FY 2022 National Incident-Based Reporting System Estimation Project | O BJS 2022 171406

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJS 2022 171406

The FY 2022 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Estimation Project is a one-year, continuation grant opportunity from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). It focuses on improving how the federal government produces national crime estimates using the FBI's NIBRS data. The larger context highlighted in the solicitation is OJP's commitment to civil rights and racial equity, access to justice, support for crime victims and people impacted by the justice system, stronger community safety, protection from evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Within that policy frame, the project itself is primarily technical and statistical, aimed at ensuring the credibility and performance of a major national crime measurement transition.

The central purpose of the project is to conduct a statistical debrief of the methodology used to generate national estimates of crime from NIBRS. This matters because September 2022 marks the first release of national crime estimates where NIBRS is the sole source of information on crimes known to law enforcement nationwide. Historically, national figures were derived from older summary-based reporting systems; the shift to NIBRS involves more detailed, incident-level data and requires new estimation strategies to produce consistent national totals given varying levels of reporting coverage across jurisdictions. The project is designed to look closely at the estimation approach used for this first national release, identify strengths and limitations, and support refinements that can improve the accuracy, stability, and transparency of future estimates.

The work described for the one-year project includes three broad elements. First are system maintenance activities, which generally means keeping the estimation infrastructure functioning, reproducible, and up to date as data inputs and reporting conditions change. Second is additional estimation development work, which implies continued research and improvement of the statistical methods used to translate NIBRS submissions into national-level estimates, potentially addressing issues such as representativeness, missing data, reporting gaps, weighting, model performance, and uncertainty. Third is an assessment of data for indicators that were not included in the Year 1 estimates, meaning the project will explore whether additional crime or related measures can be responsibly estimated from NIBRS beyond what was initially published, and what methodological or data-quality hurdles would need to be addressed to include them in later releases.

Administratively, this opportunity is offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial federal involvement during the period of performance, such as collaboration on project direction, deliverables, and review of methodological decisions. It is categorized under the information and statistics funding activity area and is listed under CFDA number 16.734. The solicitation anticipates a single award, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000. The opportunity was posted on July 22, 2022, with an original closing date of July 29, 2022, reflecting a short application window consistent with a continuation-style award.

Eligibility is listed as "Others," with the note that applicants should consult the solicitation's additional eligibility details. This phrasing commonly allows a range of entity types such as public agencies, institutions of higher education, private organizations, and possibly individuals, depending on the specific eligibility conditions. The statutory authority comes from Section 302 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, codified at 34 U.S.C. 10132(c)(1), which authorizes BJS to make grants or enter into cooperative agreements or contracts for the collection and analysis of criminal justice statistics. In practical terms, the solicitation is about strengthening the statistical foundation of national crime reporting at a moment when NIBRS becomes the primary federal source for crimes known to police, with an emphasis on methodological rigor, system reliability, and the ability to expand and improve national indicators over time.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2022 National Incident-Based Reporting System Estimation Project" 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 Jul 22, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 29, 2022. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O BJS 2022 171406

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