Research and Evaluation on the Police Response to Homelessness, Fiscal Year 2021 | O NIJ 2021 55001

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2021 55001

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), within the U.S. Department of Justice, offered this Fiscal Year 2021 discretionary grant opportunity to fund rigorous research and evaluation on how police agencies respond to homelessness. The core purpose is to build a clearer, evidence-based picture of the full range of police practices, strategies, and tactics used in encounters involving people experiencing homelessness, and to examine how those approaches operate in real-world settings. NIJ emphasizes projects that go beyond anecdote by using exploratory research and secondary or open data analysis, paired with on-the-ground inquiry, to better understand what police are doing, why they are doing it, and what outcomes follow for individuals, agencies, and communities.

A central expectation of the solicitation is that applicants propose case studies as part of their broader research design. These case studies are meant to capture the complexity of police responses to homelessness, including the many connected public and private systems that shape what happens in practice. In other words, NIJ is looking for research that maps and analyzes the broader ecosystem around police-homelessness interactions, such as partnerships and coordination with homeless service providers, public health and behavioral health systems, hospitals and crisis response networks, housing authorities, local government offices, prosecutors and courts, jails, nonprofit outreach teams, business improvement districts, and other community institutions. The intent is to understand not just police activity in isolation, but how police actions intersect with services, policies, and institutional responsibilities across a community.

The solicitation ties this work to DOJ strategic goals, specifically efforts to combat violent crime, promote safe communities, uphold victims rights, and maintain the rule of law and integrity in justice administration. In practical terms, NIJ is signaling that research should help inform fair, lawful, and effective public safety responses, while also clarifying impacts on community safety, system burden, and the wellbeing and rights of people experiencing homelessness. Projects that can credibly assess outcomes, identify promising practices, document implementation challenges, and highlight unintended consequences would align with the program’s research-and-evaluation focus.

Because much of this research is expected to involve real agency operations and sensitive information, NIJ places strong requirements on partnerships and data stewardship. Applicants proposing research in collaboration with criminal justice agencies or other partner organizations are expected to include strong letters of support signed by appropriate decision-making authorities. These letters are not meant to be generic endorsements; they must explicitly acknowledge that de-identified data generated, provided, or obtained through the project will be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the award. Applicants and partners are encouraged to review NACJD policies and protections in advance, since data archiving is a built-in condition of the award. If selected, grantees are expected to have formal agreements in place with partnering agencies by January 1, 2022, and those agreements must include language ensuring the project can meet the NACJD archiving requirement. NIJ also clarifies that when multiple agencies will use federal award funds to carry out the project, only one entity can apply as the primary applicant; any additional partners that will receive funds must be structured as subrecipients rather than co-applicants.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was identified as Funding Opportunity Number O-NIJ-2021-55001 under CFDA 16.560 (law, justice, and legal services). It was released on January 6, 2021, with an original application deadline of March 22, 2021. NIJ anticipated making one award, with a maximum award ceiling of $1,500,000. Eligibility was broad and included state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities as allowed under the solicitation’s additional eligibility guidance.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as NIJ’s effort to sponsor high-quality, policy-relevant research that can describe and evaluate police responses to homelessness across different jurisdictions, document the multi-agency landscape surrounding those responses, and produce findings and shareable de-identified datasets that can support future research and better-informed decision-making nationwide.

• The Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research and Evaluation on the Police Response to Homelessness, Fiscal Year 2021" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 06, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 22, 2021. (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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), 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, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O NIJ 2021 55001

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