BJA FY25 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement- Competitive Grants Program | O BJA 2025 172472

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2025 172472

The BJA FY25 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement - Competitive Grants Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to strengthen the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of forensic science and medicolegal death investigation services. The focus is practical and service-oriented: funding is intended to support improvements within forensic science laboratories and/or medical examiner and coroner (ME/C) offices, including those operated by states and by units of local government. In other words, the program targets the core operational systems that produce forensic results and death investigation findings that are relied on across the criminal justice and public health landscapes.

This opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number O-BJA-2025-172472 and is associated with CFDA (Assistance Listing) 16.742, which is the long-standing Coverdell program line for forensic science improvement. As a competitive program, applicants are evaluated against other submissions, and awards are made based on merit, alignment with program goals, and the strength and feasibility of the proposed improvements rather than being distributed by formula.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of governmental and certain tribal entities: state governments; county governments; city or township governments; special district governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and Native American tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments). This breadth is important because forensic and ME/C services are delivered through different governance models across the country, from centralized state labs to county medical examiner systems and regional or special district arrangements. The NOFO language also emphasizes applicability to units of local government, reinforcing that local agencies responsible for day-to-day forensic casework and death investigations are squarely within scope.

The award ceiling is $500,000 per award, and BJA anticipates making approximately 14 awards. This suggests a program that is selective and targeted, with projects expected to be clearly defined and capable of producing measurable improvements at the laboratory and/or ME/C office level. The original application closing date is October 27, 2025, and the opportunity was created on September 16, 2025, giving applicants a defined window to develop a proposal, document needs, and assemble project and budget narratives that match the program intent.

At its core, the NOFO is about improving forensic science and medicolegal services in ways that strengthen reliability, performance, and service delivery. While the short description does not list specific allowable cost categories, Coverdell programs commonly support initiatives that address operational challenges in laboratories and ME/C offices, such as improving workflows, enhancing quality systems, strengthening technical capacity, reducing case backlogs, upgrading practices that affect the integrity of evidence and findings, and building workforce capability through training or other capacity-building strategies. The key constraint stated in the description is that funds are to be used for forensic science laboratories and/or medical examiner/coroner offices, meaning proposals should be anchored in those entities and directly tied to improvements in their functions, rather than broader criminal justice activities that are only indirectly related.

In summary, this BJA competitive grant opportunity provides up to $500,000 to selected state, local, and eligible tribal applicants to implement concrete improvements in forensic science laboratory services and/or medical examiner/coroner operations. It is positioned as a targeted investment in the systems that generate forensic and death investigation results, with the intent of improving service quality and performance for the justice system and the communities it serves.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY25 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement- Competitive Grants Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.742.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-27. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 14 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Others.

Apply for O BJA 2025 172472

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