OJJDP FY25 Enhancing Youth Defense | O OJJDP 2025 172279

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2025 172279

The OJJDP FY25 Enhancing Youth Defense grant opportunity is a discretionary federal grant program from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) intended to strengthen youth defense systems and improve the quality of legal representation for young people involved in the juvenile justice system. The overall focus is on helping jurisdictions and organizations move beyond one-time fixes and instead build sustainable, system-level improvements in public defense services for youth. The program pairs funding for on-the-ground implementation with national training and technical assistance, aiming to help funded sites adopt better practices and maintain improvements over time.

The core purpose of the funding is to improve how youth are represented at every stage of the juvenile justice process, recognizing that effective defense is closely tied to fairer case outcomes and better long-term results for young people. OJJDP frames the anticipated impact broadly: improved youth outcomes, reduced recidivism, safer communities, cost savings, and increased public confidence in the juvenile justice system. In practical terms, this kind of program typically supports efforts that strengthen defense capacity and performance, improve access to counsel, enhance attorney training and supervision, support holistic or interdisciplinary defense approaches where appropriate, and promote policies and procedures that protect youths legal rights and developmental needs.

This opportunity is listed under CFDA number 16.836 and falls within the Law, Justice and Legal Services funding activity category. It uses the grant funding instrument type. The funding opportunity number is O-OJJDP-2025-172279, and the title is OJJDP FY25 Enhancing Youth Defense. The original application closing date is February 5, 2025, and the opportunity was created on December 20, 2024.

Funding is competitive, with an expected four awards. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $400,000. The notice emphasizes implementation and system improvement, which suggests applicants should be prepared to describe current gaps in youth defense, propose specific reforms or practice changes, outline how training and technical assistance will be used, and explain how improvements will be institutionalized so they last beyond the grant period.

A wide range of applicants are eligible, reflecting the fact that youth defense systems can be led or influenced by different entities depending on the state or locality. Eligible applicants include state governments; county governments; city or township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status; nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); and other entities listed as "Others." The notice also clarifies what is meant by "Other Units of Local Government" for this opportunity: towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general-purpose political subdivisions of a state.

In summary, this grant opportunity is designed for organizations and governments that are ready to strengthen juvenile public defense in a lasting way, using federal support and structured technical assistance to implement improvements that can be sustained, measured, and tied to better outcomes for youth and communities.

• The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY25 Enhancing Youth Defense" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.836.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-05. (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 $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for O OJJDP 2025 172279

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: