FY23 Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation -Community Policing Development Solicitation | O COPS 2023 171545

Opportunity Information: Apply for O COPS 2023 171545

The FY23 Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation opportunity is a discretionary grant program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), offered under the Community Policing Development (CPD) solicitation. It is built around the idea that community policing works best when agencies have strong organizational systems, clear policies, and consistent operational standards that support fairness, effectiveness, accountability, and public trust. In practical terms, the COPS Office is using CPD funding to help states strengthen the infrastructure that supports professional policing, especially through approaches that promote civil rights and racial equity, increase access to justice, support victims and impacted individuals, reduce crime and fear of crime, and improve relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

This specific funding track focuses on state-level law enforcement accreditation. DOJ is emphasizing accreditation because it creates a structured process for agencies to adopt, follow, and maintain recognized standards for policies and operations. When done well, accreditation can improve transparency and accountability, reduce variations in performance between agencies, and give communities more confidence that their police departments and sheriffs offices are following clear, vetted procedures. Because accreditation standards are defined by the accrediting organization and can vary in number and scope, the core goal here is not to certify individual agencies directly, but to build the statewide system that makes accreditation possible and accessible.

The main purpose of the grant is to establish a new state accreditation entity in states that currently do not have a state accreditation program. Funding is intended to cover the start-up and formation work required to create an accreditation body from the ground up, including governance, standards development or adoption, operational processes, and statewide rollout. Applicants are expected to design a strategy that fits the unique needs of their state and helps law enforcement agencies across that state participate. A major emphasis is placed on ensuring that small and rural agencies are not left behind, meaning the program design should account for limited staffing, limited budgets, and practical barriers that smaller departments often face when asked to meet formal standards.

Awards are expected to be made to multiple recipients, with an award ceiling of up to $500,000 per award and an anticipated total of two awards. The opportunity was posted March 17, 2023, with an original closing date of May 8, 2023. The CFDA number is 16.710. The program is administered by the DOJ COPS Office, and the funding instrument is a grant under the law, justice, and legal services category.

A critical requirement is statewide buy-in from key law enforcement stakeholder organizations. The COPS Office makes it clear that proposals will not be considered if they do not have the support of the state chiefs and or sheriffs association (where applicable). Applicants must show they can build an accreditation mechanism that is backed by these associations, such as through a resolution or a memorandum of understanding. The application should also explain why the applicant organization is uniquely positioned to serve as the accreditation body and demonstrate the relationships and credibility needed to operate statewide.

The solicitation also spells out what is not eligible. It will not fund creation of an accreditation entity in a state that already has a state accreditation program. It will not support accreditation entities aimed at corrections, communications, training academies, or other non law-enforcement agency accreditation types. It also will not fund law enforcement agencies that are simply seeking to obtain accreditation for themselves. In other words, this is not an implementation grant for a single department to get accredited; it is capacity-building support to create the statewide accrediting organization that departments may later use.

Applications are expected to include several concrete elements. The applicant must explain the need for financial support to establish the accreditation body, provide a detailed project plan describing both establishment and continuation, and include an outreach plan that ensures agencies across the state know about the program and can access it, with extra attention to small and rural departments. The solicitation strongly encourages letters of support, and it specifically calls for letters from state, local, and tribal stakeholders, including state chiefs and or sheriffs associations, explaining why the applicant is the right entity to run accreditation in the state. Another key expectation is sustainability: applicants must describe how the accreditation body will continue operating after the COPS Office grant funding ends, which generally means identifying long-term funding sources, fee structures, partnerships, state support, or other mechanisms that keep the program viable.

In terms of deliverables, recipients must establish a functioning state accreditation body and submit a final report describing what was done and the operational status achieved by the end of the project. The COPS Office also notes that for identified deliverables, applicants should follow the COPS Office Editorial and Style Manual, and that for projects involving site-specific work, letters of support from the targeted agencies are strongly encouraged. The legal authority for the program is tied to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (as amended) and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, with awards subject to appropriated funding availability and any new legal requirements.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a start-up investment in statewide policing infrastructure: it is designed to help states without an existing accreditation program create a credible, supported, and sustainable accrediting entity that can raise policy and operational standards, reduce inconsistent practices, and strengthen trust through transparent and accountable policing systems.

• The Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY23 Addressing Gaps in State Accreditation -Community Policing Development Solicitation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.710.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 17, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 08, 2023. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O COPS 2023 171545

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: