FY 2026 NCHIP Grant Funding Overview
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), recently released the FY26 Consolidated National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This funding opportunity provides substantial resources to help states, courts, and federally recognized tribal governments strengthen criminal history records and support national background check systems.
Total Available Funding: $123 million
Anticipated Award Ceiling: $2.19 million
Anticipated Period of Performance: 36 months
Deadlines:
What Is the FY 2026 NCHIP Grant?
Through NCHIP, BJS funds projects that improve the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and interstate accessibility of criminal history and related records. These records support national systems such as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the Interstate Identification Index (III), the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system.
Applicants must submit one consolidated application that clearly describes how proposed projects will reduce violent crime, enhance firearm background checks, and improve national record quality.
What Do BJS Reviewers Evaluate?
The FY26 NCHIP solicitation strongly emphasizes measurable improvements to criminal history data that directly support public safety and reduce gun violence. Applications must demonstrate not only technical need but also readiness—i.e., clear scope, defensible budgets, realistic timelines, and alignment with DOJ and BJS priorities.
NCHIP applications are evaluated against detailed merit-review criteria and must pass basic minimum requirements before peer review; consequently, many successful applicants engage technical and grant-support experts well before submission deadlines to reduce risk and strengthen scoring.
Who Is Eligible for FY 2026 NCHIP Funding?
Eligible applicants include:
- State governments, including designated NCHIP agencies and state courts
- Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
States may submit up to two applications (one from the designated NCHIP agency and one from the state court), provided they meet eligibility requirements.
What Projects Are Eligible for NCHIP Grant Funding?
BJS invites applications that directly address one or more of the following areas:
- Automation and completeness of criminal history records (including arrest-to-disposition linkage)
- Full participation in NICS, including mental health and domestic violence prohibitor reporting
- Participation in the III and National Fingerprint File (NFF)
- Automation and reporting of relevant juvenile records
- Record sealing and expungement automation
Allowable activities include court disposition automation, system integrations using National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standards, disposition backlog reduction, dashboards and data-quality analysis, Livescan and biometric modernization, and expungement workflow automation.
How Can Agencies Prepare a Competitive NCHIP Application?
Applications that meet basic minimum requirements are evaluated based on:
- Clear definition of the problem or data gap
- Strength of project design and implementation approach
- Administrative and technical capacity
- Completeness and cost-effectiveness of the budget
- Plan for collecting required performance measures
Successful applications clearly connect current record gaps to specific, fundable activities and measurable national outcomes, supported by realistic timelines and defensible cost estimates.
How MCP Supports NCHIP-Funded Modernization Projects
Mission Critical Partners supports agencies throughout the NCHIP application lifecycle, including:
- Description of need — identifying and documenting gaps in criminal history and related records
- Project goals and objectives — aligning outcomes with BJS goals and DOJ priorities
- Project design and implementation — developing realistic funding scopes, timelines, and quantitative measurements
- Capabilities and competencies — demonstrating technical readiness and partner roles
- Budget development — creating detailed, allowable, and defensible cost estimates aligned with proposed activities
Our team helps ensure your application is complete, compliant, and competitive, while remaining realistic for a 36-month period of performance.
Examples of NCHIP-Eligible Projects That MCP Supports
MCP regularly assists agencies with NCHIP-aligned projects such as:
- Criminal history disposition backfill and backlog reduction
- Court disposition automation and elimination of paper-based processes
- System procurements — e.g., Computerized Criminal History (CCH) system, message switch, Automated Biometric Information System (ABIS), Livescan, Sex Offender Registry (SOR)
- Requirements development, business-case analysis, and current-state assessments
- Systems integration across courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, and corrections
- Data dashboards and analytics to assess arrest-to-disposition completeness
Assess Your FY 2026 NCHIP Readiness
MCP can help your agency define eligible projects, document criminal history record gaps, develop defensible cost estimates, and prepare an implementation-ready scope. We bring proven grant language, accurate cost models, and experience supporting justice agencies in more than 40 states.
