Final for Posting W E B Du Bois Fellowship for Research in Race Gender .pdf

NOTICE

This solicitation originally had a release date of August 28, 2014, but due to a technical error, the date was changed to September 24, 2014.

U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329 Approval Expires 07/31/2016 Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research in Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime program. This Fellowship furthers the Department’s mission by sponsoring research to provide objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research in Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2015

Eligibility In general, NIJ is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, States (including territories), units of local government (including federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education), and certain qualified individuals. For-profit organizations must agree to forgo any profit or management fee. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign institutions of higher education are not eligible to apply.

NIJ may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

Deadline Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. (See “How to Apply,” page 22.) All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on December 24, 2014. (See “Deadlines: Registration and Application,” page 3.)

All applicants are encouraged to read this Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov.

Contact Information For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035, or via e-mail to support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays.

Applicants that experience unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond their control that prevent them from submitting their application by the deadline must e-mail the NIJ contact identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline and request approval to submit their application.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, e-mail NIJ at Dubois@usdoj.gov.

General information on applying for NIJ awards can be found at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx. Answers to frequently asked questions that may assist applicants are posted at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx.

Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement: NIJ-2015-3972 Release date: September 24, 2014

SL001128

http://www.usdoj.gov/ http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ http://www.nij.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/grantsgov_information.htm mailto:support@grants.gov http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp mailto:Dubois@usdoj.gov http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx

NIJ-2015-3972

Contents Overview

Deadlines: Registration and Application

Eligibility

Program-Specific Information

Performance Measures

What an Application Should Include

Information to Complete the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

Project Abstract

Program Narrative

Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative

Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable)

Applicant Disclosure of High Risk Status

Additional Attachments

Accounting System and Financial Capability Questionnaire (if applicable)

Selection Criteria

Review Process

Additional Requirements

How to Apply

Provide Feedback to OJP

Application Checklist

W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research in Race, Gender, Culture and Crime FY 2015

(CFDA # 16.566)

Overview

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2015. The Fellowship program seeks to advance knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts.

The Fellowship places particular emphasis on crime, violence, and the administration of criminal justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States.

Authorizing Legislation: Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (sections 201 and 202).

Deadlines: Registration and Application

Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline. In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications 72 hours prior to the application due date. The deadline to apply for funding under this announcement is 11:59 p.m. eastern time on December 24, 2014. See “How to Apply” on page 22 for details.

Eligibility

Refer to the title page for eligibility under this program.

Program-Specific Information

The W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research in Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime provides talented researchers with an opportunity to elevate independently generated research and ideas to the level of national discussion. Prospective Fellows may apply directly as qualified individuals or through an entity listed on the title page. Prospective Fellows from all academic disciplines are welcome to apply. However, Prospective Fellows should:

1. Possess a terminal degree in their respective field.

2. Have received a terminal degree within the 6 years prior to September 30, 2015.

3. Not have been awarded tenure by September 30, 2015.

Prospective fellows should propose research that speaks directly to issues related to criminal justice, violence, and the administration of criminal justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States. Prospective fellows from all racial and ethnic backgrounds are eligible to apply for the Du Bois Fellowship. Minorities and women are strongly encouraged to apply. Residency at NIJ is not a fellowship program requirement; however, it is an option for fellowship recipients.

Please refer to the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship FAQ webpage and the title page for additional eligibility information under this program.

Since 2000, NIJ has supported Du Bois Fellows conducting research on race, gender, culture, and crime in the United States. This fiscal year, NIJ intends to fund multiple Du Bois Fellows depending on the availability of funds. Please see the W.E.B Du Bois Fellowship program webpage for a brief description of the program, a list of past fellows, and links to final reports of the research produced through this program.

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was an early leader in the struggle for racial equality in the United States. As a social scientist, Du Bois used objective methods to challenge discriminatory ideologies and institutions to advocate for social change. His classic study “The Philadelphia Negro,” published in 1899, was a groundbreaking sociological study of the city’s African American community. It was one of the first research projects to combine urban ethnography, social history, and descriptive statistics. As a result of this work, Du Bois was acknowledged as the father of social science. The Du Bois Fellowship seeks to encourage emerging scholars to follow in the steps of Du Bois by providing an opportunity to conduct cutting-edge, multi disciplinary, multimethod studies that advance the field of research on race, gender, culture, and crime.

The primary objective of NIJ’s Du Bois Fellowship is to advance the field of knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The 2015 Du Bois Fellows’ research should focus on criminal justice-relevant policy questions in a manner that reflects their saliency as an integral part of the American past, present, and, increasingly, future. Recent research by Du Bois fellows has included an examination of racial discrimination and its impact on delinquency by gender and age, crime and justice among undocumented migrant workers, and the significance of courtroom workgroup racial diversity on case outcomes. Applicants should propose research that focuses on the impact of culture at various points of intersection with the criminal justice system. Proposals also should include explicit statements discussing how the proposed research follows the Du Boisian tradition of multidisciplinary scientific inquiry and how it will propel the criminal justice research field forward.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship Program’s secondary objective is to provide talented researchers, early in their careers, with an opportunity to elevate independently generated research and ideas to the level of national discussion. Applicants must possess a terminal degree in any academic discipline, which was earned within 6 years prior to September 30, 2015, and, not have been awarded tenure by September 30, 2015. The Du Bois Fellow is expected to meet all reporting and archiving data requirements.

If awarded, successful prospective fellows will be required to provide documentation of their terminal degree with the date it was awarded. Successful prospective fellows will also be required to provide documentation of their tenure status at their sponsoring organization and stating that they will not be awarded tenure by September 30, 2015. A signed letter from an authorized representative on organizational letterhead will meet this requirement.

Prospective fellows may choose from, but are not limited to, the following list of broad topic areas as they directly bear on the:

• Courts, sentencing, probation, institutional corrections, and parole: Determine the influence of race, ethnicity, gender, and culture on prosecutorial charging decisions, http://nij.gov/funding/fellowships/dubois-fellowship/faqs.htm http://www.nij.gov/nij/funding/fellowships/dubois-fellowship/welcome.htm sentencing practices, access to quality defense services for the indigent, and disparities in representation; consider the needs of diverse populations within correctional systems and current programmatic responses addressing rehabilitation and offender reintegration for situations that race, gender, or culture may prove relevant.

• Police-community relations: Consider the impact of race, ethnicity, gender, and culture on law enforcement effectiveness and perceptions of criminal justice; weigh factors of language, culture, and socio-historical perceptions of law enforcement as these issues affect the ability of police—as individuals and organizations—to serve communities.

• Civil rights: Research the preservation of civil rights as juxtaposed to the preservation of public safety, order, and the administration of criminal justice.

• Immigration, crime, and victimization: Examine the incidence of crime, hate crime, violence, and victimization within immigrant populations; criminal justice system responses; criminal justice system innovations addressing the needs of immigrant populations; and illegal immigration, with a focus on law enforcement issues and the administration of criminal justice in the United States.

• Culture and Crime: Investigate crime, violence, substance abuse, and criminal justice system interactions in particular cultural settings; explore the role of race, ethnicity, and culture-specific norms within particular cultural contexts; consider implications for increasing knowledge and developing policies and programmatic responses that take these factors into account.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The primary objective of NIJ’s Du Bois Fellowship is to advance the field of knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The 2015 Du Bois Fellows’ research should focus on criminal justice-relevant policy questions in a manner that reflects their saliency as an integral part of the American past, present, and, increasingly, future. The W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship Program’s secondary objective is to provide talented researchers, early in their careers, with an opportunity to elevate independently generated research and ideas to the level of national discussion.

In addition to required data sets, a draft and final summary overview of research results, interim and final progress and financial reports,1 NIJ expects scholarly products to result from each award under this solicitation, taking the form of one or more published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, and/or (if appropriate) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented inventions, or similar scientific products.

1 See “Additional Requirements” section of this solicitation, below, for additional information.

Amount and Length of Awards

NIJ anticipates that up to $300,000 may become available for multiple awards under this solicitation. Prospective fellows may propose projects that range in budgets from $10,000 up to $150,000; however, the scope of work of the project should be commensurate with the budget.

