Title: An Evaluation of Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program: Comprehensive Services Sites Series: Solicitation Author: National Institute of Justice Published: July 2002 Subject: Grants and funding 13 pages 25,356 bytes ------------------------------ Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420 (877-712-9279 For TTY users). ------------------------------ U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice Solicitation Sarah V. Hart, Director July 2002 An Evaluation of Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program: Comprehensive Services Sites APPLICATION DEADLINE: August 2, 2002 ------------------------------ U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 John Ashcroft Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels Assistant Attorney General Sarah V. Hart Director, National Institute of Justice For grant and funding information, contact: Department of Justice Response Center 800-421-6770 Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov National Institute of Justice World Wide Web Site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij ------------------------------ I. Introduction The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is soliciting proposals to conduct an evaluation of the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)'s Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program - Comprehensive Services Sites. Trafficking in persons includes the recruitment, transportation, or sale of persons (males and females, adults and children) for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. Many trafficking victims are forced to work in the sex trade; however, other trafficking situations exist, including domestic servitude, labor in a prison-like factory, or migrant agricultural work. This solicitation is intended to fill a much needed gap in our knowledge about the kinds of services and the infrastructure for delivering those services that are needed to assure the future well being and safety of trafficking victims. NIJ is the research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and is the primary Federal agency dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues. NIJ's principal authorities are derived from the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3721-3722). NIJ's International Center was created in April 1997 to respond to the growing incidence of transnational crime by conducting research, program development, and other activities. In 2001, the International Center released a research solicitation on Trafficking of Persons in the United States. NIJ's Office of Research and Evaluation has also sponsored several research projects relevant to human trafficking crime. NIJ anticipates awarding one grant with a funding total of up to $500,000. II. Background In October 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386, 22 U.S.C. sec. 7101 et seq.) to combat trafficking in persons, to ensure just and effective punishment of traffickers, and to protect their victims. This legislation arose from the need to respond to a critical international problem affecting more than 700,000 persons, primarily women and children, who are estimated to be trafficked annually within or across international borders. Of this number, it has been estimated that approximately 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Recognizing that trafficking victims typically need a wider spectrum of services than do victims of other crimes and that to date these services have been inadequate, Congress appropriated $10 million in FY2002 to provide for victim services programs for victims of trafficking. The legislation also provides for a 3-percent set aside for research and evaluation, 2 percent for training and technical assistance, and 1 percent for administration and management with the remaining amount for the delivery of services to trafficking victims. OVC convened an interagency Task Force consisting of representatives from: o The U.S. Department of Justice (Civil Rights Division-Criminal Section; National Institute of Justice, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and Violence Against Women Office). o The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. o U.S. Department of Labor. o U.S. Department of State (Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons). The Task Force held three meetings between February and April 2002 to solicit ideas regarding the grant program, including victims needs, training and technical assistance needs, research priorities, and coordination issues. Its recommendations are reflected in OVC solicitations and this NIJ solicitation. Obtain a full copy of the OVC solicitations in the "Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Application Kit" by visiting OVC's web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc. The Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program will fund two different kinds of grants: (1) those that will create or enhance collaborative networks to provide comprehensive services for trafficking victims and (2) those that provide supplemental and specialized services, such as housing, legal, and mental health/counseling to victim services programs throughout the country. Another OVC solicitation will support training and technical assistance activities for those grants funded under the comprehensive services component of the program. OVC is providing support to NIJ for an in depth evaluation of one or two sites undertaking comprehensive victim services funded by OVC. The evaluation will identify the range of services required for a comprehensive collaborative approach, document the impact of these services, identify how these services can most effectively be delivered, and use this information to facilitate replication of service networks in other communities. Research to date has primarily focused on the trafficking of women and children in connection with the sex industry. NIJ has sponsored research on such topics as commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada; sex trafficking of women in three regional cities; the social organization of human trafficking; and trafficking of women from Ukraine. Recently, NIJ's International Center initiated two major research efforts: o The first is a study of trafficking cases in Florida, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., that will (1) show ways to improve identification, investigation, prosecution, and conviction of traffickers; (2) give good and bad examples of how victims have been identified, their cases processed, and ultimately had their situation resolved; (3) determine victims' needs and ways to meet them; and (4) find ways to bring together and improve the interaction of entities involved in these cases. o The second study is conducting a survey of victim service providers that is (1) documenting the range of existing services, (2) determining how responsive these current services are, and (3) what services/capabilities are needed to better address the needs of trafficking victims. More needs to be known about the service needs of trafficking victims, as well as the relationships, structures, and conditions that assure delivery of these services. For this reason, NIJ seeks a formal evaluation of the specific components that have been identified as critical to the delivery of the services. This solicitation is designed to provide that critical programmatic information. The evaluation should examine the services and organizational structure required to deliver services more effectively, the impact of the services on the victims themselves and the costs and benefits of particular approaches. III. Required Elements of the Evaluation Applicants for the Evaluation of the Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program should review OVC's Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program announcement and application kit, paying close attention to the programmatic elements of the Comprehensive Services grants. The Application Kit containing the OVC solicitations can be obtained by accessing OVC's web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc. IV. Required Features of the Evaluation NIJ seeks research proposals to evaluate the implementation of a collaborative network to provide comprehensive services for trafficking victims spanning 12 to 36 months (with a maximum data collection period of 27 months). The goal of the evaluation is two fold: (1) to identify the critical elements of a collaborative network and (2) to determine how those elements can best be organized to serve trafficking victims. To the extent possible, the evaluation should also examine and assess the quality, cost-effectiveness, and delivery of those services. One or two of the comprehensive demonstration sites funded under OVC's Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program will be selected by NIJ and OVC, in collaboration with the evaluation grantee, to be the subject of this intensive evaluation. NIJ recognizes that applicants will have difficulty proposing a detailed evaluation design in the absence of more information about the specific approaches and activities the demonstration sites will adopt, and, in particular, the one to two sites selected for the indepth evaluation. Accordingly, the applicant is being given wide berth to propose an appropriate methodology for closely examining the network and the delivery of services. The applicant should provide a clear rationale for the plan and indicate the requisites that will need to be in place. The evaluator will be expected to develop a detailed evaluation design within 3 months after the site(s) are selected. During this period, the evaluator will meet with NIJ and OVC staff to review the potential evaluation design and outcome measures. When preparing their proposal, applicants should carefully review the OVC Application Kit containing the solicitations referenced above. Proposals should discuss the criteria for selecting the evaluation sites, how the evaluators will integrate their activities with those of the site(s), and how the evaluators will ensure the continued cooperation of the site(s). The evaluation will have four phases: Phase I-Select study site(s) and refine methodology. Phase II-Collect baseline data. Phase III-Monitor the program, collect data. Phase IV-Analyze and assess data, write final report. The evaluation of the demonstration site(s) will seek to collect the following types of information (evaluators are encouraged to propose additional measures as part of a preliminary logic model): o Availability of resources for trafficking victims. o Type, level, and number of services provided. o Client satisfaction with services offered. o Followup safety plans developed. o Safety and client's perception of safety. Ideally, the evaluation should address the following issues (applicants are encouraged to propose additional questions or to modify those listed below): o Collaboration: Are there unique relationships among victim service providers, criminal justice officials, and immigration authorities that provide for effective delivery of services? What kind of collaboration is needed with international partners? In addition to a law enforcement or victim service response, what else is needed for a collaborative and