[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 141 (Monday, July 23, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43120-43122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17818]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Dosage-Based Probation 
as an Effective Intervention

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

ACTION: Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 October 2012.

DATES: Application must be received by 4:00 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, 
August 6, 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 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 the direct reply, all questions and responses will be 
posted on NIC's 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 30, 2012 will be posted on the NIC 
Web site.

[[Page 43121]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Overview: The traditional approach of probation supervision in the 
United States focuses on offender accountability. Many jurisdictions 
deem probation ``successful'' by measuring the number of contacts they 
make with an offender, the conditions an offender completes, or the 
amount of time an offender serves on probation. As caseloads grow and 
criminal justice budgets continue to shrink, practitioners and 
legislators alike are looking for justice interventions that have 
better long-term outcomes. Only until recently has community 
corrections benefitted from specific research with identified methods 
of reducing offender recidivism. Research indicates that certain 
programs and intervention strategies, when applied under certain 
conditions, produce measureable reductions in recidivism. This same 
research suggests that few community supervision agencies are using 
these effective interventions and principles [see McGuire,(2002); 
Sherman et al, (1998), Aos (1998) on cost-benefit analysis and specific 
clinical trials (Henggeler et al, (1997); Meyers et al, (2002) on 
specific clinical trials)].
    To bring the research to practice, NIC launched the Evidence-Based 
Policy and Practice Initiative, which incorporated many of these 
research findings. One result of the initiative was the ``box set,'' a 
collection of documents focusing on the implementation of evidence-
based principles (EBP) in community corrections agencies. They are 
available on the NIC Web site at http://nicic.gov/EBPBoxSet.
    NIC approaches risk and recidivism reduction with an integrated 
model that emphasizes the implementation of interventions based on 
proven principles associated with behavioral changes, the development 
of understanding and commitment to risk reduction within correctional 
organizations, and collaboration with other justice agencies and 
service providers to enhance delivery. The integrated approach for 
reducing offender risks has guiding principles and roles for courts, 
prosecutors and defense attorneys, pretrial services, and treatment 
providers as well as corrections. The box set provides an overview and 
outlines the roles of stakeholders in reducing offender risk.
    Research supports several principles of effective offender 
interventions. NIC highlights eight of these principles in its 
publication ``Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community 
Corrections: The Principles of Effective Interventions'' http://static.nicic.gov/Library/019342.pdf. These working principles are 
listed below in developmental sequence: (1) Assess Actuarial Risk/
Needs--Assessing offenders' risk and needs (focusing on dynamic and 
static risk factors and criminogenic needs) at the individual and 
aggregate levels is essential for implementing the principles of best 
practice. (2) Enhance Intrinsic Motivation--Research strongly suggests 
that ``motivational interviewing'' techniques, rather than persuasion 
tactics, effectively enhance motivation for initiating and maintaining 
behavior changes. (3) Target Interventions: a. Risk Principle--
Prioritize supervision and treatment resources for higher risk 
offenders. b. Need Principle--Target interventions to criminogenic 
needs. c. Responsivity Principle--Be responsive to temperament, 
learning style, motivation, gender, and culture when assigning to 
programs. d. Dosage--Structure 40% to 70% of high-risk offenders' time 
for 3 to 9 months. e. Treatment Principle--Integrate treatment into 
full sentence/sanctions requirements. (4) Skill Train with Directed 
Practice--Provide evidence-based programming that emphasizes cognitive-
behavior strategies and is delivered by well-trained staff. (5) 
Increase Positive Reinforcement--Apply four positive reinforcements for 
every one negative reinforcement for optimal behavior change results. 
(6) Engage Ongoing Support in Natural Communities--Realign and actively 
engage pro-social support for offenders in their communities for 
positive reinforcement of desired new behaviors. (7) Measure Relevant 
Processes/Practices--An accurate and detailed documentation of case 
information and staff performance, along with a formal and valid 
mechanism for measuring outcomes, is the foundation of evidence-based 
practice. (8) Provide Measurement Feedback--Providing feedback builds 
accountability and maintains integrity, ultimately improving outcomes.
    Scope of Work: The intent of this solicitation is to expand on the 
foundation of work that NIC has led on offender risk reduction. 
``Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The 
Principles of Effective Interventions'' outlines a framework of 
strategies that, when jurisdictions implement them correctly, lead to 
reductions in offender risk. It further suggests that these principles 
are in developmental order, do not operate in a vacuum, and are highly 
interdependent. This project will focus on the development of the third 
principle, Target Interventions: Dosage. It will also call for the 
integration of dosage into the other more established principles of 
risk, need, and responsivity. Dosage-based probation must be guided by 
the actuarial risk of the offender. After determining the offender's 
risk, it is then necessary to assess and target the individual 
criminogenic needs of the offender so that treatment, interventions, 
and conditions will match to the offender's identified needs. The 
intensity, duration, and frequency of treatment, interventions, 
conditions, and/or dosage should match the level of offender risk and 
be reassessed routinely to determine their effectiveness.
    Project Deliverables: (1) The awardee will develop a monograph that 
will review all of the current research and publications on the use of 
a dosage-based probation approach and its effectiveness as an 
intervention within a criminal justice system. The monograph must meet 
all requirements for publication and inclusion in the National 
Institution of Corrections Information Center. (2) The awardee will 
develop a comprehensive strategic plan outlining the activities, 
processes, and objectives that an agency or jurisdiction should 
complete at (a) The individual case level, (b) the agency level, and 
(c) the system level to implement dosage-based probation as a risk 
reduction intervention. (3) The awardee will produce and submit a 
protocol for selecting jurisdictions that are best positioned to 
implement the dosage-based probation intervention strategic plan. (4) 
Participate in all planning and progress meetings during the life of 
the project. (5) Submit a final report reviewing the project's 
activities and accomplishments.
    Specific Requirements: Documents or other media that are produced 
under this award must follow these guidelines: Prior to the preparation 
of the final draft of any document or other media, the awardee must 
consult with NIC's writer/editor concerning the acceptable formats for 
manuscript submissions and the technical specifications for electronic 
media. The awardee must follow the guidelines listed herein, as well as 
follow (1) the Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Manuscripts for 
Publication as found in the ``General Guidelines for Cooperative 
Agreements,'' which can be found on our Web site at www.nicic.gov/cooperativeagreements and (2) NIC recommendations for producing media 
using plain language, which can be found at www.nicic.gov/plainlanguage. All final documents and other media submitted under this 
project will be posted on the NIC Web site and must meet the federal 
government's

[[Page 43122]]

requirement for accessibility (e.g., 508 PDFs or HTML files). The 
awardee must provide descriptive text interpreting all graphics, 
photos, graphs, and/or multimedia that will be included with or 
distributed alongside the materials and must provide transcripts for 
all applicable audio/visual works.
    Meetings: The cooperative agreement awardee will participate in an 
initial meeting with NIC staff for a project overview and preliminary 
planning within two 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 $100,000 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 relate directly 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 produce the 
deliverables of this project, including extensive experience in 
correctional and criminal justice policy and practice, and a strong 
background in offender risk reduction principles.
    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 five 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 meet 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 
use 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, you would dial 1-866-705-5711 and select option 1).
    Registration in the CRR 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 Opportunity Number: 12CS09. 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 can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc.

Morris L. Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2012-17818 Filed 7-20-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P