BJA FY 23 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program | O BJA 2023 171570

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2023 171570

The BJA FY 23 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner (ME/C) System Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The overall purpose is to reinforce and modernize the medical examiner and coroner infrastructure across the United States, recognizing that strong death investigation systems are closely tied to public safety, justice outcomes, and public trust. In line with broader OJP priorities, the program is framed around advancing civil rights and racial equity, improving access to justice, supporting victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, and protecting the public from evolving threats, all while helping build confidence in public institutions.

This solicitation focuses on two main areas of support. First, it offers funding for forensic pathology fellowships, with support for up to two fellowships per application. This portion of the program is meant to grow and sustain the forensic pathology workforce by helping offices bring in and train qualified forensic pathology fellows, which can directly improve case backlogs, turnaround times, quality assurance, and the overall capacity to conduct thorough and timely medicolegal death investigations. Second, it provides funding for the resources ME/C offices need to achieve and maintain professional accreditation. Accreditation-focused funding is intended to help offices meet recognized standards for policies, procedures, staffing, facilities, training, quality management, and documentation, which can improve consistency, reliability, and transparency in death investigations and the forensic services that support criminal justice and public health decision-making.

A wide range of applicants are eligible, reflecting the different ways ME/C systems are organized across jurisdictions. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; nonprofit organizations (including both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) entities, as long as they are not institutions of higher education); and for-profit organizations (other than small businesses). The program is listed under Assistance Listing (CFDA) number 16.037, and it falls under the Law, Justice and Legal Services activity category.

Key administrative details included in the opportunity notice are the funding opportunity number (O-BJA-2023-171570), the maximum award amount (award ceiling) of $150,000, and an original application closing date of April 11, 2023. The notice indicates “Expected Awards:” but does not provide a specific number in the provided source text. The opportunity was created on February 7, 2023. For applicants that want to see what competitive proposals look like, BJA points to publicly available sample applications from prior successful submissions for both purpose areas (forensic pathology fellowships and ME/C office accreditation). Those examples are available through BJA’s program funding page at https://bja.ojp.gov/program/strengthening-mec/funding, which can be useful for understanding typical project designs, budgets, timelines, and the level of detail reviewers often expect.

In practical terms, this grant is designed to help jurisdictions strengthen the people and systems behind medicolegal death investigation: building the forensic pathology pipeline through fellowship support and helping offices institutionalize high-quality, standardized practices through accreditation-related investments. Both tracks aim to improve the credibility and effectiveness of ME/C operations, which can influence criminal investigations, court outcomes, public health surveillance, overdose and violence prevention efforts, and community confidence in the fairness and accuracy of official determinations.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 23 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.037.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-11. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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, For-profit organizations other than small businesses.

Apply for O BJA 2023 171570

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