Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing Program
The Office of Justice Programs, otherwise known as OJP, is a federal government agency operating within the United States Department of Justice that is primarily responsible for ensuring crime prevention through research and development, providing help to state and local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies through grants, and assistance to crime victims.
The grants and programs of the OJP are all geared towards the realization of its major agency mission which is to “increase public safety and improve the fair administration of justice across America through innovative leadership and programs.”
In keeping with this mission, the Office of Justice Programs has recently announced the establishment of Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing Program.
The Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing Program was primarily established to attain a threefold objective:
a) To be able to help eligible entities in performing DNA analysis on unidentified human remains and/or reference samples to support the attempts of States local government units to identify missing persons;
b) To be able to enter the resulting DNA profiles into the FBI’s National DNA Index System using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS); and ultimately
c) To be able to enter any relevant case information related to unidentified remains into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), as deemed suitable by any of the eligible submitting agencies.
Effectively, this programme was also established to support the emerging improvement in more recent DNA technologies which are accepted to have significantly increased the successful analysis of aged, degraded, limited, or alternatively compromised biological evidence.
To support the initiatives under the Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing Program, the Office of Justice Programs is ready to administer grants in the amount of $3,000,000.
The OJP will be providing funding to the awardees for a time period ranging from 18 months to 3 years.
The establishments and organizations who will be believed eligible to submit an application under this program are the following:
a) Private and Public Non-profit entities
b) State and Local Governments
c) Indian Tribal Governments and Organizations
d) Faith-based Organizations
e) Community-based Organizations
f) Institutions of Higher Education
g) Private and Public Universities and Schools
h) Independent School Districts
The Department of Justice, the mother agency financing the programme in focus, is the country’s premiere agency intended to guarantee public safety against domestic and foreign threats, provide Federal leadership crime prevention, and finally, ensure fair and unprejudiced administration of justice in all of America.
Michael Saunders is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs.
He also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.