Those prospective fellows who propose to conduct primary data collection may propose budgets up to $150,000. Prospective fellows who propose to conduct secondary data analysis may propose budgets up to $100,000.

To allow time for, among other things, any necessary post-award review, modification, and clearance by OJP of the proposed budget, applicants should propose an award start date of October 1, 2015.

Applicants should be aware that the total period of an award, including one that receives a funding supplement or a no-cost extension, ordinarily will not exceed 12 months.

All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Type of Award

NIJ anticipates that any award under this solicitation will be made in the form of a grant.

Evaluation Research

If an application includes an evaluation research component (or consists entirely of evaluation research), the application is expected to propose the use of random selection and assignment of participants to experimental and control conditions, if feasible. Applications that include evaluation research but do not propose the use of randomization should explain clearly why randomization is not feasible, and should propose a strong quasi-experimental design that can address the risk of selection bias.

Also, applications that include evaluation research are expected to consider seriously incorporation of cost/benefit analysis. NIJ views cost/benefit analysis as an effective way to communicate and disseminate findings from evaluation research and best serve our criminal justice constituents.

Please note: Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to comply with Department of Justice regulations on confidentiality and human subjects’ protection. See “Other Requirements for OJP Applications” at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/other_requirements.htm.

Budget Information

What will not be funded:

• Proposals primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. (A budget may include these items if they are necessary to conduct research, development, demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.)

• Proposals that are not responsive to this specific solicitation.

Limitation on Use of Award Funds for Employee Compensation; Waiver

With respect to any award of more than $250,000 made under this solicitation, recipients may not use federal funds to pay total cash compensation (salary plus cash bonuses) to any employee of the award recipient at a rate that exceeds 110% of the maximum annual salary payable to a member of the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) at an agency with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System for that year.2 The 2014 salary table for SES employees is available at www.opm.gov/salary-tables. Note: A recipient may compensate an employee at a greater rate, provided the amount in excess of this compensation limitation is paid with non-federal funds. (Any such additional compensation will not be considered matching funds where match requirements apply.)

The Director of NIJ may exercise discretion to waive, on an individual basis, the limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award. An applicant requesting a waiver should include a detailed justification in the budget narrative of the application. Unless the applicant submits a waiver request and justification with the application, the applicant should anticipate that OJP will request the applicant to adjust and resubmit the budget.

The justification should include the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the uniqueness of the service the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the program or project being undertaken with award funds, and a statement explaining that the individual’s salary is commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with his/her qualifications and expertise, and for the work to be done.

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs

OJP strongly encourages applicants that propose to use award funds for any conference-, meeting-, or training-related activity to review carefully – before submitting an application – the OJP policy and guidance on “conference” approval, planning, and reporting available at www.ojp.gov/funding/confcost.htm. OJP policy and guidance (1) encourage minimization of conference, meeting, and training costs; (2) require prior written approval (which may affect project timelines) of most such costs for cooperative agreement recipients and of some such

2 This limitation on use of award funds does not apply to the non-profit organizations specifically named at Appendix C to 2 C.F.R. Part 230.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/other_requirements.htm http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/14Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx http://www.ojp.gov/funding/confcost.htm costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, including a general prohibition of all food and beverage costs.

Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable)

If an applicant proposes a program or activity that would deliver services or benefits to individuals, the costs of taking reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to those services or benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency may be allowable. Reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to services or benefits may include interpretation or translation services where appropriate.

For additional information, see the "Civil Rights Compliance" section of the OJP "Other Requirements for OJP Applications" Web page at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/other_requirements.htm.

Match Information

See “Cofunding” paragraph under “What an Application Should Include” (below).

Performance Measures

To assist the Department with fulfilling its responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Public Law 103-62, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Public Law 111–352, applicants that receive funding under this solicitation must provide data that measure the results of their work done under this solicitation. OJP will require any award recipient, post award, to provide the data requested in the “Data Grantee Provides” column so that OJP can calculate values for the “Performance Measures” column. (Submission of performance measures data is not required for the application.) Performance measures for this solicitation are as follows:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/other_requirements.htm

Objective

Performance Measure(s)

Data Grantee Provides

Conduct research in social and behavioral sciences, pertaining to the confluence of crime, justice, and culture and having clear implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States.

