BJA FY24 Community-based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crime | O BJA 2024 172028

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2024 172028

The BJA FY24 Community-based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crime opportunity is a discretionary federal funding program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to help communities build stronger, more coordinated ways to prevent and respond to hate crimes. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means awardees should expect an active partnership with BJA during the life of the project, including federal involvement in shaping activities, monitoring progress, and supporting implementation. The overall focus is on practical, community-rooted strategies that improve readiness before incidents occur, increase the likelihood that victims and witnesses will report what happened, and strengthen the quality and consistency of response when hate crimes do occur.

At its core, the solicitation emphasizes comprehensive community-based approaches. That points to work that goes beyond a single training or awareness campaign and instead builds a local ecosystem of prevention and response. The opportunity seeks projects that promote community awareness and preparedness, which can include educating residents about what hate crimes are, how to recognize them, why reporting matters, and what resources exist for victims. Preparedness also implies communities should be equipped with plans and partnerships that can be activated quickly after an incident, so responses are not improvised in the moment. BJA is also looking for efforts that increase victim reporting, recognizing that hate crimes are often underreported due to fear of retaliation, lack of trust in systems, language barriers, immigration concerns, stigma, or uncertainty about whether an incident qualifies as a crime. Strong proposals are likely to address those barriers directly by improving access, trust, and clarity around reporting pathways.

Another major goal is improving responses to hate crimes, which can involve coordinating among victim service providers, community groups, civil rights organizations, schools and campuses, faith-based entities, and local or tribal partners so that victims receive timely support and cases are handled more effectively. The solicitation also explicitly extends beyond criminal conduct to include community-informed models for preventing and responding to hate speech and hate incidents. That distinction matters because some harmful acts may not meet the legal definition of a hate crime, yet still destabilize communities and increase fear. BJA is encouraging strategies that can address this broader landscape through non-law-enforcement community interventions, prevention education, and coordinated response practices that help reduce escalation while staying grounded in community needs and civil rights considerations.

A defining feature of this program is its emphasis on reconciliation and community healing. In practice, that can mean creating mechanisms for restorative processes, community dialogues, trauma-informed services, and structured ways to rebuild trust after an incident. The goal is not only to respond to individual cases, but also to help the wider community recover, reduce the likelihood of retaliatory harm, and strengthen social cohesion. The solicitation language suggests BJA expects projects to be informed by the communities most affected, with strategies shaped by local context, lived experience, and culturally responsive practices rather than one-size-fits-all templates.

The program is open to a broad range of eligible applicants, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status, nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), and other entities that fall under the "Others" category as defined by the funding notice. The description also highlights community-based organizations and civil rights organizations that are tribal, nonprofit, and academic, signaling that BJA anticipates strong roles for organizations that work directly with targeted communities, provide civil rights expertise, deliver victim services, or conduct research and evaluation. Universities and colleges may be especially relevant where campus climate, student safety, or community partnerships are central to the proposed approach, and academic partners can support evidence-building, needs assessments, and model development.

Financially, the award ceiling is up to $2,000,000 per award, with BJA expecting to make about 13 awards under this solicitation. The opportunity falls under CFDA number 16.047, and the funding activity category is listed as Humanities, reflecting the community-centered and social impact orientation of the work even though the administering agency is justice-focused. The original application closing date was June 4, 2024, and the opportunity was created on March 11, 2024. The funding opportunity number is O-BJA-2024-172028, which is the identifier applicants and partners would use to locate the full notice and application package.

In summary, this BJA solicitation is aimed at helping communities build durable, locally tailored capacity to prevent hate-driven harm, support victims, increase reporting, respond more effectively to incidents and crimes, and promote healing after harm occurs. It encourages collaborative, community-informed models that can be replicated or adapted, and it is intentionally inclusive of tribal, nonprofit, civil rights, and academic organizations that can combine on-the-ground trust with technical expertise to produce meaningful, measurable improvements in community safety and resilience.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY24 Community-based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crime" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.047.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-04. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 13 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), 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, Others.

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