fy 2015 draft solicitation nat juvenilecourtdataarchivefinal.pdf

OMB No. 1121-0329

U.S. Department of Justice Approval Expires 07/31/2016

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is seeking applications for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 National Juvenile Court Data Archive. This program furthers the Department’s mission by collecting and maintaining the nation’s primary source of detailed information on juvenile court case processing of delinquency and status offense cases.

OJJDP FY 2015 National Juvenile Court Data Archive

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants are limited to states (including territories); units of local government; federally recognized Indian tribes that perform law enforcement functions (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations); and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). For-profit organizations must agree to forgo any profit or management fee.

OJJDP welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the other(s) must be proposed as subrecipient(s). The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for conducting and leading the project. If successful, the applicant will be responsible for monitoring and appropriately managing any subrecipients or, as applicable, for administering any procurement subcontracts that would receive federal program funds from the applicant under the award. OJJDP will consider only one application per lead applicant; however, subrecipients may be part of multiple proposals.

For additional eligibility information, see Section C. Eligibility Information.

Deadline

Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. All applications are due to be submitted and in receipt of a successful validation message in Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on May 28, 2015.

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

For additional information, see How To Apply in Section D. Application and Submission Information.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ http://www.ojjdp.gov/ http://www.ojjdp.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp http://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Grants-govInfo.htm

OJJDP-2015-4125

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. 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 OJJDP contact identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline and request approval to submit their application. Additional information on reporting technical issues is found under “Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the How To Apply section.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact the Response Center by telephone at 800-851-3420, by e-mail at responsecenter@ncjrs.gov, or by Web Chat at https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. Answers to frequently asked questions that may assist applicants are posted at http://www.ojjdp.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2015/FAQ/ArchiveFAQ.pdf.

Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement: OJJDP-2015-4125.

Release date: March 31, 2015 mailto:support@grants.gov mailto:responsecenter@ncjrs.gov https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp http://www.ojjdp.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2015/FAQ/ArchiveFAQ.pdf

Contents

A. Program Description

Overview

Program-Specific Information

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

B. Federal Award Information

Type of award

Budget information

Cost sharing or match requirement

Preagreement cost approvals

Limitation on use of award funds for employee compensation; waiver

Prior approval, planning, and reporting of conference/meeting/training costs

Costs associated with language assistance

C. Eligibility Information

Cost sharing or match requirement

Limit on number of application submissions

D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include

How To Apply

E. Application Review Information

Selection Criteria

Review Process

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Notices

Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements

General Information About Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s)

H. Other Information

Provide Feedback to OJP

Application Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

OJJDP FY 2015 National Juvenile Court Data Archive

(CFDA #16.540)

A. Program Description

Overview

The National Juvenile Court Data Archive (the Archive) houses the automated records of cases that courts with juvenile jurisdiction have handled. This solicitation will fund the annual collection, verification, and analysis of data that documents the activities of the juvenile court system and its response to law-violating and at-risk youth. The Archive will disseminate information on juvenile court case processing through Juvenile Court Statistics reports and fact sheets and make national and state-level data publicly accessible online. The Archive will also provide technical assistance to state and local data collection agencies to help them expand and improve their information systems and information sharing capabilities. Finally, the Archive will plan and implement further efforts to expand the case estimates to include Hispanic/Latino youth.

Authorizing legislation. This program is authorized by the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015, P.L. 113-235, 128 Stat. 2130, 2195.

Program-Specific Information

As OJJDP advances reform in the juvenile justice system, it is essential to track progress and report on the trends in processing of juveniles nationwide in a systematic fashion. The National Juvenile Court Data Archive amasses data contributions from juvenile courts across the nation and then generates national annual estimates and reports on trends of and relationships among a youth’s demographics and referral offenses and the court’s detention, adjudication, and disposition decisions.

