[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 97 (Friday, May 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27820-27823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12557]



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Part VI





Department of Education





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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities National Programs; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 97 / Friday, May 18, 2001 / Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities National Programs

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of final priority and selection criteria for Fiscal Year 
2001--Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (the Secretary) announces a final 
priority and selection criteria for fiscal year (FY) 2001. Under this 
priority, the Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human Services 
(HHS), and Justice (DOJ) will fund the implementation and enhancement 
of comprehensive community-wide strategies for creating safe and drug-
free schools and promoting healthy childhood development.
    To be funded, local comprehensive strategies must address the 
following six elements and may address other elements as determined by 
the needs of the community: (1) Safe school environment; (2) alcohol 
and other drugs and violence prevention and early intervention; (3) 
school and community mental health preventive and treatment 
intervention programs; (4) early childhood psychosocial and emotional 
development services; (5) educational reform; and (6) safe school 
policies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice takes effect May 18, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Detailed information regarding the 
Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is available at the following 
sites on the Internet:

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS
http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
http://www.samhsa.gov

Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: More than a generation of research has 
provided a solid knowledge base of the complex risk processes that lead 
to violent outcomes for children, families, schools, and communities. 
Antisocial behaviors of children and adolescents at highest risk arise 
from the interaction of multiple environmental and individual 
antecedents that begin early in the child's life. They include (1) 
stressful family environments; (2) lack of parenting skills; (3) 
alienation between family and school (and other community 
institutions); and (4) individual characteristics of the child that may 
be biologically based (e.g., irritability, impulsivity), that interfere 
with critical early attachment and nurturing relationships and later 
make the child's behavior difficult to control. This results in the 
early onset of aggressive behaviors, an increase in behavior problems 
at home, and the continuation and escalation of problems with peers and 
teachers when the child reaches school age. Unless interrupted, 
antisocial behavior persists throughout the school career and on into 
adulthood. High risk converges in middle school and accelerates into 
adolescence. Risk is exacerbated by exposure to negative peer pressure 
and a noxious environment where few protective factors are available. 
This, in turn, increases the likelihood of interpersonal violence and 
other antisocial behavior, substance abuse and addiction, potential 
drug dealing, the emergence of disorders such as depression and 
anxiety, academic failure, risky sexual behaviors leading to increased 
risk for HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases, and teen 
pregnancy.
    The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative draws on the 
best practices in the fields of education, justice, social service, and 
mental health to promote a comprehensive, integrated framework for use 
by communities in planning, designing, and implementing programs to 
prevent school violence and youth alcohol and other drug use. This 
comprehensive framework includes: (1) Establishing school-community 
partnerships; (2) identifying and measuring the problem; (3) setting 
measurable goals and objectives; (4) identifying appropriate research-
based programs and strategies; (5) implementing the programs and 
strategies in an integrated fashion; (6) evaluating the outcomes of the 
programs and strategies; and (7) revising the comprehensive plan on the 
basis of evaluation information.
    The goal of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is to help 
students develop the skills and emotional resilience necessary to 
promote positive mental health and engage in pro-social behavior, 
thereby preventing violent behavior and alcohol and other drug use so 
that that all students who attend the schools served by this initiative 
are able to learn in a safe, disciplined, and drug-free environment. 
Successful applicants will provide students, schools, and families 
within the targeted geographic area to be served a network of effective 
comprehensive services, support, and activities that promote healthy 
youth development and safety.
    Eligible Applicants: Local educational agencies.
    The Secretary, with the Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General, 
will award approximately 15 grants in FY 2001 to local educational 
agencies. To be eligible for funding, applicants must:
    (a) Develop a SS/HS comprehensive plan that addresses the following 
six elements: (1) Safe school environment, (2) alcohol and other drugs 
and violence prevention and early intervention programs, (3) school and 
community mental health preventive and treatment intervention services, 
(4) early childhood psychosocial and emotional development programs, 
(5) educational reform, and (6) safe school policies.
    The SS/HS comprehensive plan must show evidence of a partnership 
comprising, at a minimum, the local educational agency, local public 
mental health authority, local law enforcement agency, family members, 
teachers, students, juvenile justice officials, and community 
organizations, including faith-based organizations.
    (b) Submit two formal written agreements. The first must describe 
the goals and objectives of the partnership and include a delineation 
of the roles and responsibilities of each partner. This agreement must 
contain the signatures of the school superintendent, the head of the 
local public mental health authority, and the chief law enforcement 
executive adopting the SS/HS comprehensive plan, and commitments by 
each to accomplish all objectives.
    The second written agreement must describe the procedures to be 
used for referral, treatment, and follow-up by the specialty mental 
health system for children and adolescents with serious mental health 
problems. This agreement must be signed by the school superintendent 
and the head of the local public mental health organization.
    (c) Provide documentation of the community need and available 
resources as follows:

--Baseline assessment of risk factors among students, such as (1) 
students engaged in alcohol and drug use and violent behavior; (2) 
incidence and prevalence of alcohol and drug use by youth; (3) 
prevalence of weapons in schools; (4) incidents of serious and violent 
crime in schools; (5) truancy and other unauthorized absences; (6) 
suicidal behaviors; (7) student suspensions and expulsions for drug use 
or violent behavior; (8) students on probation; (9) students in 
juvenile justice placements; (10) students in foster care and child 
protective services; (11) students with emotional

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and behavioral disorders; (12) children abused and neglected; and (13) 
school attendance and performance.
--An assessment of community risk factors such as (1) socioeconomic 
conditions as measured by the percentage of families at or below the 
poverty level and percentage of students receiving free and reduced 
price lunch at school; (2) population turnover; (3) racial and ethnic 
heterogeneity; (4) housing density; (5) household composition; (6) 
crime and delinquency rates including domestic violence and rape; and 
(7) suicide rates.
--An assessment of resources and services available to students and 
their families, such as (1) number of afterschool programs; (2) number 
of youth served by programs to build social skills; (3) number and 
quality of community mental health and social service organizations 
available to provide services to children, adolescents, and families; 
(4) number of youth participating in academic readiness programs; (5) 
number and types of early intervention services and programs; (6) 
number and types of law enforcement prevention programs; (7) number of 
substance abuse programs; (8) presence of a community anti-drug 
coalition; and (9) number and types of peer mediation and community 
mediation programs.

    (d) Provide for mental health services to all students in the SS/HS 
comprehensive plan.
    (e) Show that Federal regulations regarding possession of firearms 
and reporting of firearm offenses to appropriate law enforcement 
officials and regulations regarding tobacco use are being enforced.
    (f) Provide documentation (charter, publications, meeting minutes, 
etc.) of the existing partnership in operation that will be enhanced 
and expanded.
    In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary, with the 
Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General, may (1) take into 
consideration the geographic distribution and diversity of activities 
addressed by the projects, in addition to the rank order of applicants, 
and (2) in accordance with 34 CFR 75.217(d) of the Education Department 
General Administrative Regulations, ensure equitable distribution of 
grants under this program among urban, suburban, and rural LEAs.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Secretary, with the 
Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General, may make additional awards 
in FY 2002 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition.

    Note: This notice of final priority and selection criteria does 
not solicit applications. A notice inviting applications under this 
competition is published in a separate notice in this issue of the 
Federal Register.

    Absolute Priority: Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3); the Safe and Drug-
Free Schools and Communities Act; and Public Laws 106-554 and 106-553 
enacted December 21, 2000, the Secretary, with the Secretary of HHS and 
the Attorney General, gives an absolute preference to applications that 
meet the following priority:

Implementing and Enhancing Comprehensive Community-wide Strategies 
for Creating Safe and Drug-free Schools and Promoting Healthy 
Childhood Development

    Applicants proposing a project under this priority must demonstrate 
how the funds they are requesting support or enhance a comprehensive, 
integrated strategy for an entire school district that includes, at a 
minimum, the following six elements: (1) Safe school environment; (2) 
alcohol and other drugs and violence prevention and early intervention; 
(3) school and community mental health preventive and treatment 
intervention programs; (4) early childhood psychosocial and emotion 
development services; (5) educational reform; and (6) safe school 
policies. In circumstances where implementation of the strategy for an 
entire school district is not possible, applicants must provide a full 
explanation of how the chosen schools will receive services under all 
six elements of the plan, and why district-wide implementation is not 
feasible or appropriate.

