[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60709-60710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26774]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

[ATF Notice No. 3; Docket No. ATF2003R-28T]


The Gang Resistance Education and Training Program: Availability 
of Financial Assistance, Criteria and Application Procedures

AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), 
Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds for the Gang Resistance 
Education and Training Program.

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SUMMARY: Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) intends to enter into 
cooperative agreements with State and local law enforcement agencies to 
assist them in providing the Gang Resistance Education and Training 
(G.R.E.A.T.) Program to school students. This notice also sets forth 
the intended funding priorities and criteria, as well as the 
application procedures that ATF will use to select, and award Federal 
funds to, State and local law enforcement agencies to deliver the 
G.R.E.A.T. Program.

DATES: Applications must be received on or before November 30, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send applications to the G.R.E.A.T. Branch; Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Cooperative Agreement 
Section; 800 K Street, NW., Suite 735; Washington, DC 20001; ATTN: ATF 
Notice No. 3.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlene Lane, G.R.E.A.T. Branch; 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; 800 K Street, NW., 
Suite 735; Washington, DC 20001; telephone toll-free 1-800-726-7070, 
extension 7-3140. Or, send electronic mail (e-mail) to: [email protected], 
or visit the G.R.E.A.T. Web site at http://www.atf.gov/great/index.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    G.R.E.A.T. is a life-skills competency program designed to provide 
students with the skills they need to avoid gang pressure and youth 
violence. G.R.E.A.T.'s violence prevention curriculum helps students 
develop values and practice behaviors that will help them avoid 
destructive activities. G.R.E.A.T. functions as a cooperative program 
utilizing the skills of ATF, Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
personnel, as well as individuals from community and civic groups.
    The G.R.E.A.T. Program trains law enforcement officers in a school-
based curriculum in which the officers provide instruction to school-
aged children in life skill competencies, gang awareness, and anti-
violence techniques. Training will be provided to any State or local 
law enforcement agency to the extent allocated funds allow. G.R.E.A.T. 
consists of three major phases:
    [sbull] Phase I--School-Based Education,
    [sbull] Phase II--After School/Summer Education/Booster Classes, 
and
    [sbull] Phase III--Family Component.

Other Pertinent Information

    All funded agencies shall be subject to an audit of program 
expenditures and curriculum adherence. ATF will use the audit findings 
to alter funding levels if deemed necessary by ATF.
    Applicants who receive over $100,000, and have been teaching the 
G.R.E.A.T. Program for over a year, will be required to develop 
programs tailored to their respective communities for phases II and 
III. Failure to develop and provide phases II and III by July 1st of 
the award year will result in a reduction in funding of up to 25% for 
the remainder of the year. In mid-year, funded agencies will be 
reviewed to ensure that funding requirements are being met. Agencies 
not meeting their funding obligations will have their monies reduced.
    Agencies awarded $50,000 or more will be required to provide an 
officer (or officers) on a part-time basis to assist the G.R.E.A.T. 
Program as a National Training Team (NTT) member. NTT members serve as 
instructors for G.R.E.A.T. officer training sessions during the award 
period at the rate of two weeks per $50,000 of the award amount. 
Agencies in their first year of Federal funding are exempt from this 
requirement. However, the funded agency will be required to designate 
an officer to complete the NTT G.R.E.A.T. Management Training course.

Application Procedures

    Application for financial assistance must be made on ATF Form 
6410.1 (Gang Resistance Education And Training Funding Application). 
Application forms may be obtained by contacting the Cooperative 
Agreement Section, G.R.E.A.T. Branch; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives; 800 K Street, NW., Suite 735; Washington, DC 
20001; telephone toll-free1-800-726-7070. Or visit the G.R.E.A.T. Web 
site at http://www.atf.gov/great/index.htm.
    If your agency was funded during the last award period (1/16/2003 
to 1/15/2004), you can have application forms sent or questions 
answered by your current G.R.E.A.T. Program Branch cooperative 
agreement point of contact.

