FY23 Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support - Community Policing Development (CPD) | O COPS 2023 171546

Opportunity Information: Apply for O COPS 2023 171546

The FY23 Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support - Community Policing Development (CPD) opportunity is a discretionary Department of Justice (DOJ), COPS Office cooperative agreement designed to strengthen law enforcement capacity to carry out community policing through practical guidance, proven approaches, and widely usable resources. It sits under the COPS Office Community Policing Development (CPD) umbrella, which is meant to help the field identify, test, and expand promising strategies that prevent crime, improve public safety, and build trust. The broader CPD emphasis is on producing "knowledge products" and implementation supports that are quality-driven, evidence-based, clear and usable for practitioners, and easy to remember and apply in real-world policing environments. The program is also framed around DOJ priorities such as civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting victims and justice-involved individuals, strengthening community safety, and improving police-community trust.

This specific CPD project area focuses on law enforcement accreditation, with the core idea that agencies and communities benefit when police operations align with recognized standards for policies, procedures, and accountability. In the COPS Office framing, accreditation can help reinforce transparency and consistent performance, which in turn can strengthen public confidence. Accreditation typically requires an agency to adopt and maintain operational standards defined by an accrediting entity, and those standards can vary depending on the accreditor. Rather than paying for individual agencies to become accredited, the COPS Office is looking to fund a provider that can raise national awareness about accreditation and help agencies navigate the process successfully.

Funding is limited to a single award with an award ceiling of up to $250,000, and the COPS Office expects to make one award. The opportunity number is O-COPS-2023-171546, the CFDA (now often referenced as Assistance Listing) is 16.710, and the activity category is Law, Justice and Legal Services. The solicitation was created March 15, 2023, with an original closing date of May 8, 2023. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means the federal agency anticipates being more involved than under a standard grant, often through collaboration, review of deliverables, and coordination on dissemination.

The main funded work is straightforward but national in scope: develop and execute a national marketing program plus provide technical assistance that supports law enforcement accreditation. The marketing component is expected to include resources such as multimedia presentations, webinars, and outreach campaigns that communicate why accreditation matters and encourage agencies to pursue it. The technical assistance component is expected to be delivered as a community of practice specifically for COPS Office "Law Enforcement Agencies Seeking Accreditation" grantees, creating a shared support structure where agencies can learn from each other, troubleshoot common barriers, and receive guidance aligned with the COPS Office approach. The overall aim is to increase awareness, spark interest, and improve the likelihood that state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies can successfully achieve accreditation through the related COPS Office accreditation grant program.

Applicants are expected to describe, in a concrete and operational way, how their proposed activities will move the needle. The required elements of the project description include: how the work will increase awareness and understanding of accreditation; what the marketing strategy is and what specific resources will be developed; how the community of practice will be structured and delivered as technical assistance; what subject matter expertise the leadership team and any consultants or subcontractors bring; and how the provider will measure or gauge the impact of the marketing, resources, and technical assistance. Deliverables should be clearly spelled out in the project narrative, and deliverables are expected to include nationally distributed accreditation promotion resources and the establishment/operation of the community of practice. The solicitation also notes that for all deliverables, recipients should follow the COPS Office Editorial and Style Manual, and that letters of support are strongly encouraged for any work that is site-specific.

Eligibility is limited to certain applicant types, including public governmental agencies, federally recognized tribes, institutions of higher education, for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and faith-based organizations. Proposals will be rejected as out of scope if they do not center on developing and delivering accreditation-focused marketing/resources/technical assistance. Several activities are explicitly excluded: using the award to pay accreditation fees; providing direct consultant activities (as a primary focus); and projects aimed at enhancing existing accreditation programs (the solicitation points applicants instead to a separate concept area related to expanding accreditation programs). In other words, this award is not meant to subsidize accreditation costs or rebuild accrediting bodies. It is meant to increase national demand and readiness by creating persuasive outreach and practical support that helps agencies complete accreditation successfully.

The opportunity is authorized under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (as amended) and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Title I, Part Q (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.), and like most federal awards it is subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any additional legal requirements that may apply. For program questions, the solicitation directs applicants to the COPS Office Response Center (800-421-6770) or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern, excluding federal holidays.

• The Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY23 Accreditation Resources and Implementation Support - Community Policing Development (CPD)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.710.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 15, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 08, 2023. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O COPS 2023 171546

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