[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 200 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61189-61192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26467]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office for Victims of Crime

[OJP(OVC)-1300]


Children's Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, 
Justice.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is publishing this 
notice to announce a $500,000 discretionary grant program for federally 
recognized Indian tribal governments and tribal organizations designed 
to improve the handling of severe child abuse cases, particularly cases 
of child sexual abuse, in a manner which limits additional trauma to 
the child while improving the investigation and prosecution of these 
cases.

DATES: Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, 
November 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: All application packages should be sent to the Office for 
Victims of Crime, Federal Crime Victims Division, 810 Seventh Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20531. If sending applications by express mail, the 
zip code should be 20001.

For Further Information Contact: For a copy of the solicitation or for 
information about application procedures, please call Cathy Sanders at 
(202) 616-3578 or e-mail at [email protected]>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Statutory Authority

    This action is authorized by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 
(VOCA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10601 et seq. The Act established a Crime 
Victims Fund in the Department of the Treasury made up of monies 
received from federal criminal fines; special penalty assessments; 
forfeited appearance bonds, bail bonds and collateral security; and 
literary profits due convicted federal defendants. Under the provisions 
of 42 U.S.C. 10601 (d)(2), the first $20,000,000 deposited in the Fund 
in a particular year shall be available for grants as provided in 42 
U.S.C. 10603(a). Under 42 U.S.C. 10601 (g)(1) the Attorney General, 
acting through the Director of OVC, is authorized to use 15 percent of 
these funds for the purposes of assisting Indian tribes in developing, 
establishing, and operating programs designed to improve the handling, 
investigation, and prosecution of child abuse cases, especially child 
sexual abuse cases. OVC has labeled this program as the Children's 
Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities Discretionary Grant 
Program (CJA).

Background

    The Children's Justice and Assistance Act was passed in 1986 to 
provide funds to states to establish programs to effectively handle 
child abuse cases. In 1988, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act amended

[[Page 61190]]

the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, authorizing the use of a portion of 
the State CJA funds to assist Indian Tribes in developing, establishing 
and operating programs to improve the handling, investigation, and 
prosecution of child abuse cases, particularly child sexual abuse 
cases.
    Since 1989, OVC has provided CJA funding to approximately 45 
tribes. The tribal programs have made a number of systemic improvements 
in the handling of child abuse cases. They have established, expanded, 
and trained multidisciplinary and child protection teams; revised 
tribal codes and procedures to address child sexual abuse; provided 
child advocacy services for children involved in court proceedings; 
created protocols for reporting, investigating, and prosecuting cases 
of child sexual abuse; developed working agreements that minimize the 
number of child interviews; enhanced case management and treatment 
services; offered specialized training for prosecutors, judges, 
investigators and other professionals who handle child sexual abuse 
cases; created special child-centered interview rooms; and hired 
specialized staff to handle child victim cases.

Goal

    The goal of the program is to improve tribal criminal justice 
systems for handling cases of severe physical abuse and/or child sexual 
abuse in Indian communities.

Purpose

    The purpose of the program is to assist Indian communities in 
developing, establishing, and operating partnership programs to improve 
the investigation, prosecution, and overall handling of cases of child 
sexual abuse and severe physical abuse, in a manner that increases 
support for and lessens trauma to child victims.

