[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33571-33574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15691]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Children With Parents 
in Prison

AGENCY: National Institute of Corrections, Department of Justice.

ACTION: Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement.

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SUMMARY: This is one of five solicitations to address issues of 
children who have experienced parental incarceration. A total of 
$500,000 is available for two awards, one for $30,000 per year and one 
for $135,000 per year for a period of 3 years. The purpose of this 
solicitation is to provide a three year demonstration program for 
children whose primary parent is held in state or federal prison.
    Background: The Department of Justice (DOJ), National Institute of 
Corrections (NIC), announces the

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availability of funds for fiscal year 2001 for five (5) solicitations 
to fund projects for children of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated 
parents. Congress appropriated $4 million to NIC ``to work with 
cooperative agreements to fund private sector or not for profit groups 
that have effective, tested programs to help children of prisoners''. 
These cooperative agreements may be for up to three (3) years.
    To prepare for this solicitation, NIC convened a Children of 
Prisoners planning meeting, inviting federal and state government, 
association, academic and private provider representatives. The goals 
of the two-day meeting were to: (1) Identify the problems and issues 
that children of prisoners of former prisoners face that put them at 
risk of potential future delinquency; (2) identify the problems and 
greatest needs of incarcerated parents/caretakers of these children; 
(3) identify and describe evidence-based and promising approaches to 
support these children and prevent their future delinquency; and (4) 
describe and prioritize how the newly appropriated funds can best 
address these issues.
    Based on this meeting, NIC staff is announcing the following five 
(5) solicitations:
    1. Resource Center--Up to $1 million for 36 months will be awarded 
to one (1) organization or group (joint applications are encouraged) to 
provide training and technical assistance, develop a plan for a public 
awareness program, support and manage an advisory group, and develop 
and conduct, as appropriate, process and outcome evaluations with 
awardees.
    2. Planning Awards--Three (3), 18-month planning awards, of up to 
$100,000 each will be made to three private or non profit agencies in 
three different jurisdictions. The purpose of this solicitation is to 
assist three (3) jurisdictions to develop a comprehensive plan for the 
delivery of services to a clearly identified target population of 
children/youth who have been traumatized or damaged as a result of 
parental incarceration. These awards will be given to agencies that 
create or build on an existing collaborative planning process. All 
applications must include the appropriate Federal, State and/or local 
agency/agencies.
    3. Awards to Communities with High Crime and High Incarceration 
Rates--Up to $1.675 million will be awarded to three (3) to five (5) 
private and/or non profit agencies with children living in communities 
with high crime and incarceration rates. The purpose is to develop 
three-year demonstration programs. Up to one year will be spent 
planning the programs, the second and third years will focus on program 
implementation and evaluation.
    4. Children of Parents in Prison--(This announcement) Three-year 
demonstration awards to two (2) agencies that work with children of 
parents held in State or Federal prisons. A total of $500,000 will be 
available for these awards. One award will be for $30,000 per year and 
one will be for $135,000 a year. Planning must be an integral part of 
the application.
    5. Children of Parents in Jail--Three year demonstration awards to 
two (2) agencies that work with children of parents in jail. A total of 
$500,000 will be available for these awards. One award will be for 
$30,000 per year and one will be for $135,000 a year. Planning must be 
an integral part of the application.
    Applicants may apply for more than one solicitation.
    Information About This Population: According to Senate Report 106-
404 from the FY2001 DOJ appropriations bill, ``* * * children of 
prisoners are six times more likely than other children to be 
incarcerated at some point in their lives * * *''. Yet, little research 
and few programs have targeted children of offenders.
    The number of men and women confined in prisons and jails has 
increased in the 1990s from just under 1.2 million to 1.9 million. The 
Bureau of Justice Statistics in its August 2000 Bulletin, 
``Incarcerated Parents and Their Children'', states that 721,500 State 
and Federal inmates are parents to nearly 1.5 million children under 
the age of 18, an increase of 500,000 children in the past 8 years. 
This means that 2.1% of all children in the United States have a parent 
in State or Federal prison. The number of children of parents in 
detention is not known, but half of all youth in custody have a parent 
or close relative who has been in jail.
    Prior to prison admission, 64% of the women and 44% of the men 
lived with their children. Once incarcerated, 90% of the men indicated 
that at least one child lived with his/her mother; 28% of the women 
said the father was the child's care giver. One in five of these 
children was under 5 years of age, and the majority were less than 10 
years old. Black children were nearly 9 times more likely to have a 
parent in prison than white children, and Hispanic children were 3 
times more likely than white children to have an imprisoned parent.
    While the number of fathers in prison far outweighs the number of 
mothers, it is mostly the mothers who were primary care givers before 
incarceration. When fathers are incarcerated, the care giver usually 
becomes the mother; when the mother is confined, the care giver often 
becomes the child's grandparent or other relative. Three of four 
parents in State prisons reported a prior conviction compared to one 
out of three in Federal prisons. Many children, then, have experienced 
more than one parental separation.
    Parental arrest and confinement lead to stress, trauma, 
stigmatization and separation problems for the children. These problems 
are coupled with existing problems that include poverty, violence 
parental substance abuse, high crime environments, intrafamily abuse, 
abuse and neglect, multiple care givers and/or prior separations. As a 
result, these children often exhibit a broad variety of behavioral, 
emotional, health and educational problems that are compounded by the 
pain of separation.
    Denise Johnston from the Center for Children of Incarcerated 
Parents in California found that early childhood (between the ages of 
2-6) may be the most damaging time for parent-child separation as the 
child remembers the trauma but cannot adjust to it without help. For 
those who do not receive assistance or who cannot process the 
separation for themselves, these children's behaviors can become 
increasingly maladaptive as they grow up, leading to strong negative 
feelings about the criminal justice and welfare systems, delinquency, 
poor school performance and other antisocial behaviors.
    There are a handful of programs around the country that work with 
these children. The Child Welfare League of America has published, 
``Working with Children and Families Separated by Incarceration'', a 
handbook for child welfare agencies and staff. There is also a major 
initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 
the goals of which are to: (1) Develop a research and practice baseline 
on the effects of incarceration on prisoners and their children, 
families and communities; (2) document the intersection of populations 
within the criminal justice system and populations served by HHS 
programs; (3) determine unmet health and human services needs of 
offenders and their families left behind in the community; and (4) 
ensure that HHS takes into account the effects of incarceration on the 
children and families of inmates. HHS has commissioned a literature 
review and nine papers to explore what is known and knowable about 
these issues.
    Statement of Principles: NIC requires that all proposals will:

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    1. Be child focused as the goal is to help the child become stable 
and self assured with a strong, positive sense of self.
    2. Explain which stage(s) of child development will be addressed. 
Programs will focus on infancy, early or middle childhood, and/or early 
or late adolescence.
    3. Ensure that programs have a sound theoretical basis.
    4. Incorporate what is known about the crisis issues around 
separation of the child from his/her parent.
    5. Improve the child/family relationship, where appropriate, by 
creating a family-friendly planning environment and subsequent program 
delivery.
    6. Add to the current limited body of research of these children.
    7. Include a ``collaborative'' planning group that will continue 
into the service delivery phase. The ``collaborative'' will include the 
lead agency, appropriate governmental agencies, and others as 
appropriate, such as private providers, advocacy groups, academic 
institutions, and public schools.
    Resource Assistance: Once an award has been made for the Resource 
Center solicitation, awardees will receive training and technical 
assistance, as needed, from Resource Center staff. The length and scope 
of this assistance will depend on the awardees' specific interests. The 
Resource Center will also provide assistance in developing and 
implementing the outcome evaluations that will accompany each 
cooperative agreement and will budget for this assistance. The Resource 
Center will be responsible for developing a data collection plan for 
the outcome evaluations. Awardees of this solicitation will be 
responsible for collecting the data. Awardees will also develop their 
own process evaluations.
    Up to one year may be spent planning and developing services. If 
that is the case, the implementation phase (Years 2 and 3) will not be 
as detailed as the planning phase, but it will include an outline of 
what the collaborative hopes to achieve and how they hope to achieve 
it.
    Goals and Objectives of This Solicitation: The twin goals of these 
awards are to: (1) Reduce children's trauma, stigmatization and stress 
of separation caused by parental incarceration of the primary parent in 
prison, and (2) enhance opportunities for positive life experiences and 
out comes for children/youth whose primary parents has experienced 
incarceration. The parent may no longer be in prison to be eligible for 
services, but the original contact must have been made when he/she are 
incarcerated.
    The following three objectives will be required: (1) Improve child-
parent relationships, where appropriate; (2) approach the services from 
a child development perspective; and (3) demonstrate cultural 
sensitivity in program design and implementation. Additional objectives 
will include one or more of the following:
     Reduce violence, including family and community violence, 
maltreatment, and other trauma, in children's lives.
     Develop educational goals that measure academic and other 
school success for children/youth.
     Develop and implement a parenting education program.
     Develop a mentoring program.
     Provide wraparound services for children.
     Develop supportive relationships between child and primary 
care giver.
     Develop and implement strategies to positively integrate 
children into the community.
     Improve housing/living environment for the family and 
parental employment capabilities and opportunities within the 
community.
     Improve medical and mental health services and access to 
them for children/youth and their care givers.
     Work cooperatively with prison staff to develop family-
friendly visiting experiences.
     Assess existing community support for these children/
youth.
     Examine how the Adoption and Safe Families Act time limits 
have affected incarcerated parents and children; identify children of 
incarcerated parents in foster care and kinship care.
    If there are other objectives that are appropriate, include them in 
your proposal.
    Application Requirements: Funds will be available to programs that 
currently work with children of prison inmates and/or to organizations 
looking to work with children/youth of this population. If the program 
already works with offenders and their children, it should describe how 
these new services will be incorporated into the existing services. A 
plan and timeline for service delivery should be provided. If the 
program does not now work with offenders, describe the planning process 
and proposed implementation strategy.
    Up to one year may be spent planning for service delivery. 
Depending on the funding level, applicants are encouraged to form a 
collaborative group of representative of the community being served. 
This could include representatives from prison, probation and/or 
parole, child welfare, housing, employment, education, medicine and 
mental health, advocacy groups and community service providers. Each 
agency's representative should have sufficient authority to make 
decisions for his/her respective agency. The purpose is to bring 
together expertise from many disciplines and professions to address 
these issues, reach consensus on the types of programs to be provided 
and minimize problems that might arise during implementation.
    Applicants must:
    1. Prepare a statement of the problem to include, but not be 
limited to, identifying the target population; issues faced by 
children/youth separated from their primary parent; explaining the 
stages of child development and what is known about parental separation 
at different stages; describing the cultural diversity of the 
community; discussing what is known or needs to be learned about the 
effects of parental incarceration on children/youth; and describing 
existing services and perceived needs.
    2. Define planning and service delivery goals and objectives within 
a continuum of services based on the developmental needs of children/
youth.
    3. Describe the planning process and service delivery as it relates 
to the goals and objectives. If the planning process is extensive, the 
specific service delivery plan will not be required as it will be 
developed through the planning process. In lieu of the service delivery 
plan, explain what the applicant hopes to achieve and how it will be 
achieved. If the applicant seeks to expand existing services, indicate 
the type(s) of program(s) to be included.
    4. If there is an extensive planning process, the application will 
include the following.
    Year 1 Planning:
    a. Prepare a list of collaborating agencies and/or types of 
agencies to be included and the reasons for their inclusion. Letters of 
support must be included from all governmental groups and at least half 
of the other collaborating agencies.
    b. Present a management plan that includes the tasks of the 
planning group, resources needed, the roles and responsibilities of the 
lead agency and collaborating agencies, the experience and expertise of 
key staff, including resumes, and how staff will work with NIC and 
Resource Center staff.
    c. Develop a timeline for completing the plan.
    d. Developing and conducting a process evaluation.

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    e. Prepare a budget and budget narrative, including funding for the 
process evaluation.
    Years 2 and 3 Service Delivery Plan:
    a. Explain the theoretical basis for the implementation strategies 
selected that are appropriate to the stages of child/youth development.
    b. Use a multi-systemic approach to delivering services.
    c. Prepare a proposed project design.
    d. Develop a timeline for implementation.
    e. Develop and conduct the outcome evaluation with the assistance 
of the Resource Center.
    f. Identify the proposed impact on the target population.
    g. Develop strategies for developing additional sources of revenue, 
both dollars and in-kind support, once Federal funds are no longer 
available.
    h. Include letters of support from senior prison staff.
    5. If the proposal seeks only to incorporate services into existing 
programs for primary caretakers in prison and/or those who have been 
released, a lengthy planning process is not necessary. In this case, 
the following requirements will be included for all three years:
    a. Describe the project design and how it will be incorporated into 
existing services. Include a discussion of services to children/youth 
who are of varying ages and may need age-specific services.
    b. Provide letters of support from senior prison staff.
    c. Develop a timeline for implementation and evaluation.
    d. Identify the proposed outcome(s) of the services.
    6. Prepare a yearly and final project report.
    7. Prepare a budget and budget narrative. The Year 1 budget will be 
detailed and the narrative the same; the budgets for Years 2 and 3 will 
be estimates.
    8. Applications are limited to 25 typed, double spaced pages using 
a 12 point font, not including letters of support, resumes, other 
supporting documents and SF-424 forms. Provide 6 copies of the 
application, including one that is not bound. One unbound copy must be 
signed in blue ink by the agency administrator or chief executive 
officer.

