New Jersey security grants for nonprofits, houses of worship, and nonpublic schools

Where each program stands

NJOHSP is New Jersey's State Administrative Agency (SAA) for NSGP, so nonprofits apply to NJOHSP rather than to FEMA. The same office runs the state-funded New Jersey Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NJ NSGP), whose latest round was funded for state fiscal year 2027 (SFY2027). The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) oversees a separate aid program for nonpublic schools, which reaches schools through their public school districts.

FEMA's Information Bulletin 579 moved the SAA deadline to 5 p.m. ET on July 31, 2026, but it came out July 17, two days after New Jersey's date. We found no NJOHSP notice extending or reopening its own window, and its federal NSGP page says only that the period "is now closed." Other states' dates are on the NSGP deadlines page.

Applying for federal NSGP through NJOHSP

In FY2026, NJOHSP took applications through an online form linked from its federal NSGP page ("Click here to apply"). We found no separate registration step or access deadline. The one registration NJOHSP names is a Unique Entity ID (UEI) from SAM.gov, which its page says "is needed at time of application." The bulletin gave the deadline as 11:59 p.m. without naming a time zone, so treat a future NJOHSP deadline as Eastern time unless the notice says otherwise. The federal steps every state shares are in how to apply for NSGP.

NJOHSP's page defines a complete application as three uploads:

• The FFY26 Investment Justification (IJ), FEMA's application form. NJOHSP requires the organization's mission statement inside the "Organization Type" box on page 2 of the IJ, not as a separate file.
• A Vulnerability Risk Assessment (VRA) that meets NJOHSP's age and photo rules, described next.
• The organization's IRS 501(c)(3) letter, "where applicable." Under the NOFO, churches, mosques and synagogues that are automatically exempt don't have to provide one; see who can apply for NSGP.

NJOHSP tells applicants to save the IJ to a computer and open it in desktop PDF software, because in a browser or on a phone the form shows a "Please Wait…" error.

The federal page posts no NSGP-only inbox. Its sidebar gives grants@njohsp.gov as the contact for NJOHSP's Grants Management Bureau, and the page asks nonprofits to report application scams to that address and to verify anyone who offers unsolicited help. The NJNSGP@njohsp.gov address belongs to the state program.

Vulnerability assessment and photo rules

For FY2026, NJOHSP's federal page asked that each VRA be "no older than two years," or updated where security improvements have removed earlier vulnerabilities. Every VRA must include photographs of the facility and of each area that needs an upgrade, such as doors needing new locks, windows needing blast film, and places where cameras are requested. The rule covers assessments done by local, county or state law enforcement and by private security firms, and NJOHSP says missing photographs "may result in disqualification."

NJOHSP's two documents disagree on age. Its Common Grant Writing Oversights sheet says a VRA "can be no older than 3 years but reassessment every 2 years is recommended." Plan on the stricter two-year limit from the federal page.

The VRA template NJOHSP links is the Facility Self-Assessment Tool that the New Jersey State Police prepared with NJOHSP (form S.P. 021A, updated February 2025). When the tool supports a grant application, it requires labeled photographs of the facility's front, sides and back, plus each area where improvements are planned, placed on its pages 13 and 14. Whichever assessment you use, the NOFO requires a separate one for each physical address. For what a strong assessment contains, see vulnerability assessments.

What NJOHSP treats as fatal or costly

The FY2026 NOFO already disqualifies incomplete packages, scanned IJs, previous-year forms, ineligible organizations and applications in the wrong stream. NJOHSP's oversights sheet adds New Jersey's own list:

• An application form from the wrong year disqualifies the application. So does using the state NJ NSGP form for the federal program, or the federal IJ for the state program.
• "Makeshift applications" don't count. NJOHSP's examples are word-processing documents, vendor estimates and letters.
• A question left blank scores zero.
• Funding-history answers are checked. NJOHSP warns applicants not to confuse a state grant with federal funding and says it verifies every response. The answer matters because FEMA adds 15 points for subapplicants that "have never received a NSGP award."

The NOFO's scoring and the IJ's sections are explained in the Investment Justification guide.

Urban area or state stream: routing by county

NJOHSP assigns the funding stream by county. Nonprofits in 12 counties apply under NSGP-UA (Urban Area) for the Jersey City/Newark Area; nonprofits in the other nine apply under NSGP-S (State). The NOFO disqualifies an application filed in the wrong stream.

Both figures are total federal allocations from the NOFO's Appendices B and C. They include up to 5% that NJOHSP may keep for its own management and administration (M&A), so slightly less goes to nonprofit projects. The NSGP-S total equals 12 maximum-size site requests of $200,000, before that M&A share, so the nine NSGP-S counties compete for a much smaller pool than the urban area does.

An organization with sites in both streams can apply in each, up to three sites per stream and $600,000 per organization in New Jersey. Each site needs its own IJ and assessment. The per-site and per-state limits are explained in the NSGP program guide.

After a federal award: NJOHSP's forms

The post-award guide covers the federal sequence. NJOHSP's federal page adds New Jersey forms for environmental review, guard hours and staff time. Where your subaward differs, the subaward controls.

New Jersey's state nonprofit security grant (NJ NSGP)

The NJ NSGP is New Jersey money, separate from FEMA's program, though NJOHSP runs both. NJOHSP's FAQ says Assembly Bill 1663 made the program permanent. The FY2027 Appropriations Act funds it under P.L.2021, c.439 with $7,000,000, and allows "additional amounts, not to exceed $3,000,000, to support grant payments" (Appropriations Handbook, p. B-167).

The SFY2027 notice limits eligibility to registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits "at a high risk of terrorist attack within the State of New Jersey as determined by the Director of NJOHSP." The state program has no county streams. It has two tracks with separate applications:

An organization may apply to both tracks each year but can receive only one state award per fiscal year, and the form asks which it prefers. Both application forms say applications "can only be submitted with a current/valid UEI," and "pending UEI's will not be accepted." Each application also needs a current VRA with photographs and proof of tax-exempt status where applicable (NJOHSP release, July 13, 2026). Awards are paid only by reimbursement against purchase orders, invoices and canceled checks, with no cash advances, over a 24-month performance period.

The equipment track uses NJOHSP's own authorized equipment list of 29 Authorized Equipment List (AEL) codes, not FEMA's full list. It includes cameras, access control, alarms, impact-resistant doors, shatter-resistant glass and window wraps, fencing, lighting, generators, radios, screening systems and cybersecurity tools. Check each item against the current list before you price it. The state page also links the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office's address search, so ask NJOHSP what review applies before installing at an older building.

NJOHSP has received more than 500 applications in each of the past several cycles and has awarded more than $38 million to more than 700 nonprofits since the program began (NJOHSP, July 2026). After a personnel award, its Personnel Certification Form records each guard's agency, name, SORA number and hours. The synagogue and church pages cover how houses of worship combine state and federal funding.

Nonpublic School Security Aid

Under the Secure Schools for All Children Act (P.L.2016, c.49; N.J.S.A. 18A:58-37.8 to 37.14), each public school district must provide security services, equipment and technology to the qualifying nonpublic schools within its boundaries, "within the limit of funds appropriated" (NJDOE program page and guidelines). The school doesn't receive cash. The district buys the items under the Public School Contracts Law, keeps administrative control of the funds, and alone may dispose of the equipment later. Everything provided must serve "secular/nonsectarian and non-ideological purposes."

The FY2027 Appropriations Act sets $32,550,000 for Nonpublic Security Aid and directs the Commissioner of Education to pay each district "$217 multiplied by the number of nonpublic school students within the district identified by the district on or before November 5" (Appropriations Handbook, pp. B-51 and B-54). NJDOE's guidelines say costs above the aid fall on the school, and the district may not take an administrative fee from it.