Funding Categories and Funding Distributions

    In order to provide funding to a range of community sizes and 
locations, applicants will be divided into five categories based on 
population. The population categories are: (a) 1,000,000 and over; (b) 
999,999-500,000; (c) 499,999-100,000; (d) 99,999-25,000; and (e) 24,999 
or less. Each applicant is required to report its population figures 
using the Bureau of Census 2000 Population Report for its entire 
service area. Population figures may be obtained from the Bureau's Web 
site at: http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates, or by 
contacting the Census Bureau at 301-457-4608.

[[Page 60710]]

Criteria and Points

    Each application will be evaluated and scored on the basis of the 
following criteria:
    (1) Juvenile crime statistics (25%);
    (2) Percentage of eligible 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students the 
applicant proposes to teach, and the percentage of eligible students 
previously taught the G.R.E.A.T. core curriculum (35%);
    (3) Presence of curriculum reinforcement programs (25%) (such as 
Elementary, After School/Summer Education/Booster Classes, and Family 
Component/Parent Involvement programs); and
    (4) Support of National G.R.E.A.T. Program Training (15%).
    Criterion 1. This criterion measures the magnitude of an 
applicant's youth crime problem using the number of Part I and II 
offenses reported in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) published annually 
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Part I and II offenses 
are defined and listed in Appendix II of the UCR. Please note that the 
most current UCR is usually two years in arrears. ATF will obtain the 
required juvenile crime figures directly from the FBI. Applicants must 
indicate which service area (i.e., city, county, etc.) that ATF should 
use to obtain their most recent UCR juvenile crime figures.
    In the event that an applicant does not provide annual data to the 
FBI for the UCR, the applicant should contact the G.R.E.A.T. Branch to 
determine how it can best submit information to measure its youth crime 
statistics.
    Criterion 2. This criterion will measure middle school 
participation and consists of two sections:
    [sbull] Section A. An applicant will receive points based on the 
percentage of middle school students proposed to be taught G.R.E.A.T. 
compared to the total population of middle school students in the 
jurisdiction.
    [sbull] Section B. An applicant will receive points based on the 
percentage of middle school students who were taught G.R.E.A.T. during 
the last school year compared to last year's total population of 
eligible middle school students that could have been taught.
    Criterion 3. This criterion is used to identify applicants who 
currently have life skills programs in place that reinforce the 
effectiveness of the G.R.E.A.T. middle school core curriculum. Life 
skill programs are those programs that instruct students in skills such 
as communication, active listening, empathy, avoiding peer pressure, 
conflict resolution, decision making, responsibility, citizenship, goal 
setting, cultural sensitivity, and behavior/anger management. 
Applicants will be asked to identify elementary, middle, and high 
school programs, as well as other summer, parent/family, and after 
school programs, in their service area.
    Criterion 4. The G.R.E.A.T. Program depends on G.R.E.A.T. Officers 
to act as National Training Team (NTT) instructors at ATF's G.R.E.A.T. 
Officer Trainings sessions. Without this support, the program could not 
function. This criterion will recognize and reward applicants who 
provide NTT members for G.R.E.A.T. Officer training as delineated in 
the cooperative agreement.

Other Considerations

    ATF will consider past year awardees previous spending of 
G.R.E.A.T. funds when determining their future funding levels. Unless 
sufficient documentation and support is supplied, applicants will not 
be funded at higher levels if past year spending indicates funds were 
underutilized. In order to assure that G.R.E.A.T. funds are spent in a 
fiscally responsible manner, ATF will also consider the cost per child 
for an applicant to conduct the program when awarding funds. ATF 
defines an agency's cost-per-child as the number of children to be 
taught divided by the eligible awarded funds.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)

    For the purpose of tracking Federal funds used in grants and 
cooperative agreements, the G.R.E.A.T. Program has been assigned CFDA 
number 21.053.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection of information contained in this notice has been 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)) under control 
number 1140-0048. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is 
not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection of information displays a valid OMB control number.

Authority and Issuance

    This notice is issued pursuant to Office of Management and Budget 
Circular No. A-102 (Grants and Cooperative Agreements with State and 
Local Governments).

    Approved: October 15, 2003.
Bradley A. Buckles,
Director.
[FR Doc. 03-26774 Filed 10-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-FY-P