NIJ Solicitation for Research and Evaluation on Violence.
Against Women: Fiscal Year 1996


MENU TITLE: Violence Against Women Research and Evaluation 
Series: NIJ Solicitation
Published: June 1996
30 pages
65,171 bytes

Solicitation for Research and Evaluation on
Violence Against Women: Fiscal Year 1996

This request for proposals announces a second year
of evaluation and research on the Violence Against
Women Act (VAWA) of the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and related violence
against women issues. The request continues to be
responsive to both congressional and public demand
for accountability and the need to develop a
knowledge base that examines policy and
programmatic experience and continuously recommends
improvements to them. This second year will support
up to $1.3 million in projects that will evaluate
current VAWA programs and will provide for research
and evaluation projects that contribute directly to
helping States achieve the goals and objectives
they have established under the Violence Against
Women Act.

Introduction

Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 is the Violence Against
Women Act. The Act responds to the needs of
millions of women who are victims of violence each
year. It also responds to the need for fundamental
changes in addressing violence against women, and
it responds to the special needs of women in
minority and Native-American communities who are
violently victimized.

VAWA addresses these needs through a variety of
programs, including a grant program to strengthen
law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services
in cases involving violent crimes against women;
education and prevention grants to reduce sexual
assaults against women; a national domestic
violence hotline that opened in February 1996;
provisions for interstate enforcement of protection
orders; penalties under Federal law for sex crimes;
and a variety of other provisions and studies
directed toward reducing violence against women and
improving responses to women who are victims of
violent crime.

FY 96 Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants: STOP
Grants

Chapter 2 under Subtitle A of VAWA provides support
to the States and Indian tribal governments for
enhanced criminal justice responses and victim
assistance efforts. The program is referred to as
STOP: "Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors."
It provided $26 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 95 and
is providing $130 million in FY 96 for law
enforcement, prosecution, and victim services
efforts aimed at reducing violence against women.
The STOP formula grants are intended to lay the
foundation for ongoing interventions that promote
and increase an effective criminal justice system
response to violence against women and that also
increase the range of services for the victims of
such violence.

Through the program each State is eligible to apply
each year for a base amount. States submit an
implementation plan and must allocate 25 percent of
the funds to support law enforcement programs, 25
percent to prosecution programs, and 25 percent to
victim services programs. The remaining 25 percent
may be allocated at the State's discretion within
the parameters of the Act. Seven major purpose
areas are cited in the Act, and special emphasis is
placed on underserved populations and Indian tribal
governments. Guidelines for the program are
available from the U.S. Department of Justice
Response Center at 800-421-6770 or the Violence
Against Women Grants Office at 202-307-6026.

In addition, new programmatic funding under the
Violence Against Women Act for FY 96 includes a $28
million discretionary program to encourage arrest
policies in domestic violence cases, a $7 million
discretionary program addressing rural domestic
violence and child abuse enforcement assistance,
and a $1 million training program for probation and
parole officers.

The NIJ Research and Evaluation Program on Family
Violence and Violence Against Women

For many years the National Institute of Justice
(NIJ) has conducted research on spouse assault,
other family violence, and sexual assault. More
recently, family violence research and evaluation
as it concerns the justice system has developed
into a major program area at NIJ. In FY 95 VAWA
significantly enhanced the research and evaluation
program by prompting both evaluation efforts and
specific studies. In FY 96 NIJ will also announce
support for evaluations of COPS domestic violence
projects. In addition, NIJ joined in a multiagency
request for applications, announced by the National
Institutes of Health, for research on violence
against women and violence within the family. These
research and evaluation efforts are directed toward
both increasing our understanding of family
violence and violence against women and providing
useful evaluative findings on interventions to
improve policy and programs.

The 1995 VAW Research and Evaluation Program

The FY 95 Violence Against Women Research and
Evaluation Program was the result of a
collaborative effort between NIJ and the Violence
Against Women Grants Office. Under this program a
variety of projects were supported by funds made
available through the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994. These projects include a
national evaluation, local-level evaluative
studies, and other projects directed toward
reducing violence against women and improving the
criminal justice response to these crimes. The FY
95 VAWA evaluation and research projects that are
now under way include:

National Evaluation of the STOP VAW Formula Grant
Program. The purpose of the national evaluation is
to provide timely feedback by: 1) documenting the
range of activities and programs supported by the
grants; 2) assessing the outcomes and
accomplishments of grantees; 3) examining grantee
planning and implementation efforts; and 4)
developing a strategy for documenting long-term
effects.

The project is structured around five tasks: 1)
analyzing grantee plans, reports, and other case
documents; 2) conducting case studies to understand
the dynamics of planning, implementation, and
performance; 3) conducting telephone interviews
with all grantees after their first year of funding
to assess progress and implementation and
performance issues as seen from the field; 4)
writing annual reports as the basis for reports to
Congress; and 5) developing plans for future
evaluations of the ultimate impact and
effectiveness of the formula grant program.

Models of Community Coordination in Response to
Partner Violence. Building on data collected from
statewide surveys of local criminal justice
practitioners and domestic violence organizations
and from site visits to five criminal justice
agencies in the State of New York, this study will:
1) develop a typology of community coordination
models; 2) assess the role of leadership, conflict,
and resources in the growth of different types of
coordination models; and 3) assess the impact of
alternative coordination approaches on victims'
safety, perceptions of system effectiveness,
revictimization, and satisfaction with responses.
The research will include intensive interviews with
community leaders and samples of victims
(approximately 30), observation, focus groups, and
information gathering on case processing through
coordination networks.

An Exploration of the Experiences and Needs of
Former Intimate Stalking Victims. This project will
explore the experiences of 200 "ordinary"
(noncelebrity) former intimate stalking victims.
Specifically, the research will identify 1) the
evolution and patterns of stalking behavior; 2) the
psychological, financial, physical, and behavioral
effects of stalking on its victims; 3) the
effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of legal
mechanisms for protecting victims; 4) the various
needs of stalking victims; 5) the factors related
to subsequent violence in stalking cases; and 6)
other issues related to stalking and its victims.

