Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program | BJA 2020 18435

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2020 18435

The Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program (Funding Opportunity Number BJA 2020 18435) is a discretionary grant opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and was released on April 16, 2020 with an original application deadline of June 15, 2020. It is administered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the awardee should expect more active involvement, coordination, and ongoing engagement with the funding agency than under a standard grant. The overall purpose is to bolster the capacity, quality, and consistency of the medical examiner and coroner (ME/C) system across the United States, recognizing that these offices play a central role in death investigation, public health surveillance, and the integrity of the criminal justice process.

BJA structured the program around two core focus areas. First, it aims to support forensic pathology fellowships. This focus is meant to help grow and strengthen the workforce pipeline by expanding training opportunities for physicians specializing in forensic pathology, a field that is often affected by national shortages and uneven access to training positions. By investing in fellowships, the program supports the development of qualified professionals who can conduct medicolegal autopsies, determine cause and manner of death, and provide expert findings that affect criminal investigations, court proceedings, and public health responses.

Second, the program provides resources for medical examiner and coroner offices to achieve accreditation. Accreditation is commonly tied to meeting recognized professional standards for procedures, staffing, facilities, quality assurance, case management, and documentation. For many jurisdictions, reaching accreditation can require targeted investments such as policy and protocol development, training, quality management systems, improvements in evidence handling and reporting practices, and sometimes upgrades to infrastructure or operational processes. By helping offices move toward accreditation, BJA is seeking to improve reliability, professionalism, and consistency in medicolegal death investigations nationwide, which can in turn support stronger criminal justice outcomes and more accurate mortality data for public health and safety decision-making.

The maximum award amount listed is $125,000, and BJA anticipated making approximately 8 awards under this solicitation. Eligible applicants are broad and include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (including small businesses); and other entities as clarified in the solicitation. The funding activity categories span areas such as law, justice, and legal services, science and technology and other research and development, information and statistics, and related fields, and the CFDA number associated with the opportunity is 16.037. Overall, the solicitation is designed to improve both the people and the systems behind medicolegal death investigation by increasing access to specialized training and helping offices meet established professional standards through accreditation-focused support.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the 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 "Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.037.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 16, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 15, 2020. (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 $125,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having 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, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for BJA 2020 18435

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