In the 1920s, the Children's Bureau developed the National Juvenile Court Data Archive project to obtain national statistics concerning cases that juvenile courts handled. Following the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1974, OJJDP assumed responsibility for the Archive and began awarding grants the following year to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to support its operation. From 1975 to the present, the Archive has collected, documented, and analyzed millions of automated juvenile court case records and aggregate case counts. The Archive now houses a sizable collection of automated juvenile court databases that support the study of a wide range of national and subnational juvenile justice issues. Currently, the Archive collects and processes data from contributing jurisdictions on more than 1 million juvenile court delinquency and status offenses cases annually. The most recently released data is based on analyses of case data from more than 2,400 juvenile courts with jurisdiction over 84 percent of the U.S. juvenile population in 2012.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The goals of the Archive are (1) to maintain and expand the current Archive program, and

(2) to continue to provide detailed information on juvenile court case processing of delinquency and status offense cases to assist juvenile justice research and policymaking efforts.

Objectives

Juvenile court case data collection and processing. State and local agencies voluntarily contribute case-level data and court-level aggregate statistics to the Archive.

A key element to the archive’s success is to develop and maintain strong relationships with data suppliers and reduce respondent burden. Applicants should explain in detail their strategy to build and maintain relationships with data suppliers to collect submissions of automated case-level data sets extracted from various information systems and how they will combine and aggregate these unique data sets to produce national estimates of U.S. juvenile court activity. Applicants should include information about their plans to:

o request and collect data from state and local agencies, enter into data sharing agreements (as necessary), and increase the number of participating agencies (see Technical Assistance below).

o review and analyze the quality of data submissions and follow up with data suppliers, as necessary.

o prepare raw data files for submission into the Archive national files.

o standardize data files and develop national estimates.

o prepare and maintain back-ups of all archived files.

o protect privacy interests.

In the event an award is made to a nonincumbent organization, OJJDP will provide the successful applicant with key foundational materials related to the Archive to assist in beginning the project activities, including documentation as to how national estimates have been calculated previously and all public Archive data files. However, the state-level raw data sets housed in the Archive are the property of the court or state agency that originally collected and contributed their data for use in this national reporting effort.

Consequently, the successful applicant must document their ability to work with individual court and state agencies to gain permission to access state data files from previous years and to set up agreements for future collections.

Juvenile court data use and dissemination. OJJDP seeks to promote knowledge and use of the archived data to assist researchers, policymakers, and the general public in their understanding of U.S. juvenile court processing and youth whose cases these courts handle. Consequently, applicants should discuss how they will ensure dissemination of the data to a widespread audience and encourage the use of the data for secondary analysis. Applicants should include information about their plans to:

o prepare and transfer data for use in OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book. This includes providing data files for use in OJJDP’s “Easy Access” tools: Juvenile Court Statistics and State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts, with an emphasis on reducing the lag time between the data reporting year and online data release.

o update and maintain the National Juvenile Court Data Archive website.

o respond to requests for state-level data files ensuring all requirements and preconditions have been satisfied, including receipt of Internal Review Board approvals and permissions from the original data supplier.

o produce the annual Juvenile Court Statistics report for OJJDP for 3 consecutive years, with an emphasis on reducing the lag time between the data reporting year and the release date for this report.

o produce two or three special OJJDP fact sheets annually (topics to be determined in consultation with OJJDP).

o respond to periodic information requests at the request of OJJDP from policymakers, the media, and the public for juvenile justice data.

Juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance. Increasing the number of jurisdictions that provide annual data to the Archive and improving the quality of the data submitted ultimately leads to better national estimates and a more accurate representation of the nation’s juvenile courts. As a result, OJJDP places a significant emphasis on activities that will assist local jurisdictions in the development, improvement, and expansion of their juvenile court information systems. In addition, OJJDP seeks to provide technical assistance and training to help jurisdictions learn how to better use their own court data to improve their juvenile court systems. Applicants should include information about their plans to:

o improve and refine the Archive’s data processing procedures for standardizing data and producing national estimates.

o monitor nonreporting jurisdictions and conduct outreach, as appropriate, to encourage their participation. OJJDP is particularly interested in increasing the participation of U.S. territories and tribal jurisdictions.

o advance statistical analyses of nonreporting jurisdictions to more clearly determine potential for bias in the production of national estimates.

o provide technical assistance to agencies to improve their court information systems.

Note that technical assistance requiring a significant level of Archive resources will require prior OJJDP approval and will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

o plan and conduct efforts to increase the level of interaction between Archive staff and data suppliers to provide technical assistance, support, networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer sharing of innovative data collection, management, and analysis.

o administer a data suppliers’ workshop to provide intensive technical assistance and support. The applicant may propose to convene this workshop either once in 2017 http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/default.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/ http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/pdf/jcs2011.pdf

(in keeping with the current biennial schedule) or propose to convene this workshop on an annual basis for the 3-year project period.

Improve data collection and analysis of Hispanic/Latino youth involved in the juvenile justice system. To provide Hispanic/Latino youth in the juvenile justice system with comprehensive services that are both culturally appropriate and linguistically accessible, it is essential to accurately measure the extent of their involvement in the system. At present, not all reporting jurisdictions collect and/or report information about Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, so it has not been possible for the Archive to generate comprehensive national estimates of Hispanic/Latino youth involvement in juvenile courts. Among jurisdictions providing data on Hispanic/Latino youth, inconsistencies in methods of identification and criteria for inclusion often exist, thus reducing the comparability of data across jurisdictions. OJJDP is committed to advancing knowledge regarding the involvement of Hispanic/Latino youth in the juvenile justice system through enhancement of data collection and analysis efforts.

o identify those jurisdictions collecting reliable and complete juvenile court data on

Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and identify best practices (e.g., including using a two-part question focusing on ethnicity and race).

o develop clear and consistent guidance on effective data collection practices and provide targeted technical assistance to data providers to expand their capacity to collect, report, and analyze ethnicity data.

o expand the estimates to distinguish juvenile justice cases involving Hispanic/Latino youth at the national and/or subnational level.

Improve data analysis for girls involved in the juvenile justice system. The involvement of girls in the juvenile justice system accounts for a substantial proportion of delinquency and status offenses processed in the juvenile courts nationwide. To more fully understand the involvement of females in the juvenile justice system, it is important to advance further data analysis beyond the simple distinction between female and male. The following are suggestive in terms of considerations for improving data analysis relevant to girls in the juvenile justice system:

o advance analytical approaches that disaggregate juvenile court data on females by race and ethnicity.

o consider disaggregation of data regarding girls in the juvenile justice system by age to inform developmentally appropriate juvenile justice reform.

Deliverables. Proposals should contain a description of products that the grantee will produce from the project. The successful applicant will submit relevant reports and deliverables to OJJDP that will be a part of their progress reporting or special reports and include the following:

a detailed progress report to OJJDP every 6 months describing the status of the data archiving initiative, methodological and implementation issues, progress toward the project goals, and any other issues that are relevant to the project’s completion.

the final progress report will provide a detailed discussion of the archiving effort for the entire 3-year grant project period and should include an executive summary. This report should be suitable for a nontechnical audience and is to be disseminated at OJJDP’s discretion.

maintenance and updates to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive webpage.

data files for use in OJJDP’s juvenile court-related Easy Access online tools: Juvenile Court Statistics and State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts.

annual Juvenile Court Statistics report for 3 consecutive years.

OJJDP fact sheets, two or three annually (topics to be determined in consultation with

OJJDP).

data suppliers’ workshop(s) that the applicant will specify for either once in 2017 (in keeping with the current biennial schedule) or on an annual basis for the 3-year project period (2016, 2017, and 2018).

one or more scholarly products, 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.

quarterly and final financial reports.