------------------------------

NIJ is trying to streamline its process to
accommodate the volume of proposals anticipated
under this and other Crime Act solutions.
Researchers can help in a significant way by
sending NIJ a nonbinding letter of intent by June
28. The Institute will use these letters to
forecast the numbers of peer panels it needs and to
identify conflicts of interest among potential
reviewers. You can reach NIJ by
Internet by sending e-mail to tellnij@ncjrs.org.
and identifying the solicitation and sections(s)
you expect to apply for. You can write a letter
with the same information to Solicitation for
Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women:
Fiscal Year 1996, 633 Indiana Avenue N.W.,
Washington, DC 20531. Help us help you.

------------------------------

Evaluation of a Coordinated Response to Domestic
Violence. The purpose of this evaluation is to
assess the effectiveness of the Alexandria,
Virginia, Domestic Violence Intervention Project
(DVIP), a comprehensive approach to domestic
violence. The study will seek to determine the
short- and long-term outcomes for a sample of 350
women who used the project's services. Interviews
with 100 women who received services will be
conducted at 1 and 6 months after the initial abuse
incident. Long-term outcomes will be assessed via
interviews with a sample of 75 women who received
services from DVIP between 1993 and 1995.
Additional methods of assessing program
effectiveness include a comparison of victims who
received services from the Alexandria DVIP with
domestic violence victims who received services
from the Arlington County Victim-Witness Assistance
Program (100 for the short-term interviews, 75 for
the long-term interviews); rearrest rates of
abusers from the DVIP data base; interviews with
program staff, judges, prosecutors, and
magistrates; and surveys of police officers.
Relationships between outcomes and a variety of
factors such as race, disposition of court case,
and compliance with treatment will also be
explored.

Prosecution Strategies in Domestic Violence. The
purpose of this study with Iowa prosecutors is to
examine the prosecution strategies of domestic
violence-related cases and to identify strategies
associated with a successful outcome of conviction
on the original charge. These strategies will be
identified by examining the trial transcripts of a
sample of domestic violence-related felonious
assaults, homicides, and attempted homicides in
Iowa. To assess the success of strategies, cases
where convictions were won on the original charge
will be compared with cases of convictions on
lesser charges to see if there are differences in
the prosecution strategies employed. In particular,
cases will be examined to determine the extent to
which prosecutors were able to present evidence of
the context of the abusive relationship and history
of prior violence in helping the fact finders
understand the current charge.

The Extent and Nature of Sexual Victimization of
College Women. This project will collect data from
a national sample of women enrolled at
postsecondary institutions in the United States.
Data collection will involve the use of structured
telephone interviews to obtain individual,
incident, and victimization data. Specific
objectives of the study include: 1) determining the
extent and nature of various forms of sexual
victimization of college women; 2) helping
postsecondary institutions identify and assess the
problem of sexual victimization; 3) developing a
more adequate understanding of the dynamics
associated with several forms of sexual
victimization (ranging from sexual harassment to
rape); 4) contributing to the theoretical study of
sexual victimization; and 5) examining the efficacy
of institutional and legal policies and programs
implemented to address sexual victimization by
examining the links between college women's
participation in these programs and their
victimization experiences.

NIJ Studies Directed By the Violence Against Women
Act

The current NIJ research program also supports
several studies that were required under VAWA. They
include the development of a research agenda to
increase understanding and control of violence
against women, including domestic violence; a study
of centralized State data bases on the incidence of
domestic violence and sexual assault offenses; the
development of a report on the medical and
psychological basis of "battered women's syndrome"
and the extent to which evidence of the syndrome
has been considered in criminal trials; and a study
of the means by which abusive spouses may obtain
information on the addresses or locations of
estranged or former spouses. These studies are
concluding; results will be available soon. The
project that developed a research agenda has been
published as Understanding Violence Against Women
and can be purchased from the National Academy
Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington,
DC 20055 (phone 800-624-6242, or order via Internet
at http://www.nap.edu/nap/bookstore).

NIJ's Ongoing Family Violence Research and
Evaluation Program

The above Violence Against Women research and
evaluation projects enhance the overall NIJ program
and build upon NIJ's completed and ongoing violence
against women projects.

Earlier experimental research on spouse assault
primarily addressed the police response to the
problem. An initial experiment in Minneapolis found
positive effects of arrest in decreasing repeat
offenses, but several replications in other cities
obtained mixed results, suggesting caution in
generalizing the results.

The current family violence research program
includes research and evaluation projects
addressing partner abuse, other violence against
women, and child abuse. Projects have focused on
operations of law enforcement, prosecution, victim
services, the courts, probation, and parole. Others
have included the corporate response to domestic
violence, a national victimization survey of
adolescents, a national survey on violence and
threats against women, research on the
developmental antecedents of partner violence, and
a continuing examination of the links between
childhood victimization and later consequences,
including adult violence. A copy of program project
abstracts can be obtained by calling the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420
or 301-251-5500.

Among recent NIJ publications on violence against
women issues are: The Criminal Justice and
Community Response to Rape, which discusses support
for improvements in rape prosecution and victim
services; The Criminalization of Domestic Violence:
Promises and Limits, which is based on a
presentation by Jeffrey Fagan at the 1995 Annual
Conference on Criminal Justice Research and
Evaluation; and A Coordinated Approach to Reducing
Family Violence: Conference Highlights, a report on
the American Medical Association national
conference held in March 1994.

Solicitation of Proposals

This section announces the request for evaluation
and research proposals in two areas:

I. Impact Evaluations on the Purpose Areas of the
STOP Grants.

II. Other Research and Evaluation on Violence
Against Women.

This request is related to VAWA and directed toward
informing future programmatic innovations, such as
inter- and intrastate enforcement of protection
orders, and research that addresses significant
policies and issues for improving responses to
violence against women.

