The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), last week announced the FY25 Consolidated National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). FY25 consolidates NCHIP, NCHIP Supplemental, and NARIP grants into a single application. This funding opportunity provides substantial resources for states, courts, and federally recognized tribal governments to strengthen criminal history records and support national background check systems.
Total Available Funding: $135 million
Anticipated Award Ceiling: $2.41 million
Anticipated Period of Performance: 36 months
No Cost Sharing/Match Requirement
Deadline:
The FY25 NCHIP solicitation places a strong emphasis on measurable improvements to criminal history data that directly support public safety and gun violence reduction. 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.
Because NCHIP applications are evaluated against detailed merit review criteria and must meet basic minimum requirements before peer review, many successful applicants engage technical and grant support experts well before submission deadlines to reduce risk and strengthen scoring.
Through NCHIP and related funding streams consolidated in this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), 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 and clearly describe how proposed projects will reduce violent crime, enhance firearm background checks, and improve national record quality.
Eligible applicants include:
Up to two applications may be submitted per state (one from the designated NCHIP agency and one from the state court), provided eligibility requirements are met.
BJS invites applications that directly address one or more of the following areas:
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
Applications that meet basic minimum requirements are evaluated based on:
Successful applications clearly connect current record gaps to specific, fundable activities and measurable national outcomes, supported by realistic timelines and defensible cost estimates.
Before starting your application, consider whether you can confidently answer the following:
If any of these answers are unclear, addressing them early can significantly strengthen your application.
Mission Critical Partners supports agencies throughout the NCHIP application lifecycle, including:
Our team helps ensure your application is complete, compliant, and competitive, while remaining realistic for a 36-month period of performance.
MCP regularly assists agencies with NCHIP-aligned projects such as:
If your agency is considering applying for FY25 NCHIP, now is the time to start. Contact Mission Critical Partners to discuss readiness, priority projects, and how we can help you build a complete, competitive application that aligns with BJS and DOJ expectations—well ahead of the deadline. We bring proven grant language, accurate cost models, and experience supporting justice agencies in more than 40 states.