BJA FY25 Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training Program | O BJA 2025 172338

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2025 172338

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) FY25 Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training Program is a discretionary federal grant opportunity designed to help state, local, and tribal agencies strengthen how law enforcement and corrections personnel respond to people experiencing crises. The central aim is to support the development and implementation of crisis response training programs that improve safety, decision-making, and outcomes during encounters involving behavioral health conditions and disabilities. BJA is specifically signaling that this is not just about adding a short module to existing instruction, but about building or expanding structured training programs that can be put into practice across patrol operations and correctional settings.

A major emphasis of the program is improving disability awareness and crisis response capacity, particularly through training that helps personnel recognize and appropriately respond to a wide range of behavioral health needs and disability-related considerations. For state applicants, BJA encourages enhancing existing law enforcement academy training efforts with stronger content focused on disability awareness and crisis response. More broadly, BJA encourages applicants to develop or expand programs that incorporate BJA's Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) Curriculum, pairing it with trauma-informed best practices. The trauma-informed component points to training that helps officers and correctional staff understand how trauma can shape behavior, communication, and reactions under stress, and how staff approaches can either escalate or stabilize a situation.

The training focus areas highlighted in the opportunity include building understanding of behavioral health conditions and disabilities, improving the ability to navigate and connect with community resources, and strengthening de-escalation skills. In practical terms, the program is aimed at helping agencies train personnel to better identify crisis indicators, communicate effectively, use strategies that reduce the likelihood of force, and coordinate with available services and supports. BJA also makes clear that the intended audience for these improvements includes both patrol staff and facility-based staff, meaning the program is meant to reach personnel working in the community as well as those operating inside jails, detention centers, and other correctional environments.

The grant is organized into two main categories. Category 1 supports training programs for law enforcement officers, which would typically cover crisis response in the field and improve how officers handle emergency calls or public encounters involving behavioral health crises or disability-related needs. Category 2 supports training programs for correctional officers, which would focus on crisis response within detention and correctional facilities, where staff regularly manage individuals in distress and where effective de-escalation and appropriate responses to behavioral health conditions and disabilities can have a direct impact on safety and wellbeing.

Eligibility is broad across government and certain public institutions. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments). The opportunity falls under the law, justice, and legal services funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 16.065.

Key administrative details include an opportunity number of O-BJA-2025-172338, an original closing date of March 18, 2025, and an anticipated total of 8 awards. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $2,000,000. Overall, the opportunity is geared toward helping agencies put consistent, evidence-informed crisis response training in place, grounded in the CRIT curriculum and trauma-informed approaches, with the goal of improving understanding, coordination, and de-escalation across both policing and correctional contexts.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY25 Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.065.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-18. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township 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).

Apply for O BJA 2025 172338

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