[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39042-39044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16428]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement: The Norval Morris 
Project Implementation Phase

AGENCY: National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice.

ACTION: Solicitation for Cooperative Agreement.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is soliciting 
proposals from organizations, groups, or individuals to enter into a 
cooperative agreement for an 18-month period to begin in September 
2010. Work under this agreement will continue NIC's Norval Morris 
Project by selecting two sites and testing implementation of the 
concepts and strategies that have been developed over the last four 
years. The Norval Morris Project is designed to develop models and 
execute strategies for expediting the application of research-based 
innovations by addressing specific topics of vital concern to the field 
of corrections.
    The project funded under this cooperative agreement will continue 
and extend the work of the Norval Morris Project and other NIC projects 
by assisting in the planning and execution of an implementation effort 
with two selected agencies to address the dual issues of population 
management and workforce alignment.

DATES: Applications must be received by 4 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, July 
30, 2010. Selection of the successful applicant and notification of 
review results to all applicants: September 30, 2010.

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, call (202) 307-3106, 
extension 0 for pickup. Faxed or e-mailed applications will not be 
accepted. Electronic applications can be submitted only via http://www.grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of this announcement and the 
required application forms can be downloaded from the NIC Web site at 
http://www.nicic.gov/cooperativeagreements.
    All technical or programmatic questions concerning this 
announcement should be directed to Pamela Davison. She can be reached 
by calling 1-800-995-6423 ext 0484 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Project Goals: The recipient of the award under this cooperative 
agreement will (1) participate in the implementation planning process 
by attending 5 meetings, including two meetings at NIC in Washington, 
DC, two meetings at NIC in Aurora, CO, and the Keystone Group in late 
September 2010 at a location in Maryland; (2) participate in refining 
the NIC draft implementation model that includes the full life cycle 
from preassessment through sustainability and evaluation and 
incorporates past work of the Norval Morris and other NIC sponsored 
projects on organizational culture and performance, implementing 
evidence based practices, and evidence-based decision making; (3) 
assist NIC in selecting two sites for the intervention test, including 
assessing readiness for change; (4) assist each site, in concert with 
NIC, in developing and executing a plan to address issues of population 
management and workforce alignment; (5) participate in NIC's evaluation 
of the project to measure the effectiveness of the implementation phase 
of the Norval Morris Project.
    Background: The Norval Morris project is dedicated to the memory of

[[Page 39043]]