Program Strategy

    This solicitation invites applicants to conceptualize, develop, and 
implement a CJA partnership program which will improve the 
investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases, particularly child 
sexual abuse cases. However, the partnership program is not intended to 
fund separate programs within tribal governments. Rather, it is 
intended to improve the capacity of existing tribal systems to handle 
severe child abuse cases by developing specialized services and 
procedures to address the needs of American Indian child victims. The 
program focuses on developing strategies to handle cases of child 
sexual abuse from the initial disclosure, through the investigation and 
prosecution, to the resolution of the case in an effective and timely 
manner.
    The organizational structure and staffing pattern described in the 
application must be implemented as soon as possible after award of 
grant funds. Applicants are, therefore, encouraged to discuss the 
proposed partnership with their Tribal Chairman, Tribal Council, and 
other tribal agencies prior to submission of the application, and to 
solicit their support and approval of the partnership for the life of 
the program.
    A Tribal Resolution must be included with the application, which 
approves commitments and activities for the first year of the grant. 
For years two and three, the activities or implementation plan should 
be outlined in sufficient detail to show that the proposed program will 
contribute to the development of a strong partnership.
    The strategy for establishing a fully functioning partnership 
program consists of three stages of project implementation over a three 
year grant period. An in-kind or hard match is required each year. (See 
``Award Amount'' for an explanation of the in-kind match requirements.) 
The three stages of implementation are:
    1. Stage I--Assessment and Partnership Development. During Stage I, 
the grantee is expected to assess its current tribal system and its 
resources for implementing a partnership program and determine what 
additional resources and system changes are needed to deal effectively 
with child abuse cases. The assessment should examine the current 
procedures for responding to child abuse, procedures for interviewing 
child victims, the delivery of services to victims and their non-
offending family members, training for social service, criminal 
justice, and medical and mental health personnel, and community 
awareness efforts. The grantee should hire and train key staff to 
handle and process cases through the tribal system. Training for 
multidisciplinary teams, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, 
judges, advocates, medical, mental health and social service 
professionals may be required. There may also be a need to revise 
existing procedures for handling child abuse cases, interviewing child 
victims, providing court advocacy, and providing treatment services.
    The products of this stage include the following: (a) Job 
descriptions and resumes for key staff hired or contracted under the 
grant; (b) a report of the findings and recommendations from the 
assessment, which describes the additional changes and resources needed 
to implement an efficient project; (c) activity reports that summarize 
major activities and accomplishments of the grant to be submitted to 
OVC semi-annually during this stage; and (d) a service delivery plan 
and agendas for the training of personnel involved in handling serious 
child abuse cases, if appropriate at this stage.
    2. Stage II--Implementation of Partnership Program and Development 
of Training and Resource Materials. In implementing the project, the 
grantee should revise existing materials or develop new ones, such as 
interagency protocols, reporting procedures, partnership agreements 
with federal, state, and/or other tribal agencies, and tribal codes 
that address child sexual abuse (including definitions, sentencing 
guidelines, and maximum penalties for offenders). Other materials might 
include descriptions of training curricula and practices that assist 
and support children who must participate in tribal judicial 
proceedings. These materials can be used by the grantee and may be of 
value to other tribes seeking culturally appropriate materials to 
assist them in following similar practices on behalf of child victims.
    The grantee may find it useful to obtain materials from other 
tribal agencies, organizations, and current CJA programs that will help 
them improve their response to child sexual abuse cases. The grantee 
should integrate these practices into its current system and develop 
its capacity to provide training and technical assistance to other 
tribes.
    The products of this stage would include the following: (a) A 
compilation of the materials gathered by the grantee from within the 
tribe and from other sources; (b) training curricula; (c) a brochure 
and/or resource directory, which advertises the availability of the 
tribe's resources, services, and training opportunities that can be 
distributed to the tribal community; and (d) progress reports that 
summarize major activities and accomplishments of the grant. The 
progress reports must be submitted to OVC semi-annually during this 
stage of program activities.
    3. Stage III--Delivery of Services. During the third stage, the 
partnership program is expected to be fully functional and capable of 
providing effective services to sexually abused child victims. The 
program can serve as a model for: (a) Illustrating effective approaches 
to handling serious child abuse cases; (b) coordinating with various 
tribal, state and federal agencies; (c) meeting the needs of American 
Indian child abuse victims and their

[[Page 61191]]

families; and (d) communicating with tribal councils and other bodies 
in responding effectively to child abuse. Materials such as diagrams, 
flow charts, and descriptions of program models can be shared with 
other tribes to demonstrate how to make similar changes on behalf of 
abused child victims. The materials and descriptions should include 
information on developing proper interviewing procedures, providing 
court advocacy, and making other improvements that adapt investigative 
and judicial procedures to address the needs and abilities of abused 
child victims.
    The products of this stage could include the following: (a) 
illustrative materials on program implementation and training; (b) 
reports describing the training provided by the tribe; (c) 
recommendations for and descriptions of training workshops that might 
be offered in OVC-sponsored conferences for assisting abused child 
victims in Indian communities; (d) semi-annual progress reports that 
summarize major activities and accomplishments of the grant; and (e) a 
final narrative report.
    From time to time, partnership program staff may be asked to 
participate in OVC-sponsored conferences and training sessions to 
demonstrate model practices, provide program materials and handouts, 
serve as trainers, or participate on discussion groups and panels. 
Consequently, applicants should include travel expenses for two key 
staff to attend at a minimum one OVC-sponsored national conference and 
one post-awards planning conference.
    OVC recognizes that jurisdictional authority over child sexual 
abuse cases varies greatly among tribes. Hence, we seek innovative 
projects based on the unique jurisdictional characteristics of a 
particular tribal criminal justice and service delivery system. OVC 
expects tribes that receive these grants to be actively involved in 
determining the manner in which these cases are administratively and 
judicially processed at the tribal, state and federal levels. Tribes 
should coordinate child sexual abuse case referrals with the 
appropriate state and federal authorities for prosectuion and follow-up 
with tribal prosecution when appropriate.
    In addition, OVC encourages the use of multidisciplinary teams 
(known in many Indian communities as Child Protection Teams) to respond 
to cases of child sexual abuse. This could also include specialized 
prosecutorial units for the investigation, referral, and prosecution of 
child abuse cases. Mulitdisciplinary teams which are developed or 
expanded as a result of this grant must include representatives from 
the tribal, state and federal agencies that provide services to the 
tribe. These multidisciplinary teams should assist in clarifying roles 
and responsibilities of all authorities involved in these cases, 
including social and medical services, law enforcement officials, and 
prosecutors. Project funds shall not be used to replace or serve as a 
substitute for funds already used for existing multidisciplinary teams 
or child protective agencies, (known as supplanting).