The guidelines set out the steps:

• Only schools that state their intent to participate on the Nonpublic School Enrollment Report may receive aid in the following school year.
• Within one week of NJDOE's notice, the district must tell the school what funds are available. The two then agree on what to provide, and the district names its school safety specialist, who approves the plan or joins the consultation. NJDOE recommends consulting before the school year starts.
• By October 1, the district sends the county superintendent a statement that the consultation took place, with the agreed items and timelines, and the minutes of the board meeting that approved them. The school receives a copy.
• If the district and the school can't agree, "the county superintendent shall make the final determination."
• The district must notify the school "of the amount of funds remaining on January 31 to allow sufficient time to use the funds in an efficient and effective manner, by no later than February 28."

Allowable examples include ballistic or shatter-resistant film, security vestibules, access control that locks doors remotely, entrance cameras, emergency communications, cybersecurity, and security services such as alarm services and security guards. Capital improvements, emergency response personnel (medical and law enforcement responders), instructional services and most permanent fixtures are excluded. The fire marshal has purview over any device that affects emergency egress, and the district approves training only after the school submits NJDOE's security training form. The private and religious schools page covers how this aid fits with NSGP.

Other state programs, free resources, and local funding

NJOHSP also runs the Reproductive Health Security Grant Program for state-licensed reproductive health care facilities in good standing that NJOHSP's Director determines are at high risk of unlawful activity. The SFY2026 notice offered up to $100,000 for guards, equipment, training, planning, assessments and cybersecurity, paid by reimbursement. For FY2027, the budget moved the program's unexpended balance into the Department of Health's Reproductive Health Access Fund. That fund's listed purposes include security grants for facilities NJOHSP's Director finds at high risk (Appropriations Handbook, pp. B-87 and E-10).

Two free NJOHSP resources serve faith communities. Its bleeding control kit program gives houses of worship and eligible religious schools a one-time allotment of kits, after the organization requests them, has designated people trained, and signs a memorandum of understanding. Its Interfaith Advisory Council offers members an Emergency Action Plan template, and both state application forms ask whether the organization has an emergency operations plan.

We found no county or municipal security grant program for New Jersey nonprofits or houses of worship as of October 14, 2026, though our search was not exhaustive. NJOHSP accepts VRAs completed by local, county and state law enforcement, so ask your police department or county law enforcement whether it performs facility assessments.

The programs side by side

Using more than one program

NJOHSP's FAQ says an organization can apply for both the federal and state programs and can receive both. When it does, NJOHSP evaluates the equipment requested in each application case by case to make sure it addresses the risks in the VRA. Three other rules affect the combination:

• The state equipment preference turns on grant history. NJOHSP's notice and release give it to applicants without a federal or state security grant for target hardening in the last two cycles, while the equipment form's wording covers any federal or state grant funding. The statute (P.L.2021, c.439, section 3) also sets a personnel preference for applicants with no federal security grant for personnel in the last two federal cycles, which NJOHSP's notice and FAQ don't mention. Ask NJOHSP in writing how it counts a guard-only award and which preferences it applies.
• State personnel money can't replace guards you already pay for, and the SP form asks you to describe current security staffing. If federal NSGP also pays for guards, you should keep separate schedules and invoices so no hour is billed to both.
• Equipment bought with Nonpublic School Security Aid stays under district control, so it doesn't belong in an NSGP inventory or claim.

Other states' programs and agencies are in the state lookup table.

Official documents

These are the documents NJOHSP and NJDOE posted as of October 14, 2026. If the agency sends you a newer version, the newer one controls.

Last checked and change log

Last checked: October 14, 2026, against NJOHSP's federal NSGP, state NJ NSGP, reproductive health, grants, Interfaith Advisory Council and press release pages and their posted forms; NJDOE's nonpublic school security pages; the FY2027 Appropriations Handbook; FEMA's FY2026 NOFO, Information Bulletin 579 and September 28, 2026 award announcement.

• October 2026: Page published. FY2026 NSGP closed (NJOHSP deadline July 15, 2026); FEMA announced FY2026 awards September 28, 2026; no NJOHSP award list posted; SFY2027 NJ NSGP round closed September 11, 2026; FY2027 nonpublic security aid set at $217 per student.