[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40911-40914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16925]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Technical Assistance 
Site Management in NIC's Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local 
Criminal Justice Systems Initiative

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) Community Services 
Division is soliciting proposals from organizations, groups, or 
individuals to enter into a cooperative agreement with NIC for up to 16 
months beginning in August 2012. Work under this cooperative agreement 
is part of a larger NIC initiative, Evidence-Based Decision Making 
(EBDM) in Local Criminal Justice Systems. Work under this cooperative 
agreement will be coordinated with awardees of other cooperative 
agreements who will be providing services under Phase III of this 
initiative.
    Specifically, under this cooperative agreement, the awardee will 
provide technical assistance to seven Phase III sites that have already 
been identified. During Phase II of the EBDM initiative, the seven 
sites identified change strategies based on their individual system 
planning activities. These change strategies are critical to meeting 
their system's harm reduction goals. The technical assistance from this 
award will be targeted to the identified change strategies.

DATES: Applications must be received by 4 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, July 
30, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Mailed applications must be sent to: Director, National 
Institute of Corrections, 320 First Street NW., Room 5002, 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

[[Page 40912]]

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: A copy of this announcement can be 
downloaded from the NIC Web site at www.nicic.gov/cooperativeagreements.
    All technical or programmatic questions concerning this 
announcement should be directed to Lori Eville, Correctional Program 
Specialist, National Institute of Corrections, at [email protected]. In 
addition to direct reply, all questions and answers will be posted on 
the NIC Web site at 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 12:00 p.m. (EDT) on July 20, 2012 will be posted on the NIC 
Web site.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Overview: The overall goal of the EBDM Initiative is to establish 
and test articulated linkages (information tools and protocols) between 
the decisions of local criminal justice stakeholders and the 
application of human and organizational change principles (evidence-
based practices) in achieving measurable reductions in pretrial 
misconduct and post-conviction risk of reoffending. The unique focus of 
the initiative is the review of locally developed criminal justice 
strategies that guide practice within existing sentencing statutes and 
rules.
    The initiative intends to (1) improve the quality of information 
that jurisdictions use to make individual case decisions in local 
systems and (2) engage these systems as policymaking bodies to 
collectively improve the effectiveness and capacity of their decision 
making related to pretrial release/sentencing options. Local officials 
involved in the initiative include: Judges, prosecutors, public 
defenders, police, human service providers, county executives, and 
administrators of jail, probation, and pretrial services agencies.
    Local criminal justice decisions are defined broadly to include 
dispositions regarding arrest, cite and release or to custody, pretrial 
release or detention and setting of bail and pretrial release 
conditions, pretrial diversion, charging and plea bargaining, 
sentencing of adjudicated offenders regarding use of community and 
custody options, and responses to violations of conditions of pretrial 
release and community sentences.
    Background: In June 2008, the National Institute of Corrections 
(NIC) launched a multi-phased initiative and awarded a cooperative 
agreement to address evidence-based decision making in local criminal 
justice systems. The goal of Phase I of the initiative was to build a 
systemwide framework (from arrest through final disposition and 
discharge) that would result in more collaborative evidence-based 
decision making and practices in local criminal justice systems. This 
effort was grounded in two decades of research on the factors that 
contribute to criminal reoffending and the methods a justice system can 
employ to interrupt the cycle of reoffense. Today, the initiative seeks 
to equip criminal justice policymakers in local communities with 
information, processes, and tools that will result in measurable 
reductions of pretrial misconduct and post-conviction reoffending.
    The principle product of Phase I of this initiative was the 
Evidence-Based Decision Making Framework in Local Criminal Justice 
Systems. The Framework identifies the key structural elements of a 
system informed by evidence-based practice. It defines a vision of 
safer communities. It puts forward the belief that risk and harm 
reduction are fundamental goals of the justice system and that these 
can be achieved without sacrificing offender accountability or other 
important justice system outcomes.
    The Framework both acknowledges the importance of the key premises 
and values underlying our criminal justice system and provides a set of 
principles to guide evidence-based decision making within that context. 
The principles themselves are evidence-based. The Framework also 
highlights groundbreaking research that demonstrates that pretrial 
misconduct and offender recidivism can be reduced. It identifies the 
key stakeholders who must be actively engaged in a collaborative 
partnership if an evidence-based system of justice is to be achieved. 
It outlines the difficult challenges agencies face as they seek to 
deliberately and systematically implement such an approach in their 
local communities. A copy of the Evidence-Based Decision Making 
Framework document can be downloaded online at http://nicic.gov/Library/024372.
    In August 2010, NIC launched Phase II (Planning and Engagement) of 
the Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice Systems 
Initiative by selecting seven jurisdictions to serve as EBDM ``seed 
sites.'' Those sites are Mesa County, Colorado; Grant County, Indiana; 
Ramsey County, Minnesota; Yamhill County, Oregon; City of 
Charlottesville/County of Albemarle, Virginia; Eau Claire County, 
Wisconsin; Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.
    The cooperative agreement awardees of Phase II provided extensive 
technical assistance to each of the seven seed sites for a period of 10 
months. The overarching purpose of the technical assistance was to (1) 
Develop a shared philosophy and vision for the local criminal justice 
system; (2) Determine the capacity to collect and analyze data, 
including the quality of the data, to support ongoing analysis of the 
effectiveness of current and future policies, practices, and services 
designed to achieve specific risk and harm reduction outcomes; and (3) 
Change knowledge, skills, and abilities regarding research-based risk 
reduction strategies.
    Each site received technical assistance that was specific to the 
initiative and individualized to its system's needs. Monthly site 
visits from an assigned technical assistance site coordinator led the 
jurisdictions through the attainment of specific activities and goals. 
The Roadmap to Phase II outlines the major objectives that the 
technical assistance providers guided the seeds sites through. A copy 
of the roadmap is available online at http://static.nicic.gov/Public/roadmap_phase_ii_final_2.docx.
    The technical assistance was intended to lead to the following 
outcomes: Build a genuine, collaborative policy team; Build individual 
agencies that are collaborative and in a state of readiness for change; 
Understand current practice within each agency/across the system; 
Understand and have the capacity to implement evidence-based practices; 
Establish performance measurements/outcomes/system scorecard; Develop a 
system logic model; Engage/gain support of the community; and Develop a 
strategic action plan.
    All seven sites completed Phase II in October 2011. Each 
jurisdiction submitted an application for acceptance into Phase III of 
the initiative. Within their applications are a detailed strategic 
action plan and their system's logic model. The action plan and logic 
model are the foundation of implementation activities of the Phase III 
technical assistance.
    Scope of Work: The intent of this request for proposal is to expand 
the availability of technical assistance to the jurisdictions involved 
in NIC's Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice 
Systems

