BJA FY 19 Southwest Border Rural Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Grant | BJA 2019 16549

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2019 16549

The BJA FY 19 Southwest Border Rural Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Grant (Funding Opportunity Number BJA 2019 16549) was a discretionary federal funding opportunity released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), on April 30, 2019, with an original application deadline of May 30, 2019. It was offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the federal agency expects to have substantial involvement with the award recipient during the project period, often through collaboration on deliverables, coordination, reporting, and ongoing program guidance rather than simply providing funds with minimal interaction.

The purpose of this program was to stand up an “innovative new” training and technical assistance (TTA) resource focused specifically on rural law enforcement agencies located along or near the United States southwest border. The core intent was capacity-building: providing practical resources, targeted training, and hands-on technical assistance that would strengthen rural agencies’ ability to prevent and reduce violent crime. The opportunity explicitly highlighted violence connected to drug-related crime and human trafficking, reflecting the unique public safety challenges that can be more pronounced in border-adjacent rural areas where agencies may face large geographic coverage responsibilities, limited staffing, and constrained access to specialized training or operational support.

Funding under this solicitation was structured around a single anticipated award, with an award ceiling of $4,000,000. In other words, BJA expected to select one organization to serve as the primary provider or coordinator for the TTA effort at up to four million dollars, positioning that awardee to deliver training and technical assistance across multiple rural jurisdictions near the southwest border rather than funding many individual local agencies directly.

Eligible applicants were relatively broad within the non-governmental and tribal space, including federally recognized Native American tribal governments, nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and small businesses. This eligibility mix suggests BJA was open to a range of potential TTA providers, such as nonprofits with law enforcement training expertise, specialized technical assistance organizations, private sector training contractors, and tribal governments that could lead or partner in delivering border-relevant public safety support. The solicitation also categorized the activity across multiple areas, most notably law, justice, and legal services, but also including training and technical assistance-related categories such as employment/labor and training, information and statistics, and research and development, which aligns with the idea of building operational capability through instruction, implementation support, and potentially data-informed approaches.

In practical terms, the opportunity centered on strengthening rural law enforcement readiness and effectiveness in confronting serious and often interconnected threats like violent crime, drug trafficking-related offenses, and human trafficking. By funding a dedicated TTA program, BJA’s approach was to amplify impact by creating a centralized source of expertise and assistance tailored to the southwest border rural context, rather than leaving each small agency to independently develop training curricula, procure technical help, or locate specialized support.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the community development, employment, labor and training, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), information and statistics, law, justice and legal services, regional development, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 19 Southwest Border Rural Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Grant" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 30, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 30, 2019. (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 $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for BJA 2019 16549

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