Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement-Gender-Informed Research (Women): Enhanced Approaches to Project Development, 35323-35325 [2013-13950]

Agencies

• Department of Justice
• National Institute of Corrections

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35323-35325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13950]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections


Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Gender-Informed 
Research (Women): Enhanced Approaches to Project 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 seeking 
applications from organizations, groups, or individuals to enter into a 
cooperative agreement with NIC for an 18-month period to begin no later 
than September 15, 2013. Work under this cooperative agreement will 
involve convening a working group with the purpose of identifying key 
areas of gender-informed knowledge specific to women that will both 
inform a future research agenda and define a project that would further 
incorporate these keys areas into NIC initiatives and provide further 
guidance for policymakers and practitioners in their management of this 
population. The audience for this project is quite broad, representing 
all aspects of corrections (jails, prisons, and community corrections), 
the research and academic community, other Federal agencies, state and 
local entities and other related stakeholders that have an interest in 
this population. The deliverables from this solicitation will be based 
on research and theory and are meant to provide a medium to inform NIC 
initiatives as well as more generally the corrections field, with the 
goal of improved system and individual outcomes. This project will be a 
collaborative venture with the NIC Community Services Division.
    NIC Opportunity Number: 13CS12 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, 1 
(one) Award will be made. The total amount of funds available under 
this solicitation is $65,000.00.
    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 Tuesday, July 
9, 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: Historically, studies focusing on the management of 
correctional populations have drawn their inferences from samples that 
have been predominantly male, with hypotheses developed from those same 
bodies of research. Much of that research applies to both justice-
involved women and men, and the incorporation of that research in 
correctional policy and practice has advanced the profession and 
contributed to the improved use of resources. However, there has been 
emerging research specific to justice-involved women and the most 
significant innovation in policy, practice, and gender-informed 
programs for women has occurred during the past 10 years or so.
    In 2006, NIC convened a meeting of researchers and practitioners 
focusing on the evidence-based research that was often perceived as 
being equally applicable to both men and women and gender-informed 
research, which has been developed on samples composed entirely of 
women. The purpose of that event was to identify important key findings 
regarding gender-responsive strategies and evidence-based practices; 
develop consensus on areas of convergence across the bodies of 
knowledge; explore those beliefs and assumptions that were not yet 
fully supported by large bodies of research but could nonetheless guide 
future research and policy with justice-involved women; identify key 
research questions; and discuss the ways that NIC could guide the field 
in its work

[[Page 35324]]

with this population. Emanating from the 2006 meeting were areas of 
consensus within the bodies of research; areas identified as more 
salient with women than men; the importance of incorporating trauma-
informed practice into supervision and treatment; use of interventions 
that are gender-responsive to achieve the greatest outcomes for women; 
and a need to clarify behaviors for women that contribute to their 
risk.
    In the ensuing 7 years, many of the recommendations have been 
incorporated into NIC's initiatives with women (e.g., women's risk and 
need assessments and a case management model, gender-informed practice 
assessments for women's institutions, training programs and technical 
assistance) and are available for use in the corrections field.
    The precepts of evidence-based practice continue to be a hallmark 
of good correctional practice. Other emerging areas of research are 
also being incorporated into correctional policy and procedure. 
Research on the role of identifying strengths and resiliency, sources 
of social capital, add to our understanding of justice-involved 
programming and supervision. As the United States continues to top the 
world's rates of incarceration, increased attention is also being given 
to research on decarceration, desistance, and re-entry from prison and 
jail settings. NIC has worked in this area for a number of years, and 
more recently, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council at the U.S. 
Department of Justice was created to further address community safety 
through reductions in recidivism and victimization, assisting those 
returning from jail and prison to the community in becoming productive 
citizens by addressing the financial and collateral costs of 
incarceration. A working group stemming from the larger federal 
initiative was subsequently formed, focusing on issues affecting women 
not unlike the ones noted above.
    Other more recent contributions to improving correctional practice 
has been the creation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) 
National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape, 
which were built upon extensive research and outreach to affected 
groups. This is but a small sampling of some of the changes that have 
been emerging over the very recent past. They call for the development 
of opportunities to share this information with practitioners for use 
in their correctional practice with justice-involved women.
    Scope of Work: In full collaboration with NIC, the awardee will 
facilitate a planning/work session composed of researchers and 
practitioners with expertise in evidence-based, gender-informed 
research, policy, and practice. In preparation for the working session, 
the awardee will: identify the range of topics that will form the basis 
of the work of the planning group; develop a bibliography of relevant 
materials; identify various subject matter experts based on their 
skills, knowledge, and expertise and be responsible for their costs to 
participate in the planning/work session; designate roles and tasks 
that need to be accomplished by participants and convey that 
information prior to the onsite meeting; determine a meeting site and 
develop an agenda, stating clear outcomes for the meeting; provide 
meeting facilitation; share with all participants a record of the 
meeting, which will subsequently be made available on the NIC Web site; 
engage with NIC project staff, work session participants and other 
identified designated experts to develop identified deliverables.
    Deliverables: Project deliverables will include (1) An annotated 
bibliography highlighting the emerging research applicable to the 
management of justice-involved women; (2) identification and an outline 
of a proposed initiative that will be informed by the key research 
noted above (e.g., elements of desistance that can be incorporated into 
a project contributing to improved outcomes for justice-involved 
women); (3) preparation of materials and (4) the conducting of a series 
of webinar events to highlight the key emerging research and knowledge 
for a broad correctional audience and relevant stakeholders.
    This project will be completed in conjunction with the NIC 
Community Services Division and the awardee will work closely with NIC 
staff on all aspects of the project. The awardee will participate in an 
initial meeting with designated NIC staff for a project overview and 
preliminary planning. Additionally, the awardee will meet routinely 
with NIC staff to discuss the activities noted in the project timeline 
submitted during the course of the cooperative agreement. Meetings will 
be held no less than quarterly and may be conducted via webinar with at 
least one onsite as agreed upon by NIC and the awardee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All technical or programmatic 
questions concerning this announcement should be directed to Maureen 
Buell, Correctional Program Specialist, National Institute of 
Corrections, Community Services Division who may be reached by email at 
mbuell@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: Applications should be typed, double 
spaced, in 12-point font, and reference the project by the ``NIC 
Opportunity Number'' 13CS12 and title in this announcement, ``Gender-
Informed Research (Women): Enhanced Approaches to Project 
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.
    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

