Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Grants: $12.4M to Cut Juvenile Recidivism (FY 2026)

OJJDP has opened the FY 2026 Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Program — $12,440,720 for an anticipated 16 awards of up to $750,000 to fund comprehensive reentry services for moderate- to high-risk youth returning to their communities from juvenile residential and correctional facilities. Counties, cities, states, and Tribes compete under Category 1 (about 5 awards); community-based nonprofits compete under Category 2 (about 11 awards). Awards run 36 months starting January 1, 2027, on DOJ's two-step clock: Grants.gov by November 2, JustGrants by November 9. And the requirement that will surprise government applicants who only read the Grants.gov listing: Category 1 carries a 50% cost-sharing (match) requirement, and the NOFO deems applications without it ineligible.

What Is the Second Chance Act Youth Reentry Program?

The program funds partnerships that support moderate- to high-risk youth before, during, and after release from confinement. The stated goal for both categories: improve youth outcomes and public safety by reducing recidivism — which the NOFO defines precisely as a return to a residential placement facility, jail, or prison with a new juvenile adjudication or criminal conviction, or as the result of a supervision violation, within 24 months of initial release. That definition matters because your performance reporting, evaluation design, and case management windows should all be built around it.

The NOFO splits funding into two categories with different applicants, objectives, and rules:

• Category 1 — Improving Youth Reentry (≈5 awards): states, local governments, and Tribal governments, in partnership with corrections and supervision agencies, service providers, and nonprofits, providing comprehensive reentry services across the full release arc. Objectives: identify the supports each youth needs by consulting the youth, family, and case management team; develop comprehensive pre- and post-release reentry plans; and coordinate community-based programs through case management.
• Category 2 — Strengthening Community-Based Youth Reentry Programs (≈11 awards): nonprofit organizations providing transitional services that reintegrate youth into the community — implemented or expanded in partnership with corrections, parole, probation, and other reentry service providers, with case management plans driven by validated risk and needs assessment tools.

Who Can Apply

Category 1 — government entities:

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Federally recognized Native American Tribal governments
• Other units of local government — towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, and other general-purpose political subdivisions

Category 2 — nonprofit organizations (other than institutions of higher education), with or without IRS 501(c)(3) status.

Each application applies to only one category, but you may submit more than one application if each proposes a different project. Multi-entity projects name a single applicant; all other partners participate as subrecipients — and an entity can be a subrecipient in more than one application.

The 50% Match Governments Won't See on Grants.gov

The Grants.gov metadata for this opportunity reports no cost sharing — because Category 2 has none. But the NOFO is explicit for Category 1: federal funds require a 50 percent match from nonfederal sources. For each federal dollar awarded, the recipient must put 50 cents toward project costs, in cash and/or in-kind contributions, and an application that does not include the required cost sharing will be deemed ineligible for funding — not scored lower, ineligible.

On a full $750,000 request, that's $375,000 in match a county or city must document across the 36-month period. In-kind counts — probation officer time, facility space, existing case management staff — but it must be valued and sourced per the DOJ Grants Financial Guide. This is the single most common reason a government application to this program dies late in development: the budget office learns about the match in week four. Put it in front of your finance director in week one.

Category 2's MOU Requirement

Category 2 applicants must attach a draft or fully executed MOU demonstrating an established relationship with the correctional agencies that (1) oversee the specific facility or facilities the applicant will recruit reentering youth from, and (2) oversee community corrections — probation and/or parole — for the target population. The point is pre-release access: Category 2 projects must be able to conduct pre-release case planning at least 90 days before a youth's release.

Unsigned drafts are acceptable at application if a cover page explains why — but a fully executed MOU must be submitted to OJJDP before you can access award funds in excess of $50,000, and it must remain in effect for the whole period of performance. Each MOU should name the organizations, the services each will perform, duration, staff roles, facility access terms, prerelease programming, and the partnership timeline. Category 1 applicants should document their partnerships too — corrections and supervision agencies, service providers, nonprofits — through an MOU as evidence.

Priority Considerations

OJP may give priority consideration to applications advancing DOJ-wide goals — supporting law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, supporting services to citizens, protecting children, and supporting victims of trafficking and sexual assault — and to applicants coordinating with federal law enforcement through established or committed 287(g) partnerships or Homeland Security Task Force participation, documented by a letter from the U.S. Attorney's Office or partnership evidence.

Beyond the agency-wide list, the Second Chance Act itself defines program-specific priorities. Category 1 applications get priority consideration for: partnering with a local evaluator to target the youth population and baseline the evaluation; focusing on geographic areas with a disproportionate population of released youth; incorporating input from nonprofits, facility administrators, released youth, crime victims, and families; effective case assessment and management, including prerelease transitional housing planning; establishing benefit eligibility before release along with housing referrals; continuous mental health, substance use, medical, job training, educational, and vocational services; reviewing how supervision violations are adjudicated, considering graduated community-based sanctions for minor and technical violations; independent evaluation with random assignment where possible; and targeting youth through validated risk assessment tools or youth with histories of homelessness, substance abuse, or mental illness. Category 2 priorities: activities demonstrated effective in youth reentry, and independent evaluation with random assignment. In every case, you must specify in the program design how you address the priority — claiming it isn't enough, and priority consideration doesn't guarantee funding.

What This Program Cannot Fund

• Any program or activity, at any tier, that violates (or promotes or facilitates the violation of) federal immigration law, including 8 U.S.C. § 1373, or that impedes federal immigration enforcement
• Any activity that violates federal civil rights or nondiscrimination law, including unlawfully favoring individuals in any race or protected group
• Legal services for removable or unlawfully present aliens, per the DOJ Grants Financial Guide (with narrow exceptions for victim protection orders and legal services expressly authorized by law)

Standard DOJ unallowable-cost rules under 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E and the DOJ Grants Financial Guide apply on top of these program-scope exclusions.

How Applications Are Scored

The application runs on JustGrants' Proposal Questionnaire format — each response capped at 1–2 paragraphs — weighted as follows:

• Description of the Need — 5%
• Project Goals and Objectives — 15%
• Project Design and Implementation — 35%: activities, delivery, timing, staffing, participants, deliverables, and how subrecipients will be identified and used
• Capabilities and Competencies — 30%: capacity to deliver and meet post-award requirements, comparable projects, and team experience
• Budget — 15%: itemized in the Budget Detail Worksheet, computation shown, costs reasonable, allocable, and necessary

Note the shape: design plus capabilities is 65% of the score, and the questionnaire format rewards tight, specific answers over narrative sprawl. Applications must also clear the responsiveness screen — eligible applicant, request within the $750,000 ceiling, responsive to the NOFO's scope.

Submission Mechanics and Timeline

1. SAM.gov: begin registration or renewal by October 2 and no later than October 16 — the NOFO sets explicit dates because SAM processing delays sink DOJ applications every cycle.
2. Step 1 — Grants.gov: SF-424 by 11:59 PM ET, November 2, 2026. Category 1 uses competition ID C-OJJDP-2026-00016-PROD; Category 2 uses C-OJJDP-2026-00017-PROD.
3. Step 2 — JustGrants: full application — standard applicant information, proposal abstract (2,000 characters), proposal questionnaire, budget detail worksheet, MOU (required for Category 2), résumés, timeline, disclosures — by 8:59 PM ET, November 9, 2026. Miss step one and step two is closed.
4. E.O. 12372 intergovernmental review does not apply. OJP's late-submission policy covers technical difficulties, severe weather, and disasters.

Awards are expected to start January 1, 2027, run 36 months, and carry regular performance reporting toward the NOFO's goals — built on that 24-month recidivism definition.

Practical Guidance for FY 2026 Applicants

• Category 1 applicants: brief your budget office on the 50% match this week. It's the difference between a $750K project and a $1.125M project on your books — and the NOFO's ineligibility language leaves no room to fix it after submission.
• Start SAM.gov renewal now. The NOFO's own drop-dead is October 16 — under three weeks from the release date.
• Category 2 applicants: open the MOU conversation with your correctional agencies immediately. You need both the facility side and the probation/parole side, drafts must explain themselves, and no executed MOU means your award is capped at $50,000 in accessible funds.
• Line up a local evaluator early. Evaluation partnership and random-assignment designs appear in the statutory priorities for both categories — and an evaluator shapes your data collection around the 24-month recidivism window from day one.
• Use validated risk and needs assessment tools in the design. Targeting moderate- to high-risk youth through validated tools is both a program requirement and a priority-consideration trigger.
• Write to the questionnaire, not past it. Responses are capped at 1–2 paragraphs each; the 35% design section is won with specifics — named partners, named facilities, named tools, dated milestones.

Contact Information

• Program questions: OJP Response Center — OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov, 800-851-3420 (9–5 ET weekdays)
• Grants.gov help: 800-518-4726, support@grants.gov (24/7)
• JustGrants help: 833-872-5175 or JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov

How Avila Can Help

This is a five-week application with several moving institutional pieces: a 50% match through your finance office (Category 1), a two-sided correctional MOU (Category 2), an evaluator partnership, and a questionnaire-format narrative where design and capabilities carry 65% of the score. Avila helps counties, cities, and their community partners find opportunities like this early, decode NOFO requirements, and draft competitive responses. Book a demo to see how juvenile justice and community services teams use Avila on exactly this kind of application.

For related federal-grant guides, see our posts on the FY 2026 BJA Public Safety and Mental Health Initiative, the FY 2026 Byrne JAG formula program, and OVC victim services funding. For registration prerequisites, see SAM.gov registration and Grants.gov registration.