1. Relevance to the needs of the field as measured by whether the project’s substantive scope did not deviate from the funded proposal or any subsequent agency-approved modifications to the scope.

2. Quality of the research as demonstrated by the scholarly products that result in whole or in part from work funded under the NIJ award (published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, and/or (as appropriate for the funded project) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented inventions, or similar scientific products).

3. Quality of management as measured by such factors as whether significant project milestones were achieved, reporting and other deadlines were met, and costs remained within approved limits.

1. Quarterly financial reports, semi-annual and final progress reports, and a draft and final summary overview of the work performed under the NIJ award.

2. List of citation(s) to all scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the NIJ award.

3. If applicable, each data set that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the NIJ award.

What an Application Should Include

Applicants should anticipate that if they fail to submit an application that contains all of the specified elements, it may affect negatively the review of their application; and, should a decision be made to make an award, it may result in the inclusion of special conditions that preclude the recipient from accessing or using award funds pending satisfaction of the conditions.

Moreover, applicants should anticipate that applications determined to be nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation, or that do not include the application elements that NIJ has designated to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review nor receive further consideration. Under this solicitation, NIJ has designated the following application elements as critical: Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, Budget Narrative, and resumes/curriculum vitae of key personnel. For purposes of this solicitation, “key personnel” means the principal investigator, and any and all co-principal investigators.

OJP strongly recommends that applicants use appropriately descriptive file names (e.g., “Program Narrative,” “Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative,” “Timelines,” “Memoranda of Understanding,” “Resumes”) for all attachments. Also, OJP recommends that applicants include resumes in a single file.

1. Information to Complete the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)

The SF-424 is a required standard form used as a cover sheet for submission of pre-applications, applications, and related information. Grants.gov and OJP’s Grants Management System (GMS) take information from the applicant’s profile to populate the fields on this form. When selecting "type of applicant," if the applicant is a for-profit entity, select "For-Profit Organization" or "Small Business" (as applicable).

2. Project Abstract

The project abstract is a very important part of the application, and serves as an introduction to the proposed project. NIJ uses the project abstract for a number of purposes, including assignment of the application to an appropriate review panel. If the application is funded, the project abstract typically will become public information and be used to describe the project.

Applications should include a high-quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed project in 250-400 words. Project abstracts should be—

• Written for a general public audience.

• Submitted as a separate attachment with “Project Abstract” as part of its file name.

• Single-spaced, using a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman) with 1-inch margins.

As a separate attachment, the project abstract will not count against the page limit for the program narrative.

Project abstracts should follow the detailed template (including the detailed instructions as to content) available at www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-abstract-template.pdf.

3. Program Narrative

The program narrative section of the application should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If included in the main body of the program narrative, tables, charts, figures, and other illustrations count toward the 30-page limit for the narrative section. The project abstract, table of contents, appendices, and government forms do not count toward the 30-page limit.

If the program narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, NIJ may consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions.

The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative.3

Program Narrative Guidelines:

a. Title Page (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit).

The title page should include the title of the project, submission date, funding opportunity number, and the name and complete contact information (that is, 3 As noted earlier, if the proposed program or project reasonably could be conducted in discrete phases, with each phase resulting in completion of one or more significant, defined milestones, then NIJ strongly recommends that the applicant structure the application—specifically including the narrative, expected scholarly products, timelines/milestones, and budget detail worksheet and budget narrative—to set out each phase clearly. (In appropriate cases, the expected scholarly product(s) from a particular phase may vary from those described above.)

See generally, “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” above.

http://nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-abstract-template.pdf address, telephone number, and e-mail address) for both the applicant organization and the principal investigator.

b. Resubmit Response (if applicable) (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit).

If an applicant is resubmitting a proposal presented previously to NIJ, but not funded, the applicant should indicate this. A statement should be provided, no more than two pages, addressing: (1) the title, submission date, and NIJ-assigned application number of the previous proposal, and (2) a brief summary of revisions to the proposal, including responses to previous feedback received from NIJ.

c. Table of Contents and Figures (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit).

d. Main Body.

