Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement-IBM Instructional Guide and Assessment Tool Development, 35321-35323 [2013-13948]

Agencies

• Department of Justice
• National Institute of Corrections

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35321-35323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13948]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--IBM Instructional Guide 
and Assessment Tool Development

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 soliciting 
proposals from organizations, groups, or individuals to enter into a 
cooperative agreement for a 12-month period to begin no later than 
September 15, 2013. Work under this cooperative agreement will involve 
the development of an instructional guide and assessment tool(s) that 
will help jail practitioners improve their assessment of inmate needs 
and management of inmate behavior. Needs are defined as the physical or 
psychological requirement for well-being. Inmates have a variety of 
needs that should be identified and managed during their stay in jail. 
This project will be a collaborative venture with the NIC Jails 
Division.
    NIC Opportunity Number: 13JD04. This number should appear in the 
reference line in your cover letter, on Standard Form 424 in section 11 
with the title of your proposal, and in the right justified header of 
your proposal.
    Number of Awards and Funds Available: Under this solicitation, one 
award will be made. The total amount of funds available under this 
solicitation is $30,000.00. Funds awarded under this solicitation may 
only be used for activities directly related to the project as 
described herein unless otherwise amended in writing by NIC.
    Applications: All applicants must be submitted electronically via 
https://www.grants.gov. Hand delivered, mailed, faxed, or emailed 
applications will not be accepted.

DATES: Application must be submitted before midnight on Wednesday, July 
3, 2013.

    Authority:  Pub. L. 93-415.
    Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any public or 
private

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agency, educational institution, organization, individual or team with 
expertise in the described areas.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) has 
identified six key elements in the effective management of inmate 
behavior in jails:

--Assessing the risks and needs of each inmate at various points during 
his/her detention
--Assigning inmates to appropriate housing
--Meeting inmates' basic needs
--Defining and conveying expectations for inmate behavior
--Supervising inmates
--Keeping inmates productively occupied

If a jail fully and properly implements all six elements, it should 
experience a significant reduction in the unwanted and negative inmate 
behavior often experienced in jails, such as vandalism, violence, rule 
violations, and disrespectful behavior toward staff and other inmates.
    The NIC Jails Division offers training and technical assistance on 
inmate behavior management but wishes to develop additional tools that 
will help jails implement the individual elements.
    Scope of Work: The awardee will produce an instructional guide and 
assessment tool(s) that have received initial editing from a 
professional editor. NIC will be responsible for the final editing 
process, but the awardee will remain available during this time to 
answer questions and to make revisions to the materials.
    The list below shows the major activities required to complete the 
project. Document development will begin upon award of this agreement 
and must be complete 12 months after the award date. The schedule for 
completion of activities should include, at a minimum, the following 
activities. The awardee will:
--Meet with the NIC project manager for an overview of the project and 
initial planning
--Review materials provided by NIC
--Review needs assessment tool(s) that are currently available
--Complete the initial outline of a guide, a draft of the tool(s) 
content, and layout
--Meet with the NIC project manager to review, discuss, and agree on 
the content outline
--Pilot test the assessment tool(s) in at least two selected 
jurisdictions
--Provide a report on the outcome of the pilot tests and make 
adjustments as necessary
--Submit a draft of the assessment tool(s) and instructional guide to 
NIC for review
--Revise the items for NIC's approval
--Submit the material to NIC in hard copy and on disk in an agreed upon 
format, e.g. Microsoft Word or Excel.

