Last reviewed: September 2026
Whether Department of Justice (DOJ) grant funds can pay for program evaluation depends on which office makes the award. Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) solicitations generally permit award funds for project evaluations. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) rules vary by solicitation: some earlier solicitations disallowed research and evaluation costs, while the FY 2026 solicitations point applicants to OJP’s guidance on project evaluations. The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) lists research as unallowable, with a narrow allowance for internal assessments. Across all four offices, evaluation conducted only for internal program improvement or required performance reporting is treated differently from research, and that distinction drives every office’s rule.
Grant writers and project directors ask me this often. They look for a single rule that covers all of DOJ. There is not one. Below, I explain the research distinction, walk through each office’s solicitation language, and show how to budget in each case.
I’m Dr. James Pann, principal consultant at EvalNetwork. For more than 25 years, I have served as the external evaluator on federally funded justice system, behavioral health, and youth development programs, including programs funded by DOJ. Fitting the evaluation to each funder’s rules is part of that work.
The rule underneath everything: research versus internal improvement
DOJ’s human subjects regulations at 28 CFR Part 46 define research as a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Restrictive solicitations use that definition to decide what they actually restrict. When a DOJ solicitation disallows research and evaluation costs, it bars studies built to produce generalizable findings, the kind a researcher would publish.
The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) draws the other half of the line in its grant application guidance: project evaluations intended only to generate internal improvements to a program or service, or conducted only to meet OJP’s performance measure data reporting requirements, likely do not constitute research. That work is designing data systems, tracking implementation and outcomes for the program’s own use, managing required reporting, and running continuous quality improvement. Most grantees need an evaluation partner for exactly that work. Restrictive solicitations still allow it.
OJP also publishes a decision tree applicants can use to tell whether a proposed activity is human subjects research. If you propose to use award funds for evaluation, OJP expects enough information to make that determination. The way you scope and describe the evaluator’s role puts the project on one side of the line or the other.
OJJDP: check each solicitation’s evaluation language
Some earlier OJJDP competitive solicitations, including national mentoring programs, stated that research and evaluation activities were not supported and disallowed the related costs. The four FY 2026 solicitations released in September do not include that language. Each says an applicant proposing to use award funds for project evaluations must follow OJP’s guidance on project evaluations, and the Youth Reentry solicitation gives priority consideration to applicants that partner with a local evaluator and plan an independent evaluation. The FY 2026 solicitations also replace the scored data collection narrative with a JustGrants questionnaire in which project design and implementation is worth 35 percent.
What this means for your budget: Read the allowable costs language in the specific solicitation. Where it disallows research, budget the data collection plan and reporting through the OJJDP Performance Measurement Platform, plus internal program improvement support, and leave a formal outcome study out. Where it follows OJP’s project evaluation guidance, as the FY 2026 solicitations do, an evaluation budget can be included. Our OJJDP guide covers this in depth.
BJA: evaluation plans required, evaluation costs allowed
BJA takes the opposite approach. Recent treatment court solicitations require applicants to describe their capacity to collect and analyze client-level data, and to present a performance management and evaluation plan. Those solicitations also state that applicants may use award funds to conduct project evaluations under OJP’s guidance. Grantees use BJA’s Performance Measurement Tool for reporting and file progress reports in JustGrants.
What this means for your budget: Put a real external evaluation line in the budget. A defensible design typically costs 8 to 12 percent of the award. The solicitation allows that line, and reviewers reward it. Name the evaluator in the application if you are applying for a treatment court, a Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) partnership, or a similar program. Our treatment court guide covers the details.
OVC: performance reports required, evaluation permitted
OVC requires regular performance reports that document progress toward the program’s goals and objectives. Each program has its own measures. OVC notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs) permit applicants to use award funds for project evaluations under OJP’s project evaluation guidance.
What this means for your budget: Treat the budget the way you would on a BJA award. If the program would benefit, include an evaluation line. Design it around the confidentiality and trauma-informed practice this field requires. Our OVC victim services guide covers what that design involves.
OVW: research unallowable, narrow room for internal assessment
OVW is the most restrictive of the four. Its solicitations list research projects as an unallowable activity, using the same 28 CFR Part 46 definition. They allow assessments conducted for internal improvement purposes only. Recent solicitations have permitted up to one percent of award funds for internal needs assessments, for example listening sessions or training surveys. OVW grantees submit performance data on the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative’s semiannual forms. OVW can also require grantees to cooperate with evaluators it hires.