The main body of the program narrative should describe the proposed project in depth. The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative:

• Statement of the Problem.

• Project Design and Implementation.

• Potential Impact.

• Capabilities/Competencies.

Within these sections, the narrative should address:

• Purpose, goals, and objectives.

• Review of relevant literature.

• Detailed description of research design and methods, such as research questions, hypotheses, description of sample, and analysis plan.

• Planned Scholarly Products (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and

Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” above, for a discussion of expected scholarly products.)

• Implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States.

• Discussion of how the proposed research follows the Du Boisian tradition of multidisciplinary scientific inquiry and how it will propel the criminal justice research field forward.

• Management plan and organization.

• Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences (if applicable to the proposed project). Applicants should identify plans (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences – such as criminal justice practitioners or policymakers – summary information from the planned scholarly products of the proposed project (such as summaries of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals), in a form designed to be readily accessible and useful to those audiences. (Such dissemination might include, for example, trade press articles and webinars.)

e. Appendices (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit) include:

• Bibliography/references.

• Any tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps pertaining to the proposed project that are supplemental to such items included in the main body of the narrative.

• Curriculum vitae or resumes of the principal investigator and any and all co-principal investigators. In addition, curriculum vitae, resumes, or biographical sketches of all other individuals (regardless of “investigator” status) who will be significantly involved in substantive aspects of the proposal (including, for example, individuals such as statisticians serving as consultants to conduct proposed data analysis).

• List (to the extent known) of all proposed project staff members, including those affiliated with the applicant organization or any proposed subrecipient organization(s), any proposed consultant(s) and contractors (whether individuals or organizations), and any proposed members of an advisory board for the project (if applicable). The list should include, for each individual and organization: name, title (if applicable), employer or other organizational affiliation, and roles and responsibilities proposed for the project. Applicants should use the “Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form available at www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-staff-template.xlsx to provide this listing.

• Proposed project timeline and expected milestones.

• Human Subjects Protection paperwork (documentation and forms related to Institutional Review Board (IRB) review).

(See www.nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/Pages/welcome.aspx.) NOTE:

Final IRB approval is not required at the time an application is submitted.

• Privacy Certificate (for further guidance go to www.nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/pages/confidentiality.aspx).

• List of any previous and current NIJ awards to applicant organization and investigator(s), including the NIJ-assigned award numbers and a brief description of any scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the NIJ award(s). (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, http://www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-staff-template.xlsx http://nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/Pages/welcome.aspx http://nij.gov/funding/humansubjects/pages/confidentiality.aspx and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” above, for definition of “scholarly products.”)

• Letters of cooperation/support or administrative agreements from organizations collaborating in the project, such as law enforcement and correctional agencies (if applicable).

• List of other agencies, organizations, or funding sources to which this proposal has been submitted (if applicable).

• Data archiving plan. Applicants should anticipate that NIJ will require (through special award conditions, including a partial withholding of award funds) that data sets resulting in whole or in part from projects funded under this solicitation be submitted for archiving with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). (For a detailed discussion of the information NIJ expects to find in a data archiving plan, see www.nij.gov/funding/data-resources-program/applying/Pages/data-archiving-strategies.aspx.)

Applications should include as an appendix a brief plan – labeled “Data Archiving Plan” – to comply with data archiving requirements. The plan should provide brief details about proposed data management and archiving, including submission to NIJ (through NACJD) of all files and documentation necessary to allow for future efforts by others to reproduce the project’s findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the data set through secondary analysis. Pertinent files and documentation typically would include, among other things, qualitative and quantitative data produced, instrumentation and data collection forms, codebook(s), any specialized programming code necessary to reproduce all constructed measures and the original data analysis, description of necessary de-identification procedures, and (when required) a copy of the privacy certificate and informed consent protocols.

The plan should be one or two pages in length and include the level of effort associated with meeting archiving requirements.

Note that required data sets are to be submitted 90 days before the end of the project period.

4. Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative

a. Budget Detail Worksheet

A sample Budget Detail Worksheet can be found at www.ojp.gov/funding/forms/budget_detail.pdf. Applicants that submit their budget in a different format should include the budget categories listed in the sample budget worksheet. (Work associated with satisfying data archiving requirements should be reflected.) Please note: NIJ expects applicants to provide a thorough narrative to each section of the Budget Detail Worksheet, as described under “Budget Narrative,” below.

For questions pertaining to budget and examples of allowable and unallowable costs, see the OJP Financial Guide at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/financialguide/index.htm.

http://www.nij.gov/funding/data-resources-program/applying/Pages/data-archiving-strategies.aspx http://www.nij.gov/funding/data-resources-program/applying/Pages/data-archiving-strategies.aspx http://www.ojp.gov/funding/forms/budget_detail.pdf http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/financialguide/index.htm

b. Budget Narrative

The budget narrative should thoroughly and clearly describe every category of expense listed in the Budget Detail Worksheet. OJP expects proposed budgets to be complete, cost effective, and allowable (e.g., reasonable, allocable, and necessary for project activities).

Applicants should demonstrate in their budget narratives how they will maximize cost effectiveness of grant expenditures. Budget narratives generally should describe cost effectiveness in relation to potential alternatives and the goals of the project. For example, a budget narrative should detail why planned in-person meetings are necessary, or how technology and collaboration with outside organizations could be used to reduce costs, without compromising quality.

The narrative should be sound mathematically and correspond with the information and figures provided in the Budget Detail Worksheet. The narrative should explain how the applicant estimated and calculated all costs, and how they are relevant to the completion of the proposed project. The narrative may include tables for clarification purposes but need not be in a spreadsheet format. As with the Budget Detail Worksheet, the Budget Narrative should be broken down by year.

c. Cofunding

An award made by NIJ under this solicitation may account for up to 100 percent of the total cost of the project. The application should indicate whether it is feasible for the applicant to contribute cash, facilities, or services as non-federal support for the project.

The application should identify generally any such contributions that the applicant expects to make and the proposed budget should indicate in detail which items, if any, will be supported with non-federal contributions.

If a successful application proposes a voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit.

d. Non-Competitive Procurement Contracts In Excess of Simplified Acquisition

Threshold

If an applicant proposes to make one or more non-competitive procurements of products or services, where the non-competitive procurement will exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (also known as the small purchase threshold), which is currently set at $150,000, the application should address the considerations outlined in the OJP Financial Guide.

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

Indirect costs are allowed only if the applicant has a federally approved indirect cost rate.

(This requirement does not apply to units of local government.) Attach a copy of the federally approved indirect cost rate agreement to the application. Applicants that do not have an approved rate may request one through their cognizant federal agency, which will review all documentation and approve a rate for the applicant organization, or, if the applicant’s accounting system permits, costs may be allocated in the direct cost categories.

For assistance with identifying your cognizant agency, please contact the OJP Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Customer Service Center at 1-800-458-0786 or at ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov. If DOJ is the cognizant federal agency, applicants may obtain information needed to submit an indirect cost rate proposal at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/pdfs/indirect_costs.pdf.

6. Tribal Authorizing Resolution (if applicable)

Tribes, tribal organizations, or third parties proposing to provide direct services or assistance to residents on tribal lands should include in their applications a resolution, a letter, affidavit, or other documentation, as appropriate, that certifies that the applicant has the legal authority from the tribe(s) to implement the proposed project on tribal lands. In those instances when an organization or consortium of tribes applies for a grant on behalf of a tribe or multiple specific tribes, the application should include appropriate legal documentation, as described above, from all tribes participating in the research. A consortium of tribes for which existing consortium bylaws allow action without support from all tribes in the consortium (i.e., without an authorizing resolution or comparable legal documentation from each tribal governing body) may submit, instead, a copy of its consortium bylaws with the application.