integrative effort to address their special needs and circumstances? o Community outreach: What kind of community outreach is required? What is the best way to accomplish it? Can the faith community play a role in identifying or referring trafficking victims? Can organizations serving specific cultural groups or indigenous populations play a role in identifying or referring trafficking victims? What kinds of victim services will be the primary recipients of contacts from otherwise unidentified trafficking victims? o Victims: How do victims come to the attention of the service organization? What process/criteria are used to determine whether they are trafficking victims? Do victims cooperate in any prosecution? What facilitated the cooperation of victims? What were their immediate and long-term needs (housing, medical, counseling, training, transportation, legal, employment, or other needs)? How were these needs met? What was the quality of the services received to address victim's needs? o Management of services: What mechanisms, protocols, and/or organizational structure are needed to handle a sudden or unanticipated influx of victims? What are the costs associated with maintaining a capacity to serve trafficking victims? What kind of training and technical assistance is required to implement and maintain a viable program? What are the elements of a good case management system? How should individual cases be managed and tracked? What kinds of protocols need to be developed? Applicants must propose an evaluation that includes the stages of the implementation or enhancement process, beginning with the identification of trafficking victims. Performance Measures To successfully reach the goals of this evaluation, the evaluators must achieve a number of objectives. Achievement of these objectives will constitute milestones for measuring the evaluator's performance. To ensure compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act, Public Law 103-62, a successful applicant will be required to collect and report data that measures the results of the grant. To ensure accountability of this data, for which the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is responsible, the following key objectives and performance measures are provided: o Finalize rationale for site selection (1 month post award). o With OVC and NIJ, select one or two sites for intensive evaluation (1 to 2 months post award). o Submit to NIJ final evaluation plan and design (3 months post award). o Create data collection management information system (MIS) for site(s) and provide training and technical assistance to site(s) for implementing the MIS (3 to 6 months post award). o Begin data collection (6 months post award). o Complete data collection (30 months post award). o Submit draft final report (34 months post award). o Submit final report (36 months post award). To effectively document the impact of the program, the evaluators will assess the following data: o Percent change in the type, level, and number of services provided. o Percent change in the client satisfaction with services offered. During the evaluation design period, evaluators will discuss the proposed outcome measures with NIJ and OVC to determine the feasibility of collecting the performance data or identify alternative outcome measures for future program performance reporting. V. Relationships among demonstration site(s), NIJ, OVC, and the Evaluator NIJ envisions that the evaluation of the demonstration site(s) will be a cooperative effort between OVC, NIJ, the demonstration site(s), the training and technical assistance grantee, and the evaluator. The demonstration site(s), the training and technical assistance efforts, and the evaluation will be funded as cooperative agreements. NIJ staff will be involved with OVC staff in the selection of the demonstration site(s) to be evaluated and NIJ and OVC will be jointly involved in any programmatic decisions affecting the evaluation. OVC will assure that the evaluator has the full cooperation of the demonstration site(s) and the training and technical assistance provider. The evaluator will also provide routine feedback to the sites on a variety of planning and implementation issues that are tracked as part of the evaluation. In addition, it is recommended that the evaluation applicant consider the use of an Evaluation Advisory Group of two to three expert practitioners and researchers to provide guidance on the evaluation. VI. Products 1. Written progress reports. Every 6 months, the evaluators will submit a written progress report that discusses project activities, highlights the progress made with the evaluation design, and identifies any issues or problems. Progress reports are due 30 days following the end of the reporting period. 2. Financial status reports. Every calendar quarter, the evaluators will submit a financial status report. It will be due no later than 45 days following the end of each quarter. 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 the form to be used (SF269A) in the initial award package. 3. OMB circular. Recipients who expend $300,000 or more of Federal funds during their fiscal year must comply with the audit requirements of the OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Government and Nonprofit Organizations. 4. Final design of the evaluation plan. Within 3 months after the site(s) are selected, the evaluators will submit a final design of the evaluation plan. The plan should contain a detailed logic model, specify what types of measures will be used, what data collection methods will be employed, and what will be learned. 