FY 2023 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories | O BJS 2023 171668

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJS 2023 171668

The FY 2023 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories (CPFFCL) grant opportunity is a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) cooperative agreement intended to fund the administration of a nationwide census of publicly funded forensic crime laboratories in the United States. The project is framed within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) priorities of advancing civil rights and racial equity, improving access to justice, supporting crime victims and justice-impacted individuals, strengthening community safety, protecting the public from emerging threats, and building trust between law enforcement and communities. In practical terms, the purpose of the award is to produce updated, comprehensive, and comparable national information on how publicly funded forensic labs operate, what work they handle, what resources they have, and what policies and procedures they follow.

The core deliverable is the successful execution of the 2024 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, using 2024 as the reference year, over a 36-month project period. The census is meant to capture key operational and performance-related data across the full universe of eligible laboratories, focusing on areas such as laboratory workload and case processing demands, staffing and other resources, and the policies and procedures that shape forensic operations. Because forensic laboratories play a central role in criminal investigations and court processes, having current, standardized data helps policymakers and practitioners understand capacity constraints, backlogs, technology needs, and procedural consistency across jurisdictions.

The selected recipient will be responsible for building and running the data collection from start to finish, with an emphasis on data quality, coverage, and response rates. That includes developing and testing a reliable multimode data collection approach, which generally means using more than one method for collecting information (for example, web-based instruments combined with follow-up by phone, email, or paper options) to reduce nonresponse and improve completeness. The recipient must also update and maintain a national directory of all publicly funded forensic crime laboratories, which is a foundational task because the accuracy of a census depends on knowing the full and current set of entities that should be surveyed, including labs that may have reorganized, merged, changed oversight, or been newly established.

A major operational expectation is fielding the census and making reasonable efforts to maximize participation, since strong response rates are critical for producing credible national statistics and minimizing bias. The awardee is also expected to deliver interim and final datasets that are clean and accurate, meaning the data must be systematically reviewed for completeness, internal consistency, valid ranges, duplicate records, and other common issues. The deliverables imply not just collecting responses, but also performing careful data management, documentation, and quality assurance so the resulting datasets are usable for analysis and publication by BJS and the broader justice statistics community.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, with funding provided through a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant. The cooperative agreement structure typically signals substantial federal involvement during the project, such as coordination on instrument design, methodological decisions, fielding strategy, and review of deliverables. The opportunity is categorized under the "Information and Statistics" funding activity (CFDA 16.734), reflecting that the main output is statistical infrastructure and national data products rather than direct service delivery.

Eligibility is broad and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in the relevant category), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. BJS anticipated making a single award, with an award ceiling of $600,000. The opportunity was created on March 22, 2023, and the original closing date was May 24, 2023, under funding opportunity number O-BJS-2023-171668.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2023 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.734.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 22, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 24, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $600,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for O BJS 2023 171668

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