Artificial Intelligence Research and Development to Support Community Supervision, FY 2019 | NIJ 2019 15287

Opportunity Information: Apply for NIJ 2019 15287

The Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant opportunity titled "Artificial Intelligence Research and Development to Support Community Supervision, FY 2019" (Funding Opportunity Number NIJ 2019 15287) invited proposals for investigator-initiated research and development projects that use advances in artificial intelligence to improve outcomes for people under community supervision, with a clear emphasis on supporting successful reentry. The central idea behind the solicitation was to fund practical technology R and D that can be translated into working tools, not just papers or prototypes. NIJ signaled that the strongest projects would be those likely to end with AI-enabled solutions that can actually be deployed in real community supervision settings and remain in use by supervision agencies after the project period ends.

The opportunity was offered as a discretionary grant under CFDA 16.560 and fell within the broad activity areas of law, justice and legal services as well as science and technology and other research and development. In plain terms, this means NIJ was looking for applied, justice-focused innovation, where AI methods are developed or adapted specifically for the operational needs of probation, parole, and other community supervision stakeholders. While the short description does not list specific technical approaches, the scope implies a wide range of AI work could be responsive, as long as it is tied to community supervision and reentry needs and can be matured into a field-ready capability.

A wide variety of applicants were eligible, reflecting NIJ's interest in both research excellence and implementation capacity. Eligible entities included 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; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education when applying under those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; individuals; and other applicants as described in the solicitation's additional eligibility information. This broad eligibility suggests NIJ anticipated partnerships that might combine academic AI research, public-sector supervision expertise, and vendor or product-development capacity to move solutions into practice.

The timeline for the solicitation was set with a creation date of February 15, 2019 and an original closing date of May 13, 2019. NIJ indicated an expected three awards, with an award ceiling of $3,000,000. That ceiling points to relatively substantial, multi-year technology development efforts rather than small pilot studies, and the limited expected number of awards suggests a competitive process aimed at selecting a few high-impact projects with credible pathways to operational deployment.

Overall, the grant opportunity was designed to accelerate AI research and development that directly helps community supervision agencies support reentry success, with an explicit preference for solutions that can be fielded and sustained. The solicitation framing emphasizes practical adoption: AI work was not intended to sit on the shelf, but to become something supervision agencies can use as part of their ongoing operations when the grant concludes.

• The Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the law, justice and legal services, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Artificial Intelligence Research and Development to Support Community Supervision, FY 2019" 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 Feb 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 13, 2019. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• 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), 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).

Apply for NIJ 2019 15287

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