Research and Evaluation on Gangs and Gang Violence

Grants to USA and territories nonprofits, for-profits, government agencies, IHEs, and certain qualified individuals to research and evaluate efforts to address street gang violence and activity. Applicants are advised to create or verify the required registrations well in advance of the proposal deadline.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for the funding of research and program evaluation projects that inform efforts to prevent and reduce gang activity, violence, and victimization in the United States. NIJ will support scientifically rigorous research and evaluation projects designed to produce findings with high practical utility for youth and adult gang prevention, intervention, enforcement, or reentry strategies. (hereafter, anti-gang programs and strategies).

Prevention programs may include, but are not limited to, those that target siblings of gang members or early intervention to youths who reside in communities with substantial gang presence. Intervention may also include, but is not limited to, programs that provide services to those already involved in gangs. Targeted enforcement may include, but is not limited to, efforts of law enforcement including police, prosecutors, and probation to suppress the criminal activity of gangs. Projects should be designed to produce findings with relevance beyond the local level. Researcher-practitioner partnerships may be useful in designing and conducting projects with strong relevance.

While NIJ will consider all applications that address these more general purposes, NIJ is particularly interested in applications in the following two areas:

Local Impact and Responses to Transnational Gangs

NIJ is seeking research and evaluation projects that build knowledge about these gangs and the effectiveness of prevention, intervention, or enforcement responses to these gangs. Improved knowledge on the local impact of these gangs and how they differ from neighborhood based or national gangs on issues like recruitment/joining, desistance, number of individuals involved, involvement in various crime types, and their local impact will inform anti-gang programs and strategies for transnational gangs. In particular, NIJ is interested in understanding the impact, if any, of the resettlement of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) in an area and gang violence.

Rigorous Evaluations of Well-Developed Anti-Gang Programs and Strategies

Although many anti-gang programs and strategies have been implemented in communities across the nation, few of these have been carefully evaluated; and even fewer have demonstrated strong evidence of effectiveness. NIJ’s CrimeSolutions.gov website profiles gang programs that have been scientifically evaluated. There is a strong need for more rigorous program evaluations in this area.

For more details on these two priorities, see the RFP: https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2019-15270.pdf#page=6

New Investigator/Early Career Opportunity - - For details, see the RFP: https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2019-15270.pdf#page=8

Encouraging Program Investments in Economically-Distressed Communities (Qualified Opportunity Zones) - For details, see the RFP: https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2019-15270.pdf#page=9