[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43726-43729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18409]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
National Institute of Corrections
Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement: Developing a Method for
Conducting an Internal Evaluation of Gender-Informed Policy and
Practice
AGENCY: National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice.
ACTION: Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking
applications from organizations, groups, or individuals to enter into a
cooperative agreement for an 18-month period to develop and pilot a
methodology for correctional organizations to conduct an internal
evaluation of their current policy and practice for working with women
offenders. This methodology must cover a broad range of domains, such
as leadership, external collaboration, management and operations,
sanctions, assessment and case planning, and programs and services. The
methodology must be concise but informative enough to be used by an
organization with an understanding of evidence-based practices that
incorporate gender-informed research and information. Additional
consideration may be given to an applicant who can incorporate into the
methodology those elements applicable to institutional and community
corrections environments. The methodology should also include
supplemental information that addresses an organization's readiness for
change and a template that will help organizations initiate an internal
strategic planning process. This award will also cover the piloting of
the methodology, which should include both onsite work and use of Web-
based technology, post-pilot revisions to the methodology based on
feedback, and a design for conducting a process evaluation to measure
the efficacy of the methodology.
The goal of this solicitation is to create and provide a
methodology for organizations to (1) Conduct an abbreviated internal
evaluation of their policies and practices specific to women and (2)
begin to plan strategically to initiate the type of change required
within their agency to reach their desired objectives. Information
gathered by organizations using this methodology could also form the
basis for resource requests from funding entities, formulation of
technical assistance requests to external sources, and a vehicle to
advance internal quality assurance. The awardee will work closely with
designated NIC staff on all aspects of the project to ensure
understanding of and agreement on the scope of work to be performed,
and to work with other identified experts as well who are recognized
for their expertise and practical experience in working with justice-
involved women.
To be considered, applicants must demonstrate, at a minimum: In-
depth knowledge of research and practice regarding gender-informed
(women) and evidence-based practices, organizational readiness,
strategic planning, and process evaluation; In-depth knowledge of the
practices, programs, and complexities specific to the operation of
women's correctional facilities and awareness of the issues relevant to
women on community release and under supervision; In-depth knowledge
about the risks, needs, strengths, and capacity for resiliency with
justice-involved women; Specific examples of expertise in directing
project design and implementation; Demonstrated ability to work
collaboratively with other experts in the field of gender-informed
practices; Ability and capacity to conduct Web-based events.
DATES: Applications must be received by 4 p.m., EDT, August 24, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Mailed applications must be sent to: Director, National
Institute of Corrections, 320 First St., NW., Room 215, 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 St.,
NW., Washington, DC 20534. At the front security desk, dial 7-3106,
ext. 0 for pickup. Faxed or e-mailed applications will not be accepted.
Electronic applications can only be submitted via http://www.grants.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of this announcement and links
to the required application forms can be downloaded from the NIC Web
site at http://www.nicic.gov.
All technical or programmatic questions concerning this
announcement should be directed to Maureen Buell, Correctional Program
Specialist, National Institute of Corrections, Administrative Division.
Ms. Buell can be reached directly at 1-800-995-6423 ext. 40121 or by e-
mail at [email protected]. In addition to the direct reply, all questions
and response will be posted on NIC's Web site at http://www.nicic.gov
for public review (the names of those submitting questions will not be
posted). The Web site will be updated regularly and postings will
remain on the Web site until the closing date of this cooperative
agreement solicitation. Only questions received by 12 p.m. (EDT) on
August 19, 2011 will be answered.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview: The goal of the solicitation is to provide organizational
leaders and managers across the corrections continuum (jails, prisons,
community corrections) with a method to (1) Begin to internally
evaluate the existence of internal policy and practice and their
applicability to justice-involved women by using evidence-based
practices and gender-informed research and knowledge as a foundation,
(2) identify gaps and strengths in current services, and (3) provide
sufficient guidance for an organization to begin to strategize desired
internal change. NIC has incorporated much of the evidence-based,
gender-informed research and knowledge into a variety of products that
can be accessed on the NIC Web site at http://www.nicic.gov and on
NIC's women offender Web page at http://www.nicic.gov/womenoffenders.