This solicitation is directed specifically toward
the need to understand and assess the impact of
justice programs authorized through VAWA. Included
are both domestic violence and sexual assault
issues and programs. Throughout the years of this
research and evaluation effort, collaborative
relationships at all levels among policymakers,
program administrators, and researchers will be
formed; and results will inform and advance policy,
programs, and understanding of violence against
women. All applicants should describe how their
projects would contribute to assisting States to
achieve their goals to combat violence against
women.

Methodological considerations. The need for
innovation, particularly on qualitative measures,
culturally sensitive measures, and the need for
different levels of data, is acknowledged. Outcome
measures that go beyond reoffending need to be
considered and used. New outcome measures could
address stress, economic independence, quality of
life, and offending with a new partner. The use of
data from a variety of systems (e.g., criminal
justice, social services, public health) is
encouraged. Projects may involve case studies,
ethnography, victim and practitioner focus groups
and surveys, data on secondary consequences,
experimental designs, and other relevant
approaches.

Dissemination. NIJ is also interested in
expeditious and innovative methods to disseminate
the results of policy studies, evaluations, and
research that would supplement the more traditional
dissemination approaches. Project results are
expected to be reported to NIJ and the VAW Grants
Office as they become available. This will
facilitate the dissemination of findings and
innovations. Applications should present a
discussion of the types of results or products that
would become available over the course of the
project.

Applicants should be familiar with VAWA, the
current NIJ program on Violence Against Women, and
related research and evaluation. Through this
solicitation projects can be jointly supported by
NIJ and other interested agencies if applicants
have obtained or applied to other interested
governmental or nongovernmental funders.

The following sections detail the request for
research proposals within the two general
solicitation areas. Applicants should specify the
area under which they are applying.

I. Impact Evaluation on the Purpose Areas of the
STOP Grants

The national evaluation cited above is assessing
implementation of VAWA in the initial years of the
program and will be the central point in
coordinating various evaluation efforts that are
conducted during the next several years, including
the anticipated projects supported under this
section. With the national evaluation and related
research and evaluation projects under way, it is
the intent of this section to encourage proposals
for impact evaluations on the first 2 years of the
purpose areas authorized for STOP grants. It is
envisioned that these new projects would provide
indepth evaluation on the impact of STOP VAW
projects in four areas. These four areas address
the seven purpose areas of the Act. Results would
produce separate reports on the impact of STOP
funds in the particular purpose area(s) and would
also be subsumed within the overall national
evaluation and the annual reports produced through
that effort. Grantees will provide indepth reports
that will be incorporated into the March annual
report. They also should include funds in each
year's budget to send the Principal Investigator(s)
to Washington, D.C., to attend three coordination
meetings with the national evaluator. 

The intent of this solicitation is to select four
applicants to evaluate projects in each of the four
areas below. Because the relevant expertise of the
applicant will be a criterion for assessing
proposals, applicants may want to consider joining
with other organizations with knowledge about the
purpose area. Applicants are reminded that the
purpose areas address both crimes of sexual assault
and domestic violence.

Multisite proposals are sought for the four areas.
Applicants should provide a detailed description of
the methods that will be used to assess impact.
These 2-year impact evaluation grants are
anticipated to have a funding range as specified
below. A decision on project continuations beyond
the 2-year period will be made prior to the end of
the 2-year project.

1. Law Enforcement and Prosecution

The purpose areas to be addressed by this impact
evaluation are:

o Training law enforcement officers and prosecutors
to identify and respond more effectively to violent
crimes against women.

o Developing, training, or expanding units of law
enforcement officers and prosecutors that
specifically target violent crimes against women.

o Developing and implementing more effective police
and prosecution policies, protocols, orders, and
services specifically devoted to preventing,
identifying, and responding to violent crimes
against women.

o Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs
that address stalking.

Fifty-two States and Territories indicated plans to
support training programs in this training area.
Some of the training activities specified include
expanding training requirements to be effective
statewide; developing and updating training
curriculums; creating special seminars, in-service
courses, and "roll-call" training packages;
developing multidisciplinary training for law
enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and
victim services providers; developing training for
prosecutors for date rape cases; and training
process-servers on issues related to domestic
violence cases.

Evaluation applicants should consider conducting a
State-by-State review of police and prosecutor
training curriculums on domestic violence and
sexual assault within their overall proposal. Most
of the 33 States that made commitments in the
purpose area addressing special units simply stated
their intent to establish or expand one or more
special units for domestic violence and/or sexual
assault within law enforcement, prosecution, or
both.

Forty-three States or Territories included a focus
on police and prosecution policies and protocols in
their plans. Some of the specific activities
described were developing model law enforcement
protocols; developing a domestic violence manual
for police or prosecutors; establishing an
oversight committee to identify criminal justice
system problems and supervise efforts to alleviate
them; expanding the availability of free legal
services for the preparation of protection orders;
creating procedures to honor the protection orders
issued by other jurisdictions; developing protocols
for interjurisdictional issues among city, county,
State, tribal, and Federal jurisdictions; and
promoting collaboration among criminal, civil, and
juvenile courts.

Eight State plans addressed stalking; some of the
efforts in the other purpose areas also may
strengthen stalking programs. Proposed activities
include holding a statewide conference to develop
strategies to address stalking; establishing an
association of domestic violence investigators with
a particular expertise in stalking; developing
training curriculums on appropriate criminal
justice responses; and developing a prosecution
protocol.

Because these four purposes generally concern law
enforcement and prosecution, they have been joined
into a single project. This will allow for
efficient use of funds for field visits and will
minimize overlap in field work. Applicants,
however, should make clear distinctions between
police and prosecution programs and should consider
the different practitioner audiences in their
report writing and dissemination plans. Funding for
one project will be up to $325,000.

2. Victim Services Programs

The purpose area to be addressed by this impact
evaluation refers to:

o Developing, enlarging, or strengthening victim
services programs, including sexual assault and
domestic violence programs.

o Developing or improving delivery of victim
services to racial, cultural, ethnic, and language
minorities.

o Providing specialized domestic violence court
advocates in courts where a significant number of
protection orders are granted.

o Increasing reporting and reducing attrition rates
for cases involving violent crimes against women.

Fifty-five States and Territories addressed this
purpose area in their plans. State plans anticipate
hiring new staff and recruiting and training more
volunteers. Some of the activities included in the
plans were developing a network of translators for
various languages; exploring the feasibility of
developing safe homes in counties without shelters;
expanding sexual assault services in rural areas;
creating multidisciplinary teams to respond to
domestic violence and sexual assault; exploring the
feasibility of mobile teams to serve remote areas
of the State; developing questionnaires to collect
service evaluation data from domestic violence and
sexual assault service users; creating a statewide
emergency response 800 telephone number; and
training medical personnel and victim service
professionals. Funding for one project will be up
to $200,000.

3. Data Collection and Communication Systems

Currently, 35 States collect annual data on
domestic violence incidents, and 30 States collect
sexual assault data. There is, however, a wide
variation across States in how these offenses are
defined, how States determine what is counted, and
how States measure or report incidents. Forty
States have indicated that they intend to use their
STOP funds, which can be used at the State or local
level, to address this purpose area.

The purpose area to be addressed by this impact
evaluation refers to:

o Developing, installing, or expanding data
collection and communication systems, including
computerized systems.

o Linking police, prosecutors, and courts.

o Identifying and tracking arrests, protection
orders, violations of protection orders,
prosecutions, and convictions for violent crimes
against women.

Activities that were mentioned in State
implementation plans for this purpose area include
developing a jail release notification system;
conducting a statewide victimization survey;
providing investigative and communications
equipment for domestic violence and sexual assault
units; developing a computerized system that links
law enforcement, prosecution, and courts to track
domestic violence arrests, protection orders,
violations, and convictions; developing
standardized data collection instruments for both
sexual assault and domestic violence services;
developing a computer-indexed repository for
statewide domestic violence and sexual assault
data, statistics, and reports; and collecting data
and evaluating activities, such as statewide needs
assessments or victim impact surveys. Funding for
one project will be up to $145,000.

4. Programs Among Indian Tribes

The purpose area to be addressed by this impact
evaluation refers to:

o Developing, enlarging, or strengthening programs
that address the needs and circumstances of Indian
tribes in dealing with violent crimes against
women.

Twelve States indicated in their plans that they
would support programs that address the needs of
Indian tribes. Activities proposed by these States
include establishing a special unit on one
reservation; establishing shelters and rape crisis
services on reservations within the State; and
assisting tribal governments in police training,
working with coordinating councils, and promoting
community policing. In addition, an Office of
Justice Programs discretionary program through
which 14 applicants have received support for their
tribal projects is currently under way. Both the
discretionary projects and the State-supported
formula projects should be considered by an
applicant in designing an evaluation in this
purpose area. Funding for one project will be up to
$145,000.

II. Other Research and Evaluation on Violence
Against Women

Part II of this solicitation acknowledges the many
programs, policies, and practices related to
violence against women, including spousal violence
and sexual assault, that are not necessarily
supported by VAWA funds but that, through a quality
evaluation, would offer useful results that would
inform and enhance State or local jurisdictions'
overall efforts to combat violence against women.

One area of emphasis concerns the important issues
under intra- and interstate enforcement (chapter 2
of subtitle B), particularly the provision on full
faith and credit given to protection orders. A goal
within this evaluation area is to provide results
that would be useful in assessing progress and
identifying significant roadblocks in intra- and
interstate enforcement of protection orders.

Applicants are further encouraged to propose
evaluations of programs and policies or address
research questions that are directed toward
improving the justice, social service, and public
health responses to spouse assault and violence
against women. Proposals addressing other critical
policies and programs related directly to VAWA,
such as a focus on violence against women in
underserved populations or community coordination
and collaboration in addressing VAWA, are also
encouraged under this part.

In March 1995 a planning workshop was convened by
NIJ, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, to bring together
researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from a
variety of disciplines involved in addressing
violence against women. A broad range of research
topics and potential methodologies emerged from the
discussions. Topics highlighted in the workshop
included a need to understand or assess the process
of community coordination and collaboration; the
individual safety planning processes that women
employ; the role of a State or community fatality
review process in determining cause of death and
improving efforts to prevent violence against
women; the role of advocacy in addressing these
crimes (including the effectiveness of advocacy);
the roots of domestic violence; the components of a
safe community for women; how communities can be
effectively mobilized to address violence against
women; what interventions are most effective for
the victim and the offender; the unique needs of
particular populations (including minorities,
Native Americans, military, and small and rural
communities); and the links between partner abuse
and child abuse. These issues continue to be of
importance, and proposals addressing or
incorporating these issues are encouraged.

The above list is not exhaustive or intended to
limit an applicant. Any policy study, program
evaluation, or research inquiry that has the
potential to reduce the level of violence against
women, increase the safety of women, and provide
useful findings for improving programs will be
considered. Up to $485,000 will be available to
support several projects under this part.

Application Requirements

This section presents general application
information, recommendations to proposal writers,
and requirements for grant recipients. The
application form, Standard Form (SF) 424, is
included at the end of this document. Proposals not
conforming to these application procedures will not
be considered.

Award period. In general, NIJ limits its grants and
cooperative agreements to a maximum period of 24
months. However, longer budget periods may be
considered.

Award amount. Awards totaling $1.3 million will be
made available for this NIJ solicitation.

Due date. Ten (10) copies of fully executed
proposals should be sent to:

Solicitation for Research and Evaluation on
Violence Against Women: Fiscal Year 1996
National Institute of Justice
633 Indiana Avenue N.W., Room 867
Washington, DC 20531

Completed proposals must be received at the
National Institute of Justice by the close of
business on July 26, 1996. Extensions of this
deadline will not be permitted.

Contact. Applicants are encouraged to contact
Tawana Waugh, U.S. Department of Justice Response
Center, 202-307-1310, to obtain information about
topic viability, data availability, or proposal
content before submitting proposals. The Response
Center can also be reached at 800-421-6770, locally
at 202-307-1480, and by fax at 202-616-9249.

