BJA FY 18 STOP School Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program | BJA 2018 14489

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2018 14489

The BJA FY 18 STOP School Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program was a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), created under the STOP School Violence Act of 2018. Its overall purpose was to help prevent and reduce school violence by supporting practical, locally driven prevention and response capacity in schools and surrounding communities. While the broader law allowed support for several types of activities, this specific solicitation concentrated on two core areas: building and operating school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams, and creating or expanding anonymous reporting technology that can capture and route safety concerns before they escalate.

A major focus of the program was the development and operation of school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams. These teams are typically multidisciplinary groups that can include school administrators, counselors, mental health professionals, and law enforcement partners, working together to identify, assess, and manage threats. The goal is to move beyond informal or ad hoc responses and instead create a consistent process for evaluating concerning behavior, triaging reports, and coordinating interventions. The solicitation highlighted coordination between school personnel and law enforcement agencies as an allowable and often important component, reflecting the idea that prevention and response work best when schools and public safety partners share protocols, roles, and communication pathways.

The second central focus was technology-enabled anonymous reporting systems designed for local or regional use. BJA sought projects that would develop or operate tools such as mobile phone applications, hotlines, and websites that allow students, staff, parents, and community members to submit tips or concerns about potential threats or violence. The emphasis on anonymity is meant to reduce barriers to reporting, especially when people fear retaliation, social consequences, or simply do not know where to turn. The solicitation also contemplated technology that could be used during an incident to help secure safety, including the ability to share information with first responders. In practice, that can mean building workflows and interfaces that speed up alerting, improve situational awareness, and ensure critical information reaches the right people quickly.

In addition to these two priority areas, the authorizing statute and program description acknowledged the role of mental health in school safety. Funding could support specialized training for school officials on intervening and responding to individuals with mental health issues that may affect school safety. This is less about turning educators into clinicians and more about improving recognition of warning signs, strengthening referral pathways, and ensuring crisis intervention is informed, coordinated, and appropriate.

Eligible applicants were limited to government entities: state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The award structure reflected a relatively broad national rollout, with an expected 62 awards and a maximum (ceiling) award amount of up to $1,000,000 per grant. The opportunity was posted on June 7, 2018, with an original application deadline of July 23, 2018. The program was categorized across multiple activity areas, including education and training, information and statistics, law and justice, and science and technology development, which matches the program's blend of operational team-building and reporting-system technology.

In plain terms, this grant opportunity was designed to help jurisdictions put real infrastructure in place for school safety: formal threat assessment and crisis intervention capability on the human side, and accessible, anonymous reporting tools on the technology side, with an emphasis on coordination, timely information sharing, and prevention-oriented intervention before violence occurs.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the education, employment, labor and training, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), information and statistics, law, justice and legal services, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 18 STOP School Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.839.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 07, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 23, 2018. (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 62 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for BJA 2018 14489

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