    Throughout the project period, the awardee should make provision 
for meetings with NIC staff to be held in Washington, DC, at critical 
planning and review points in document development. Meetings can be 
accomplished using internet conferencing such as WebEx.
    Jail administrators and management staff comprise the audience for 
these materials. This guide is intended for use by jails of all sizes. 
In developing the assessment tool(s) and instructional guide, the 
awardee must take into account the diversity of jails in terms of size 
and resources and the sometimes severe resource limitations many jails 
face.
    Jail practitioners will use these tools to assess inmate needs at 
the time of entry to a facility and at various points during 
incarceration. The tool(s) will work in conjunction with the assessment 
of risk tools. The products will be companions to other materials NIC 
is developing on inmate behavior management.
    Deliverables: Deliverables for this project include completed 
assessment tool(s) that have been professionally edited and an 
instructional guide for the tool(s) submitted in Word format.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All technical or programmatic 
questions concerning this announcement should be directed to Fran 
Zandi, Correctional Program Specialist, National Institute of 
Corrections who may be reached by email at fzandi@bop.gov. 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 or 
affiliations 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.
    Application Requirements: Application Requirements: Applications 
should be typed, double spaced, in 12-point font, and reference the 
project by the ``NIC Opportunity Number'' (13JD04) and title in this 
announcement, ``IBM Instructional Guide and Assessment Tool 
Development.'' 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 concisely written program 
narrative, not to exceed 30 numbered pages, in response to the 
statement of work, and a detailed budget with a budget narrative 
explaining projected costs. Applicants may submit a description of the 
project teams' qualifications and expertise relevant to the project, 
but should not attach lengthy resumes. Attachments to the proposal 
describing your organization or examples of other past work beyond 
those specifically requested above are discouraged. These attachments 
should not exceed 5MB. 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 https://www.grants.gov) and DOJ/NIC Certification Regarding 
Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and 
the Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (available at https://nicic.gov/Downloads/General/certif-frm.pdf.
    Failure to supply all required forms with the application package 
may result in disqualification of the application from consideration.

    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: 
https://www.bpn.gov/ccr. A CCR Handbook and worksheet can also be 
reviewed at the Web site.
    Review Considerations: Applications received under this 
announcement will be subject to the NIC Review Process. Proposals which 
fail to provide sufficient information to allow evaluation under the 
criteria below may be judged non-responsive and disqualified.
    The criteria for the evaluation of each application will be as 
follows:

Programmatic (40%)

    Are all of the project tasks adequately discussed? Is there a clear 
statement of how each task will be accomplished to include the overall 
project goal(s), major tasks to achieve the goals(s), the strategies to 
be employed in completing the tasks, required staffing, and other 
required resources? Are there any approaches, techniques, or design

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aspects proposed that are new to NIC and will enhance the project?

Organizational (35%)

    Do the proposed project staff members possess the skills, 
knowledge, and expertise necessary to complete the tasks listed under 
the scope of work? Does the applicant organization, group, or 
individual have the organizational capacity to achieve all project 
tasks? Does the proposal contain project management and staffing plans 
that are realistic and sufficient to complete the project within the 
project time frame?

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 a sufficient cost 
detail/narrative, and does it represent good value relative to the 
anticipated results?
    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. For all awards in which a document will be a deliverable, the 
awardee must follow the guidelines listed herein, as well as follow 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.
    All final documents and other materials submitted under this 
project must meet the federal government's requirement for Section 508 
accessibility, including those provisions outlined in 1194 Subpart B, 
Technical Provisions, Subpart C, Functional Performance Criteria; and 
Subpart D, Documentation and Support, NIC's government product 
accessibility template (see www.nicic.gov/section508) outlines the 
agency's minimum criteria for meeting this requirement; a completed 
form attesting to the accessibility of project deliverables should 
accompany all submissions.

    Note Concerning Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) should be entered 
into box 10 of the SF 424. The CFDA number for this solicitation is 
16.603--Technical Assistance/Clearinghouse. You are subject to the 
provisions of Executive Order 12372. The order allows states the 
option of setting up a system for reviewing applications from within 
their states for assistance under certain Federal programs. You must 
notify the Single State Point of Contact in your state, if it 
exists, of this application before NIC can make an award. Applicants 
(other than Indian tribal governments recognized by the Federal 
government) should contact their State Single Point of Contact 
(SPOC), a list of which can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc. Check the appropriate box in section 16 of the SF-
424.


Robert M. Brown, Jr.,
Acting Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2013-13948 Filed 6-11-13; 8:45 am]
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