Certifications. Applicants should read and sign the
certification form regarding lobbying; debarment,
suspension, and other responsibility matters; and
drug-free workplace requirements included in this
solicitation. Signing this form commits the
applicant to compliance with the certification
requirements under 28 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Part 69, "New Restrictions on Lobbying," and
28 CFR Part 67, "Government-wide Debarment and
Suspension (Nonprocurement) and Government-wide
Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)." The
certification will be treated as a material
representation of the fact upon which reliance will
be placed by the U.S. Department of Justice in
making awards.

Recommendations to Proposal Writers

Over the past 4 years, Institute staff have
reviewed approximately 1,500 grant applications. On
the basis of those reviews and inquiries from
applicants, the Institute offers the following
recommendations to help potential applicants
present workable, understandable proposals. Many of
these recommendations were adopted from materials
provided to NIJ by the State Justice Institute,
especially for applicants new to NIJ. Others
reflect standard NIJ requirements.

The author(s) of the proposal should be clearly
identified.

Proposals that are incorrectly collated,
incomplete, or handwritten will be judged as
submitted or, at NIJ's discretion, will be returned
without a deadline extension. No additions to the
original submission are allowed. The Institute
suggests that applicants make certain they address
the questions, issues, and requirements set forth
below when preparing an application.

1. What is the subject or problem you wish to
address? Describe the subject or problem and how it
affects the criminal justice system and the public.
Discuss how your approach will improve the
situation or advance the state of the art of
knowledge or state of the science and explain why
it is the most appropriate approach to take. Give
appropriate citations to the research literature.
The source of statistics or research findings cited
to support a statement or position should be
included in a reference list.

2. What do you want to do? Explain the goal(s) of
the project in simple, straightforward terms. The
goal(s) should describe the intended consequences
or expected overall effect of the proposed project
rather than the tasks or activities to be
conducted. To the greatest extent possible,
applicants should avoid a specialized vocabulary
that is not readily understood by the general
public. Technical jargon does not enhance an
application.

3. How will you do it? Describe the methodology
carefully so that what you propose to do and how
you would do it is clear. All proposed tasks should
be set forth so that a reviewer can see a logical
progression of tasks and relate those tasks
directly to the accomplishment of the project's
goal(s). When in doubt about whether to provide a
more detailed explanation or to assume a particular
level of knowledge or expertise on the part of the
reviewers, err on the side of caution and provide
the additional information. A description of
project tasks also will help identify necessary
budget items. All staff positions and project costs
should relate directly to the tasks described. The
Institute encourages applicants to attach letters
of cooperation and support from agencies that will
be involved in or directly affected by the proposed
project.

4. What should you include in a grant application
for a program evaluation? If a grant application is
for a program evaluation, describe how the
evaluation will determine whether the proposed
program, training, procedure, service, or
technology accomplished the objectives it was
designed to meet. Applicants seeking support for a
proposed evaluation should describe the criteria
that will be used to evaluate the project's
effectiveness and identify program elements that
will require further modification. The description
in the application should include how the
evaluation will be conducted, when it will occur
during the project period, who will conduct it, and
what specific measures will be used. In most
instances, the evaluation should be conducted by
persons not connected with the implementation of
the procedure, training, service, or technique, or
the administration of the project.

5. How will others learn about your findings?
Include a plan to disseminate the results of the
research, evaluation, technology, or demonstration
beyond the jurisdictions and individuals directly
affected by the project. The plan should identify
the specific methods that will be used to inform
the field about the project, such as publication of
journal articles or distribution of key materials.
Expectations regarding products are discussed more
fully in the following section, "Requirements for
Award Recipients." A statement that a report or
research findings "will be made available to" the
field is not sufficient. The specific means of
distribution or dissemination as well as the types
of recipients should be identified. Reproduction
and dissemination costs are allowable budget items.
Applicants must concisely describe the interim and
final products and address each product's purpose,
audience, and usefulness to the field. This
discussion should identify the principal criminal
justice constituency or type of agency for which
each product is intended and should describe how
the constituent group or agency would be expected
to use the product or report. Successful proposals
will clearly identify the nature of the grant
products that can reasonably be expected if the
project is funded. In addition, a schedule of
delivery dates of all products should be
delineated.

6. What are the specific costs involved? The budget
application should be presented clearly. Major
budget categories such as personnel, benefits,
travel, supplies, equipment, and indirect costs
should be identified separately. The components of
"other" or "miscellaneous" items should be
specified in the application budget narrative and
should not include set-asides for undefined
contingencies.

7. How much detail should be included in the budget
narrative? The budget narrative should list all
planned expenditures and detail the salaries,
materials, and cost assumptions used to estimate
project costs. The narrative and cost estimates
should be presented under the following standard
budget categories: personnel, fringe benefits,
travel, equipment, supplies, contracts, other, and
indirect costs. For multiyear projects, applicants
must include the full amount of NIJ funding for the
entire life of the project. This amount should be
reflected in item 15g on SF 424 and in TOTAL
PROJECT COSTS in the Budget Detail Worksheet (OJP
Form 7150/1). When appropriate, grant applications
should include justification of consultants and a
full explanation of daily rates for any consultants
proposed. To avoid common shortcomings of
application budget narratives, include the
following information:

o Personnel estimates that accurately provide the
amount of time to be spent by personnel involved
with the project and the total associated costs,
including current salaries for designated personnel
(e.g., project director, 50 percent of 1 year's
annual salary of $50,000 = $25,000). If salary
costs are computed using an hourly or daily rate,
the annual salary and number of hours or days in a
work year should be shown.

o Estimates for supplies and expenses supported by
a complete description of the supplies to be used,
nature and extent of printing to be done,
anticipated telephone charges, and other common
expenditures, with the basis for computing the
estimates included (e.g., 100 reports x 75 pages
each x $0.05/page = $375). Supply and expense
estimates offered simply as "based on experience"
are not sufficient.

