Dedicated program to strengthen the medical examiner and coroner system, including growing the forensic pathology workforce and improving the quality and timeliness of medicolegal death investigation services.
Apply directly on grants.gov, no state intermediary. State, local and tribal governments (including their medical examiner and coroner offices), universities, nonprofits and some companies are eligible applicants.
Official program pageGovernment entities and ME/C-related organizations per the NOFO. Purpose is specifically ME/C system strengthening — forensic pathology offices are primary applicants.
Awards per year: FY2021 13 · FY2022 13 · FY2023 14 · FY2024 14 · FY2025 13
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.
Provide specific data on case backlog numbers, average time-to-completion for autopsies, and staffing shortages to demonstrate urgent need; BJA reviewers respond to measurable gaps rather than general statements of inadequacy.
Explicitly connect your proposed activities to BJA's stated objectives such as reducing death investigation backlogs, improving toxicology capacity, or enhancing medicolegal death investigator training using language mirrored directly from the solicitation.
Do not submit line items like 'equipment purchases' or 'staff training' without specific cost breakdowns, vendor quotes, or training curricula; unsubstantiated budgets are a primary reason for reduced scores or disqualification.
Failing to describe how your office will maintain funded positions, equipment, or programs beyond the grant period signals poor planning to reviewers and significantly weakens your application's long-term impact score.
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.