Background: NIC has provided a broad range of services to
organizations that wanted to develop, enhance, and/or revise their
policies and practices to better manage their increasing population of
justice-involved women. Systems are often overwhelmed with the
increasing numbers of women, surpassing the rate at which men have been
entering the system. From 1995 to 2005, the total number of female
prisoners increased 57% compared to a 34% increase in male prisoners
(Harrison & Beck (2006) Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005 (NCJ
Publication No. 213133). The increasing female population has presented
[[Page 43727]]
numerous challenges to the current corrections paradigm, including
overuse of higher security beds driven by classification systems not
validated for women; a lack of appropriate and effective resources
targeting women's assessed risks and needs; and the low rates of
success experienced by this population, evidenced by the high rate of
returns due to technical violations rather than new convictions. Women
offenders experience all of this despite the fact that, except for a
small percentage, justice-involved women present lower rates of both
institutional and community safety risk. Some current correctional
practices also have had the unintended consequence of ``driving women
deeper into the system.''
In an attempt to deal with these challenges, organizations often
will make piecemeal change (offer a parenting program or have female
facilitators lead established programs), which has limited positive
impact with women on items that are measured (e.g., recidivism data,
program participation, numbers and types of disciplinary reports).
However, as more organizations become familiar with the emerging
research, they are interested in making broader, long lasting change
but often do not know where to start. To try to understand the problem
more thoroughly, NIC took a current and retrospective look at the
nature of technical assistance requests specific to justice-involved
women and noted a consistent theme. Although the details of the
requests varied, they all, in some way, were requesting assistance to
improve management of their women's population. The following are
examples of common technical assistance requests: (a) Mission has
changed. (b) The men have moved to another facility and women are being
transferred to a facility that was designed for and has historically
housed only male offenders. (c) A jurisdiction is building a new
facility for women and would like it to be the best in the country,
incorporating the gender-informed research. (d) Staff receive one hour
of training in the academy specific to working with women. They want to
design an effective training program that they can use in-house for
their staff that is specific to their needs and population. (e) Women
are surpassing men with their rates of technical violations resulting
in revocations and returns to prison. They want NIC to assess their
policies and procedures for women and determine whether they are
effective. (f) There are few options for housing. Women at various
custody levels are housed together. Although the jurisdiction hasn't
had any major assaultive events, they need assistance in managing the
population given their current environment. (g) Women are emerging from
incarcerative settings with few resources but significant
responsibilities. Many of them are caring for children with substandard
housing, no job prospects or visible source of income; parole or court-
ordered conditions of supervision with no transportation; and really
little more than what is on their backs. How can a jurisdiction work
successfully with the challenges reentering women present? (h) Current
classifications systems are not accurately reflecting risk and need for
women. The facility ends up overriding the instruments. They need
assistance in reviewing their current assessment and classifications
tools for women and want recommendations for improvement. (i) The
jurisdiction is overwhelmed with the needs of its mental health
population. They know they need to include trauma-informed practices to
both benefit the women offenders and their staff who interact with them
daily.
This is but a small sampling of requests over the years, but it was
the impetus for collecting and organizing the emerging research and
knowledge on women offenders.
Fortunately, as the rate of women entering our nation's justice
systems was dramatically increasing, also emerging was a body of work
that has had significant impact on the field of corrections. Evidence-
based practices or risk reduction research, considered to be gender-
neutral, and the gender-informed research that has identified and
articulated specific areas that are unique to and/or occur with
increased frequency with women. The latter body of work has provided
opportunities to sharpen our knowledge and practices regarding areas
that contribute to risk for women. NIC has paid considerable attention
to these emerging bodies of work and has collected and organized this
information into a set of domains that impact a wide range of practices
in women's facilities and in community corrections environments. This
information is continuously incorporated into NIC's current and
emerging products and services and has informed technical assistance to
the field.
The development of an internal evaluation methodology that contains
the items drawn from both the evidence-based and gender-informed bodies
of research and is in a concise and accessible format provides an
opportunity for agency leadership and management to assess policy and
practices that can contribute to or detract from an organization's
overall effectiveness in managing justice-involved women. It is also a
tool that can prepare an organization for requesting technical
assistance, additional funding, or enhancing internal quality
assurance.
