U.S. Department of Justice · Bureau of Justice Statistics
O-BJS-2026-172682
Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole, 2026–2030
Cooperative agreement
$2,250,000
None required
September 21, 2026 · 11:59 p.m. ET
September 28, 2026 · 8:59 p.m. ET
What BJS is seeking
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has opened a five-year funding opportunity for an organization to operate the Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole for reference years 2026 through 2030.
The work includes annual data collection, processing, analysis, quality review, documentation, dissemination, and development of additional community-corrections data capabilities.
BJS anticipates making one cooperative agreement of up to $2.25 million for a 60-month project beginning in federal fiscal year 2027.
The surveys form a core part of national community-supervision data
The Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole provide national, federal, and state-level information about people under community supervision.
The collections measure probation and parole population size, movements onto and off supervision, demographic and supervision characteristics, and outcomes associated with community supervision.
BJS reports that millions of people are supervised on probation or parole each year, making the collections a central source for understanding the scale and operation of community corrections in the United States.
The work goes beyond annual survey administration
The recipient will be expected to improve the quality, consistency, timeliness, and usability of probation and parole data while supporting BJS with annual datasets, statistical tables, methodological documentation, and rapid-turnaround analysis.
The project also includes maintaining relationships with community-corrections agencies and identifying ways to improve participation, reduce reporting burden, and strengthen the usefulness of the resulting data.
BJS further expects the recipient to help develop future data collections that can examine how probation and parole agency organization, practices, and policies relate to supervision populations and outcomes.
A web-based national data collection system is part of the award
The funding notice calls for a web-based data collection system capable of supporting probation and parole agencies with different technical resources and information systems.
The system is expected to include automated validation and error checking, historical-data access, downloadable records, data visualizations, multiple export formats, and support for longitudinal information.
BJS also requires the system to be transferable so that the government or another designated data-collection agent can assume responsibility for it in the future.
The notice calls for nonproprietary software and an architecture that can be modified as the surveys and reporting requirements change.
Data exchange and interoperability are explicit priorities
BJS encourages collection methods that can take advantage of agency information systems and structured data exchange.
The funding notice identifies formats such as XML and other exchange approaches as potential tools for reducing manual reporting burden and facilitating data sharing.
The recipient must also maintain a survey-management environment capable of tracking collection activity, agency contacts, response status, data quality, missing information, and other operational details in real time.
The project reaches hundreds of probation and parole agencies
The national collections involve agencies with different organizational structures, technical capabilities, reporting practices, and levels of government.
The Annual Survey of Parole is distributed to state and federal parole-reporting agencies, while the probation collections include central reporting agencies and additional agencies responsible for felony and misdemeanor supervision.
That variation creates an ongoing need for standardized definitions, technical support, validation, data-quality review, and consistent national reporting.
Who can compete
Eligible applicants include:
- state and local governments;
- federally recognized Tribal governments;
- public and private institutions of higher education;
- nonprofit organizations;
- small businesses; and
- other for-profit organizations.
Where multiple organizations participate, one entity must serve as the direct applicant and other organizations may participate as subrecipients.
This is a cooperative agreement, not a procurement contract
The opportunity is federal financial assistance rather than a SAM.gov procurement.
That distinction matters because BJS expects substantial involvement in the project while the recipient operates the data collection and analysis work.
From a justice-market perspective, however, the opportunity remains significant because businesses, including small businesses and other for-profit organizations, are expressly eligible to compete.
What the selected recipient will be expected to deliver
Collection platform
A transferable web-based data system with validation, historical records, visualization, downloads, and flexible survey configuration.
Survey operations
National respondent management, follow-up, agency support, collection tracking, and data-quality monitoring.
Statistical production
Annual datasets, state-level tables, documentation, quality review, missing-data procedures, and analytical support for BJS.
Future supervision data
Research and recommendations for new collections linking agency organization, supervision practices, policies, populations, and outcomes.
BJS also wants stronger connections with the probation and parole field
The recipient will support outreach to probation and parole agencies, professional organizations, researchers, and other community-corrections stakeholders.
BJS specifically identifies opportunities to strengthen relationships with state and local community-corrections organizations and professional networks.
The award may also involve participation with BJS at conferences, meetings, and other professional forums where probation, parole, data, and community-corrections issues are discussed.
Why this matters for probation and parole systems
The opportunity provides a clear view of the federal government's current priorities for community-supervision data.
BJS is seeking more than a population count. The project combines nationwide data collection, data-quality controls, web technology, interoperability, historical access, rapid analysis, agency engagement, and research into the organization and operation of probation and parole agencies.
The award is therefore relevant to supervision agencies, researchers, statistical organizations, universities, survey-platform developers, data-integration firms, and other organizations working at the intersection of justice administration and data infrastructure.
Application deadlines
What OACRA is watching next
- amendments to the funding opportunity;
- selection of the five-year ASPP recipient;
- the identity and capabilities of the selected organization;
- changes to the national probation and parole collection architecture;
- new data-exchange or interoperability methods;
- development of additional community-corrections surveys;
- new measures concerning supervision-agency practices and policies; and
- future ASPP datasets and national probation and parole statistics.
Primary sources
Bureau of Justice Statistics — FY2026 Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole, 2026–2030
Opportunity O-BJS-2026-172682.
Review the official Notice of Funding Opportunity ↗
OACRA News & Policy Review tracks official policy, funding, procurement, corrections, reentry, supervision, research, and justice-service developments. This article summarizes primary U.S. government information for informational purposes and does not constitute legal, grant-writing, procurement, or statistical advice.