[[Page 35325]]

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 media submitted for posting on the 
NIC Web site must meet the federal government's requirement for 
accessibility (508 PDF or HTML file). The awardee must provide 
descriptive text interpreting all graphics, photos, graphs, and/or 
multimedia to be included with or distributed alongside the materials 
and must provide transcripts for all applicable audio/visual works.

    Note Concerning Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 
This number should be entered in section 10 of the Application for 
Federal Assistance (SF-424). If your application is for Training and 
Staff Development, enter 16.601 in section 10 of the SF-424. If your 
application is for Research and Policy Formulation, enter 16.602 in 
the section. If you have entered 16.601 or 16.602 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 M. Brown, Jr.,
Acting Director, National Institute of Corrections.

    Required Expertise: The successful applicant, and if there are 
identified partner(s) will, at a minimum, have a thorough 
understanding of the applicable research specific to evidence-based, 
gender-responsive research and knowledge and can provide examples of 
how this knowledge has been applied to projects specific to justice-
involved women; the ability to identify and access relevant research 
resources and organize materials into a bibliography; expertise in 
meeting facilitation; the ability to translate content of the 
working group discussion into a record of the meeting; demonstrated 
experience in developing and conducting remote training events; and 
the organizational capacity to carry out the deliverables of this 
project.
    The narrative portion of the application should include, at a 
minimum, a statement indicating the applicant's understanding of the 
project's purpose and objectives. The applicant should state this in 
language that is not merely a restatement of that used in the 
solicitation.
    Project Design and Implementation: This section should describe 
the design and implementation of the project and how the awardee 
aims to address key design and implementation issues and challenges.
    Project Management: Chart of measurable project milestones and 
timelines must be prepared and detail the tasks necessary for the 
completion of each milestone.
    Capabilities and Competencies: This section should describe the 
qualifications of the applicant organization, 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 needed for each staff 
member assigned to complete the project. If the applicant 
organization has completed similar projects in the past, please 
include the URL/Web site or ISBN number for accessing a copy of the 
referenced work.
    Budget: The budget should detail all costs for the project, show 
consideration for all contingencies for the project, note a 
commitment to work within the proposed budget, and demonstrate the 
ability to provide deliverables according to schedule.
    Among the criteria used to evaluate the applications are 
indication of a clear understanding of the project requirements as 
stated in the solicitation; background, experience, and expertise of 
the proposed project staff, including any sub-contractors; 
effectiveness of an innovative approach to the project; a 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 within the proposed budget; and 
indication of availability to work with NIC staff.
[FR Doc. 2013-13950 Filed 6-11-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-36-P