BJA FY 23 Transforming Prison Cultures, Climates, and Spaces | O BJA 2023 171771

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2023 171771

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), offered the FY 2023 Transforming Prison Cultures, Climates, and Spaces opportunity to support large-scale efforts that make prisons safer, more humane, and more effective for everyone affected by them, including staff, incarcerated people, and visitors. The overall purpose is tightly connected to OJP priorities around civil rights and racial equity, improving access to justice, strengthening community safety, supporting people impacted by the justice system, and building trust in justice institutions. In practice, the solicitation focuses on helping prisons and state correctional agencies change day-to-day conditions and long-term operating approaches so that facilities can better recruit and retain qualified staff, improve staff wellness, and create environments that support successful reentry for people returning to their communities.

This is a discretionary, competitive grant opportunity administered by BJA through a cooperative agreement structure. A cooperative agreement typically signals that BJA expects to have substantial involvement in the project beyond standard grant monitoring, such as close coordination on deliverables, technical direction, and alignment with broader BJA initiatives. The funding activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services, and the solicitation is tied to CFDA numbers 16.738, 16.812, and 16.827. The opportunity number is O-BJA-2023-171771, and it was originally posted on 2023-05-23 with an original closing date of 2023-07-18. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) listed is $3,000,000.

The solicitation is organized around two main categories of work. Category 1 centers on hands-on training and technical assistance (TTA) to prisons and state correctional agencies. Under this category, BJA sought a TTA provider capable of helping agencies assess current prison culture, institutional climate, and physical spaces, then plan and implement improvements that are realistic and sustainable. The emphasis is not just on physical design changes, but also on operational and human factors that shape outcomes: staff recruitment and hiring, training quality and consistency, retention challenges, and staff wellness and safety. It also includes how the facility environment and routines affect incarcerated people, especially how spaces are designed and how time is structured to prepare individuals for reintegration, such as programming, productive activities, skill-building, pro-social engagement, and other elements that support successful reentry. A key expectation in this category is that the provider will help agencies identify strategies that can be maintained over time rather than one-off improvements, meaning the work should include practical implementation support, change-management strategies, and approaches that can be embedded into normal operations.

Category 2 focuses on building and maintaining a centralized, curated resource website dedicated to advancing knowledge about prison operations. BJA sought a provider to develop, manage, and actively promote a website that functions as a hub or landing page for materials created through Category 1 and other related BJA-supported efforts. The solicitation specifically notes that the site would also host or connect users to resources from initiatives such as Officer Safety and Wellness, Corrections Data Analysis, and Restrictive Housing Reform Implementation Assistance. In other words, Category 2 is meant to scale impact by making high-quality tools, guidance, and lessons learned easier to find and use across the corrections field, rather than limiting benefits to only the agencies that receive direct technical assistance.

Eligibility was broad and included public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in that classification), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. This eligibility structure suggests BJA expected applicants with demonstrated corrections expertise and capacity to deliver national-level assistance and knowledge products, including organizations experienced in implementation support, organizational culture change, staff wellness, facility operations, design and planning considerations, and web-based dissemination of resources.

Overall, the grant opportunity is aimed at transforming prisons through a combination of direct support to agencies (assessment, planning, implementation help, and sustainability strategies) and broader field-building (a curated website that consolidates tools and guidance). The intended results include stronger staff recruitment and retention, improved staff training and wellness, safer and more humane conditions, smarter use of physical space and daily time, and better preparation for reentry, all aligned with OJP goals around equity, rights, and community safety.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 23 Transforming Prison Cultures, Climates, and Spaces" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738, 16.812, 16.827.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-05-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-07-18. (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.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, 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, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for O BJA 2023 171771

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: