Solicitation for the Evaluation of Arrest Policies Program Under the Violence Against Women Act.

Series: NIJ Solicitation
Published: April 1997
12 pages
24,953 bytes

Solicitation for Evaluation of Arrest Policies
Program Under the Violence Against Women Act

This request for proposals announces evaluations of
grants to encourage arrest policies programs funded
by the Office of Justice Programs, Violence Against
Women Grants Office (VAWGO) in 1997 under the
Violence Against Women Act, Title IV of the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The
request responds to the need for research to assess
the effectiveness of arrest in the context of a
systemwide, coordinated approach to domestic
violence.

The Violence Against Women Act Arrest Policies
Program

Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 is the Violence Against
Women Act. The Act reflects a firm commitment
toward improving the criminal justice system's
response to violence that occurs when any woman is
threatened or assaulted by someone with whom she
has or has had an intimate relationship, with whom
she was previously acquainted, or who is a
stranger.

By committing significant Federal resources and
attention to restructuring and strengthening the
criminal justice response to women who have been,
or potentially could be, victimized by violence,
the safety of all women can be more effectively
ensured.

For fiscal year (FY) 1997, Congress has
appropriated $33 million to the U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, which is being
administered by VAWGO, for Grants to Encourage
Arrest Policies. Twenty-eight million dollars was
appropriated in FY 1996. For FY 1998, $59 million
has been authorized under Part U of the Violence
Against Women Act of 1994. The purpose of this
program is to encourage States, Indian tribal
governments, and units of local government to treat
domestic violence as a serious violation of
criminal law.

Section 2101 of the Act enumerates the following
six purposes for which Grants to Encourage Arrest
Policies may be used:

1. To implement mandatory arrest or proarrest
programs and policies in police departments,
including mandatory or proarrest programs and
policies for protection order violations.

2. To develop policies and training programs in
police departments to improve tracking of cases
involving domestic violence.

3. To centralize and coordinate police enforcement,
prosecution, probation, or judicial responsibility
for domestic violence cases in groups or units of
police officers, prosecutors, probation officers,
or judges.

4. To coordinate computer tracking systems to
ensure communication between police, prosecutors,
and both criminal and family courts.

5. To strengthen legal advocacy service programs
for victims of domestic violence.

6. To educate judges and/or others responsible for
judicial handling of domestic violence cases in
criminal, tribal, and other courts about domestic
violence and to improve judicial management of such
cases.

Section 2101 of the Act requires jurisdictions to
incorporate the experience of nonprofit,
nongovernmental domestic violence service providers
into the project planning and implementation
process along with police, prosecutors, and the
courts.

The Violence Against Women Grants Office has
awarded 122 grants under the Arrest Policies
Program. Examples of the types of programs
jurisdictions intend to develop, implement and
enhance include: 

o Creating centralized units of police officers,
prosecutors, judges, and probation and parole
officers to investigate and handle domestic
violence cases.

Seventy-eight jurisdictions, including eight Indian
tribal communities, who received grants under the
Program intend to create centralized units
comprising criminal justice personnel, victim
advocates, and service providers to handle domestic
violence cases. Examples include multi-disciplinary
domestic violence units, vertical prosecution
units, order of protection units, domestic violence
courts, fatality review teams, and tribal
coordination councils.

o Implementing and testing the effectiveness of
domestic violence arrest policies for violations of
protection orders in the context of a coordinated
criminal justice and community response to domestic
violence that assigns priority to the safety of the
victim and holds the offender accountable.

Twenty-eight jurisdictions, including eight Indian
tribal communities, who received grants under the
Program, plan to establish and implement domestic
violence arrest policies and policies regarding
enforcement of protection orders. Several
jurisdictions plan to implement policies that
address domestic violence committed by law
enforcement officers. 

o Delivering comprehensive training programs to the
police, prosecutors, probation and parole officers,
and the judiciary that address the technical issues
associated with policies that encourage or mandate
arrest for domestic violence, address the
phenomenon of domestic violence, stress
collaboration and shared responsibility for
ensuring the safety of the victim, seek to change
attitudes that have traditionally prevented
professionals in the criminal justice system from
responding to domestic violence as a serious
violation of criminal law, and provide information
on improved methods for tracking domestic violence
cases.

Fifty-six jurisdictions, including six Indian
tribal communities, who received grants under the
Program, plan to provide training for criminal
justice personnel and victim services providers on
legal, social, and psychological aspects of
domestic violence. 

o Developing information systems, automated
registries, education and training programs, and
technical assistance efforts that facilitate
enforcement of protection orders within a single
jurisdiction, within a single State, and from State
to State.

o Linking automated information and tracking
systems to enhance communication among police,
prosecutors, and criminal and family courts to
ensure that all of the system's components have
access to consistent and complete information about
an individual's domestic violence history.

Forty-nine jurisdictions, including six Indian
tribal communities, receiving Program grants plan
to develop and link automated tracking systems in
order to monitor domestic violence cases and
provide a more coordinated response by the entire
criminal justice system. Examples of systems that
will be established include protection order
registries, victim notification, electronic
monitoring, and offender criminal histories.

o Establishing and expanding advocacy services for
domestic violence victims from the time an abuse
report is filed through the postsentencing of the
offender, including any time during which the
offender is subject to probation or parole
supervision.

Forty-three jurisdictions, including four Indian
tribal communities, receiving Program grants plan
to establish or enhance advocacy services for
victims of domestic violence by hiring victim
advocates to work with prosecutors and the courts,
or by coordinating services with non governmental
victim advocates.

Abstracts of the projects funded, programs proposed
under the various purpose areas, and guidelines for
the program are available on the Violence Against
Women Grants Office's home page. The Office's
homepage address is:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/VAWGO. 

The abstracts and guidelines are also available
from the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center
at 800-421-6770, in the Washington, D.C. area at
202-307-1480, and by fax at 202-616-9249.

Statement of the Problem

In the past, police departments and the criminal
justice system as a whole, generally treated
domestic violence as a private, family matter
unlike any other violent crime. Many police
departments maintained informal nonarrest policies
for domestic violence, focusing instead on
alternative responses such as family crisis
intervention and counseling for domestic abusers
(Liebman and Schwartz, 1973). In recent years many
departments have implemented new policies and
practices that encourage or mandate arrest of a
perpetrator of domestic violence for probable cause
or for violating a protection order (Cohn and
Sherman, 1987; Fagan, 1996 ). The Minneapolis
Domestic Violence Experiment (Sherman and Berk,
1984), funded by the National Institute of Justice
(NIJ), was the first randomized study to assess the
effects of different police responses, including
arrest, on domestic assault. The findings of this
study suggested that the prevalence of subsequent
domestic violence was reduced by nearly 50 percent
when the suspect was arrested, as opposed to
ordering one of the parties out of the residence or
providing some form of advice to the couple. 

The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment paved
the way for six replications and extensions of the
experiment. This research, collectively known as
the Spouse Assault Replication Program, was
undertaken in a variety of U.S. police departments
[Atlanta, Georgia (Deutsch, 1986); Omaha, Nebraska
(Dunford et al., 1989); Charlotte, North Carolina
(Hirschel et al., 1990); Miami, Florida, Metro-Dade
County (Pate and Hamilton, 1992); Colorado Springs,
Colorado (Berk et al., 1992); and Milwaukee,
Wisconsin (Sherman et al., 1992)]. The replications
and extensions produced inconsistent results (i.e.,
no deterrent effect of arrest was found, only
certain types of offenders were deterred, or, in
the worst situations, arrest escalated violence)
(Garner et al., 1995). These studies do suggest,
however, the need for further research and
evaluation in this area, especially as
jurisdictions develop more integrated system
approaches to violence against women as envisioned
by the VAWA. 

For example, in addition to implementing policies
that mandate or encourage arrest of domestic
violence perpetrators, some departments have
created special domestic violence units that train
personnel, developed guidelines and protocols for
enforcing laws related to domestic violence,
created sophisticated tracking and communication
systems, investigated both misdemeanor and felony
domestic assaults, developed accountability
measures that ensure enforcement of the law by all
officers in the department, and developed effective
strategies to coordinate with other criminal
justice agencies and victim service providers.

Similarly, other criminal justice agencies have
implemented practices and strategies complementary
to the police that prioritize the safety of victims
and hold the perpetrators of domestic violence
accountable. In particular, several probation
departments have instituted methods of supervision
designed to enhance victim safety and vigorously
enforce violations of protection orders, thereby
promoting coordination with the courts. A number of
prosecution agencies have established domestic
violence teams that work closely with legal
advocates and advocates affiliated with nonprofit,
nongovernmental victim service organizations.
Together, prosecutors and advocates alike keep
victims informed about the progress of their cases
as well as the status and known whereabouts of the
perpetrators. They also provide assistance in
preparing long- and short-term safety plans for
victims and their children. Additionally, courts
are beginning to recognize the need for continuing
education for judges. They also are implementing
improved case-processing procedures with designated
dockets to better manage domestic violence cases
and expedite scheduling of trials. To enhance these
innovations and encourage the adaptation of
successful strategies in additional communities
across the country, agencies throughout the
criminal justice system require more tools and
resources. For arrest to be an effective domestic
violence intervention, it must be part of a
coordinated and integrated response to the problem
on the part of the entire criminal justice system
(Hart, 1995).

NIJ's Arrest Policies Program Evaluation
Solicitation

The VAWA Arrest Policies Program evaluations will
enhance the overall NIJ research and evaluation
program in family and domestic violence and will
build upon NIJ's previous Spouse Assault
Replication Program. The intent of this
solicitation is to examine the process associated
with, and the impact resulting from, arrest
policies that are implemented in the context of
newer system-wide and coordinated approaches to
domestic violence. 

Multisite proposals which will provide a
comprehensive evaluation of the purpose areas of
the VAWA Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies
Program (i.e., policy development and
implementation, training, education, centralized
coordination, computer tracking, and victim
advocacy) with a focus on system-level coordination
are sought. Applicants should provide a detailed
discussion of the purpose areas that will be
evaluated, how sites will be selected, and the
methods that will be used to assess impact.
Proposals need not include all purpose areas or all
sites. However, the rationale for selection of
sites and purpose areas should be compelling.
Applicants should also provide assurance of access
to sites selected for the evaluation (i.e., letters
of commitment).

Applicants are strongly encouraged to include a
partnership working group comprised of relevant
practitioners from each site selected in the
execution of the evaluation. This partnership is
intended to provide research that is relevant to
the practitioner community. As the partnership
working group members collaborate they should
consider the spirit and intent of the Arrest
Policies Program under the Violence Against Women
Act in executing the evaluation strategy.

Approximately $750,000 will be available to support
up to three evaluation grants. The initial awards
would cover a period of 24 months, but in
anticipation of additional funding, applicants
should discuss a full 3-year evaluation concept and
reflect evaluation costs for 3 years. The first
year of the project should focus on process, while
subsequent years should focus on impact and on the
development of measurable indicators of program and
policy outcomes, especially ones practitioners can
use over time. A decision on project continuation
beyond the 24-month period will be made prior to
the end of the award period.

Questions applicants should address under this
solicitation include but are not limited to:

1. What impact have the projects had by purpose
areas (i.e., policy development and implementation,
training, education, centralized coordination,
computer tracking, and victim advocacy) on the
safety and protection of women and on improvements
in responding to domestic violence by the criminal
and civil justice systems? What impacts have the
projects had on recidivism among offenders in
jurisdictions where an integrated system is in
place?

2. How were the programs implemented? What problems
did
jurisdictions encounter and how were they
addressed? How did law enforcement agencies ensure
that programs were implemented by line-staff? Did
federal technical assistance facilitate
implementation?

3. What impact have the projects had on law
enforcement organizations? Have they led to more
comprehensive training of officers at all levels of
rank on the dynamics of domestic violence? Has
training led to changed attitudes among law
enforcement officers regarding the dynamics of
domestic violence? Has evidence gathering, and data
collection been enhanced? Has there been an
increase in reporting of domestic violence
incidents? Has there been an increase in
prosecution of domestic violence cases? Are greater
number of offenders being convicted? Has sentencing
of domestic violence offenders changed? 

4. Did the arrest policies programs lead to better
coordination between criminal justice agencies, and
non-criminal justice organizations (e.g., victim
services, social services, hospitals, shelters)?

5. What, if any, unintended consequences have
resulted from the projects? For example, has there
been an increase in dual arrests?

6. What impact have the projects had on minority
communities?

7. How will the research from your evaluation
advance the knowledge base on the impact of arrest
policies? 

Measuring program effectiveness. The need for
innovation in developing ways for practitioners and
policymakers to know whether their programs and
strategies are achieving the goals they have set is
acknowledged. This will require a new emphasis on
measurable indicators that can be tracked by
practitioners over time, on qualitative measures,
on culturally sensitive measures and on the
development of indicators using different levels of
data. Outcome measures that go beyond reoffending
after arrest need to be considered and utilized.
New outcome measures could address extent and
effectiveness of a community- coordinated and
integrated approach to reducing domestic violence,
economic issues, impact on children, access to
services, use of shelters and/or orders of
protection, full faith and credit, safety plans,
and other quality-of-life issues pertaining to the
victim. Outcome measures relating to the offender
could address the likelihood of threatening or
battering a new partner, and the economic, social,
and psychological impact of arrest on the offender.
The use of data from a variety of systems (criminal
justice, social service, public health) is
encouraged, as is the development of indicators of
outcome that can be built into on-going program
record keeping and information systems. Projects
may involve case studies, ethnography, victim and
practitioner focus groups and surveys, data on
secondary consequences, experimental and quasi-
experimental designs such as comparison groups, and
other relevant approaches.

Dissemination. NIJ is also interested in
expeditious and innovative methods to disseminate
the results of the evaluation that would supplement
the more traditional dissemination approaches. This
would include methods to make the results available
at the local level in policy discussions and
program improvement. Results of the evaluation are
expected to be reported to NIJ and the Office of
Justice Programs as they become available. This
will facilitate the dissemination of findings and
innovations. Applicants should provide a discussion
of the types of results or products that would
become available over the course of the project and
should describe how the evaluation would assist
States in their efforts to combat violence against
women.

Applicants should be familiar with the Violence
Against Women Act, the Arrest Policies Program, the
current NIJ program on violence against women, and
related research and evaluation. The proposed
budget for the project should include travel for
the Principal Investigator to attend three
coordination meetings in Washington, D.C. These
meetings will provide for the coordination of
Violence Against Women Act evaluation activities
and field work and presentations and discussions of
evaluation techniques and measures.

How to Apply 

Those interested in submitting proposals in
response to this solicitation must complete the
required application forms and submit related
required documents. (See below for how to obtain
application forms and guides for completing
proposals.) Applicants must include the following
information/forms to quality for funding:

o Standard Form (SF) 424--application for Federal
assistance 

o Assurances

o Certifications Regarding Lobbying, Debarment,
Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and
Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (one form)

o Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

o Budget Detail Worksheet

o Negotiated indirect rate agreement (if
appropriate)

o Names and affiliations of all key persons from
applicant and subcontractor(s), advisors,
consultants, and advisory board members. Include
name of principal investigator, title,
organizational affiliation (if any), department (if
institution of higher education), address, phone,
and fax. 

o Proposal abstract

o Table of contents

o Program narrative or technical proposal

o Privacy certificate, as appropriate 

o References

o Letters of cooperation from organizations
collaborating in the research project.

o R‚sum‚s

o Appendixes, if any (e.g., list of previous NIJ
awards, their status, and products [in NIJ or other
publications]). 

