FY 2023 NICS Act Record Improvement Program | O BJS 2023 171710

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJS 2023 171710

The FY 2023 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) is a Department of Justice grant opportunity, administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), focused on strengthening the quality and flow of records that support the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The central purpose is to close information gaps that can prevent NICS from working as intended, especially when key disqualifying records are missing, incomplete, or not transmitted in a timely way. By improving the underlying records infrastructure, the program aims to help keep firearms out of the hands of people who are prohibited under federal or state law from receiving or possessing them, while also reducing unnecessary delays for law-abiding purchasers that can occur when records are not automated or easily searchable.

This program is authorized under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA), cited in relevant part at 34 U.S.C. 40912. The NIAA was enacted in response to longstanding gaps in the data available to NICS, including missing records related to prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments, along with other prohibiting factors. The law both encourages and pressures states to improve record completeness: it authorizes federal grant assistance to help states supply relevant records to NICS, and it also establishes penalties tied to noncompliance with the NIAA record completeness goals. In addition, the NIAA sets specific conditions that states must meet before they can receive funding under the Act, meaning applicants need to be prepared to demonstrate compliance with those eligibility requirements as part of the application process.

For FY 2023, BJS emphasizes two main funding priorities. First, it prioritizes projects that enhance the completeness, automation, and transmittal of records to the state and federal record systems that feed NICS. In practical terms, this can include work that modernizes data systems, converts paper or fragmented records into searchable electronic formats, improves data accuracy and matching, and strengthens the pipelines that send updates to relevant repositories. Second, BJS prioritizes improvements to reporting on individuals prohibited from possessing firearms specifically for reasons related to domestic violence and mental health. This reflects a targeted focus on ensuring that NICS has the disqualifying information it needs in two areas that frequently involve complex records, varying state processes, and multiple agencies or courts.

The opportunity is a discretionary award offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically signals that the federal agency expects to have substantial involvement during the life of the project compared to a standard grant. The funding activity category is listed as Information and Statistics, aligning with BJSs mission and with the program’s emphasis on record quality, record completeness, and data transmission. The Assistance Listing (CFDA) number is 16.813. The total award ceiling is listed as up to 25,000,000, with an estimated 22 awards anticipated, indicating that funding is intended to be distributed across multiple jurisdictions rather than concentrated in only a few locations.

Eligible applicants include state governments and federally recognized Native American tribal governments, with a note that additional eligibility clarification is provided in the full notice under an “Additional Information on Eligibility” section. The opportunity was posted on April 7, 2023, by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the original application closing date was June 7, 2023. At a broader level, OJP frames this program within its agency-wide commitments, including advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting crime victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, protecting the public from evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and the community. Within that larger framework, NARIP is positioned as a practical records-improvement effort intended to make background check determinations more reliable, more consistent, and more timely by ensuring that prohibiting records, particularly those involving domestic violence and mental health disqualifiers, are complete and properly reported to NICS.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2023 NICS Act Record Improvement Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.813.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 07, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 07, 2023. (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 $25,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 22 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O BJS 2023 171710

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