[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 14 (Friday, January 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4233-4236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1283]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Transition From Prison 
to Community (TPC)

AGENCY: National Institute of Corrections, Department of Justice.

ACTION: Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement.

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SUMMARY: Helping offenders make a successful transition from prison 
back into the community has been the focus of much interest in recent 
years. In 2001, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) launched 
its Transition From Prison to the Community (TPC) initiative to bring 
the best of practical thinking and research knowledge to this issue. 
The goal was to articulate a comprehensive and strategic approach to 
transition that incorporates the lessons of evidence-based practice, 
emphasizes the importance of collaboration, and provides a practical 
tool for use by corrections agencies and their governmental and 
community partners. The TPC model was developed and NIC is now bringing 
to conclusion extensive implementation assistance to a first set of 
eight states. The TPC Reentry Handbook (see ``Background'') provides a 
thorough record of that initiative and what has been learned so far. 
Building specifically on NIC's efforts to date, this cooperative 
agreement award will deliver TPC technical assistance to a new set of 
approximately six states and the provider, in conjunction with NIC, and 
will continue to advance the model and develop products that can assist 
non-participating jurisdictions who have an interest in TPC 
implementation.
    Since a system change initiative of this scale and scope is complex 
and time consuming it is expected that new states will require TPC 
assistance for three years. This initial 12-month phase is expected to 
be followed by 12 month funding from each of the next two fiscal years 
for a full 36-month project duration. However, year's two and three 
funding is subject to satisfactory performance by the provider and 
availability of funds for NIC to make subsequent TPC continuation 
awards. Therefore, applications will be reviewed specifically for the 
``Year One'' proposal and work plan, as well as vision and demonstrated 
competence to complete necessary subsequent year tasks like document 
development and electronic dissemination of information to non-
participating jurisdictions.

DATES: Applications must be received by 4 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 9, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: Mailed applications must be sent to: Director, National 
Institute of Corrections, 320 First Street, NW., Room 5007, Washington, 
DC 20534. Applicants are encouraged to use Federal Express, UPS, or 
similar service to ensure delivery by the due date.
    Hand delivered applications should be brought to 500 First Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20534. At the front desk, dial 7-3106, extension 0 
for pickup.
    Faxed applications will not be accepted. Electronic applications 
can be submitted via http://www.grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To ensure that all potential 
applicants have access to the same information, all questions 
concerning the background

[[Page 4234]]

and expectations of work to be performed will be addressed only at the 
WebEx conference and Web page posting as explained in the following 
paragraph. Other questions concerning this announcement should be 
directed to Kermit Humphries, Correctional Program Specialist, National 
Institute of Corrections. He can be reached by calling 202-514-0118, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].
    A WebEx conference will be conducted on February 12, 2009 at 2 p.m. 
EDT, for persons having a serious intent to respond to this 
solicitation. In this conference, NIC project managers will respond to 
questions regarding the solicitation and expectation of work to be 
performed. Please notify Kermit Humphries electronically 
([email protected]) by 12 noon EDT on February 9, 2009, if you wish to 
participate in the conference. By return e-mail you will be provided 
with a Web address and access code, and when logging into the session 
you will also receive a toll free telephone number to call. (WebEx 
conferences require simultaneous computer and telephone access, and 
essentially function as a conference call where everyone can view 
documents and text at the same time.) In addition, NIC project managers 
will post answers on its Web site to questions received from potential 
applicants during the WebEx conference, as well as any questions that 
are e-mailed between the time of the WebEx conference and the 
application due date.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Overview: Nearly 700,000 prisoners are released from state or 
federal prisons each year, at least 95% of all inmates confined today 
will some day be released. State prisoners are expected to serve on 
average about 2.5 years. Almost 80% of persons released from prison 
will have some parole supervision in the community. Many will be re-
arrested within a short time after their release and about two-thirds 
can be expected to return to prison within three years for committing 
either technical violations of their release or a new crime. At a time 
when prisons are full and budgets are in crisis, states and communities 
are looking for more effective and efficient ways to manage the 
offender population as they transition through the prison system and 
back into local communities.
    Some states have demonstrated encouraging progress in changing 
their systems to promote offender success following release. Their 
success is attributed to policy direction from the highest levels of 
government, collaboration within government and with community based 
organizations, use of effective assessment tools, and programming that 
is based on research and ``risk reduction'' evidence based practices. 
More is being learned each day about how states can more effectively 
manage the return of offenders to the community through a shared 
ownership of the problem and solutions involving numerous agencies and 
organizations. The best answers are found when there is a strategic 
system change initiative involving true collaboration between 
corrections, health and human services, employment services, and other 
agencies of government, community and faith based organizations. This 
appears to be a highly complex endeavor, but in reality its component 
parts are commonly known and achievable. The TPC model is designed to 
assist jurisdictions address necessary elements in a way that responds 
to their particular needs and interests.
    Background: NIC has been funding a Transition from Prison to the 
Community (TPC) initiative since FY 2000. Recognizing that most persons 
in custody will be released in a relatively brief time, and most are 
``clients'' of both corrections AND other publicly funded agencies/
providers, corrections and human service functions are working jointly 
to better prepare offenders and communities for the inevitable release 
from confinement. ``Reentry'' and ``transition'' are the two terms 
commonly used to describe the numerous activities and programs. 
Successful reentry is paramount to improving the safety of our 
communities and breaking the cycle of recidivism. Crucial to achieving 
system changes at both state and community levels is policy directed 
collaboration between prisons, the paroling authority, the post-release 
supervision agency and the myriad of other government and community-
based organizations providing health, transportation, housing, and 
employment.
    The NIC Web site includes extensive NIC transition information and 
contains critical background material for potential applicants. Those 
requiring hard copies of the documents may contact the NIC Information 
Center at 1-800-877-1461 and request that copies be mailed.
    The Web address for TPC material is http://nicic.gov/TPCModel. Of 
greatest importance, at http://nicic.gov/Library/022669 is a PDF of the 
TPC Reentry Handbook: Implementing the NIC Transition from Prison to 
the Community Model. This document not only fully explains the TPC 
model and process, but it is essential for applicants to understand 
that this document has been specifically designed to serve as a primary 
technical assistance tool for assistance to states to be served by this 
award.
    Purpose: Public safety through reduced crimes committed following 
release from Prison is the primary value that drives this work. This 
initiative is to establish through system level policies and procedures 
a model approach for transitioning individuals from prison back into 
their communities. The model brings together a state's top prison 
leadership, paroling authority, supervision agency, employment 
services, public and private human service providers, faith based 
programs, elected officials and other interested parties for joint 
development of policies and procedures affecting the custody, release, 
and supervision of individuals targeted for this transition initiative. 
NIC has worked extensively in the area of Offender Risk Reduction and 
those initiatives are clearly related to the TPC Purpose. Applicants 
should be conversant with the Reducing Offender Risk material located 
on the NIC Web page at http://nicic.gov/ReducingOffenderRisk.
    Scope of Work and Specific Requirements: Goals of the TPC include 
improved public safety by reducing the threat of harm to persons and 
property by released offenders in communities to which they return, and 
increased success rates of offenders who transition from prisons into 
the community by fostering effective treatment programming that reduces 
offender's risk of violating laws upon release, accountability for both 
offender and system officials, and community and victim involvement. 
Appropriate use of dynamic assessment of risk and needs is a critical 
component of the model, as well as a commitment to ongoing use of 
evidence-based principles for behavior change.
    It is expected that the Transition from Prison to the Community 
(TPC) award components will include:
    In conjunction with NIC, announce the opportunity and select 
approximately six state jurisdictions that are ready to make effective 
use of TPC assistance;
    Deliver technical assistance to participating jurisdictions on-
site, supplemented by use of distance technologies when feasible and/or 
cost effectiveness;
    The application must carefully describe the types and frequency of 
technical assistance activities proposed;

[[Page 4235]]

    Enhance the TPC Model: The cooperative agreement provider will 
offer expertise, facilitation, documentation and staff/consultant 
support activities to improve and enhance the TPC model and methods for 
effective implementation;
    Evaluation and use of data: This is primarily a technical 
assistance award, but data collection, use of performance measures, and 
evaluation must be a key component of the work plan. Time and resources 
will not allow a full outcome evaluation, but the application must 
include a detailed research design for gathering performance and 
intermediate outcome data, conducting process evaluations, making 
regular reports, and providing technical assistance to the sites so 
that they develop the capacity to collect and use information over 
time. A key component will be an evaluation to determine the impact of 
TPC activities on Prisons/communities in terms of performance measures 
and intermediate outcomes, and;
    Develop products to share learning: Recognizing that NIC can only 
provide direct assistance to a very small portion of all the states, 
prisons and communities, the applicant must identify needs and develop 
outreach tools similar to the TPC Reentry Handbook, on-line training 
modules, publishable monographs and written or electronic articles.
    Depending on proposed work plans, it is likely that at least part 
of the above items will be products of future awards, funding 
permitted. However, the application should discuss a general strategy 
for addressing all components and propose a specific work plan for this 
initial 12-month award.
    No jurisdictions have yet been identified as participants. The 
applicants' work plan should propose how competitive selections will be 
solicited, and participant selections will be made in conjunction with 
NIC. While TPC is generally discussed as a ``state prison to community 
initiative'', the principles may apply to federal, territorial or 
Indian nation systems as well. Such systems may be considered for 
participation.
    Significant TPC challenges and issues for this initiative include 
the following items: Assessment tools; Evidence based practices; 
Individualized case management planning; Prison based programs and 
strategies; Community based programs and strategies; Coordination and 
cooperation between prisons and public/private human services agencies/
groups; TPC challenges from the state corrections Director/commissioner 
perspective, the prison administrator perspective, and from 
perspectives of other governmental human services agencies; from not 
for profit, NGO's and other community agency perspectives; Local/state 
implications for TPC, including the TPC role and involvement of local 
criminal justice decision makers and TPC opportunities and consequences 
related to local probation violation practices; Distances between the 
prisons and communities where offenders will be released; and ``Hard 
and soft'' information system processes and needs. Additional prison/
community transition issues may be identified by the applicant.
    The applicant must prioritize and address at minimum five 
challenges/issues from the above paragraph. Explain the criteria used 
for prioritizing your challenges/issues. Also, the applicant must 
explain why each challenge/issue described is important, propose 
strategies for successfully addressing each challenge/issues and 
propose how the impact of each challenge/issue could be measured.
    Specific Requirements:
    Document Preparation--For all awards in which a document will be a 
deliverable, the awardee must follow the Guidelines for Preparing and 
Submitting Manuscripts for Publication as found in the ``General 
Guidelines for Cooperative Agreements'' which will be included in the 
award package.
    Distance Technology--NIC is committed to supplementing on-site 
technical assistance by using distance technology when it can be used 
effectively and efficiently for meetings, training or technical 
assistance. It is expected that shortly after award, the recipient will 
be/become proficient in the use of NIC's application sharing and 
conferencing service (WebEx) that may be used for such things as 
presentations, demonstrations, training, and support services to TPC 
participant sites. Examples where it might be used effectively by TPC 
include project team meetings when staff are not co-located, 
preparation for or follow-up to in-person site visits, or providing 
PowerPoint training on an aspect of TPC to multiple project sites with 
similar needs. Through an existing contract, NIC will make Web-Ex 
resources and support available at no cost to the TPC provider. 
Applicants must discuss how they propose to use distance meeting and 
training strategies within the scope of the RFP. General information 
about the platform used by NIC (WebEx) can be found by going to http://webex.com/. Applicants may also review the NIC site at https://nic.webex.com/mw0305l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=nic.
    Application Requirements: Applications should be concisely written, 
typed double-spaced and reference the project by the ``NIC Application 
Number'' 09K112, and Title: ``Transition From Prison to Community 
(TPC).'' The package must include: A cover letter that identifies the 
audit agency responsible for the applicant's financial accounts as well 
as the audit period or fiscal year that the applicant operates under 
(e.g., July 1 through June 30); a budget narrative explaining projected 
costs; and a program narrative in response to the statement of work. 
The program narrative must be fewer than 15 pages in length, but there 
is no limit placed on the length of proposed staff 
r[eacute]sum[eacute]s, or listings of organizational experience. The 
following forms must also be included: OMB Standard Form 424, 
Application for Federal Assistance; OMB Standard Form 424A, Budget 
information--Non-Construction Programs; OMB Standard Form 424B, 
Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (these forms are available at 
http://www.grants.gov) and DOJ/NIC Certification Regarding Lobbying; 
Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and the Drug-
Free Workplace Requirements (available at http://www.nicic.gov/Downloads/PDF/certif-frm.pdf.)
    Applications may be submitted in hard copy, or electronically via 
http://www.grants.gov. If submitted in hard copy, there needs to be an 
original and six copies of the full proposal (program and budget 
narratives, application forms and assurances). The original should have 
the applicant's signature in blue ink. All potential applicants are 
reminded that the only opportunity to receive clarifying information 
about this solicitation is described earlier under the heading FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Authority: Public Law 93-415.
    Funds Available: NIC is seeking the applicant's best ideas 
regarding accomplishment of the scope of work and the related costs for 
achieving the goals of this solicitation. The final budget and award 
amount will be negotiated between NIC and the successful applicant. 
Applications will be accepted for the 12-month award for amounts up to 
$400,000 (direct and indirect costs). Funds may only be used for the 
activities that are linked to the desired outcome of the project. No 
funds are transferred to state or local governments. Supplemental 
awards for up to two additional years (a TPC project duration not to 
exceed three fiscal years) are possible based upon satisfactory 
performance of the awardee

