Official title: BJA FY 2026 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement- Competitive Grants Program
Every applicant needs an active registration before submitting. The notice asks you to start by September 21, 2026 and no later than September 30, 2026. That date has passed, so if the registration is missing or lapsed, start today.
Step 1, the , is due October 29, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. It tells BJA an application is coming, and without it the next step is locked.
Step 2 is due November 5, 2026, 8:59 PM ET. This is the narrative, budget and attachments the notice lists.
Bureau of Justice Assistance scores the applications and funds the strongest. Not every good application wins. Funded projects get 36 months to spend the money (the ), starting October 1, 2026.
Money to improve forensic science and medical examiner or coroner services. Local government labs apply directly to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, state labs apply through their state administering agency, and applications are scored against each other.
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY26 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement—Competitive Grants Program. This opportunity funds improvements to forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services, including services provided by laboratories operated by states and units of local government.
For a forensic agency, this means
State governments, county governments, city/township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized or other Native American tribal governments are eligible to apply. State applications must be submitted by the state administering agency (SAA); units of local government may apply directly to BJA. Funds support improvements to forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services, including eliminating evidence backlogs, training personnel, addressing emerging forensic issues, and funding medicolegal death investigation systems.
Median of 54 past competitive awards under this program, from USAspending.gov: $337K. Most recipients land well under any published ceiling.