What this means for your budget: Pay for data capacity and reporting support, not an evaluation study. On an OVW grant, an evaluation partner can improve reporting quality, run internal assessment within the allowed scope, and build data systems.
The reporting systems, side by side
Every DOJ grantee reports performance data somewhere. If you name the right system in the application, reviewers can see that you understand the reporting the award requires. OJJDP grantees use the OJJDP Performance Measurement Platform. BJA grantees use the Performance Measurement Tool and file semiannual progress reports in JustGrants. OVW grantees use the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative forms. OVC grantees submit performance measures on the schedule their program specifies, through DOJ’s systems.
All four offices require performance reporting. Evaluation is what varies by office: the work of answering whether and how the program worked. A good evaluation partner builds one data infrastructure that feeds the required reporting and answers the program’s own questions, so you are not collecting the same information twice.
How DOJ compares to SAMHSA
Many organizations run both justice and behavioral health work, and they hold awards from DOJ and from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). People often apply SAMHSA’s rules to a DOJ grant, or the reverse. SAMHSA discretionary grants expect an evaluation section and support evaluation costs in the budget. DOJ’s rules, as above, change by office. If your certified community behavioral health clinic or substance use grant funds a full external evaluation, do not assume an OJJDP mentoring grant can do the same without checking its solicitation. On a BJA application, do not skip a real evaluation budget because you read an OJJDP rule. Our SAMHSA grant evaluation guide covers the SAMHSA requirements.
If you need a rigorous outcome study anyway
Some programs need evidence the field can generalize from, for scale or for sustainability arguments. If the program grant cannot pay for that study, the usual paths are a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) research solicitation, a foundation grant, or a university partnership that brings its own research funding. The program grant then funds the data infrastructure that makes the study feasible. Every office allows that cost.
How EvalNetwork helps
A DOJ program evaluator is an evaluation professional who scopes measurement and evaluation work to match each DOJ office’s rules, designs the data collection that feeds required reporting, and turns that data into findings the program can use to improve and to sustain funding.
EvalNetwork is a program evaluation consulting firm. We have spent more than 25 years evaluating justice system, behavioral health, and youth development programs with funding from DOJ, SAMHSA, and other federal agencies. The DOJ grant evaluation page is where we compare all four grant-making offices. We read the solicitation’s measurement and evaluation language as written and draft those sections with your grant writer, then put the right costs in the budget on the first pass and stay with the evaluation for the life of the award.
Frequently Asked Questions About DOJ Evaluation Funding
Can OJJDP grant funds pay for an external evaluator?
It depends on the solicitation. An evaluation partner scoped to the data collection plan and performance measurement is allowable. Some earlier OJJDP solicitations disallowed research and evaluation costs, which ruled out a formal outcome study. The FY 2026 solicitations instead point applicants to OJP’s guidance on project evaluations, and the Youth Reentry solicitation gives priority consideration to an independent evaluation.
Does BJA allow evaluation costs in treatment court grants?
Yes. Recent BJA treatment court solicitations say applicants may use award funds to conduct project evaluations, following OJP’s project evaluation guidance. Those solicitations also require a performance management and evaluation plan.
Does OVC allow award funds to pay for evaluation?
Yes. OVC NOFOs permit applicants to use award funds for project evaluations under OJP’s guidance. Most victim services applications stop at the required performance counts. A named evaluator with a real plan and budget line strengthens the application.
Does OVW allow evaluation costs?
No. OVW lists research as an unallowable activity. It permits only internal assessments. Recent solicitations cap those assessments at one percent of award funds. An evaluation partner on an OVW grant supports reporting quality, data systems, and assessment within that scope.
What counts as research under DOJ rules?
A systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge, per 28 CFR Part 46. If an evaluation is intended only for internal program improvement or required performance reporting, it likely does not meet that definition. That is why those evaluations stay fundable when a solicitation restricts research.
What is the difference between performance measurement and evaluation?
Performance measurement is the standardized output and outcome data every grantee must report through systems like the OJJDP Performance Measurement Platform, BJA’s Performance Measurement Tool, or OVW’s Measuring Effectiveness Initiative. Evaluation is a study designed around your specific program that answers whether and how it worked. One data system can feed both.
Do these rules change from year to year?
Yes. They also differ by program within the same office. The controlling text is the allowable costs section of the specific solicitation. Check the NOFO you are applying to before you finalize a budget. This page reflects solicitation language current as of the date at the top.
Not sure what your solicitation allows?
Send us the NOFO, and we will read its measurement and evaluation requirements and tell you what to budget. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation or get in touch.
