OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs | O OJJDP 2025 172464

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2025 172464

The OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: O-OJJDP-2025-172464) is a discretionary grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). It is designed to support national organizations in implementing and delivering mentoring services for youth who are considered at risk or high risk for juvenile delinquency, victimization, and involvement with the juvenile justice system. The overall focus is on using structured mentoring as a prevention and early intervention strategy to improve young peoples outcomes and reduce the likelihood of harmful or system-involved trajectories.

At its core, the program aims to strengthen protective factors and reduce negative outcomes for vulnerable youth by expanding access to quality mentoring. The opportunity emphasizes both service reach and service quality. That means OJJDP is not only looking for programs that can serve more young people, but also for programs that can demonstrate strong infrastructure for recruiting, screening, training, and supporting mentors in ways that reflect what research and field experience suggest works best. The grant is framed around mentoring as a practical, relationship-based approach that can address risk factors tied to delinquency and victimization, while promoting positive youth development.

The stated objectives highlight three main priorities. First, increase the number of at-risk or high-risk youth who receive mentoring services, which points to an expectation of measurable growth in participation and service delivery. Second, increase the number of mentors who are appropriately screened and well trained, signaling that grantees should have clear, rigorous mentor onboarding processes that prioritize youth safety and match quality, not just raw recruitment numbers. Third, develop and implement program design enhancements that align with effective mentoring approaches. This objective encourages applicants to strengthen their models through evidence-informed improvements, such as better matching practices, structured mentor-mentee activities, ongoing supervision and support for mentors, approaches that improve retention and relationship duration, and other enhancements that make mentoring more reliable and impactful.

The award mechanism is a grant under the Law, Justice and Legal Services funding activity category, with CFDA number 16.726. The eligibility category is listed as "Others," and the description makes clear the intended applicant pool is national organizations. The program anticipates making approximately 3 awards, with an award ceiling of up to $30,000,000. The original application closing date is October 27, 2025, and the opportunity was created on September 18, 2025.

In practical terms, this opportunity is geared toward large-scale, national-level mentoring efforts that can demonstrate the capacity to deliver mentoring services at meaningful scale while maintaining strong program quality controls. Competitive proposals will typically need to show a credible plan for reaching at-risk youth populations, ensuring mentor readiness and accountability through screening and training, and continuously improving program design so that mentoring relationships are safe, supported, and more likely to produce positive results for participating youth.

• The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.726.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $30,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for O OJJDP 2025 172464

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