Dr. Norval Morris, who was instrumental in founding NIC and remained a 
guiding influence as a charter member of the NIC Advisory Board until 
he passed away in 2004. It was established as an open-ended commitment 
by NIC to locate innovative, evidence-based approaches, evaluate their 
potential to inform correctional policy and practice, create 
opportunities to test these innovations in correctional settings, and 
develop and evaluate new strategies for the dissemination and 
application of this knowledge. The project has sought to continue the 
spirit of Morris' work and his belief that the corrections field could 
make more effective use of research in solving practical problems.
    Through a number of prior cooperative agreements, NIC has been 
developing a model designed to provide correctional agencies with a 
step-by-step approach to promote systemic change in an agency by 
addressing concrete problems such as population management and 
workforce alignment. The Norval Morris Project was designed from its 
inception to bring together people both inside and outside the 
corrections field to develop interdisciplinary approaches and draw on 
professional networks that cut across academic, private sector, and 
public sector boundaries. Such an expansive vision required a steering 
group to ``kick start'' the search for innovations. Because this 
group's responsibility was essential for creating and maintaining the 
project's overarching vision, it was called the Keystone Group.
    The first Keystone Group meeting took place in September 2008. It 
involved 19 thought leaders--half of them corrections practitioners--
plus NIC senior staff and project staff. The retreat itself was 
designed to be emergent, without preset limits on the group's scope of 
work, design, or strategy. The group's function was to identify 
emerging topics and knowledge which could be imported into the 
corrections field, advise the project on how best to translate this 
knowledge to inform correctional practice, and assist the project in 
designing an implementation strategy.
    During the Keystone Group's 2008 meeting, the following two 
provocative questions were developed: ``How can we transform 
correctional leadership and the workforce in ways that empower staff to 
reduce recidivism and promote prevention?'' and ``How can we safely and 
systematically reduce the correctional population by half in eight 
years?'' The next step of the process, which began immediately after 
the Keystone Group meeting, was to begin to assemble Topic Teams.
    Structured similarly to the Keystone Group, Topic Teams functioned 
as standalone working groups and focused on the two topic areas the 
Keystone Group identified. An ``invitation'' to participate in the 
process was sent to a broad audience, seeking people interested in 
participating in a Topic Team. During most of 2009, working through 
conference calls and online meetings, the teams continued to develop, 
refine, and expand on the topics. In September 2009, the two topic 
teams met to finalize their work to pass back to the Keystone Group the 
material they had developed. In November 2009, a second meeting of the 
Keystone Group took place with 16 members attending. The group met to 
follow up on the Topic Team meetings held the previous month with the 
goal of providing direction on how the project should proceed on the 
twin issues of correctional population reduction and workforce 
alignment. Their mission was to discuss these areas and the action 
plans that were created by the Topic Teams. They concluded by 
determining the top strategies for Population Reduction and strategies 
for Workforce Transformation. Based on the discussions of the second 
meeting of the Keystone Group, NIC and project staff have continued the 
conversation with group members and others. A third meeting of the 
Keystone Group will take place in September 2010 to review the 
project's progress, refine its products, and advise NIC on the 
implementation phase.
    Among the products being developed under an existing cooperative 
agreement are materials for use during the implementation phase to be 
funded through this solicitation. They will be designed to provide 
concrete and practical strategies to the field that, based on what we 
know, will have an impact. They will be designed to provide practical 
and specific strategies for planning, implementing, and sustaining 
changes and be presented in a structured format. The intent is to 
provide packages of materials with ``off-the-shelf'' modules that 
agencies can use to develop workable solutions. These products, 
together with others to be developed as part of the cooperative 
agreement funded through this solicitation, will be used to assist two 
agencies in planning, implementing, and sustaining strategies and 
policies to manage correctional populations and align the workforce 
with changing agency missions and needs. NIC will select the test sites 
with the assistance of the recipient and other project partners. The 
recipient will also participate in an evaluation to track the success 
of the overall project.
    For more information on the Norval Morris Project, visit http://www.nicic.gov/Norval. For additional resources, go to: http://www.nicic.gov.
    Required Expertise: Successful applicants should be able to 
demonstrate that they have the organizational capacity to carry out all 
the goals of the project, including experience in organizing and 
providing ongoing support for complex, multi-year projects, extensive 
experience in correctional policy and practice, and a record of success 
in working with correctional agencies on implementation, organizational 
development, or technical assistance projects. Preference will also be 
given to applicants with a record of working with interdisciplinary 
teams in a variety of fields beyond corrections.
    Application Requirements: Applications should be concisely written, 
typed double spaced and reference the ``NIC Opportunity Number'' and 
Title provided in this announcement. Please limit the program narrative 
text to 25 double spaced pages, exclusive of resumes and summaries of 
experience (do not submit full curriculum vitae). The application 
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., January 
1 through December 31), a program narrative responding to the 
requirements in this announcement, a description of the qualifications 
of the applicant(s), an outline explaining projected costs, and the 
following forms: 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 Drug-Free 
Workplace Requirements (available at http://www.nicic.org/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 
unbound original and three copies of the full proposal (program and 
budget narratives, application forms and assurances). The original 
should have the applicant's signature in blue ink.

    Authority: Public Law 93-415.


[[Page 39044]]


    Funds Available: Up to $180,000 is available for this project, 
subject to available funding, but preference will be given to 
applicants who provide the most cost efficient solutions in 
accomplishing the scope of work. Determination will be made based on 
best value to the Government, not necessarily the lowest bid. Funds may 
only be used for the activities that are directly related to the 
project.
    Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any public or 
private agency, educational institution, organization, individual, or 
team with expertise in the described areas.
    This project will be a collaborative venture with the NIC Research 
and Evaluation Division.
    Review Considerations: Applications received under this 
announcement will be subject to the NIC Review Process. The criteria 
for the evaluation of each application will be as follows: 1. 
Programmatic (40%). Are all of the tasks adequately discussed? Is there 
a clear statement of how each of the tasks will be accomplished, 
including the staffing, resources, and strategies to be employed? Are 
there any innovative approaches, techniques, or design aspects proposed 
that will enhance the project? 2. Organizational (35%). Do the skills, 
knowledge, and expertise of the organization and the proposed project 
staff demonstrate a high level of competency to carry out the tasks? 
Does the applicant organization have the necessary experience and 
organizational capacity to carry out all five goals of the project? Are 
the proposed project management and staffing plans realistic and 
sufficient to complete the project within the 18-month timeframe? 3. 
Project Management/Administration (25%). Does the applicant identify 
reasonable objectives, milestones, and measures to track progress? If 
consultants and/or partnerships are proposed, is there a reasonable 
justification for their inclusion in the project and a clear structure 
to ensure effective coordination? Is the proposed budget realistic, 
does it provide sufficient cost detail/narrative, and does it represent 
good value relative to the anticipated results?


    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 work sheet can also be reviewed 
at the Web site.
    Number of Awards: One.
    NIC Opportunity Number: 10PEI38. This number should appear as a 
reference line in the cover letter, where the opportunity number is 
requested on the Standard Form 424, and outside of the envelope in 
which the application is sent.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 16.602.
    Executive Order 12372: This program is not subject to the 
provisions of Executive Order 12372.

Morris L. Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2010-16428 Filed 7-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P