The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), is seeking applications for funding for research and evaluation efforts to better understand, prevent, and respond to trafficking in persons in the United States.

The goal of this solicitation is to provide federal, state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies with evidence-based knowledge and tools to address the crime as it occurs in their communities.

Priority Areas

• Demand reduction research.
• Human trafficking research, evaluation and development.
• Sex trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native girls and women research.

Objectives

• Developing knowledge to inform practice to reduce the demand for sex trafficking.
• Developing improved estimates of the prevalence of human trafficking in the United States.
• Developing a better understanding of labor trafficking and the needs of its victims.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of an instrument that was developed to assess the impacts of victim services on survivors of human trafficking.
• Developing and validating rapid/brief screening tools to identify whether an individual may be a trafficking victim.
• Developing knowledge to inform practice to reduce the sex trafficking of AI and AN girls and women.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $3,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants:
  • City or township governments, County governments, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Small businesses, Special district governments, State governments, Other.
• Other:
  • 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, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
  • Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign colleges and universities are not eligible to apply. Federal agencies are eligible to apply.
  • To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be eligible for FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding.
  • To become certified, the law enforcement agency must meet two mandatory conditions: (1) the agency’s use of force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws; and (2) the agency’s use of force policies prohibit chokeholds except in situations where use of deadly force is allowed by law.
  • The certification requirement also applies to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary grant funding through a subaward.

For more information, visit National Institute of Justice.