The primary federal grant program dedicated to forensic science improvement. Funds lab operations, accreditation, backlog reduction, training, and quality assurance across all forensic disciplines. Formula funds flow through state agencies; competitive funds go directly to eligible labs.
Open now. Each grant page walks through the steps and dates:
Coverdell has two funding tracks. Formula funds go to your state administering agency (SAA), which then subawards locally. Contact your state forensic science improvement coordinator early, as state subaward deadlines typically fall before the federal one. Competitive funds go directly from BJA to units of local government, with no state involved, and applications are reviewed and scored rather than given a guaranteed formula share.
Select your state to see its FY2026 Coverdell Formula estimate and the agency that applies for it.
Coverdell also runs a separate competitive track for units of local government — no state administering agency involved. Applications are reviewed and scored, not a guaranteed formula share.
Browse competitive Coverdell on grants.gov→State and local government forensic laboratories. Formula grants apply through your state administering agency. Competitive grants may allow direct applications from units of local government — verify each year's NOFO.
Awards per year: FY2021 77 · FY2022 66 · FY2023 68 · FY2024 65 · FY2025 69
Round totals: DOJ Office of Justice Programs award data. Award lists: USAspending.gov, plus DOJ’s own award list for rounds USAspending is missing.
General advice for this program, not taken from the notice. The notice’s own review criteria are what reviewers actually score, so check these against it.
Explicitly outline your lab's current accreditation status and provide a detailed, milestone-based plan showing how Coverdell funds will achieve or maintain ANAB or A2LA accreditation, as this is a statutory requirement reviewers scrutinize closely.
Include specific, quantifiable data on your current backlog (e.g., average turnaround times, number of pending cases by discipline) and demonstrate exactly how proposed equipment or personnel will reduce those numbers within the grant period.
Do not submit broad statements like 'improve lab quality' without tying them to measurable outcomes; reviewers expect concrete performance benchmarks aligned with the Coverdell program's focus on eliminating backlogs and ensuring accurate results.
Failing to explicitly address the required external auditing of cases involving negligence or misconduct is a common disqualifying weakness, so ensure your application dedicates a clear section to your compliance with this mandatory Coverdell provision.
A starting list, not the official one. Each notice ends with its own application checklist, and that is the list to work from once a round opens.
