Deadline: 28-Jun-22
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) seeks applications for funding under the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program.
The result of Coverdell grants to applicant states should be a demonstrated improvement over current operations in forensic science or medical examiner/coroner services provided in the state, including services provided by laboratories operated by the state and services provided by laboratories operated by units of local government within the state. Reduction in forensic analysis backlogs is considered an improvement in timeliness of services.
Objectives
A state or unit of local government that receives a Coverdell grant must use the grant for one or more of the following six purposes:
- To carry out all or a substantial part of a program intended to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiner/coroner services in the state, including those services provided by laboratories operated by the state and those operated by units of local government within the state.
- To eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence, including, among other things, a backlog with respect to firearms examination, latent prints, impression evidence, toxicology, digital evidence, fire evidence, controlled substances, forensic pathology, questioned documents, and trace evidence. A backlog in the analysis of forensic science evidence exists if forensic evidence has been stored in a laboratory, medical examiner office, coroner office, law enforcement storage facility, or medical facility and has not been subjected to all appropriate forensic testing because of lack of resources or personnel.
- To train, assist, and employ forensic laboratory personnel and medicolegal death investigators, as needed, to eliminate such a backlog.
- To address emerging forensic science issues (such as statistics, contextual bias, and uncertainty of measurement) and emerging forensic science technology (such as high throughput automation, statistical software, and new types of instrumentation).
- To educate and train forensic pathologists.
- To fund medicolegal death investigation systems to facilitate accreditation of medical examiner and coroner offices and certification of medicolegal death investigators.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $24,986,099
- Award Ceiling: $2,282,453
Eligibility Criteria
- For purposes of this solicitation:
- Any state/local government entity performing forensic science services is considered a “forensic science laboratory.”
- Medical examiner and coroner offices are considered to be forensic science laboratories for the purposes of this solicitation.
- State administering agencies (SAAs) apply on behalf of states, including any state government entity.
- For purposes of this solicitation, the term “state” means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=340293