Eligibility Requirements

    Eligible applicants are federally recognized Indian tribes and 
tribal organizations. Grant awards will be limited to tribal 
organizations as defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act, P.L. 93-638, 25 U.S.C., Section 450(b). Under this 
provision, the definition of ``tribal organization'' is the recognized 
governing body of any Indian tribe, to include any legally established 
organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered 
by such governing body or which is democratically elected by the adult 
members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and 
which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of 
its activities. Applications must be signed by the leader or chief 
executive of the tribe. In cases where the Tribal Council serves as the 
governing body, the application must be signed by the Chairman or other 
recognized leader of the Council.

Selection Criteria

    Applications that are determined to be in compliance with this 
announcement will be reviewed by panels of experts in criminal justice 
procedures, social services, victim assistance, and related 
disciplines. Panels will be composed of staff from federal, state, 
tribal, or local agencies; colleges; national organizations; and other 
nongovernmental agencies. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated 
competitively against the following criteria:
    1. The Problem to be Addressed (15 points) This criterion addresses 
how well the applicant described the need for such a program, including 
the problems experienced and the issues related to severe child 
physical abuse and sexual abuse in the community. The application must 
include a description of the agencies involved (tribal, local, state 
and federal) and where possible, statistics on the number of cases 
reported, investigated and substantiated, referred for services, and 
prosecuted in tribal or federal court.
    2. Partnership Strategy/Design (35 points) This criterion measures 
how well the project design supports the purpose and goals of the 
partnership. The applicant's strategy or design must clearly address 
the identified problem, and provide a clear description of how the 
project will achieve the stated goals and objectives (15 points). The 
applicant must demonstrate that the proposed partnership program has 
been discussed with and approved by the Chairman and Tribal Council, 
including a Tribal Resolution and allocation of the in-kind match (15 
points). If an applicant proposes using employees or other 
professionals, (i.e., forensic interviewer, law enforcement officer, 
IHS doctor), who will be detailed or loaned to the partnership as in-
kind match, letters of support or other documentation must be included 
to support the detail. All in-kind match must be described in the 
project narrative and budget narrative. A Tribal Resolution is a strong 
indicator of Tribal Council approval and will be used by OVC as an 
assurance of tribal support for the partnership.
    The project strategy must include a description of project stages, 
tasks, activities, timelines, and a clear description of interim 
deliverables and final products (5 points).
    3. Organizational Capability (20 points): This criterion will 
demonstrate the applicant's capability for developing and packaging a 
comprehensive program that addresses the investigation, prosecution, 
case handling and treatment of child physical and sexual abuse. The 
organizational capability will be assessed on the basis of: (a) the 
applicant's described management structure and partnership management 
plan (10 points); and (b) the applicant's discussion and documentation 
of key staff members' qualifications to perform the assigned tasks and 
responsibilities (10 points). In instances where the applicant has 
previously received CJA funds, the progress made under the previous 
grant must be discussed.
    4. Budget (15 points): Points will be assigned based on the 
applicant's demonstration that sufficient staff and time have been 
allocated to the project to accomplish the proposed tasks and that the 
budgeted costs are reasonable, cost-effective, and accurately reflect 
how grant funds will be used. All in-kind or hard match must be 
described in the budget narrative.
    5. Plan for Measuring Progress and Outcome (15 points): This 
criterion will evaluate the applicant's plan for

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assessing the impact of the project in improving the investigation, 
prosecution and overall handling of child sexual abuse cases. 
Applicants should describe the criteria and units of measurement which 
will be used to assess the partnership's effectiveness, such as number 
of abused victims served, number of individuals trained, positive 
changes that the child protection team has made as a result of having 
been trained, any new capacity or improved response to child victims 
that was developed as a result of the training or the partnership 
program, the number and type of products disseminated, user 
satisfaction data, and the number of community awareness programs 
presented. Requests for materials and for repeat training are also 
strong indicators of success.

