Detecting and Preventing Suicide Behavior, Ideation and Self-Harm in Youth in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System (R01- Clinical Trial Required) | PAR 18 479

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 479

The NIH funding opportunity titled "Detecting and Preventing Suicide Behavior, Ideation and Self-Harm in Youth in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System (R01 - Clinical Trial Required)" supports rigorous, real-world research aimed at reducing suicide behavior, suicidal thoughts, and non-suicidal self-injury among youth who interact with the juvenile justice system. The core purpose is to fund studies that do more than just identify risk; applicants are expected to test combined approaches that both detect risk early and deliver interventions that can meaningfully prevent harm. Because the mechanism is an R01 and a clinical trial is required, the emphasis is on larger-scale effectiveness testing rather than early feasibility work, with an expectation that the study design will be strong enough to produce actionable evidence for practice.

A central feature of this opportunity is its focus on the many points where youth come into contact with juvenile justice processes, and how those touchpoints can be used to identify and reduce risk. The announcement highlights that opportunities for detection and prevention begin at very early stages such as police interactions and intake interviews, and continue across a wide range of settings including pre-trial detention, juvenile or family court activities, court disposition, and placement settings. Importantly, the FOA recognizes that youth may move between residential placements and community-based supervision or services, so research proposals can target single settings or multiple settings along that pathway, as long as the strategy is plausible and well-integrated into how juvenile justice services are typically delivered.

The FOA strongly encourages intervention strategies that fit the realities of day-to-day juvenile justice and affiliated service environments. That means interventions should be designed to work in typical service settings using staff, infrastructure, and resources that are usually available, rather than relying on highly specialized personnel or unusually intensive supports that would make it hard to replicate. The practical goal behind this is implementation readiness: if an intervention works under study conditions, it should have a realistic chance of being adopted broadly across diverse jurisdictions and program types. In other words, the research is expected to be relevant to scale-up, future uptake, and sustained use, not just short-term success in a highly controlled research setting.

This R01 opportunity was published alongside a companion R34 funding announcement intended for pilot studies that help teams prepare for the larger, more definitive trials envisioned here. In practice, that parallel structure signals a pipeline: the R34 supports preliminary work like refining procedures, testing feasibility, and establishing initial signals, while this R01 is meant for more mature projects that are ready to formally test effectiveness in the field. Applicants considering the R01 are therefore implicitly expected to have a strong foundation for their proposed clinical trial, including clear protocols and a plan for delivering and evaluating the combined detection and intervention approach.

In terms of who can apply, eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based entities that could realistically conduct justice-related health research. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible categories such as faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and AANAPISIS institutions, among others, reflecting an interest in engaging organizations that serve diverse and often disproportionately impacted communities.

At the same time, there are clear restrictions related to foreign involvement. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. In addition, foreign components as defined by NIH policy are not allowed, meaning the funded work must be conducted without foreign components under the NIH Grants Policy framework. These boundaries keep the focus on U.S.-based juvenile justice systems and the service contexts in which U.S. youth receive screening, supervision, detention, court involvement, and related services.

The source details characterize this as a discretionary NIH grant (CFDA 93.242) with a listed award ceiling of $500,000, and the opportunity number is PAR-18-479. The original closing date shown is January 7, 2021, and the FOA was created on December 7, 2017. Overall, the opportunity is geared toward producing solid evidence on what actually works to identify risk and prevent suicide-related outcomes and self-harm among justice-involved youth, with an intentional push toward approaches that can be implemented broadly in routine juvenile justice and community service settings.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Detecting and Preventing Suicide Behavior, Ideation and Self-Harm in Youth in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System (R01- Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-12-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-01-07. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 18 479

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