The FY26 Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Program, administered by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) within the U.S. Department of Justice, provides funding to support the mental health and wellness of law enforcement officers and their families.

Overview

The COPS Office is responsible for advancing community policing and supports state, local, territorial, and Tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. Through the LEMHWA Program, the Department of Justice provides funding to implement new or enhance existing programs that offer training and services to support officers' emotional and mental health. Supported activities include counseling programs, peer mentoring, suicide prevention, stress reduction, and police officer family services. The program seeks to increase the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services through three funding categories.

Funding and Benefits

• Total Program Funding: $9,000,000
• Expected Number of Awards: 37
• Award Maximum: $250,000
• Award Minimum: Not specified
• Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No
• Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative agreement
• Opportunity Category: Discretionary

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include:

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
• Other Native American tribal organizations
• Public and state institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status
• For-profit organizations and small businesses

Additional eligibility information by category:

• Category 1 (Start-up Projects): Eligibility is limited to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies that do not have established law-enforcement specific mental health and wellness programming. Agencies must have primary law enforcement jurisdiction. Agencies that respond only to certain types of crimes or only to crimes within correctional institutions are ineligible. Applicants that have received LEMHWA funding in the past are ineligible for awards under this category.
• Category 2 (Enhanced Projects): Eligibility is limited to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies with current wellness programs seeking to enhance or expand them. Existing LEMHWA awardees are eligible, but requests should not be for continuation of current or past projects.
• Category 3 (Community of Practice Initiative): Eligibility is limited to for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, community groups, and faith-based organizations.

Research Areas or Activities

The program supports activities in three categories:

• Category 1: FY26 Start-up LEMHWA Implementation Projects – Provides start-up funding for agencies without established mental health and wellness programming. Implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention, stress reduction, clinical support, and other promising practices are encouraged. Agencies with rudimentary or limited wellness services seeking to develop a comprehensive program are encouraged to apply.
• Category 2: FY26 Enhanced LEMHWA Implementation Projects – Provides funding to agencies with existing wellness programs to enhance or expand those programs.
• Category 3: FY26 LEMHWA Community of Practice Initiative – Provides support to current and future grantees through peer support and technical assistance, including an innovative forum for sharing promising practices.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. For technical assistance with the SF-424, contact the Grants.gov customer service hotline at 800-518-4726 or email support@Grants.gov. For technical support with the Justice Grants System (JustGrants), contact JustGrants Support at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175. For programmatic assistance, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov.

Deadline and Timeline

• Closing Date: July 30, 2026
• Posted Date: June 9, 2026
• Last Updated: July 8, 2026

Contact Information

• COPS Office Response Center: 800-421-6770, AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov (Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET)
• Grants.gov Support: 800-518-4726, support@Grants.gov (24/7, except federal holidays)
• JustGrants Support: 833-872-5175, JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov (Monday–Friday, 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET; weekends and holidays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET)
• Additional Information: COPS Grants