Purpose: This methodology will be concise and informative,
incorporating evidence-based and gender-informed items to be used by an
organization to reasonably conduct an internal evaluation of their
policy and practice specific to their population of justice-involved
women. Ideally this methodology will inform policy and practice in the
operation of a women's facility and in effectively supervising women in
a community corrections environment.
Scope of Work: It will include an overview of the methodology,
sources of items chosen for inclusion, description of the format,
description of how an organization should apply the methodology,
including the tasks of the internal team, a description of the piloting
process, and instructions on how an organization will rate or
prioritize the items as they are evaluated internally. Also included in
the methodology is guidance to correctional organizations on assessing
organizational readiness and strategic planning for the purposes of
advancing the work with their population of justice-involved women
based on the findings of their internal evaluation. Finally, the
applicant must describe a process for how a pilot site or sites will be
chosen. As stated, the final product will reflect revisions made to the
methodology after a pilot(s) has been completed and will include a plan
for process evaluation. The awardee must submit a detailed work plan
with timelines and milestones for accomplishing project activities to
the assigned NIC correctional program specialist (CPS) for approval
prior to any work being performed under this agreement and must
designate a point of contact that will serve as the conduit of
information between the CPS and the awardee.
Examples of issues for applicants to consider for this project
include creation of methodology that is concise and easy to understand
yet provides enough detail to ensure that a wide range of practices are
evaluated relative to the research and knowledge on justice-involved
women. The intent of this solicitation is to assist agencies in
accurately evaluating internal practices for working with women, with
improved management and outcomes as
[[Page 43728]]
an objective. This type of evaluation runs the risk of resulting in a
``halo effect.'' That is, agencies are at risk of undermining
objectivity when an internal team looks at their own internal
practices. In order for an agency to conduct an internal evaluation of
their practices, initial work must be completed, including accessing
relevant data, knowledge of current policy and practice, and a general
vision of what the agency would like to achieve. Internal evaluators
may have limited knowledge about evidence-based and gender-informed
practice for women offenders, may not believe there should be
differences in policy and practice between male and female populations
or could misinterpret the intent of items in the methodology. The
applicant must consider the challenges identified above and propose
strategies for successfully addressing those areas within the context
of this project. Applicants are encouraged to identify and address
additional issues and challenges that they believe will impact the
successful development of this project.
Document Length: The length of the document should be determined by
content--brevity and clarity are encouraged.
Intended Audience: The primary audience for this product is the
leadership and management of correctional organizations. The document
will also be useful for management of correctional institutions for
women and community corrections organizations in the supervision of
women.
Distribution: This product is intended to be distributed widely and
made available to the corrections field. It will be available on the
NIC Web site and available free of charge through the NIC Information
Center.
Final Product: The completed materials will have received editing
from a professional editor. Ideally, materials will be electronically
based. 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. The awardee will deliver the final product to NIC in
hard copy and on disk in Word format. NIC will be responsible for the
final editing process and document design, but the awardee will remain
available during this time to answer questions and to make revisions to
the document. The awardee must also ensure that all products meet NIC's
standards for accessibility and Section 508 compliance.
Meetings: The cooperative agreement awardee will attend an initial
meeting with NIC staff for a project overview and preliminary planning.
This will take place shortly after the cooperative agreement is awarded
and will be held in located to be mutually determined. Washington, DC.
Additionally, the awardee should plan to meet with NIC staff routinely
as agreed upon by NIC and the awardee during the course of the
cooperative agreement. Meetings will be held no less than quarterly and
may be conducted via webinar or in person as agreed upon by NIC and the
awardee.
Application Requirements: An application package must include OMB
Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance; a cover letter
that identifies the audit agency responsible for the applicant's
financial accounts as well as the audit period or fiscal year under
which the applicant operates (e.g. July 1 through June 30); an outline
of projected costs with the budget and strategy narratives described in
the announcement. The following additional forms must also be included:
OMB Standard Form 424A, Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs;
OMB Standard Form 424B, Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (both
available at http://www.grants.gov); DOJ/FBOP/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 should be concisely written, typed double spaced, and
reference the NIC opportunity number and title referenced in this
announcement. If you are hand delivering or submitting via Fed-Ex,
please include an original and three copies of your full proposal
(program and budget narrative, application forms, assurances, and other
descriptions). The original should have the applicant's signature in
blue ink. Electronic submissions will be accepted only via http://www.grants.gov.
