Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJS 2024 172077
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity, issued as a cooperative agreement, to select one organization to serve as the data collection agent for the Census of Jails (COJ) in 2025 and 2026. The core purpose of the award is to support the nationwide administration of the COJ to roughly 2,900 jail jurisdictions, producing consistent, high-quality jail statistics that can be reported at both the county and state levels. The solicitation reflects a major shift in how BJS will run the COJ: after decades of conducting it every 5 to 6 years (from 1970 through 2024) to capture snapshots of jail populations and facility characteristics, BJS plans to move to an annual census beginning in 2025, which will allow for year-over-year measurement of changes in jail operations and populations.
Under this award, the selected recipient will be expected to handle the end-to-end implementation of the 2025 and 2026 COJ collections. That includes developing and maintaining a web-based version of the survey instruments, ensuring the survey is usable and secure for a wide range of jail agencies with varying levels of technical capacity. The recipient must also update jail status and contact information (a critical task because jail administration structures, points of contact, and operational status can change frequently), conduct outreach and data collection, and then process, validate, and deliver the final annual datasets to BJS. In practice, this kind of work typically involves building and maintaining a respondent management system, tracking submissions and follow-up activity, applying data quality checks, resolving inconsistencies with respondents, documenting methods, and packaging the resulting data and metadata so BJS can produce official statistics.
The opportunity is identified as "BJS FY 24 Census of Jails, 2025 and 2026" with Funding Opportunity Number O-BJS-2024-172077. It is associated with the information and statistics activity category and CFDA number 16.734. BJS anticipates making a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an award ceiling of $1,500,000. The original closing date for applications was June 13, 2024, and the opportunity record lists a creation date of April 12, 2024. Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, applicants should expect substantial involvement from BJS during the project period, which often means closer collaboration on technical decisions, data standards, schedules, and deliverables than would occur under a more hands-off grant.
Eligibility is broad and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), small businesses, and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments). Finally, while the award as advertised covers the 2025 and 2026 COJ cycles, BJS notes that additional funding may be made available to continue the work for the 2027, 2028, and 2029 COJ collections, but only if future funds are available and the recipient demonstrates strong performance. This structure signals BJS interest in continuity and scalability, since running the COJ annually requires stable systems, reliable field operations, and consistent methods from year to year.Apply for O BJS 2024 172077
- The Bureau of Justice Statistics in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJS FY 24 Census of Jails, 2025 and 2026" 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 2024-04-12.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-13. (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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is this funding opportunity?
This is a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) discretionary funding opportunity issued as a cooperative agreement to select one organization to serve as the data collection agent for the Census of Jails (COJ) in 2025 and 2026.
What is the official title and funding opportunity number?
The opportunity is titled "BJS FY 24 Census of Jails, 2025 and 2026" and the Funding Opportunity Number is O-BJS-2024-172077.
Who is the sponsoring agency?
The sponsoring agency is the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
What type of award is this?
The award instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically includes substantial involvement from BJS during the project period.
What does "substantial involvement" mean in practice for a cooperative agreement?
Based on the solicitation description, applicants should expect closer collaboration with BJS than under a more hands-off grant, including coordination on technical decisions, data standards, schedules, and deliverables.
What is the main purpose of the award?
The core purpose is to support the nationwide administration of the Census of Jails to roughly 2,900 jail jurisdictions and produce consistent, high-quality jail statistics that can be reported at both the county and state levels.
How many awards does BJS expect to make?
BJS anticipates making a single award (Expected Awards: 1).
What is the maximum funding amount available?
The award ceiling is $1,500,000.
Which COJ collection years are covered by this award?
As advertised, the award covers the 2025 and 2026 COJ cycles.
Could the work continue beyond 2026?
Yes. BJS notes that additional funding may be made available to continue the work for the 2027, 2028, and 2029 COJ collections, but only if future funds are available and the recipient demonstrates strong performance.
Why is BJS changing the COJ approach starting in 2025?
The solicitation describes a major shift: after decades of conducting the COJ every 5 to 6 years (from 1970 through 2024) to capture snapshots, BJS plans to move to an annual census beginning in 2025 so it can measure year-over-year changes in jail operations and populations.
Approximately how many jurisdictions will be included in the census?
The COJ will be administered nationwide to roughly 2,900 jail jurisdictions.
What are the major responsibilities of the selected data collection agent?
The selected recipient is expected to handle end-to-end implementation of the 2025 and 2026 COJ collections, including: developing and maintaining a web-based version of the survey instruments; ensuring the survey is usable and secure for a wide range of jail agencies; updating jail status and contact information; conducting outreach and data collection; processing and validating the data; and delivering final annual datasets to BJS.
What does "end-to-end implementation" include for this project?
As described in the opportunity, the work typically includes building and maintaining a respondent management system; tracking submissions and follow-up activity; applying data quality checks; resolving inconsistencies with respondents; documenting methods; and packaging the final data and metadata so BJS can produce official statistics.
Is a web-based survey system required?
Yes. The recipient is expected to develop and maintain a web-based version of the survey instruments.
Are there expectations for usability and security of the web-based instruments?
Yes. The survey must be usable and secure for a wide range of jail agencies, including agencies with varying levels of technical capacity.
Why is updating jail status and contact information emphasized?
The solicitation describes this as a critical task because jail administration structures, points of contact, and operational status can change frequently.
What deliverables are expected at the end of each annual cycle?
The recipient is expected to process, validate, and deliver the final annual datasets to BJS, along with the supporting documentation and metadata needed for BJS to produce official statistics.
What is the activity category and CFDA number associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity is associated with the information and statistics activity category and CFDA number 16.734.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility includes: public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments).
Are for-profit entities allowed to apply?
Yes. For-profit organizations (other than small businesses) and small businesses are both listed as eligible applicants.
Are colleges and universities eligible to apply?
Yes. Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education are listed as eligible.
Are nonprofit organizations eligible to apply?
Yes. Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education) are eligible.
Are tribal organizations eligible to apply?
Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments) are listed as eligible applicants.
What was the application closing date listed for this opportunity?
The original closing date for applications was June 13, 2024.
What is the opportunity record creation date?
The opportunity record lists a creation date of April 12, 2024.
What kinds of capabilities does BJS appear to be looking for in the selected organization?
Based on the stated scope, BJS is looking for an organization that can scale annual nationwide data collection, maintain stable systems, run reliable outreach and follow-up operations, maintain up-to-date contact and status frames, apply consistent data quality processes, and deliver well-documented data products year after year.
What does BJS mean by producing statistics at both county and state levels?
The purpose statement indicates the COJ data should support reporting of consistent, high-quality jail statistics at both the county and state levels.
Does this opportunity suggest a preference for continuity across years?
Yes. The solicitation notes possible additional future-year funding (2027-2029) contingent on funds and strong performance, which signals interest in continuity, scalability, and consistent methods as the COJ transitions to an annual census.
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