Selection Criteria

    The Secretary, with the Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General, 
uses the following selection criteria to evaluate applications for new 
grants under this competition. The maximum total score for all of these 
criteria is 100 points.
    The maximum score for each criterion or factor under that criterion 
is indicated in parentheses.
    (a) Problems to be addressed (15 points).
    In assessing the extent to which the application is based on a 
clear and accurate statement of the significant problems faced by the 
target community, the following factors are considered:
    (1) The magnitude or severity of the problem(s) to be addressed by 
the proposed strategy;
    (2) The extent to which existing gaps in services and resources 
exist, the magnitude of those gaps and weaknesses, and the extent to 
which the community is ready to improve current conditions;
    (3) The factual basis for the problem statement, based on data 
including, at a minimum but not limited to, the rates of the following:

--Students engaged in alcohol and drug use and violent behavior;
--Incidence and prevalence of alcohol and drug use by youth;
--Prevalence of weapons in schools;
--Incidents of serious and violent crime in schools;
--Truancy and other unauthorized absences;
--Suicidal behaviors;
--Student suspensions and expulsions;
--Students on probation;
--Students in juvenile justice placements;
--Students in foster care and child protective services;
--Child abuse and neglect;
--School attendance and academic performance data;
--Students with emotional and behavioral disorders;

    (4) Evidence of community risk factors that may contribute to youth 
violence, drug use, and delinquency such as the following:

--Socioeconomic conditions as measured by the percentage of families at 
or below the poverty level and percentage of students receiving free 
and reduced price lunch at school;
--Population turnover;
--Racial and ethnic heterogeneity;
--Housing density;
--Household composition;
--Crime and delinquency rates including domestic violence and rape;
--Suicide rates;
--Violent crime victimization rate for youth under the age of 18;

    (1) The extent to which the problem statement includes an 
assessment of the community resources available for children and 
adolescents, including:

--Number of afterschool programs;
--Number of youth served by programs to build social skills;
--Number and quality of community mental health and social service 
organizations available to provide services to children, adolescents, 
and families;
--Number of youth participating in academic readiness programs;
--Number and types of early intervention services and programs;
--Number and types of law enforcement prevention programs;

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--Number and quality of substance abuse prevention programs;
--Presence of a community anti-drug coalition;
--Presence of community mediation or victim-offender mediation 
programs; and