7. Applicant Disclosure of High Risk Status

Applicants are to disclose whether they are currently designated high risk by another federal grant making agency. This includes any status requiring additional oversight by the federal agency due to past programmatic or financial concerns. If an applicant is designated high risk by another federal grant making agency, you must email the following information to OJPComplianceReporting@usdoj.gov at the time of application submission:

• The federal agency that currently designated the applicant as high risk;

• Date the applicant was designated high risk;

• The high risk point of contact name, phone number, and email address, from that federal agency; and

• Reasons for the high risk status;

OJP seeks this information to ensure appropriate federal oversight of any grant award. Unlike the Excluded Parties List, this high risk information does not disqualify any organization from receiving an OJP award. However, additional grant oversight may be included, if necessary, in award documentation.

mailto:ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/pdfs/indirect_costs.pdf mailto:OJPComplianceReporting@usdoj.gov

SAMPLE

8. Additional Attachments

a. Applicant disclosure of pending applications4

Applicants are to disclose whether they have pending applications for federally funded grants or subgrants (including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding to support the same project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the identical cost items outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application under this solicitation. The disclosure should include both direct applications for federal funding (e.g., applications to federal agencies) and indirect applications for such funding (e.g., applications to state agencies that will subaward federal funds).

OJP seeks this information to help avoid any inappropriate duplication of funding.

Leveraging multiple funding sources in a complementary manner to implement comprehensive programs or projects is encouraged and is not seen as inappropriate duplication.

Applicants that have pending applications as described above are to provide the following information about pending applications submitted within the last 12 months:

• The Federal or State funding agency.

• The solicitation name/project name.

• The point of contact information at the applicable funding agency.

Applicants should include the table as a separate attachment, with the file name “Disclosure of Pending Applications,” to their application. Applicants that do not have pending applications as described above are to include a statement to this effect in the separate attachment page (e.g., “[Applicant Name on SF-424] does not have pending applications submitted within the last 12 months for federally funded grants or subgrants (including cooperative agreements) that include requests for funding to support the same

4 Typically, the applicant is not the principal investigator; rather, the applicant, most frequently, is the institution, organization, or company in which the principal investigator is employed.

Federal or State Funding Agency

Solicitation Name/Project Name

Name/Phone/E-mail for Point of Contact at Funding Agency

DOJ/COPS COPS Hiring Program

Jane Doe, 202/000-0000; jane.doe@usdoj.gov

HHS/

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

Drug Free Communities Mentoring Program/ North County Youth Mentoring Program

John Doe, 202/000-0000; john.doe@hhs.gov project being proposed under this solicitation and will cover the identical cost items outlined in the budget narrative and worksheet in the application under this solicitation.”).

b. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity

If a proposal involves research and/or evaluation, regardless of the proposal’s other merits, in order to receive funds, the applicant must demonstrate research/evaluation independence, including appropriate safeguards to ensure research/evaluation objectivity and integrity.

For purposes of this solicitation, research and evaluation independence and integrity pertains to ensuring that the design, conduct, or reporting of research and evaluation funded by NIJ grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts will not be biased by any personal or financial conflict of interest on the part of the investigators responsible for the research and evaluation or on the part of the applicant organization. Conflicts can be either actual or apparent. Examples of potential investigator (or other personal) conflict situations may include those in which an investigator would be in a position to evaluate a spouse’s work product (actual conflict), or an investigator would be in a position to evaluate the work of a former colleague (potential apparent conflict). With regard to potential organizational conflicts of interest, as one example, generally an organization could not be given a grant to evaluate a project if that organization had itself provided substantial prior technical assistance to that project, as the organization in such an instance would appear to be evaluating the effectiveness of its own prior work. The key is whether a reasonable person understanding all of the facts would be able to have confidence that the results of any research or evaluation project are objective and reliable. Any outside personal or financial interest that casts doubt on that objectivity and reliability is a problem.

In the attachment dealing with research and evaluation independence and integrity, the applicant should explain the process and procedures that the applicant has put in place to identify and eliminate (or, at the very least, mitigate) potential personal or financial conflicts of interest on the part of its staff, consultants, and/or subrecipients. It also should identify any potential organizational conflicts of interest on the part of the applicant with regard to the proposed research/evaluation. If the applicant reasonably believes that no potential personal or organizational conflicts of interest exist, then the applicant should provide a brief narrative explanation of how and why it reached that conclusion. Documentation that may be helpful in this regard could include organizational codes of ethics/conduct or policies regarding organizational, personal, and financial conflicts of interest.

