BJA FY 20 The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program | BJA 2020 17114

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2020 17114

The BJA FY 20 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHS) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), designed to help communities improve the way local justice systems respond to people who have mental illnesses (MI) or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse (CMISA). The core idea is that better coordination between law enforcement, courts, corrections, and behavioral health providers can reduce harm, improve outcomes for individuals in crisis, and strengthen public safety at the same time. Rather than treating mental health-related encounters as strictly a criminal justice issue, the program emphasizes practical partnerships with social services and treatment systems so that people can be diverted to appropriate care when possible and managed more effectively across the full justice continuum when diversion is not appropriate.

This program is grounded in federal legislation aimed at addressing the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system. It is authorized under the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (MIOTCRA) and strengthened through subsequent reauthorization and improvement legislation in 2008. It was further reauthorized through the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, reflecting ongoing federal priorities around treatment access, crisis response, and cross-system coordination. In practice, that legislative foundation signals that the program is meant to support structured collaboration, evidence-informed strategies, and sustainable system improvements, not one-off activities.

JMHS funding supports efforts that enhance and expand law enforcement and justice responses to people with MI and CMISA, with a focus on both officer safety and community safety. The program highlights violence reduction and safer outcomes during encounters that may otherwise escalate due to untreated symptoms, substance use, or gaps in crisis services. While the solicitation summary does not list every allowable activity, the described purpose points toward initiatives like building or strengthening multidisciplinary partnerships, improving protocols for crisis response and referral, and creating coordinated approaches that connect individuals to appropriate services. The emphasis on collaboration suggests that projects are expected to involve multiple agencies and partners working together, rather than a single entity operating in isolation.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of governmental entities, which makes this opportunity accessible to many local and state jurisdictions that experience frequent justice-system contact involving behavioral health needs. Eligible applicants are state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. This eligibility structure aligns with the program's community-based intent, since many of the most critical touchpoints for mental health and justice collaboration happen at the local level: patrol response, jail intake, local courts, probation, and community treatment networks.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a grant funding instrument and falls under the broader funding activity categories of health, humanities/cultural affairs (as categorized in CFDA), and law/justice/legal services. The CFDA number associated with the program is 16.745. The funding opportunity number is BJA 2020 17114. The opportunity was created on March 19, 2020, with an original closing date of May 18, 2020. BJA anticipated making about 25 awards, with an award ceiling of $750,000 per award, indicating a mid-sized national competition aimed at supporting substantive local or regional initiatives rather than very small pilot projects.

Overall, the BJA FY 20 JMHS program is intended to help jurisdictions build stronger, more coordinated systems for responding to mental health and co-occurring disorders in ways that reduce unnecessary criminal justice involvement, improve access to treatment and supports, and enhance safety for officers, individuals in crisis, and the broader community. It reflects a policy approach that sees behavioral health collaboration as a key strategy for improving justice outcomes, reducing escalation and repeat contact, and creating more effective responses at the point where public safety and public health intersect.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the health, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 20 The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.745.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 19, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 18, 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 $750,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for BJA 2020 17114

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