    (6) Extent of community readiness to collaborate and improve 
current conditions.
    (b) Goals and objectives (10 points).
    In assessing the goals and objectives of the proposed comprehensive 
plan, the following factors are considered:
    (1) The extent to which the goals and objectives for the proposed 
strategy are clearly defined, measurable, and attainable;
    (2) The extent to which the proposed strategy will meet the 
established goals and objectives and lead to healthy childhood 
development and positive mental health, and safe, disciplined, and 
alcohol- and drug-free learning environments; and
    (3) The extent to which the objectives identified are related to 
measurable action steps needed to achieve the goal(s).
    (c) Design of proposed strategy (30 points).
    In assessing the design of the proposed strategy, the following 
factors are considered:
    (1) The extent to which the proposed strategy represents a 
comprehensive network in which each element of the Safe Schools/Healthy 
Students Initiative is addressed and incorporated in an integrated 
fashion;
    (2) The extent to which the intervention is appropriate for the age 
and developmental levels, gender, and ethnic and cultural diversity of 
the target population, and demonstrates the ability to engage and 
respond to the needs of identified ethnic/racial minority populations;
    (3) The extent to which the application clearly describes the 
programs, activities, and services that comprise the proposed strategy;
    (4) For Elements 2, 3, and 4 of the SS/HS comprehensive plan 
described under Eligible Applicants (above), the extent to which the 
proposed programs provide evidence that they are effective and do no 
harm. (Up to 10 points out of the maximum 30 points for this criterion 
will be used to assess the strength of the applicant's design for these 
elements);
    (5) The extent to which the proposed strategy will be coordinated 
with similar or related efforts and will establish linkages with other 
appropriate agencies and organizations providing services to the target 
population;
    (6) The potential for continued support of the strategy after 
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated 
commitment of appropriate entities to such support;
    (7) The extent to which the implementation process is adequately 
documented;
    (8) The extent to which the program selected is designed to help 
meet the goals and objectives of the community's comprehensive plan.
    (d) Evaluation plan (15 points).
    In determining the quality of the evaluation plan, the following 
factors will be considered:
    (1) The extent to which the plan provides information for 
increasing the effectiveness of management and administration of the 
SS/HS comprehensive plan, documents that objectives have been met, and 
determines the overall effectiveness of the plan, its programs, and 
strategies;
    (2) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, 
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the 
proposed comprehensive plan;
    (3) The adequacy of the identified performance measures to 
demonstrate whether and to what extent the proposed strategy is meeting 
its short-term, intermediate, and long-term objectives;
    (4) Adequacy and appropriateness of the plan to collect data 
related to violence from a variety of sources such as mental health 
services, social services, schools, law enforcement agencies, and the 
juvenile justice system;
    (5) The extent to which the methods of evaluation address data 
needs for sustainability of the SS/HS comprehensive plan after Federal 
support has ended.
    (e) Management and organizational capability (20 points).
    In determining the quality of management and organizational 
capability, the following factors are considered:
    (1) The level of commitment proposed by the written agreements 
signed by the school superintendent, the head of the local public 
mental health authority, and the chief law enforcement executive, as 
well as written agreements with other community partners;
    (2) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in 
the proposed strategy to the implementation and success of the 
strategy, and how they will participate in the proposed project;
    (3) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives 
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly 
defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing 
project tasks;
    (4) The adequacy of procedures for communicating and sharing 
information among all partners to ensure feedback and continuous 
improvement in the operation of the proposed comprehensive plan;
    (5) The skills, experience, time commitments, and educational 
requirements of key staff and relevance of those qualifications to the 
objectives of the proposed SS/HS comprehensive plan;
    (6) The extent to which staff qualifications and training represent 
diverse and relevant experience in engaging and providing services to 
underserved, underrepresented, and/or diverse racial/ethnic groups.
    (f) Budget (10 points).
    In determining the quality of the budget, the following factors 
will be considered:
    (1) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
number of students to be served and to the anticipated benefits and 
results;
    (2) The extent to which fiscal control and accounting procedures 
will ensure prudent use, proper and timely disbursement and accurate 
accounting of funds received under the grant.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

    It is the Secretary's practice, in accordance with the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), to offer interested 
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed rules. Section 437(d)(1) 
of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), however, exempts from 
this requirement rules that apply to the first competition under a new 
or substantially revised program. Congressional action that provided 
Department of Labor funds in 2001 for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students 
constituted a significant change in the initiative. As a result of this 
change, the Assistant Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) 
of GEPA, has decided to forego public comment in order to ensure timely 
awards.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.

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    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.
    Applicable Program Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Guidelines in 34 CFR parts 74, 75 (except 75.102), 77, 
79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 98, and 99.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

    Electronic Access to This Document:
    You may view this document in text or Adobe Portable Document 
Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister
    To use PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 
available free at the previous site. If you have questions about using 
PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll-free, at 
(888) 293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184L, Safe and 
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act National Programs--Federal 
Activities Grants Program)

    Dated: May 14, 2001.
Thomas M. Corwin,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary 
Education.
[FR Doc. 01-12557 Filed 5-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U