Evaluation of the National Institute of Corrections Criminal Justice System Project . MENU TITLE: Evaluation of the National Institute of Corrections Criminal Justice System Project Series: NIJ Solicitation Published: July 1997 11 pages 81,272 bytes U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice Solicitation Jeremy Travis, Director July 1997 Evaluation of the National Institute of Corrections Criminal Justice System Project APPLICATION DEADLINE: August 19, 1997 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 633 Indiana Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice John C. Dwyer Acting Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Travis Director, National Institute of Justice Justice Information Center World Wide Web Site http://www.ncjrs.org Evaluation of the National Institute of Corrections Criminal Justice System Project I.Introduction In April of 1997, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) began funding what is known as the Criminal Justice System Project (CJSP). The goal of the CJSP is to assist criminal justice policy makers in 10 state and local jurisdictions to develop more purposeful, cost-effective and coordinated systems of criminal justice sanctions. Using its own staff and service providers over a period of three years, the project will develop system information, facilitate development of new policy making structures, and provide training and assistance to increase the capacities of these jurisdictions to carry out their intentions. Success is defined by developing and implementing purposeful, informed policies on the design, use, capacity and cost of selected components of their system of correctional options for pre-trial and sentenced offenders, such that these policies are the product of ongoing sanctioning policy development, system monitoring and collaboration among criminal justice policy makers and the community. This solicitation requests proposals to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the CJSP in bringing about changes in the ways jurisdictions develop and implement sanctioning policies. II.Background The Criminal Justice System Project is designed to assist states and localities in 10 jurisdictions in developing and implementing new capacities for solving a wide range of corrections problems. This is to be achieved through ongoing development of sanctioning policy, system monitoring and collaboration among policy makers. The primary objectives of the project are to: o Develop baseline information about how sanctioning systems operate in the ten jurisdictions. More specifically, what is the array and use of sanctions for pre-trial and sentenced offenders, and what is the political, social and economic environment (the supports and obstacles) in which the policy development occurs. o Develop sanctioning policy through the full participation of criminal justice system decision makers and community leaders, working as policy teams; and assist these teams in developing strategies to involve the broader community in understanding and creating improved correctional responses. o Assist jurisdictions in examining, defining and reinventing their sanctioning purposes, as well as refining and developing a strategic plan and implementing this plan. o Strengthen the link between sanctioning policy and relevant data bearing on system processes, outcomes, trends, resources, costs and needs. o Encourage enhanced participation in sanctioning by agencies and actors that influence implementation of the policy, such that a long-term, inter-agency policy team ultimately manages the development and implementation of policy pertaining to the jurisdiction's system of sanctions. o Establish a permanent, inter-agency team that manages the development and implementation of policy pertaining to the jurisdiction's system of sanctions. o Assist each jurisdiction in developing and using planned change skills to manage policy development and implementation processes to be applied to future policy-making. o Assist jurisdictions in monitoring progress toward achieving their goals. o Increase NIC's knowledge of delivering effective assistance. The ten jurisdictions are: the State of Alaska; Maricopa County, Arizona; Napa County, California; St. Lawrence County, New York; Dutchess County, New York; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Tulsa County, Oklahoma; Jackson County, Oregon; Wood County, Wisconsin; Portage County, Wisconsin. The following additional background materials, about the program and the service providers, are available on request from the Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D.C., area, at 202-307-1480). o Guide to Criminal Justice System Assessment; A Work in Progress, by Peggy Burke, Robert Cushman, and Rebecca Ney, 1966 o Announcement to Jurisdictions (August 1996). o Project Description (April 1997) III.Areas of Research Required This solicitation seeks research proposals to evaluate the implementation (process) of NIC's Criminal Justice System Project. The evaluation is to focus on the steps that were taken to develop a new correctional policy making structure in 5 of the 10 jurisdictions targeted by the CJSP. Specifically, did the CJSP: o Use or produce a policy team in each jurisdiction composed of court leadership, key correctional administrators, the chief prosecutor (the county, district or parish prosecutor), chief defense counsel (chief public defender or such) the sheriff, key law enforcement representatives, legislators, community leaders and any other key organizational leaders? o Examine and learn about the existing structure as well as practices of their sanctioning system? o Work effectively as a team to gather and use hard data about offenders in their system and their current dispositions? o Reach agreement about desired outcomes for this effort, articulate a vision for their criminal justice system, and define desired outcomes of individual components of their system? o Formulate policies that will enable the jurisdiction to meet agreed-upon goals? o Develop workable strategies for implementing policies within relevant agencies? o Create or redesign program options to meet policy goals? In order to help further promote these goals, the grantee will be expected to provide regular feedback to NIJ, to the NIC team and the project service provider, so as to enable program development and informative evaluation. This feedback should be in the form of timely interim reports, thorough quarterly reports, and regular verbal communication. In addition, the grantee is expected to help in the development of -- and share information about -- outcome measures, some of which may be unique to each jurisdiction. Ultimately, NIC and NIJ would like to see put into place the information sharing structure necessary for a successful impact evaluation. A. Qualifications of the research team NIJ seeks a highly collaborative team to do this evaluation. NIJ will select a research team that demonstrates its capacity to secure vital information for the evaluation, fully document the process of the CJSP, and share this information with the CJSP and NIC on a timely basis, so that the effectiveness of the venture can be further enhanced. B.Available funds Up to $500,000. IV. 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 August 19, 1997. Extensions of this deadline will not be permitted. Award period. The award period for this grant is to be 36 months. Number of awards. NIJ anticipates supporting 1 grant under this solicitation. Award amount. Awards totaling up to $500,000 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 or NIC 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 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 or from the Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D.C., area, at 202-307-1480). o Request copies by fax. Call 800-851-3420 and select option 1, then option 1 again for NIJ. Code is 1023. Send completed forms to: Evaluation of National Institute of Corrections Criminal Justice System Project National Institute of Justice 633 Indiana Avenue NW, Room 303 Washington, DC 20531 For more information on the National Institute of Justice, please contact: National Criminal Justice Reference Service Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20849-6000 800-851-3420 e-mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org To access the World Wide Web site, go to http://www.ncjrs.org If you have any questions, call or e-mail NCJRS. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Washington, DC 20531 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300