B. Federal Award Information

OJJDP expects to make one award for a 3-year project period. The award amount for the first year will not exceed $650,000. Applicants should submit a 1-year budget of as much as $650,000 using the budget detail worksheet.

OJJDP intends to supplement this initial award for an additional 2 years for as much as $650,000 per year. Important considerations in decisions regarding supplemental funding include, among other factors, the availability of funding, strategic priorities, OJJDP’s assessment of the quality of the management of the award (for example, timeliness and quality of progress reports), and OJJDP’s assessment of the progress of the work funded under the award. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

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.

Type of award1. OJJDP expects to make a single award from this solicitation in the form of a grant.

1 See generally 31 U.S.C. §§ 6301-6305 (defines and describes various forms of federal assistance relationships, including grants and cooperative agreements (a type of grant)).

http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/ http://ojpnet.ojp.doj.gov/sites/it/Solicitations/OJJDP/7ff928fe-cf83-4e97-adfa-79c3ad08d1f7/Solicitation/(www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://ojpnet.ojp.doj.gov/sites/it/Solicitations/OJJDP/7ff928fe-cf83-4e97-adfa-79c3ad08d1f7/Solicitation/(www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/jcsreports/jcs2008.pdf

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 “Evidence, Research, and Evaluation Guidance and Requirements” under “Solicitation Requirements” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

Financial management and system of internal controls. If selected for funding, the award recipient must:

(a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

(b) Comply with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards.

(c) Evaluate and monitor the nonfederal entity's compliance with statute, regulations, and the terms and conditions of federal awards.

(d) Take prompt action when instances of noncompliance are identified including noncompliance identified in audit findings.

(e) Take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally identifiable information and other information the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity designates as sensitive or the nonfederal entity considers sensitive consistent with applicable federal, state and local laws regarding privacy and obligations of confidentiality.

In order to better understand administrative requirements and cost principles, award applicants are encouraged to enroll, at no charge, in the Department of Justice Grants Financial Management Online Training available here.

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.

pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, grantees may not use OJJDP funds for any biomedical or behavior control experimentation on individuals or any research involving such experimentation.

Cost sharing or match requirement. This solicitation does not require a match. However, 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.

http://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm http://gfm.webfirst.com/ http://www.ojjdp.gov/about/jjdpa2002titlev.pdf

Preagreement cost approvals. OJP does not typically approve pre-agreement costs; an applicant must request and obtain the prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. If approved, pre-agreement costs could be paid from grant funds consistent with a grantee’s approved budget, and under applicable cost standards. However, all such costs prior to award and prior to approval of the costs are incurred at the sole risk of an applicant.

Generally, no applicant should incur project costs before submitting an application requesting federal funding for those costs. Should there be extenuating circumstances that appear to be appropriate for OJP’s consideration as pre-agreement costs, the applicant should contact the point of contact listed on the title page of this announcement for details on the requirements for submitting a written request for approval. See the section on Costs Requiring Prior Approval in the Financial Guide, for more information.

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 percent 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 year2. The 2015 salary table for SES employees is available at the Office of Personnel Management website.

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 OJJDP Administrator 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 costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, including a general prohibition of all food and beverage costs.

2 This limitation on use of award funds does not apply to the non-profit organizations specifically named at Appendix

VIII to 2 C.F.R. part 200.

http://ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/15Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx http://www.ojp.gov/funding/confcost.htm

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 under “Solicitation Requirements” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

C. Eligibility Information

Eligibility. For additional eligibility information, see the title page.

Cost sharing or match requirement. For additional information on cost sharing and match requirement, see Section B. Federal Award Information.

Limit on number of application submissions. If an applicant submits multiple versions of the same application, OJJDP will review only the most recent system-validated version submitted. For more information on system-validated versions, see How To Apply.

D. Application and Submission Information

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 OJJDP has designated to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review nor receive further consideration. Under this solicitation, OJJDP 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. Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How To Apply to be sure applications are submitted in permitted formats.