5. Interim report. The evaluators will provide an interim report to NIJ and OVC with available data at the mid-point of evaluation. 6. Draft comprehensive report. The evaluators will prepare a draft comprehensive evaluation report that details the evaluation and includes overall findings and an analysis of the factors that contributed to or impeded successful implementation of the demonstration program. 7. Final Report. This report will be presented as a "lessons learned" guide for practitioners (including law enforcement). It will identify the elements of an integrated service delivery system for trafficking victims, the protocols that need to be in place for assuring coordination of services, the necessary resources for handling limited number of individual cases as well as large influxes, and the costs of those resources. It will also include a description of a "generic" evaluation strategy for trafficking victim service providers that will allow them to monitor and evaluate their programs' activities. All products will be subject to NIJ and OVC approval. 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 consideration: o Standard Form (SF) 424--application for Federal assistance o Geographic Areas Affected Worksheet 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 Budget Narrative 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 o Form 310 (Protection of Human Subjects Assurance Identification/ Certification/ Declaration) o Environmental Assessment (if required) o References o Letters of cooperation from organizations collaborating in the research project o Resumes of key personnel o Appendixes, if any (e.g., list of previous NIJ awards, their status, and products [in NIJ or other publications]) Confidentiality of information and human subjects protection. NIJ has adopted new policies and procedures regarding the confidentiality of information and human subjects protection. Please visit the "Funding Opportunities" section of NIJ's Web site for details: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij. Proposal abstract. The proposal abstract, when read separately from the rest of the application, is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work. Applicants must concisely describe the research goals and objectives, research design, and methods for achieving the goals and objectives. Summaries of past accomplishments are to be avoided, and proprietary/confidential information is not to be included. Length is not to exceed 400 words. Page limit. The number of pages in the "Program Narrative" part of the proposal must not exceed 30 double-spaced pages. Due date. Completed proposals must be received at the National Institute of Justice by the close of business on August 2, 2002. Extensions of this deadline will not be permitted. Mail Delay. Please note that due to continued security delays for U.S. Mail, application packages should be sent via an overnight or non-U.S. Mail delivery service. The ZIP code to be used for the overnight courier is 20001. Additionally, please fax a copy of the application by the due date to ensure that NIJ receives it by the deadline, should there be any delivery delays. The fax number is 202-307-6256. Award period. This project will be funded in the form of a cooperative agreement with a project period of up to 36 months. Number of awards. NIJ anticipates supporting one cooperative agreement under this solicitation. Award amount. An award totaling up to $500,000 will be made available for this NIJ solicitation. Budgetary Issues- Applicants should budget for a minimum of two trips to Washington, D.C., to meet with NIJ and OVC staff to review grant progress and/or presenting findings at an OVC sponsored meeting on trafficking. In addition, the applicant should budget sufficient funds to travel to the site(s) to develop the evaluation plan and collect data related to the evaluation. Applying. Two packets need to be obtained: (1) application forms (including a sample budget worksheet) and (2) guidelines for submitting proposals (including requirements for proposal writers and requirements for grant recipients). To receive them, applicants can: o Download the materials from: - The Justice Information Center on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm - The NIJ Web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/funding.htm These Web sites offer the NIJ application forms and guidelines 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. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number. Please use the number16.560 for item #10 on the front page of the application form, "Application for Federal Assistance." Guidance and information. Applicants who wish to receive additional guidance and information may contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770. Center staff can provide assistance or refer applicants to an appropriate NIJ professional. Applicants may, for example, wish to discuss their prospective research topics with the NIJ professional staff. Send completed forms to: Nancy Kolb National Institute of Justice Office of Development and Communications Room 7127 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 [For overnight courier, use ZIP code 20001] Phone: (202) 616-3234 Fax: (202) 307-6256 This document is not intended to create, does not create, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any matter civil or criminal. 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 You can view or obtain an electronic version of this document from the NCJRS Justice Information Center web site (http://www.ncjrs.org) or the NIJ web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij). If you have any questions, call or e-mail NCJRS. SL 000574