Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement-Employment Retention Inventory Validation, 35316-35317 [2013-13949]

Agencies

• Department of Justice
• National Institute of Corrections

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35316-35317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13949]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Employment Retention 
Inventory Validation

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 24-month period to begin no later than 
September 15, 2013. Work under this cooperative agreement will involve 
the evaluation of the Employment Retention Inventory (ERI), which 
supports the case management efforts of workforce development 
practitioners. Specifically, the goal of this project is to determine 
whether the ERI effectively identifies the precursors, obstacles, and 
personality traits that influence an offender's separation from the 
workforce. In addition, this project will explore the relationship 
between offender employment retention and recidivism. The major 
deliverables of this project include (1) the use of a system to capture 
and evaluate data and (2) a written report that summarizes project 
findings, recommendations, and potential next steps. This project will 
be a collaborative venture with the NIC Community Services Division.
    NIC Opportunity Number: 13CS11. 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 
(1) award will be made. The total amount of funds available under this 
solicitation is $150,000.00.
    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 Monday, July 8, 
2013.

    Authority: Public Law 93-415

    Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any public or 
private agency, educational institution, organization, individual or 
team with expertise in the described areas.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: In 2010, the National Institute of Corrections entered 
into an 18-month cooperative agreement to develop a competency-based 
training curriculum to provide practitioners with the knowledge and 
skills needed for the provision of employment retention services for 
those identified as having barriers to sustained employment. This 
curriculum, based on evidence-based practices, combined cognitive 
behavioral principles with motivational interviewing techniques to 
broaden the ability of the practitioner to develop strategies for 
change while improving offender outcomes through collaboration with 
stakeholders; practitioners increased their knowledge in employment 
retention, career development theory and application, facilitation 
skills, and transitional intervention. Combining these two research-
based methods helps the offender create a solid foundation for self-
exploration and change--guided by a ``spirit'' that supports the 
offender's self-examination to resolve ambivalence to change. In 
addition, the ERI was developed to identify precursors to job loss and/
or recidivism while creating a process for connecting targeted 
populations to specialized services that address their risk for job 
loss and recidivism successfully.
    Offender workforce development programing should target offenders 
found to be at medium/high risk for job loss and return to criminal 
activities. It should be based on standardized and validated risk and 
specialized assessment instruments. Practitioners having the 
competencies to assist offenders in becoming successful at maintaining 
a long-term connection to the workforce will be able to assess those at 
high risk for job loss, identify specific indicators, and analyze the 
chain of events and behaviors that lead to separation from the 
workforce and recidivism. This project will contribute to the body of 
knowledge currently available specific to offender workforce 
development while also contributing to the shaping of effective policy 
and practice for establishing and maintaining employment services that 
successfully engage medium- to high-risk offenders.
    Scope of Work: The tasks to be performed under this cooperative 
agreement include (1) review of documents directly related to NIC's 
Employment Retention Initiative, (2) participation in an initial 
meeting with designated NIC staff for a project overview and 
preliminary planning session, (3) identification and/or justification 
of the research design methodology, (4) identification of target 
populations, (5) determination of data measurements and collection 
procedure,

[[Page 35317]]

(6) development of a final report that summarizes the project--
suggesting next steps and/or follow up work specific to NIC's 
Employment Retention Initiative, (7) participation in a national 
platform to discuss lessons learned, and (8) a presentation on findings 
to NIC executive staff.
    Deliverables: Under this cooperative agreement, the awardee is 
expected to produce (1) eight quarterly reports reflecting the progress 
of the project, (2) an electronic system to capture and track data, (3) 
a written report reflecting project findings and/or recommendations, 
and (4) an electronic presentation reflecting project findings and/or 
recommendations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All technical or programmatic 
questions concerning this announcement should be directed to P. 
Elizabeth Taylor, Correctional Program Specialist, National Institute 
of Corrections who may be reached by email at petaylor@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'' 13CS11 and title in this 
announcement, ``Employment Retention Inventory Validation.'' 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.
    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 
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: 
Since this application is classified under Training and Staff 
Development, enter 16.601 in section 10 of the SF-424. You are not 
subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372 and should check Box 
b. in section 16.

Robert Brown, Jr.,
Acting Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2013-13949 Filed 6-11-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P