8. What travel regulations apply to the budget
estimates? Transportation costs and per diem rates
must comply with the policies of the applicant
organization, and a copy of the applicant's travel
policy should be submitted as an appendix to the
application. If the applicant does not have a
travel policy established in writing, then travel
rates must be consistent with those established by
the Federal Government. The budget narrative should
state which regulations are in force for the
project and should include the estimated fare,
number of persons traveling, number of trips to be
taken, and length of stay. The estimated costs of
travel, lodging, ground transportation, and other
subsistence should be listed separately. When
combined, subtotals for these categories should
equal the estimate listed on the budget form.

9. Which forms should be used? A copy of SF 424,
Application for Federal Assistance, plus
instructions, appears at the back of this document.
Please follow the instructions carefully. In
addition, complete the Budget Detail Worksheet (OJP
Form 7150/1), OJP Form 4000/3 (Assurances), and OJP
Form 4061/6 (certifications regarding lobbying;
debarment, suspension, and other responsibility
matters; and drug-free workplace requirements).

10. What technical materials are required to be
included in the application?

o A one-page abstract of the full proposal,
highlighting the project's purpose, methods,
activities, and, when known, the location(s) of
field research.

o A program narrative, which is the technical
portion of the proposal. It should include a clear,
concise statement of the problem, goal(s), and
objectives of the project and related questions to
be explored. A discussion of the relationship of
the proposed work to the existing literature is
expected.

o A statement of the project's anticipated
contribution to criminal justice policy and
practice. It is important that applicants briefly
cite those particular issues and concerns of
present-day criminal justice policy that stimulate
the proposed line of inquiry and suggest what their
own investigation would contribute to current
knowledge.

o A detailed statement of the proposed research or
study design and analytical methodologies. Proposed
data sources, data collection strategies, variables
and issues to be examined, and procedures of
analysis to be employed should be delineated
carefully and completely. When appropriate,
experimental designs are encouraged because of
their potential relevance to policymaking and the
strength of the evidence they can produce.

o The organization and management plan to conduct
the study. A list of major milestones of events,
activities, and products and a timetable for
completion that indicates the time commitments to
individual project tasks should be included. All
grant activities, including writing of the final
report, should be completed within the duration of
the award period.

o The applicant's curriculum vitae should summarize
education, research experience, and bibliographic
information related to the proposed work.

11. How may grant funds be used? Grant funds may be
used to purchase or lease equipment essential to
accomplishing the objectives of the project. The
budget narrative must list such equipment and
explain why the equipment is necessary. Funds may
not be used for operating programs, writing texts
or handbooks, training, etc.

12. To what extent may indirect costs be included
in the budget estimates? It is the policy of the
Institute that all costs should be budgeted
directly; however, if an applicant has an indirect
cost rate that has been approved by a Federal
agency within the past 2 years, an indirect cost
recovery estimate may be included in the budget. A
copy of the approved rate agreement should be
submitted as an appendix to the application. If an
applicant does not have an approved rate agreement,
the applicant should contact the Office of the
Comptroller, Office of Justice Programs, at 202-
307-0623, to obtain information about preparing an
indirect cost rate proposal.

13. What, if any, matching funds are required?
Units of State and local governments (not including
publicly supported institutions of higher
education) are encouraged to contribute a match
(cash, noncash, or both) of requested funds. Other
applicants also are encouraged to seek matching
contributions from other Federal agencies or
private foundations to assist in meeting the costs
of the project.

14. Should other funding sources be listed?
Applicants are expected to identify all other
Federal, local, or private sources of support,
including other NIJ programs, to which this or a
closely related proposal has been or will be
submitted. This information permits NIJ to consider
the joint funding potential and limits the
possibility of inadvertent duplicate funding.
Applicants may submit more than one proposal to
NIJ, but the same proposal cannot be submitted in
more than one program area.

15. What is the deadline? Completed applications
must be received at NIJ by close of business on
July 26, 1996.

16. Is there a page limit? The Institute has
established a limit of 30 double-spaced pages (with
font size not smaller than 12 point) for all normal
grant applications. This page limit does not
include references, budget narrative, curriculum
vitae, forms noted in item 9 above, or necessary
appendixes. Applications for small grants ($1,000-
$50,000) are limited to 15 double-spaced pages.
Proposals failing to conform to these page and font
limitations will not be accepted.

17. What elements constitute the proposal? The
following components, presented in the following
order, is mandatory. Omission can result in
rejection of the application.

1. SF 424 (with Assurances attached), followed by
OJP Form 7150/1 (Budget Detail Worksheet), budget
narrative, negotiated rate agreement, and
certifications.

2. Names and affiliations of all key persons from
applicant and subcontractor(s), advisers,
consultants, and Advisory Board members. Include
the name of the Principal Investigator, title,
organizational affiliation (if any), department (if
institution of higher education), address, phone,
and fax.

3. Abstract.

4. Table of contents.

5. Project narrative.

6. References.

7. R‚sum‚s of key personnel.

18. What does the review process entail? After all
applications for a competition are received, NIJ
will convene a series of peer review panels of
criminal justice professionals and researchers. NIJ
will assign proposals to peer panels that it deems
most appropriate. Panel members read each proposal
and meet to assess the technical merits and policy
relevance of the proposed research. Panel
assessments of the proposals, together with
assessments by NIJ staff, are submitted to the
Director, who has sole and final authority over
approval and awards. The review normally takes 60
to 90 days, depending on the number of applications
received. Each applicant receives written comments
from the peer review panel concerning the strengths
and weaknesses of the proposal. These comments may
include suggestions for how a revised or subsequent
application to NIJ might be improved.

19. What are the criteria for an award? The
essential question asked of each applicant is, "If
this study were successful, how would criminal
justice policies or operations be improved?" Four
criteria are applied in the evaluation process:

o Impact of the proposed project.

o Feasibility of the approach to the issue,
including technical merit and practical
considerations.

o Originality of the approach, including creativity
of the proposal and capability of the research
staff.

o Economy of the approach. Applicants bear the
responsibility of demonstrating to the panel that
the proposed study addresses the critical issues of
the topic area and that the study findings could
ultimately contribute to a practical application in
law enforcement or criminal justice. Reviewers will
assess applicants' awareness of related research or
studies and their ability to direct the research or
study toward answering questions of policy or
improving the state of criminal justice operations.

