BJA Opens FY2026 Smart Reentry Funding for Community Reentry Programs
BJA Opens FY2026 Smart Reentry Funding for Community Reentry Programs
The Bureau of Justice Assistance has opened a new federal funding opportunity for state, local, and tribal governments developing comprehensive adult reentry strategies, with up to $6.8 million available nationally.
The FY2026 Smart Reentry Demonstration Program is open for applications. BJA anticipates making up to seven awards of as much as $1.1 million each for 36-month projects focused on successful adult reentry and reduced recidivism.
- Opportunity
- O-BJA-2026-172673
- Agency
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance
- Program
- FY2026 Smart Reentry Demonstration Program
- Posted
- August 13, 2026
- Total funding
- Up to $6,805,353
- Anticipated awards
- Up to 7
- Award amount
- Up to $1,100,000
- Project period
- 36 months, anticipated to begin October 1, 2026
- Match
- 50% of total project costs, subject to the NOFO's fiscal-hardship waiver process
- Status
- Open
What opened
The Bureau of Justice Assistance released its FY2026 Smart Reentry Demonstration Program funding opportunity on August 13, 2026.
The program supports state, local, and tribal governments seeking to implement comprehensive and collaborative reentry strategies for people returning to communities from adult correctional facilities. Funded projects must also establish or expand a program or service intended to reduce recidivism.
What BJA is funding
BJA describes the central goal as implementing comprehensive approaches to reentry that reduce recidivism and enhance public safety.
Projects are expected to identify a target population returning from adult correctional facilities, implement an intervention addressing factors that inhibit successful reentry, and measure outcomes to determine what contributes to success or failure.
Required strategic planning is expected to examine available programs, services, resources, reentry needs, recidivism patterns, and gaps affecting the population being served.
Housing, health, treatment, employment and other services are part of the reentry framework
The NOFO calls for coordination across a broad reentry ecosystem. BJA specifically identifies stakeholders working in public safety, corrections, housing, health, education, substance-use services, children and families, victims' services, employment, business, nonprofit organizations, and other reentry-service fields.
That means the funding opportunity is not limited to corrections operations alone. Successful government applicants may need relationships with community organizations and service providers capable of addressing practical barriers encountered during reentry.
Who can apply
Direct applicants are government entities. Eligible applicants include:
- state governments;
- county governments;
- city or township governments;
- special district governments;
- federally recognized tribal governments;
- tribal governments other than federally recognized tribes; and
- other qualifying units of local government.
Community organizations, nonprofits, treatment providers, workforce organizations, housing organizations, researchers, and other entities may still be important project partners or subrecipients where permitted, but they should not interpret that partnership role as independent eligibility to serve as the direct applicant under this NOFO.
Community supervision is expressly part of the funding priorities
One of BJA's additional priority considerations concerns how an applicant handles violations of parole, probation, or other post-release supervision.
The NOFO identifies projects that commit to reviewing supervision-violation processes while considering public safety and the use of graduated, community-based sanctions for minor and technical violations.
Other priority considerations include projects serving geographic areas with disproportionate numbers of people returning from prisons or jails, targeting people assessed as moderate or high risk for recidivism, and serving people with histories of homelessness, substance use, or mental illness.
Data and evaluation requirements matter
The opportunity places significant emphasis on measurement. Applicants must provide a mandatory chief executive assurance concerning collection of unique identifiers and recidivism-indicator performance data for program participants.
BJA also identifies partnerships with local evaluators as a priority consideration and expects funded programs to track outcomes and evaluate implementation.
For agencies preparing an application, the funding opportunity therefore combines service delivery with data collection, performance measurement, cross-agency coordination, and long-term sustainability planning.
The match requirement
The FY2026 opportunity requires a 50% match based on total project costs. Federal funds may cover no more than half of the total project cost, with the recipient responsible for the remaining share through qualifying cash and/or in-kind contributions.
BJA states that a match waiver may be requested when a grantee can document fiscal hardship. Applicants seeking a waiver must follow the documentation and submission requirements in the NOFO.
September 24, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET: SF-424 submission through Grants.gov.
October 1, 2026, 8:59 p.m. ET: Full application submission through JustGrants.
BJA advises applicants needing SAM.gov registration or renewal to begin that process early and no later than the timing specified in the funding notice.
Why it matters
The Smart Reentry program provides a current federal funding pathway for jurisdictions seeking to connect correctional release planning with community-based services and measurable public-safety outcomes.
The scope is particularly relevant to agencies developing coordinated approaches involving housing stability, treatment, behavioral health, employment, supervision, and other services that can affect whether a person successfully transitions from incarceration into the community.
The opportunity also illustrates a broader federal expectation: reentry programs are increasingly being asked not only to provide services, but to demonstrate coordination, identify measurable needs, track recidivism-related outcomes, and document whether interventions work.
Primary sources
-
Bureau of Justice Assistance — FY2026 Smart Reentry Demonstration Program
View the official BJA opportunity -
U.S. Department of Justice — Official FY2026 Smart Reentry NOFO
View the official funding notice
