OJJDP FY24 Enhancing Youth Defense | O OJJDP 2024 172015

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2024 172015

The OJJDP FY24 Enhancing Youth Defense grant opportunity is a discretionary funding program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), focused on improving how legal defense services are delivered to young people in the juvenile justice system. The core purpose is to strengthen the quality, consistency, and effectiveness of youth representation by helping jurisdictions make targeted, sustainable upgrades to their youth defense delivery systems. In practical terms, the solicitation is aimed at helping states and local governments move beyond one-off fixes and instead build lasting structures, policies, and practices that ensure youth have stronger defense advocacy throughout the juvenile process.

The opportunity is built around the idea that better youth defense is not only a fairness issue, but also a public safety and system performance issue. OJJDP frames enhanced representation as a pathway to improved youth outcomes, reduced recidivism, and safer communities. It also highlights broader system benefits, including potential cost savings (for example, through reduced detention or more appropriate case outcomes) and increased public confidence in the juvenile justice system. The program’s approach emphasizes system improvements that can be maintained over time rather than temporary enhancements that fade once grant funding ends.

Eligible applicants include state governments and a range of local government entities, specifically county governments, city or township governments, and special district governments. The assistance mechanism is a grant, and the activity area is categorized under Law, Justice and Legal Services. The program is associated with CFDA number 16.836, which is commonly used for OJJDP funding opportunities and related juvenile justice system initiatives.

Key administrative details are as follows: the funding opportunity title is "OJJDP FY24 Enhancing Youth Defense," and the funding opportunity number is O-OJJDP-2024-172015. The solicitation was created on March 6, 2024, and the original closing date for applications was April 15, 2024. The award ceiling is $400,000 per award. The source data indicates expected awards, but the specific number is not provided in the information shared.

A notable feature of the solicitation is that it supports jurisdictions not only through direct grant funding, but also through national training and technical assistance (TTA). This signals that OJJDP is promoting a learning and capacity-building model where participating sites can improve practice with guidance, resources, and structured support. The goal of pairing funding with TTA is typically to help jurisdictions implement changes more effectively, align with proven or promising practices, and embed improvements into policy, training, oversight, and day-to-day operations so they continue after the grant period ends.

Overall, this grant opportunity is designed for state and local agencies that want to strengthen youth defense at a system level, with an emphasis on durable reforms that improve legal representation and, by extension, youth and community outcomes.

• The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY24 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 2024-03-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-15. (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.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments.

Apply for O OJJDP 2024 172015

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