OJJDP FY 2023 Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance Program | O OJJDP 2023 171605

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2023 171605

The OJJDP FY 2023 Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance Program is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), aimed at strengthening how communities prevent, identify, and respond to cases involving missing and exploited children. The core purpose is to fund a national-level effort that develops and delivers training and technical assistance (TTA) to the professionals most likely to encounter these cases, with an emphasis on coordinated, multidisciplinary responses that improve outcomes for children and families.

The opportunity sits within broader Department of Justice priorities that emphasize civil rights, racial equity, access to justice, support for crime victims, community safety, and improved public trust. OJJDP frames the work in the context of its juvenile justice transformation goals: treating children as children, serving children at home with their families and in their communities, and expanding opportunity for youth who are system-involved or at risk of system involvement. Applicants are expected to show how their approach to missing and exploited children aligns with that philosophy, including how training content and technical assistance strategies account for fairness, equity, and trauma-informed practice when children and families interact with law enforcement, courts, child welfare, healthcare, and related systems.

A defining requirement in this solicitation is meaningful youth and family partnership. OJJDP signals that youth and family members with lived experience should be treated as essential partners, not just recipients of services. Applications must explain how youth and families will be integrated and sustained in the project plan and budget, which can include partnership at the individual level (for example, in case planning and service delivery before, during, and after system contact), the agency level (informing policy, program design, implementation, evaluation, staffing, advisory bodies, and budget development), and the system level (supporting strategic planning, system improvement initiatives, advocacy strategies, and reform efforts). In practice, this means the successful applicant is expected to build mechanisms that keep youth and family voice consistently present in decision-making, not added on as an afterthought.

Programmatically, OJJDP is looking for a provider that can improve and expand the development and implementation of training and technical assistance focused on effective responses to missing and exploited children issues. The intended audience is explicitly multidisciplinary, including prosecutors, state and local law enforcement, child protection personnel, medical providers, and other child-serving professionals. The emphasis on multidisciplinary teams reflects the reality that these cases often cross jurisdictions and systems, require rapid coordination, and benefit from shared protocols, clear communication channels, and consistent application of best practices. The funded work can reasonably be understood as covering training design and delivery, hands-on technical assistance to agencies and jurisdictions, and the practical tools and guidance that help teams operationalize effective responses.

In addition to the training and technical assistance mission, the program also includes responsibility for supporting the implementation of all National Missing Childrens Day activities. That component signals a national coordination and support role, likely involving planning assistance, resources, outreach materials, and other forms of support that help partners recognize the day and promote awareness, prevention, and effective responses.

The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates a closer working relationship with the funding agency than a standard grant, including substantial federal involvement in key aspects of the project. The solicitation anticipates a single award, with an expected award ceiling of $1,900,000. The opportunity number is O-OJJDP-2023-171605, associated with CFDA 16.543, and it was posted February 23, 2023 with an original closing date of April 13, 2023.

Eligible applicants span a wide range of organizational types, reflecting the national scope and specialized nature of the work. Eligible entities include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), for-profit organizations (other than small businesses), and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments). This wide eligibility suggests OJJDP is primarily focused on the applicants capacity, expertise, partnerships, and demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality training and technical assistance at scale, rather than limiting eligibility to a narrow category.

Overall, this solicitation is best understood as funding a national or near-national training and technical assistance hub focused on missing and exploited children, designed to strengthen cross-system practice, improve consistency and quality of responses, and embed youth and family partnership into the work in a durable, budgeted, and operational way, while also ensuring National Missing Childrens Day activities are fully supported and effectively carried out.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY 2023 Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.543.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 23, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 13, 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 $1,900,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), 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, For profit organizations other than small businesses.

Apply for O OJJDP 2023 171605

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