BJS FY 2026 National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) Training and Technical Assistance

Source-based overview

This program will continue to support activities under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP), and portions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Pub. L. 117-159) in fiscal year (FY) 2024. Direct technical assistance is provided to states, territories, and tribal jurisdictions to ensure that records systems are developed and managed to conform to FBI standards, ensure jurisdictions are using the most appropriate technologies, and adhere to the highest standards of practice with respect to privacy and confidentiality. This program also routinely collects and evaluates performance measures to assess the level of improvement of state and national records holdings, as well as information sharing and exchanges. BJS has supported the NCHIP TTA program since 1995. This program furthers the DOJ’s mission to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal-history and related records in support of national record systems and their use for name- and fingerprint-based criminal history background checks. The official record contains the controlling eligibility, budget, attachment and submission requirements for opportunity O-BJS-2026-172689.

Eligibility

Eligible applicant types listed by the agency: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education; Private institutions of higher education; For profit organizations other than small businesses; 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. Applicants must also satisfy every programme-specific condition in the official notice.

Funding and benefits

Award ceiling: USD 1,500,000

Expected number of awards: 1

Themes and supported activities

This program will continue to support activities under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP), the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP), and portions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Pub. L. 117-159) in fiscal year (FY) 2024. Direct technical assistance is provided to states, territories, and tribal jurisdictions to ensure that records systems are developed and managed to conform to FBI standards, ensure jurisdictions are using the most appropriate technologies, and adhere to the highest standards of practice with respect to privacy and confidentiality. This program also routinely collects and evaluates performance measures to assess the level of improvement of state and national records holdings, as well as information sharing and exchanges. BJS has supported the NCHIP TTA program since 1995. This program furthers the DOJ’s mission to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal-history and related records in support of national record systems and their use for name- and fingerprint-based criminal history background checks.

Opportunity number: O-BJS-2026-172689

Deadline and timeline

Applications close 2026-09-28: Applications close 2026-09-28: Sep 28, 2026.

Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.

How to apply

Open the official Grants.gov record, review the full notice and attachments, and use the application package or agency route stated there.

Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.