For situations in which potential personal or organizational conflicts of interest exist, in the attachment, the applicant should identify the safeguards the applicant has or will put in place to eliminate, mitigate, or otherwise address those conflicts of interest.

Considerations in assessing research and evaluation independence and integrity will include, but may not be limited to, the adequacy of the applicant’s efforts to identify factors that could affect the objectivity or integrity of the proposed staff and/or the organization in carrying out the research, development, or evaluation activity; and the adequacy of the applicant’s existing or proposed remedies to control any such factors.

9. Accounting System and Financial Capability Questionnaire (if applicable)

Any applicant (other than an individual) that is a non-governmental entity and that has not received any award from OJP within the past 3 years is to download, complete, and submit this form.

Selection Criteria

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using the following review criteria.

Statement of the Problem (Understanding of the problem and its importance) – 10%

1. Demonstrated understanding of the problem.

2. Demonstrated awareness of the state of current research.

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 50%

1. Soundness of methods and analytic and technical approach to addressing the stated aim(s) of the proposed project.

2. Feasibility of proposed project.

3. Awareness of potential pitfalls of proposed project design and feasibility of proposed actions to minimize and/or mitigate them.

Potential Impact – 20%

Potential for a significant scientific or technical advance(s) that will improve criminal justice in the United States, such as—

• Potential for significantly improved understanding of the stated criminal justice problem.

• Potential for innovative solution to address (all or a significant part of) the stated criminal justice problem.

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 20%

1. Qualifications and experience of proposed project staff (that is, the principal investigator, any and all co-principal investigators, and all other individuals (and organizations) identified in the application (regardless of “investigator” status) who will be involved significantly in substantive aspects of the proposal).

2. Demonstrated ability of the applicant organization to manage the effort.

3. Relationship between the capabilities/competencies of the proposed project staff (including the applicant organization) and the scope of the proposed project.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/forms/financial_capability.pdf

Budget

Peer reviewers will consider and may comment on the following additional items in the context of scientific and technical merit.

1. Total cost of the project relative to the perceived benefit (cost effectiveness).

2. Appropriateness of the budget relative to the level of effort.

3. Use of existing resources to conserve costs.

4. Proposed budget alignment with proposed project activities.

Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences (if applicable to the proposed project)

Peer reviewers may comment – in the context of scientific and technical merit – on the proposed plan (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested audiences, such as criminal justice practitioners or policymakers, summary information from the planned scholarly products of the project.

As discussed further under “Review Process,” below, award decisions will be made by the Director of NIJ, who may consider factors including, but not limited to, planned scholarly products, proposed budgets, past performance (including scholarly products) under prior NIJ and OJP awards.

Review Process

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for awarding grants. NIJ reviews the application to make sure that the information presented is reasonable, understandable, measurable, and achievable, as well as consistent with the solicitation.

Peer reviewers will review the applications submitted under this solicitation that meet basic minimum requirements. NIJ may use internal peer reviewers, external peer reviewers, or a combination, to review the applications. An external peer reviewer is an expert in the subject matter of a given solicitation who is NOT a current DOJ employee. An internal reviewer is a current DOJ employee who is well-versed or has expertise in the subject matter of this solicitation. A peer review panel will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum requirements. Peer reviewers’ ratings and any resulting recommendations are advisory only, although their views are considered carefully. In addition to peer review ratings, considerations for award recommendations and decisions may include, but are not limited to, underserved populations, geographic diversity, strategic priorities, past performance, and available funding.

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer, in consultation with NIJ, reviews applications for potential discretionary awards to evaluate the fiscal integrity and financial capability of applicants, examines proposed costs to determine if the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative accurately explain project costs, and determines whether costs are reasonable, necessary, and allowable under applicable federal cost principles and agency regulations.

All final award decisions will be made by the Director of the National Institute of Justice, who may consider factors including, but not limited to, underserved populations, geographic diversity, strategic priorities, past performance, and available funding.

Additional Requirements

Applicants selected for awards must…