FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on School Safety
🏛 National Institute of Justice (USDOJ-OJP-NIJ)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Oct 10, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for rigorous research and evaluation projects on K-12 school safety. Eligible applicants typically include universities, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and evaluation firms with strong research capacity. Projects must evaluate school safety initiatives like anonymous reporting systems or threat assessment teams. Work must align with STOP School Violence Act goals and ideally partner with schools, educators, and community stakeholders.
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Program description
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on School Safety. This opportunity will support rigorous research and evaluation projects to fill key gaps regarding K-12 safety, specifically focusing on the development, deployment, and operation of:
• Anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence, including mobile telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites
• School threat assessment and intervention teams that include coordination with law enforcement agencies and school personnel
This NOFO seeks rigorous outcome/impact evaluations paired with process/implementation evaluations to assess the effectiveness of activities supported by STOP1 School Violence Act (SVA) projects administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) or similar programs from other sources that align with STOP SVA’s goals.
To develop practical recommendations for K-12 school safety, applicants are strongly encouraged to work closely with educators, school stakeholders, and communities to develop questions, identify solutions, collect data, and interpret findings.
Applicants should:
• Clearly describe complex factors and how they will be measured.
• Include letters of support confirming secondary data access and explain how datasets will be matched to support the analyses proposed.
• Describe data limitations, how they will be addressed, and their potential impact on findings.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Required documents
- SF-424 (federal application form)
- Project Narrative
- Detailed Evaluation Plan
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Letters of Support (data access and partnership confirmations)
- Organizational Capability Statement
- Biographical Sketches (key personnel)
Program contact
- 👤 National Institute of Justice
- 📧 OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov
- 📞 202-616-5314
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 16.560 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
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$18,393,640
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$13,250,000
-
$12,361,120
-
$6,998,958
-
$5,997,434
-
$5,691,859
-
$4,581,851
-
$4,501,620
-
$4,000,000
-
$3,416,415
Top States by Funding
- NC 10 awards $42.3M
- VA 14 awards $28.8M
- PA 3 awards $14.3M
- CA 8 awards $13.3M
- MA 12 awards $12.9M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 16.560). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $57,808,937 | |
| 2025 | $3,183,371 |
FAQ
Who can apply for this grant?
Universities, research institutions, nonprofits, and evaluation firms with demonstrated research expertise can apply. Organizations must have capacity to conduct rigorous outcome and process evaluations.
What is the deadline?
The deadline is November 23, 2026. This is a fixed deadline, not rolling.
What activities does this grant support?
Funding supports research and evaluations of school safety programs, specifically anonymous threat reporting systems and threat assessment/intervention teams coordinated with law enforcement.
How competitive is this grant?
This is highly competitive. Strong applications include rigorous evaluation designs, partnerships with schools, and clear data collection plans addressing methodological rigor.
What is the funding range?
The total funding pool is $5,000,000. Individual award amounts are not specified in the NOFO.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Partner with school districts and educators early. The NOFO strongly encourages working with stakeholders to develop research questions and interpret findings.
- Clearly address data limitations upfront. Explain what data gaps exist and how you'll work around them to ensure study validity.
- Propose both outcome and process evaluations. The grant requires paired evaluations to assess both effectiveness and implementation details.
- Include letters of support for secondary data access. Confirm datasets are available and explain your matching strategy before submission.
- Focus on practical recommendations. Frame your research to generate actionable insights that schools and districts can actually use for safety improvements.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Weak partnerships with schools or law enforcement reduce competitiveness; applicants should secure letters of commitment early. Evaluations that focus only on outcomes without implementation details miss the grant's dual requirement for process evaluation. Poor data management plans, especially regarding how secondary datasets will be matched and limitations addressed, often lead to rejection.
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