Technical merit is judged by the likelihood that
the study design will produce convincing findings.
Reviewers take into account the logic and timing of
the research or study plan, the validity and
reliability of measures proposed, the
appropriateness of statistical methods to be used,
and each applicant's awareness of factors that
might dilute the credibility of the findings.
Impact is judged by the scope of the proposed
approach and by the utility of the proposed
products. Reviewers consider each applicant's
understanding of the process of innovation in the
targeted criminal justice agency or setting and
knowledge of prior uses of criminal justice
research by the proposed criminal justice
constituency. Appropriateness of products in terms
of proposed content and format is also considered.

Applicants' qualifications are evaluated both in
terms of the depth of experience and the relevance
of that experience to the proposed research or
study. Costs are evaluated in terms of the
reasonableness of each item and the utility of the
project to the Institute's program.

20. Are there any other considerations in selecting
applications for an award? Projects should have a
national impact or have potential relevance to a
number of jurisdictions. Because of the broad
national mandate of the National Institute of
Justice, projects that address the unique concerns
of a single jurisdiction should be fully justified.
Projects that intend to provide services in
addition to performing research are eligible for
support, but only for the resources necessary to
conduct the research tasks outlined in the
proposal.

The applicant's performance on previous or current
NIJ grants will also be taken into consideration in
making funding decisions.

21. Who is eligible to apply? NIJ awards grants to,
or enters into cooperative agreements with,
educational institutions, nonprofit organizations,
public agencies, individuals, and profitmaking
organizations that are willing to waive their fees.
Where appropriate, special eligibility criteria are
indicated in the solicitation.

22. Does NIJ accept resubmission of proposals? The
Institute will accept resubmission of a previously
submitted proposal. The applicant should indicate
on Question 8, SF 424, that the application is a
revision. The applicant should include this
information in the abstract. Finally, the applicant
should prepare a one-page response to the earlier
panel review (to follow the abstract) and include
1) the title, submission date, and NIJ-assigned
application number of the previous proposal, and 2)
a brief summary of responses to the review and/or
revisions to the proposal.

Requirements for Award Recipients

Required products. Each project is expected to
generate tangible products of maximum benefit to
criminal justice professionals, researchers, and
policymakers. In particular, NIJ strongly
encourages documents that provide information of
practical utility to law enforcement officials;
prosecutors; judges; corrections officers; victim
services providers; and Federal, State, county, and
local elected officials.

Products should include:

o A summary of approximately 2,500 words
highlighting the findings of the research and the
policy issues those findings will inform. Material
should be written in a style that will be
accessible to policy officials and practitioners
and suitable for possible publication as an NIJ 
Research in Brief. An NIJ editorial style guide is
sent to each project director at the time of the
award.

o A full technical report, including a discussion
of the research question, review of the literature,
description of project methodology, detailed review
of project findings, and conclusions and policy
recommendations.

o Clean copies of all automated data sets developed
during the research and full documentation prepared
in accordance with the instructions in the NIJ
publication Depositing Data with the Data Resources
Program of the National Institute of Justice: A
Handbook.

o Brief project summaries for NIJ use in preparing
annual reports to the President and Congress.

As appropriate, additional products such as case
studies and interim and final reports (e.g.,
articles, manuals, or training materials) may be
specified in the proposal or negotiated at the time
of the award.

Prohibition on supplanting funds. Federal funds
must be used to supplement existing funds and not
replace those funds which have been appropriated
for the same purpose. Potential supplanting will be
the subject of application review, as well as pre-
award review, post-award monitoring, and audit. If
there is a potential presence of supplanting, the
applicant or grantee will be required to supply
documentation demonstrating that the reduction in
non-Federal resources occurred for reasons other
than the receipt or expected receipt of Federal
funds.

Public Release of Automated Data Sets

NIJ is committed to ensuring the public
availability of research data and to this end
established its Data Resources Program in 1984. All
NIJ award recipients who collect data are required
to submit a machine-readable copy of the data and
appropriate documentation to NIJ prior to the
conclusion of the project. The data and materials
are reviewed for completeness. NIJ staff then
create machine-readable data sets, prepare user
guides, and distribute data and documentation to
other researchers in the field. A variety of
formats are acceptable; however, the data and
materials must conform with requirements detailed
in Depositing Data With the Data Resources Program
of the National Institute of Justice: A Handbook. A
copy of this handbook is sent to each project
director at the time of the award. For further
information about NIJ's Data Resources Program,
contact Dr. James Trudeau at 202-307-1355.

Standards of Performance by Recipients

NIJ expects individuals and institutions receiving
its support to work diligently and professionally
toward completing a high-quality research or study
product. Besides this general expectation, the
Institute imposes specific requirements to ensure
that proper financial and administrative controls
are applied to the project. Financial and general
reporting requirements are detailed in Financial
Guide, published in April 1996 by the Office of
Justice Programs. This guideline manual is sent to
recipient institutions with the award documents.
Project directors and recipient financial
administrators should pay particular attention to
the regulations in this document.

Audit requirement. State and local governments are
governed by the Single Audit Act of 1984 and Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-128,
"Audits of State and Local Governments." Nonprofit
organizations and institutions of higher education
are governed by OMB Circular A-133, "Audits of
Institutions of Higher Education and Other
Nonprofit Institutions." The type of audit required
under these circulars is dependent upon the amount
of Federal funds that can be audited during the
recipient's fiscal year.

For example:

o If the organization receives $100,000 or more per
year in Federal funds, the organization shall have
an organizationwide financial and compliance audit.

o If the organization receives between $25,000 and
$100,000 a year in Federal funds, the organization
may elect to have an organizationwide audit or
program audit.

o If the organization receives less than $25,000 a
year in Federal funds, the organization shall be
exempt from the audit requirement.

Commercial (for-profit) organizations shall have
financial and compliance audits performed by
qualified individuals who are independent from
those who authorize the expenditure of Federal
funds. This audit must be performed in accordance
with Government Auditing Standards. The audit
thresholds contained in OMB Circulars A-128 and A-
133 apply.