    Authority: Public Law 93-415.

    Funds Available: A total of $500,000 will be available for two 
awards for 36 month projects. One award will be for $30,000 per year 
and one will be for $135,000 per year. Awards will be made to private 
and/or non profit agencies working collaboratively with State and/or 
Federal prisons and communities. At this time, there are no plans for 
additional funding in the future.
    Deadline for Receipt of Applications: Applications must be received 
at the NIC offices by 4 p.m. EDT on August 2, 2001. They should be 
addressed to: Director, National Institute of Corrections, 320 First 
Street, NW, Room 5007, Washington, DC 20534. Hand delivered 
applications may be brought to 500 First Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20534. The front desk will call Germaine Jefferson or Bobbi Tinsley at 
202-307-3106 ext. 0 for pickup.

ADDRESSES AND FURTHER INFORMATION: Requests for the application kit, 
which consists of copies of this announcement and the required forms, 
should be downloaded from the NIC website at http://www.nicic.org click 
on ``Cooperative Agreements''. All technical and/or programmatic 
questions concerning this announcement should be directed to Mary 
Whitaker at the above address or by calling 800-995-6423, extension 
40378, or 202-514-0378 or by e-mail via [email protected].
    All specific questions regarding the application process should be 
directed to Judy Evens, Cooperative Agreement Control Office, National 
Institute of Corrections, 320 First Street, NW, Room 5007, Washington, 
DC 20534 or by calling 800-995-6423, ext. 44222 or 202-307-3106, 
extension 44222 or by e-mail via [email protected].
    Eligible Applicants: Applicants are restricted to private and not 
for profit agencies as government agencies are not eligible to apply 
for these funds. Appropriate government agencies, e.g., juvenile 
detention centers and probation agencies, jails, prisons, community 
based facilities, and private juvenile and adult correctional 
facilities, must be included in the planning process and will be 
required to submit letters of support.
    Review Considerations: Applications will be reviewed by a three- to 
five-member team using a peer review process.
    Number of Awards: Two (2).
    NIC Application Number: NIC application number is 01K63. This 
number should appear as a reference line in the cover letter and also 
in box 11 of Standard Form 424. This number must also appear on the 
outside of the package in which the application arrives at NIC.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: 16.602.
    This application is not subject to Executive Order 12372.

    Dated: June 18, 2001.
Morris L. Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 01-15691 Filed 6-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-M