Application Submission

    Applicants should submit an original and two (2) copies of the 
proposal to the Office for Victims of Crime, Federal Crime Victims 
Division, 810 Seventh Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20531; phone: 
(202) 616-3578. All submissions must include:
    1. A completed and signed Application for Federal Assistance, 
Standard Form 424, (SF-424 Rev. 4/88), including the Certified 
Assurances.
    2. OJP Form 4061/6 (Certification Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, 
Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free Work Place 
Requirements).
    3. A proposed budget outlining all costs for personnel, fringe 
benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, other (e.g., telephone, postage) 
and the in-kind match. See the section on Dollar Amounts for an 
explanation of In-kind Match. Funds should also be budgeted for travel 
to at least two OVC sponsored cluster meetings or conferences. For 
planning purposes, travel should be estimated for one trip to 
Washington, D.C. for 3 days and one trip to San Diego, CA or the 
National Indian Nations Conference for 5 days. Federal per diem rates 
will be used.
    4. An abstract of the full proposal, not to exceed one page.
    5. A program narrative of not more than 20 double-spaced typed 
pages. The narrative should include the following information:
    (a) A clear, concise statement of the problems experienced by the 
tribe in handling, investigating and prosecuting cases of serious child 
abuse.
    (b) A description of how child abuse and child sexual abuse cases 
are currently handled, by law enforcement, social services, etc. and 
the Child Protection Team (CPT), if it is operational. This description 
should depict the system currently in place and include the role of all 
tribal, federal and state agencies in investigating, referring, 
treating and prosecuting serious child abuse cases.
    (c) The data and statistics required by the selection criteria.
    (d) A clear statement of the project objectives, including a 
listing of the major events, activities, products and a timetable for 
completion.
    (e) A clear explanation of how this project will result in systemic 
improvement in the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse 
cases while limiting trauma to child victims.
    (f) The proposed management and staffing plan.
    (g) The method of evaluating the proposed program.
    6. Attachments to the narrative should include:
    (a) Letters of support from agencies at the Federal, state and 
local levels that are also involved in handling, investigating and/or 
prosecuting child abuse cases.
    (b) A brief history of all grants the tribe has received over the 
past 2 years related to: domestic violence, child abuse, family 
violence, sexual assault, law enforcement and/or victimization.
    (c) Copies of resumes for the proposed professional staff which 
summarize education and professional experience.
    Special Instructions: In order to facilitate handling, please do 
not bind the applications at the spine, use spiral binders, or tabs. 
Please number the pages.
    Application forms may be obtained by writing or telephoning: 
Federal Crime Victims Division, OVC, 810 Seventh Street, NW, 
Washington, D.C. 20531; phone: (202) 616-3578.

Award Amounts

    Grants will be awarded at $60,000 for the first year with 
continuation funding in the second and third year, contingent upon the 
grantee's performance, the success of the project, and the availability 
of federal funds.
    OVC has allocated up to $500,000 for this initiative in FY2001, and 
anticipates supporting up to 10 grant awards. Funding support will be 
provided for up to three years with an ``in-kind'' match requirement 
each year. The purpose of the ``in-kind'' match is to obtain tribal 
investment into the partnership from the beginning of the grant award, 
thereby enhancing the tribe's ability to institutionalize the program 
after OVC funding ends. The in-kind match must be in the form of staff 
time, facilities, office space and utilities, employee details/loans, 
and agency partnerships. Hard match is allowable in lieu of in-kind 
match. Volunteer time cannot be used as match.
    The first year award will be limited to $60,000 per grantee and 
will require a 10% in-kind match. The second year of funding will be 
$75,000 with a 15% in-kind match, and the third year of funding will be 
$75,000 with a 25% in-kind match.

Award Period

    The grants will be for 12 months, with potential continuations for 
two additional years.

    Dated: October 11, 2000.
Carolyn Hightower,
Deputy Director, Office for Victims of Crime.
[FR Doc. 00-26467 Filed 10-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P