Grant Alert: National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP)

As part of our effort to help clients find applicable grants to achieve their goals, MCP provides alerts about grants that can fund their initiatives. 

Grant Overview

Available funds: $70 million
Anticipated number of awards: 40
Program duration: 24 months
Apply by: 5/16/22 (Grants.gov deadline) or 5/23/22 (JustGrants deadline)

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) provides grants to states and localities to improve the quality, timeliness, and accessibility of criminal history records and related information through the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). The program’s vision aligns with the Department of Justice’s goal to reduce violent crime and address gun violence by improving the accuracy, utility, and interstate accessibility of criminal history and related records to support national records systems and their use for criminal history background checks.

This vision relies on the components of the criminal justice system to be integrated and linked—including law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and corrections. NCHIP helps states establish that integrated infrastructure.

On March 23, the BJS announced the continuation of the NCHIP for fiscal year (FY) 2022. BJS invites states and tribes to:

• Propose projects that specifically and directly address one or more of the priority areas identified below
• Propose to match the NCHIP award with other resources to the maximum extent possible

Fundable Criminal Justice Solutions Available from Mission Critical Partners (MCP)

• Criminal history data quality metrics and visualizations – MCP has the analytical tools and expertise to evaluate computerized criminal history (CCH) and render data-quality metrics that will highlight specific problem areas and provide recommendations to remediate them over time.
• Disposition backfill services – MCP can find and apply missing disposition information en masse by programmatically comparing data from the CCH (missing dispositions) to data from legal entities responsible for reporting dispositions. Our tools use matching algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to identify large volumes of missing dispositions and prepare them for populating missing information in the CCH.
• Acquisition of new systems – MCP can help agencies navigate the system acquisition process by establishing a business case and managing procurement and implementation. MCP also provides vendor management support, business process design, and change management support.
• Support and advisory services – MCP provides strategic planning services and oversees funding initiatives to support system operations, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Data integration services – MCP helps clients integrate data so that analytics and reporting can be performed and develops custom workflows and application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable data sharing between legacy and next-generation systems.

Program Priority Areas for Funding

Updating and automating case outcomes from courts and prosecutors in state or tribal records and the FBI’s criminal history file. Examples:

• Implementing/upgrading court records systems to facilitate the identification of disposition records
• Implementing improved procedures for capturing criminal history information
• Capturing complete data from prosecutors and courts regarding misdemeanor convictions of domestic violence
• Establishing automated interfaces between criminal justice agencies based on the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)
• Reducing the backlog of missing court dispositions
• Converting manual or other nonautomated criminal history records to electronic records
• Establishing more effective controls to improve data quality and accuracy, including data analysis
• Upgrading equipment to improve data availability; maintenance costs can be covered for the initial 12-month period
• Ensuring compatibility with federal records systems and implementing strategies to integrate systems and interface all criminal justice system components

Improving access to information concerning persons prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm for mental health reasons and transmitting relevant records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Examples:

• Identifying and developing access to data regarding persons prohibited from firearm purchases under the Gun Control Act
• Instituting programming or operational changes in records management required to comply with NICS record-keeping requirements and reporting the status of transactions.
• Establishing electronic interfaces or information exchanges between criminal history records, sex offender registries, and civil protection order files to ensure that a complete data review is possible

Supporting participation in the Interstate Identification Index (III) and the National Fingerprint File (NFF), including the adoption and implementation of the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. Examples:

• Automating criminal record databases
• Developing software and hardware necessary to enable electronic access to state records on an interstate or intrastate basis

Additional Grant Details

This solicitation requires a 10 percent cash or in-kind match. Federal funds may not cover more than 10 percent of the project's total costs.

Who can apply?

• The applicant must be an agency designated by the governor to administer the NCHIP or a federally recognized tribe.
• States can apply as a multistate consortium or another entity.
• Agencies that are or will be following a comprehensive strategy for information-sharing systems to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, with an emphasis on integration.

Grant Assistance Resources

MCP has years of experience helping its clients answer questions and offering insights on how to craft a successful application. We have partnered with the experts at Lexipol to provide grant application assistance across many public-sector categories.

Click HERE if you would like to speak to a MCP grant expert.