BJA FY 20 Collaborative Mental Health and Anti-Recidivism Initiative | BJA 2020 17972

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2020 17972

The BJA FY 20 Collaborative Mental Health and Anti-Recidivism Initiative is a discretionary federal grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), focused on reducing repeat incarceration among people with serious mental illness. The program is built around a widely recognized problem in state prison systems: prison populations have grown in part because many incarcerated individuals have untreated or undertreated mental health conditions, and they often cycle back into custody at higher rates when they leave prison without stable access to treatment, medications, benefits, housing supports, and coordinated community services. In many states, the shortage of accessible mental health resources is linked to overcrowding and persistent recidivism, making this initiative a targeted attempt to break that cycle through coordinated statewide action.

At its core, the grant funds the creation of a statewide pilot program designed to connect and align key state systems that typically operate separately. BJA’s intent is to support one state in building a collaborative anti-recidivism effort that formally partners agencies such as the state Department of Mental Health or Behavioral Health and the Department of Corrections, along with other relevant entities as needed. The initiative emphasizes comprehensive care that spans the full justice continuum: services and planning before incarceration when possible, effective treatment and continuity of care during incarceration, and structured reentry supports after release. The overall goal is to reduce recidivism among individuals with serious mental illness by ensuring they do not fall through gaps between corrections, clinical care, and community-based supports.

This opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number BJA 2020 17972) is structured as a grant under CFDA 16.745, with eligibility limited to state governments. BJA anticipated making a single award, underscoring that the selected applicant would serve as a statewide demonstration or model pilot rather than a multi-site national program. The maximum award amount (ceiling) is $1,000,000, and the initiative was posted on March 23, 2020, with an original closing date of May 22, 2020. The funding activity categories associated with the listing reflect the cross-cutting nature of the work, touching criminal justice and legal services, employment and training-related reentry needs, and data or statistical elements that often accompany statewide pilots aimed at measuring outcomes like reduced re-incarceration.

In practical terms, the grant is meant to help a state organize an integrated approach to identifying incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness, delivering or coordinating appropriate treatment while in custody, and creating strong handoffs to community care at release. That can include building formal interagency agreements, shared protocols, coordinated case planning, and reentry pathways that address common drivers of recidivism for this population, such as medication continuity, connection to outpatient treatment, crisis services, supportive housing, and other wraparound supports. The initiative’s central theme is collaboration: reducing recidivism is framed not as a corrections-only responsibility, but as a shared systems challenge requiring coordinated planning and service delivery before, during, and after incarceration.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the employment, labor and training, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), information and statistics, law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 20 Collaborative Mental Health and Anti-Recidivism Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.745.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 23, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 22, 2020. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for BJA 2020 17972

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