BJA FY 21 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program | O BJA 2021 09001

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2021 09001

The BJA FY 21 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to shore up the capacity and quality of medical examiner and coroner (ME/C) services across the United States. The broader DOJ framing for this solicitation ties the work of death investigation and forensic pathology to public safety and justice goals, including protecting the public from crime and evolving threats, improving access to justice, supporting victims, and strengthening trust in the justice system through more reliable and timely forensic services.

At its core, the program focuses on two practical, high-impact areas. First, it supports forensic pathology fellowships, which are meant to expand and strengthen the pipeline of qualified forensic pathologists. By helping fund fellowships, the program aims to address workforce shortages that can lead to backlogs, delayed autopsy findings, and uneven service coverage, all of which can affect criminal investigations, public health surveillance, and family outcomes. Second, it provides resources to help medical examiner and coroner offices achieve accreditation, reflecting an emphasis on consistent standards, quality management, and accountability in medicolegal death investigation. Accreditation-related support typically aligns with building or improving policies, procedures, training, documentation, and operational practices that meet recognized professional benchmarks.

Administratively, this is a grant (not a contract) under a discretionary funding category, with the opportunity identified as O-BJA-2021-09001. The solicitation was posted May 7, 2021, with an original application closing date of June 24, 2021. The award ceiling is $150,000 per award, and BJA anticipated making about 17 awards. The listing references CFDA 16.037 and is categorized in the source information under an Affordable Care Act funding activity category, which often appears in federal reporting systems even when the program purpose is primarily justice and public safety oriented.

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with the note that applicants should consult the solicitation's additional eligibility language for specifics. In practice, opportunities like this commonly target entities directly involved in medicolegal death investigation and the systems that support them, such as medical examiner or coroner offices and related governmental or organizational partners, but the exact eligible applicant types for this cycle would be defined in the official solicitation text.

Overall, the program is structured to improve the medicolegal death investigation system by investing both in people (training and fellowship support for future forensic pathologists) and in systems (helping offices meet accreditation requirements). The intended result is a stronger, more consistent ME/C infrastructure that can produce higher-quality forensic findings, reduce delays, and reinforce the integrity of investigations and court processes.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the affordable care act sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 21 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 May 07, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 24, 2021. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 17 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O BJA 2021 09001

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