[[Page 4236]]

and upon the availability of funding in future years.
    This project will be a collaborative venture with the NIC 
Transition/Offender Workforce Development Division.
    Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any public or 
private agency, educational institution, organization, individual or 
team with expertise in the described areas.
    Review Considerations: Applications received under this 
announcement will be subjected to a 3 to 5 person NIC Peer Review 
Process.

    Note: NIC will NOT award a cooperative agreement to an applicant 
who does not have a Dun and Bradstreet Database Universal Number 
(DUNS) and is not registered in the Central Contractor Registry 
(CCR).

    A DUNS number can be received at no cost by calling the dedicated 
toll-free DUNS number request line at 1-800-333-0505 (if you are a sole 
proprietor, you would dial 1-866-705-5711 and select option 1).
    Registration in the CCR can be done online at the CCR Web site: 
http://www.ccr.gov. A CCR Handbook and worksheet can also be reviewed 
at the Web site.
    Number of Awards: One.
    NIC Application Number: 09K112. This number should appear as a 
reference line in the cover letter, in box 4a of Standard Form 424, and 
outside of the envelope in which the application is sent.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 16.603 (Technical 
Assistance/Clearinghouse).
    Executive Order 12372: This program is subject to the provisions of 
Executive Order 12372. E.O. 12372 allows states the option of setting 
up a system for reviewing applications from within their states for 
assistance under certain Federal programs. Applicants (other than 
Federally recognized Indian tribal governments) should contact their 
State Single Point of Contact (SPOC), a list of which can be found at 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html.

Morris Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. E9-1283 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P