BJA FY 21 John R. Justice (JRJ) Program Formula Grant Solicitation

The John R. Justice (JRJ) Grant Program (also referred to as the John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program or JRJSLRP) provides student loan repayment assistance for local, state, and federal public defenders and local and state prosecutors who commit to extended service in those roles.

For purposes of this solicitation, “state” means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Applicants are limited to state and U.S. territory government agencies designated by their Governor (or the Mayor of the District of Columbia) to administer the JRJ Grant Program. The states, territories, and the District of Columbia will make loan payments directly to the institutions holding loans on behalf of eligible beneficiaries.   Eligible allocations under JRJ are posted annually on the JRJ web page.   For the purposes of the JRJ Program, the beneficiaries that are eligible can be found on the JRJ webpage.   To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be eligible for FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding.  To become certified, the law enforcement agency must meet two mandatory conditions: (1) the agency’s use of force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws; and (2) the agency’s use of force policies prohibit chokeholds except in situations where use of deadly force is allowed by law. The certification requirement also applies to law enforcement agencies receiving DOJ discretionary grant funding through a subaward.  For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO to access the Standards for Certification on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, Implementation Fact Sheet, and List of Designated Independent Credentialing Bodies.   All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.  

For technical assistance with submitting the SF424 and SF-LLL in Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726, 606-545-5035, at Grants.gov customer support webpage, or email at support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays. For technical assistance with submitting the full application in DOJ's Justice Grants System (JustGrants), contact the JustGrants Service Desk at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175. The JustGrants Service Desk operates 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. eastern time, Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and federal holidays. An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov or JustGrants technical issues beyond its control that prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must email the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Response Center (Response Center) at grants@ncjrs.gov within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its application after the deadline. For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact the Response Center by telephone at 800-851-3420 or TTY: 301-240-6310 (hearing impaired only) or by email at grants@ncjrs.gov. Response Center hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. eastern time on the solicitation close date. grants@ncjrs.gov