[[Page 40913]]

Initiative. Technical assistance will be coordinated and/or provided to 
seven EBDM sites: Grant County, IN; Yamhill County, OR; 
Charlottesville, VA; and Ramsey County, MN; Mesa County, CO; Milwaukee 
County, WI; Eau Claire County, WI. The technical assistance will be 
guided by each site's established strategic action plan, logic model, 
and other agreed upon specialized assistance required to reach the 
jurisdiction's identified outcomes.
    In addition, targeted technical assistance will be provided to each 
of the seven sites to develop a site-specific communication strategy. 
The communication strategy will guide elected and non-elected officials 
in effectively communicating the set of core principles upon which 
their criminal justice system will base its decisions. The 
communication strategy will be targeted to both criminal justice staff 
and the general public.
    Project Deliverables: (1) The awardee will work with the site 
coordinator from each of the seven sites to develop a report that 
prioritizes current unfunded, targeted activities that require 
technical assistance. These activities include technical assistance 
events across the criminal justice system in areas such as data 
collection, risk assessment, application of evidence-based practices, 
logic model development, guarding against implementation failure, and 
sustaining change. The report will include how the technical assistance 
will be provided, the recommended technical assistance provider, the 
estimated cost of delivering the technical assistance, and the 
anticipated effect that delivering the technical assistance will have 
on the sites' performance measures. This report will be due within 60 
days of the award. (2) The awardee will develop a report from each 
technical assistance event completed by the technical assistance 
provider and submitted to the site and NIC. At minimum, the report will 
include the activities that the technical assistance is addressing, who 
attended the technical assistance event, the outcome of the technical 
assistance, and other findings and/or recommendations. (3) The awardee 
will work with each of the seven jurisdictions to develop a strategic 
communications plan that outlines their criminal justice systems' 
mission, vision, and risk and harm reduction measures and strategies. 
This will include a written communications plan that will identify key 
audiences of both internal and external stakeholders to which the 
message shall be communicated.
    Meetings: The cooperative agreement awardee will participate in an 
initial meeting with the NIC staff for a project overview and 
preliminary planning meeting within 2 weeks of the award. The awardee 
will meet with NIC staff routinely to discuss the activities noted in 
the timeline 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: Applications should be concisely written, 
typed double-spaced and reference the project by the ``NIC Opportunity 
Number'' and Title in this announcement. 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 program narrative in response to the statement of work, and a budget 
narrative explaining projected costs. 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/general/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 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: Pub. L. 93-415.

    Funds Available: Up to $300,000 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 
be used only for the activities that are directly related to the 
project.
    This project will be a collaborative venture with the NIC Community 
Services 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.
    Required Expertise: Successful applicants must be able to 
demonstrate that they have the organizational capacity to carry out the 
deliverables of this project. Appropriate expertise may include 
extensive experience in correctional and criminal justice policy and 
practice and a strong background in criminal justice systemwide change 
with experience in the implementation of evidence-based practices in 
the criminal justice system to reduce pretrial misconduct and offender 
risk of reoffending. Applicants should also have demonstrated the 
ability to package a criminal justice strategy and advance it to a 
national audience.
    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:

Program Narrative: (50%)

    Are all of the project tasks adequately discussed, and is there a 
clear statement of how each 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?

Organizational Capabilities: (25%)

    Do the skills, knowledge, and expertise of the applicant(s) and the 
proposed project staff demonstrate a high level of competency to 
complete the tasks? Does the applicant have the necessary experience 
and organizational capacity to complete the goals of the project?

Program Management/Administration (25%)

    Does the applicant identify reasonable objectives, milestones, and 
measures to track progress? If there are consultants and/or 
partnerships proposed, is there a clear structure to ensure effective 
utilization and 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, 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

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worksheet can also be reviewed at the Web site.
    Number of Awards: One.
    NIC Opportunity Number: 12CS04. This number should appear as a 
reference line in the cover letter, where indicated on Standard Form 
424, and outside of the envelope in which the application is sent.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 16.603.

    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 is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc.

Christopher Innes,
Acting Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2012-16925 Filed 7-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P