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Grants / Justice and legal services

BJA FY 2026 Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program

Bureau of Justice Assistance, Department of Justice

Deadline
December 2, 2026
Award size
Up to $1 million
Matching funds
Not required
Fit for small groups
Better for larger organizations

In plain language

This grant helps pay for efforts to find and identify missing people and unidentified human remains. It supports better reporting, transportation, and forensic work related to these cases. The grant is meant to help improve public safety.

The money can pay for

  • Improving reporting of missing persons cases
  • Transporting human remains
  • Forensic processing of remains
  • Identifying missing persons

Who can apply

Local governments, state governments, some nonprofits, and certain public institutions can apply for this grant.

Is it a fit for a small group?

Better for larger organizations. This grant is mainly for government agencies, laboratories, and institutions, not for small community nonprofits like food pantries or youth programs.

Before you apply

  • Eligibility is limited to specific types of organizations
  • The grant focuses on law enforcement and forensic work
  • The deadline is December 2, 2026
  • Federal applicants need an active registration at SAM.gov and a Grants.gov account. Registration can take several weeks, so start early.

This summary was written by GrantGather with AI, based on the official listing. It can contain mistakes. Check the official listing on Grants.gov before you apply.

From the official listing

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the BJA FY 2026 Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program. This opportunity supports efforts to improve reporting, transportation, forensic processing, and identification of missing persons (MP) and unidentified human remains (UHR) cases, including those involving migrants as authorized by Public Law 116-277. This program increases public safety by providing resources to locate and identify missing persons and unidentified human remains in the United States.

Opportunity number
O-BJA-2026-172716
Posted
October 19, 2026
Eligible applicants
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Special district governments
State governments
City or township governments
Others (see eligibility details)
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
County governments
Eligibility details
Other units of local government (towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general purpose political subdivisions of a state); Accredited, publicly funded, CODIS forensic laboratories; Medical examiner offices; Accredited, publicly funded toxicology laboratories; Accredited, publicly funded crime laboratories
Assistance listing
16.037 Strengthening the Medical Examiner - Coroner System
16.050 Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program
Agency contact
Bureau of Justice Assistance
OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov
202-514-9354
Open the official listing on Grants.govAgency’s full announcement