NIJ FY17 Comprehensive School Safety Initiative | NIJ 2017 11147

Opportunity Information: Apply for NIJ 2017 11147

The NIJ FY17 Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), focused on funding rigorous, research-driven projects that generate practical, usable knowledge to improve the safety of schools and students. Rather than supporting one-size-fits-all security purchases or short-term programs, CSSI is designed to build evidence that schools and districts across the country can apply over time. The central idea is to move beyond assumptions about what makes schools safer and instead produce findings grounded in strong research methods, clear data, and real-world implementation in school settings.

A defining feature of CSSI is its emphasis on partnerships. NIJ expects projects to be carried out collaboratively by researchers working alongside educators and other key stakeholders who influence school safety outcomes. Those stakeholders commonly include school administrators and teachers, law enforcement partners such as school resource officers or local police agencies, and mental health professionals who address prevention and intervention related to student well-being. This structure reflects how school safety works in practice: effective prevention, response, and recovery typically require coordination across education, justice, and behavioral health systems, and CSSI aims to fund research that accounts for that complexity.

The solicitation includes multiple funding categories, each with its own expectations and requirements, giving applicants several pathways to propose work that supports the overall goals of the initiative. While the categories are not detailed in the provided text, this kind of structure usually allows NIJ to fund a mix of projects, such as evaluations of specific interventions, development or testing of tools and strategies, and other research efforts that can translate into actionable guidance for schools. Across categories, the common thread is that projects must be designed to produce knowledge that is transferable and useful beyond the immediate study site, meaning the results should be relevant to schools and districts nationwide and remain valuable for years.

In terms of administrative details, the opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number NIJ 2017 11147 and is associated with CFDA 16.560, which corresponds to NIJ research and evaluation funding. The grant instrument type is a grant, and the funding activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services, reflecting NIJ's role in supporting research that informs justice-related policy and practice, including school safety when it intersects with prevention, policing, and youth outcomes.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations and entities that might contribute to school safety research. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; nonprofit organizations with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses as well as small businesses); and even individuals, with a note that some additional eligibility clarification may exist in the full solicitation. This wide eligibility aligns with the initiative's partnership model, since strong proposals often combine research capacity (commonly housed in universities or research organizations) with access to schools and operational expertise (often held by districts, local governments, public safety agencies, and community-based organizations).

The timeline provided shows a creation date of January 13, 2017, and an original closing date of March 24, 2017, indicating a roughly ten-week application window. NIJ projected an estimated 32 awards under this solicitation. The listed award ceiling is $62,000,000, which signals that awards under certain categories may be substantial and that NIJ anticipated supporting a portfolio of major projects rather than only small pilot efforts. Taken together, the scope, number of expected awards, and emphasis on rigorous research suggest that CSSI was meant to function as a national research initiative, building a body of evidence about what works in school safety, under what conditions it works, and how it can be implemented responsibly and effectively in real schools.

• The Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY17 Comprehensive School Safety Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 13, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 24, 2017. (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 $62,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 32 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), 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, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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