The project summary/abstract portion of the application should be
brief and include: A summary of the application's project description.
The summary must be clear, accurate, and concise without reference to
other parts of the application; A brief description of the critical
elements of the proposed project, including the goals and objectives
for the project and how strategies proposed meet those goals and
objectives.
Please place the following at the top of the abstract: Project
title, applicant name (legal name of applicant organization), mailing
address, e-mail address, Web site address and contact phone numbers,
including voice and fax, where applicable.
The narrative portion of the application should include at a
minimum: A statement indicating the applicant's understanding of the
project's purpose, goals and objectives. The applicant should state
this in language other than that used in the solicitation (i.e., do not
simply repeat the wording from the solicitation); Project design and
implementation: This section should describe key design points,
implementation issues, and opportunities; Project evaluation: This
section will describe the design of the proposed process evaluation;
Project Management: Charts of measurable milestones and timelines for
the completion of each milestone; Capabilities and competencies: This
section should describe the qualifications of the applicant
organization and any partner organizations to do the work proposed and
the expertise of key staff to be involved in the project. Attach
resumes that document relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities to
complete the project for the principals and staff members assigned to
the project; Budget: The budget should detail all costs for the
project, show consideration for all contingencies for the project, a
commitment to work within the proposed amount, and demonstrate the
ability to provide deliverables reasonably according to schedule.
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. Funds may be used only for
the activities that are linked to the desired outcome of the project.
The funding amount should not exceed $120,000.
Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any state or
general unit of government, private agency, educational institution,
organization, individual, or team with expertise in the described
areas. Applicants must have demonstrated ability to implement a project
of this size and scope.
Review Considerations: Applications will be reviewed by a team.
Among the criteria used to evaluate the applications are indication of
a clear understanding of the project requirements; background,
experience, and expertise of the proposed project staff, including any
sub-contractors; effectiveness of an innovative approach to the
project;
[[Page 43729]]
clear, concise description of all elements and tasks of the project,
with sufficient and realistic timeframes necessary to complete the
tasks; technical soundness of project design and methodology; financial
and administrative integrity of the proposal, including adherence to
Federal financial guidelines and processes; a sufficiently detailed
budget that shows consideration of all contingencies for this project
and commitment to work with the budget proposed; and indication of
availability work with NIC staff.
Programmatic: 40 Points.
Are all of the elements and tasks as outlined in the proposal fully
and clearly addressed? Is there a clear description of how each project
activity will be accomplished, including major tasks; the strategies to
be employed; required staffing; responsible parties, and other required
resources? Are there any unique or exceptional approaches, techniques,
or design aspects proposed that will enhance the project?
Project Management, Administration and Budget: 30 Points.
Does the applicant identify reasonable objectives, milestones, or
measures to track progress? Are the proposed management and staffing
plans clear, realistic, and sufficient to carry out the project? Is the
applicant willing to meet with NIC, at a minimum, as indicated in the
solicitation for this cooperative agreement? Is the proposed budget
realistic, does it provide sufficient cost detail/narrative, and does
it represent good value relative to the anticipated results? Does the
application include a chart that aligns the budget with project
activities along a timeline with, at minimum, quarterly benchmarks? In
terms of program value, is the estimated cost reasonable in relation to
work performed and project products?
Organizational and Project Staff Background: 30 Points.
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 goals of the
project? 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?
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). Applicants can obtain a DUNS number at no cost by
calling the dedicated toll-free request line at 800-333-0505.
Applicants who are sole proprietors should dial 866-705-5711 and
select option 1.
Applicants may register in the CCR online at the CCR Web site:
http://www.ccr.gov. Applicants can also review a CCR handbook and
worksheet at this Web site.
Number of Awards: One.
NIC Opportunity Number: 11AD04.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 16.601.
Executive Order 12372: This project is not subject to the
provisions of Executive Order 12372.
Morris L. Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2011-18409 Filed 7-20-11; 8:45 am]
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