Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program

Program goal(s) name: Improve public safety.
Program goal(s) description: The goals of the program are: (1) implement collaborative partnerships to guide the enhanced response to both MP and UHR cases; and (2) establish or expand programs to improve the reporting, forensic processing, identification, and repatriation of both MP and UHR cases in the jurisdiction.
Program objective(s) name: Support local districts in identifying MUHRs.
Program objective(s) description: Administered by the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) BJA, the Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program provides funds to enable eligible entities to improve the reporting, transportation, forensic testing, and identification of MPs and UHRs, including migrants. This program furthers DOJ’s mission of increasing public safety by providing resources to locate and identify MPs and UHRs in the United States. The MUHR Program augments and complements the services available through OJP’s National Institute of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Program. NamUs is a free, national, centralized repository and resource center for cases involving MPs, UHRs, and unclaimed persons. The MUHR Program fills a gap in the national field by providing federal resources directly to state and local jurisdictions. As a result, the MUHR Program helps jurisdictions become more self-sufficient in reducing their backlog of MPs and UHR cases.

All final award decisions will be made by the Assistant Attorney General, unless a statute explicitly authorizes award decisions by another official or there is written delegation of authority to another official. For successful applicants, JustGrants will send a system-generated email to the Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator with information on accessing their official award package in JustGrants. The award package will include key information (such as funding amount and period of performance) as well as award conditions that must be followed. The Authorized Representative for the entity should accept or decline the award within 45 days of the notification.

The review procedure for applications is specified in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and generally includes eligibility and responsiveness, merit, programmatic, budget, and risk reviews.