OJJDP FY 2023 Eliminating Records Barriers to Youth Success | O OJJDP 2023 171734

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2023 171734

The OJJDP FY 2023 Eliminating Records Barriers to Youth Success opportunity is a U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) discretionary funding solicitation designed to remove obstacles that juvenile records can create for young people as they try to move forward with school, jobs, housing, and other key parts of successful reentry. The core purpose is to fund one national training and technical assistance (TTA) provider that will help states, localities, territories, and other jurisdictions strengthen and modernize their juvenile record expungement and sealing policies and practices. The larger theme behind the grant is that juvenile justice is supposed to be about real second chances, and that outdated or hard-to-access expungement and sealing processes can keep youth tied to system involvement long after they have completed requirements or changed direction.

The solicitation is rooted in broader Office of Justice Programs (OJP) priorities, including advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, protecting the public from evolving threats, and building trust between law enforcement and communities. In practice, that means the selected provider is expected to help jurisdictions identify where record-related barriers disproportionately harm certain groups, where procedures are confusing or inconsistently applied, and where administrative systems prevent youth from actually receiving the relief the law intends. The emphasis is not only on policy on paper, but on implementation that works in real life for youth and families.

OJJDP also frames this work within its current vision for juvenile justice transformation, summarized as: treat children as children; serve children at home, with their families, in their communities; and open up opportunities for system-involved youth. Applicants are encouraged to show how their approach to records clearance supports those aims by reducing long-term collateral consequences, keeping youth connected to family and community supports, and improving access to education and employment pathways. Because sealing and expungement can directly affect eligibility for school enrollment, vocational programs, internships, professional licensing, public benefits, and even routine background checks, the TTA work is positioned as a practical lever for expanding opportunity and reducing unnecessary system harm.

A major required component is meaningful youth and family partnership. The solicitation makes clear that young people and family members with lived experience are not an optional stakeholder group; they are seen as essential partners in designing, improving, and evaluating solutions. Applicants must explain how youth and families will be integrated and sustained in both the project plan and the budget. The opportunity outlines several ways this partnership can show up: at the individual level (for example, involving youth and families in case planning and direct service approaches before, during, and after system contact); at the agency level (helping shape policies, programs, evaluation, advisory bodies, staffing decisions, and budget development); and at the system level (strategic planning, system improvement initiatives, advocacy strategies, and broader reform work). The expectation is that engagement is continuous and structured, not a one-time listening session.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates closer collaboration with the federal agency compared to a standard grant. The funding opportunity number is O-OJJDP-2023-171734, and the CFDA/Assistance Listing number is 16.812. OJJDP anticipated making a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an award ceiling of $1,500,000. The solicitation was created April 18, 2023, with an original closing date of June 6, 2023. Eligible applicants are broad and include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and small businesses. In other words, the competition is open to a range of organizations that can credibly serve as a national-level provider delivering training and hands-on assistance across jurisdictions.

Overall, the grant is best understood as an investment in national capacity to help jurisdictions make juvenile record sealing and expungement faster, fairer, and more accessible, while ensuring the work is shaped by the people most affected. The intended result is fewer record-based roadblocks and more consistent, equitable access to the second-chance promise that juvenile justice is supposed to deliver.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY 2023 Eliminating Records Barriers to Youth Success" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.812.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 18, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 06, 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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have 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.

Apply for O OJJDP 2023 171734

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