Financial status reports. Financial status reports
(SF 269A) are due quarterly on the 45th day
following the end of each calendar quarter. A
report must be submitted every quarter the award is
active. The final report is due 120 days after the
end date of the award. The Office of the
Comptroller, Office of Justice Programs, will
provide a copy of this form in the initial award
package.

Conditions for suspension or termination of
funding. The National Institute of Justice may
suspend (in whole or in part), terminate funding
for, or impose another sanction on a recipient for
the following reasons:

o Failure to comply substantially with the
requirements or statutory objectives of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as
amended; the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988; program
guidelines issued thereunder; or other provisions
of Federal law.

o Failure to make satisfactory progress toward the
goals or strategies set forth in this application.

o Failure to adhere to the requirements in the
agreement, standard conditions, or special
conditions.

o Proposing or implementing substantial plan
changes to the extent that, if originally
submitted, the application would not have been
selected for funding.

o Failure to submit reports.

o Filing a false certification in this application
or other report or document.

Before imposing sanctions, the National Institute
of Justice will provide reasonable notice to the
recipient of its intent to impose sanctions and
will attempt informally to resolve the problem. 
Hearing and appeal procedures will follow those in
U.S. Department of Justice regulations in 28 CFR
Part 18.

Program Monitoring

Award recipients and Principal Investigators assume
certain responsibilities as part of their
participation in Government-sponsored research and
evaluation. NIJ's monitoring activities are
intended to help grantees meet these
responsibilities. They are based on good
communication and open dialog, with collegiality
and mutual respect. Some of the elements of this
dialog are:

o Communication with NIJ in the early stages of the
grant, as the elements of the proposal's design and
methodology are developed and put into operation.

o Timely communication with NIJ regarding any
developments that might affect the project's
compliance with schedules, milestones, and products
set forth in the proposal. (See statement on
"Timeliness" below.)

o Communication with other NIJ grantees conducting
related research projects. An annual "cluster
conference" should be anticipated and should be
budgeted for by applicants at a cost of $1,000 for
each year of the grant.

o Providing NIJ on request with brief descriptions
of the project in interim stages at such time as
the Institute may need this information to meet its
reporting requirements to Congress. NIJ will give
as much advance notification of these requests as
possible but will expect a timely response from
grantees when requests are made. NIJ is prepared to
receive such communication through electronic
media.

o Providing NIJ with copies of presentations made
at conferences, meetings, and elsewhere based in
whole or in part on the work of the project.

o Providing NIJ with prepublication copies of
articles based on the project appearing in
professional journals or the media, either during
the life of the grant or after.

o Other reporting requirements (progress reports,
final reports, and other grant products) are
spelled out elsewhere in this section. Financial
reporting requirements will be described in the
grant award documents received by successful
applicants.

Progress Reports

NIJ Program Managers should be kept informed of
research progress. Written progress reports are
required on a semiannual basis and should inform
the Program Manager of which tasks have been
completed and whether significant delays or
departures from the original workplan are expected.
The first progress report should cover the period
from the beginning date of the project through the
end of the first complete quarter (quarters are
January 1-March 31, April 1-June 30, July 1-
September 30, and October 1-December 31).
Subsequent progress reports should cover the next
two quarters.

All progress reports are due 30 days following the
end of the reporting period. For example, if a
grant is awarded in May, the first progress report
would cover the rest of the current quarter
(through June 30) and the first complete quarter
(July 1- September 30) and would be due October 31;
the second progress report would cover the next two
quarters (October 1-December 31 and January 1-March
31) and would be due April 30.

Timeliness. Grantees are expected to complete award
products within the time frames that have been
agreed upon by NIJ and the grantee. The Institute
recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for
project extensions. However, NIJ does not consider
the assumption of additional research projects that
impinge upon previous time commitments as
legitimate reasons for delay. Projects with
unreasonable delays can be terminated
administratively. In this situation, any funds
remaining are withdrawn. Future applications from
either the project director or the recipient
institution are subject to strict scrutiny and may
be denied support based on past failure to meet
minimum standards.

Publications. The Institute encourages grantees to
prepare their work for NIJ publication. In cases
where grantees disseminate their findings through a
variety of media, such as professional journals,
books, and conferences, copies of such publications
should be sent to the Program Manager as they
become available, even if they appear well after a
project's expiration. NIJ imposes no restriction on
such publications other than inclusion of the
following acknowledgment and disclaimer:

This research was supported by grant number
_____________ from the National Institute of
Justice. Points of view are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily represent the position of
the U.S. Department of Justice.

Data confidentiality and human subjects protection.
Research that examines individual traits and
experiences plays a vital part in expanding our
knowledge about criminal behavior. It is essential,
however, that researchers protect subjects from
needless risk of harm or embarrassment and proceed
with their willing and informed cooperation. NIJ
requires that investigators protect information
identifiable to research participants. When
information is safeguarded, it is protected by
statute from being used in legal proceedings:

[S]uch information and copies thereof shall be
immune from legal process, and shall not, without
the consent of the person furnishing such
information, be admitted as evidence or used for
any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial,
legislative, or administrative proceedings (42
United States Code 3789g).

Applicants should file their plans to protect
sensitive information as part of their proposal.
Necessary safeguards are detailed in 28 CFR, 
paragraph 22. A short "how-to" guideline for 
developing a privacy and confidentiality plan 
can be obtained from NIJ Program Managers.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice has
adopted human subjects policies similar to those
established by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. If an institutional review board is
necessary for this project, a copy of the board's
approval must be submitted to the National
Institute of Justice prior to the initiation of
data collection. Researchers are encouraged to
review 28 CFR 46, paragraph 46.101, to determine 
their individual project requirements.

Notice: If you are planning to respond to this
solicitation, please send NIJ a notice of intent. 
You can write a letter to Solicitation for
Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women:
Fiscal Year 1996, 633 Indiana Avenue N.W.,
Washington, DC 20531.

To obtain applications forms, call the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service,
800-851-3420.