BJA FY 21 Child-friendly Family Visiting Spaces in Jails and Prisons Program | O BJA 2021 27001

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2021 27001

The BJA FY 21 Child-friendly Family Visiting Spaces in Jails and Prisons Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), focused on improving the way children and families experience visitation in correctional settings. The core idea behind the program is that maintaining healthy family connections during incarceration can produce meaningful public benefits, including lower recidivism, reduced intergenerational involvement in the justice system, and better developmental outcomes for children. Because traditional jail and prison visiting environments can feel intimidating, stressful, or even harmful for young visitors, this funding is designed to help facilities create spaces and procedures that are more supportive, age-appropriate, and family centered.

Funding under this program is intended for practical, facility-level improvements that make visitation spaces more child friendly. That includes construction projects, renovations, and upgrades to existing visiting areas inside jails and prisons. In addition to physical improvements, the program also supports revisions to policies and day-to-day practices that shape the visitation experience, with the goal of making visits safer, more welcoming, and more conducive to positive parent-child interaction. In other words, applicants are not limited to just changing the look of a room; they are also encouraged to examine the rules, procedures, and operational approaches that can either help or hinder family visitation, and to modernize them in ways that better meet children s needs while still maintaining facility security.

The opportunity was issued by the Department of Justice under the Bureau of Justice Assistance with the funding opportunity number O BJA 2021 27001 and is associated with CFDA 16.738. While the listing notes an activity category labeled Affordable Care Act, the substance of the program is clearly centered on correctional visitation and family connection strategies rather than health insurance related activities. The program anticipated making a small number of awards, with an expected total of about five grants, and a maximum award amount (award ceiling) of up to 350,000 per recipient. The notice was created on May 24, 2021, and the original application closing date was July 12, 2021.

Eligible applicants include a range of public-sector and community-based entities that can realistically carry out facility improvements and visitation reforms. Specifically, eligibility includes state governments, county governments, and city or township governments. It also includes Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments, along with other eligible applicants as described in the opportunity s additional eligibility details. In practice, the target audience is correctional systems and the government or partner entities that oversee or support jail and prison operations, especially those positioned to implement building upgrades and institutional policy changes.

Overall, the grant is positioned as part of DOJ s broader commitment to civil rights, access to justice, victim support, public safety, and community trust. By investing in child-friendly visiting spaces and visitation practices, BJA is aiming to reduce the collateral harm incarceration can cause to children and families, while also advancing longer-term public safety goals through stronger family bonds and healthier reentry pathways.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the affordable care act sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 21 Child-friendly Family Visiting Spaces in Jails and Prisons Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 24, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 12, 2021. (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 $350,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O BJA 2021 27001

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