Due date. Completed proposals must be received at
the National Institute of Justice by the close of
business on June 12, 1997. Extensions of this
deadline will not be permitted.

Number of awards. NIJ anticipates supporting up to
three grants under this solicitation. 

Award amount. Awards totaling approximately
$750,000 will be made available for this NIJ
solicitation.

Guidance and information. Applicants may wish to
discuss their potential research topics with NIJ
program staff. Those who wish to do so should
contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response
Center at 800-421-6770. Center staff can provide
additional guidance and information to potential
applicants and refer them to an appropriate NIJ
professional.

Obtaining application forms. To obtain application
forms (including a sample budget worksheet) and
guidelines for submitting proposals (including
requirements for proposal writers and requirements
for grant recipients), applicants can:

o Access the Justice Information Center on the
World Wide Web: http://www.
ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#nij. At this site, the NIJ
application forms and guidelines are available as
electronic files that may be downloaded to a
personal computer.

o Request hard copies of the forms and guidelines
by mail from the National Criminal Justice
Reference Service at 800-851-3420. 

o Request hard copies of the forms and guidelines
by mail from the Department of Justice Response
Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D. C.,
area, at 202-307-1480).

References/Bibliography

Berk, R. A., A. Campbell, R. Klap and B. Western.
"Bayesian Analysis of the Colorado Springs Spouse
Abuse Experiment." The Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology 83 (1992):170-200.
            
Cohn, E., and L.W. Sherman. Police Policy on
Domestic Violence, 1986: A National Survey (Report
5), Crime Control Institute, Washington, D.C.
(1987).

Deutsch, J. The Atlanta Spouse Assault Experiment,
Grant 87-IJ-CX-K005, National Institute of Justice.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice. (1987).

Dunford, F. W., D. Huizinga, and D. S. Elliott. The
Omaha Domestic Violence Police Experiment. Final
Report, Grant 85-IJ-CX-K435, National Institute of
Justice. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Justice. (1989). NCJ 119528.

Fagan, J. The Criminalization of Domestic Violence:
Promises and Limits. Presentation at the Annual
Conference on Criminal Justice Research and
Evaluation, National Institute of Justice, Bureau
of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice (1996). NCJ 157641.

Garner, J., J. Fagan and C. Maxwell. "Published
Findings from the Spouse Assault Replication
Program: A Critical Review." Journal of
Quantitative Criminology 11(1) (1995):3-28.
Hart, B.J. Coordinated Community Approaches to
Domestic Violence. Paper Presented at the Strategic
Planning Workshop on Violence Against Women,
National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C.
(1995). 

Hirschel, J. D., I. W. Hutchinson, C. W. Dean, J.
J. Kelley, and C. E. Pesackis. Charlotte Spouse
Assault Replication Project: Final Report. (1991).
NCJ 130096.

Liebman, D.A., and J.A. Schwartz. "Police Programs
in Crisis Intervention: A Review." In The Urban
Policeman in Transition: A Psychological and
Sociological Review, eds. J.R. Snibbe and H.M.
Snibbe, Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas,
1973. 

Pate, A. M. and E. E. Hamilton. " Formal and
Informal Deterrents to Domestic Violence: The Dade
County Spouse Assault Experiment." American
Sociological Review 57 (1992):691-697.

Sherman, L. W. Policing Domestic Violence:
Experiments and
Dilemmas. New York: The Free Press, 1992.

Sherman, L.W., and R. Berk. "The Specific Deterrent
Effects of Arrest for Domestic Assault." American
Sociological Review 49 (1984):261-272.

Sherman, L. W., J. D. Schmidt, D. P. Rogan, D. A.
Smith, P. R. Gartin, E. G. Cohn, D. J. Collins, and
A. R. Bacich. (1992). "The Variable Effects of
Arrest on Criminal Careers: The Milwaukee Domestic
Violence Experiment." The Journal of Criminal Law
and Criminology 83(1) (1992):137-169.