📧 OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov
- 📞 202-514-9354
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 16.839 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$7,109,968
-
$6,999,289
-
$5,733,100
-
$2,335,668
-
$2,000,000
-
$2,000,000
-
$2,000,000
-
$2,000,000
-
$2,000,000
-
$2,000,000
Top States by Funding
- NY 7 awards $13.8M
- FL 4 awards $10.7M
- CO 6 awards $10.2M
- PA 7 awards $9.8M
- MI 2 awards $8.5M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 16.839). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $35,596,607 | |
| 2025 | $84,016,417 |
FAQ
Who can apply for this grant?
Public school districts, charter schools, private K-12 schools (as nonprofits), law enforcement agencies, and local government units can apply. Consortiums of these entities are also eligible.
What activities are funded?
Training for violence prevention, threat assessment teams, anonymous reporting technology, mental health crisis response training, and other school violence prevention strategies. Activities outside these allowable uses will not be funded.
Is there a deadline?
Yes, the deadline is October 30, 2026. This is a fixed deadline, not rolling.
How much can we request?
The award range reaches up to $2,000,000. Actual award amounts vary based on project scope and reviewer scoring.
Is cost-sharing required?
No cost-sharing is required for this grant.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Focus your proposal on one of four core allowable activities: training, threat assessment teams, technology solutions, or mental health crisis response. Hybrid approaches are acceptable if clearly aligned.
- Emphasize coordination and partnerships between your school(s) and local law enforcement in your application. Strong partnerships strengthen competitiveness.
- Explain how your project will measure violence prevention outcomes. Include metrics for training completion, team activation, or reporting system usage.
- For technology proposals, clarify how anonymous reporting systems protect student privacy while ensuring threats reach appropriate responders quickly.
- Avoid proposing general school security measures like cameras or locks—stick to the four allowable use categories listed in the NOFO.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Proposing activities outside the four allowable uses (training, threat assessment teams, technology, mental health training). Including general security infrastructure like locks or cameras will result in rejection.
Failing to demonstrate clear coordination between schools and local law enforcement agencies in the project design.
Submitting vague implementation plans without specific timelines, metrics, or evidence of how the program will prevent school violence.
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