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).

Intergovernmental Review. This funding opportunity (program) is not subject to Executive Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, applicants are to make the appropriate selection in response to question 19 to indicate that the “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.”).

2. Project Abstract

The project abstract is an important part of the application, and serves as an introduction to the proposed project. OJJDP 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.

The abstract should include a description of the proposed 3-year project:

the purpose of the project, the problem to be investigated, and the anticipated relevance to juvenile justice policy, practice, and theory.

the study site(s) and target population, including number of subjects and other relevant attributes.

the research design and methodology, including the type of data, collection strategies, instruments, study sites, and other methods or procedures. For an evaluation, clearly describe the type of evaluation (randomized control trial, quasi-experimental design, or process evaluation).

the techniques proposed for data analysis.

the expected deliverables, such as data sets, interim and final reports, and other dissemination plans.

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

3. Program Narrative

Applicants must submit a program narrative that presents a detailed description of the purpose, goals, objectives, strategies, design, and management of the proposed 3-year program. The program narrative should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins, not exceeding 30 pages of 8½ by 11 inches, and use a standard 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman. Pages should be numbered “1 of 30,” etc. The tables, charts, pictures, etc., including all captions, legends, keys, subtext, etc., may be single-spaced and will count in the 30-page limit. Material required under the Budget and Budget Narrative and Additional Attachments sections will not count toward the program narrative page count. Applicants may provide bibliographical references as a separate attachment that will not count toward the 30-page program narrative limit. If the program narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, OJJDP may consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions.

The program narrative should address the following selection criteria: (1) statement of the problem and research questions, (2) program design and implementation, (3) potential impact, and (4) capabilities/competencies. The applicant should clearly delineate the connections between and among each of these sections. For example, the project design section should clearly explain how the program’s structure and activities will respond to the problem statement identified in the previous section.

Program narrative guidelines for this solicitation include the following:

a. Title page (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit). Should include the title of the project, submission date, funding opportunity number, and the name and complete contact information (address, telephone number, and e-mail address) for both the applicant organization and the principal investigator.

b. Table of contents and figures (not counted against the 30-page program narrative limit).

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

1. Statement of the problem and research questions. Applicants must clearly and concisely discuss their understanding of the scope and functions of the juvenile court system in the United States, including how the proposed project will address the gaps and needs in what is understood about juvenile court case processing. Applicants should articulate research questions that will contribute both to juvenile court case processing knowledge, policy, and practice.

Applicants should discuss their research questions and how they relate to the Goals and Objectives for the Archive described on pages 5-7 regarding:

juvenile court case data collection and processing.

juvenile court data use and dissemination.

juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance.

how to improve data collection and analysis for Hispanic/Latino youth involved in the juvenile justice system.

how to improve data analysis for girls involved in the juvenile justice system.

2. Project design and implementation. Applicants should provide a detailed description of the research design and methods for this 3-year project, addressing how the proposed approach would advance the Goals and Objectives for the Archive described on pages 5-7 regarding:

juvenile court case data collection and processing.

juvenile court data use and dissemination.

juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance.

how to improve data collection and analyses for Hispanic/Latino youth involved in the juvenile justice system.

how to improve data analyses for girls involved in the juvenile justice system.

Project design elements should follow directly from the research project’s goals and objectives, and the proposed plan should clearly support these ends.

Applicants should also discuss how they will use rigorous data collection and statistical methods to develop accurate and reliable national data estimates regarding how U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction handle delinquency and status offense cases.

The description of the project design and implementation should demonstrate the applicant’s knowledge of the data sources, data collection procedures, statistical analysis plan, and national archiving strategies. Applicants should address the soundness of the proposed methodology, the best analytical and technical approach, and the feasibility of the proposed project.

In addition, applicants should demonstrate their understanding about the challenges of conducting this type of national archiving, analysis, and dissemination activity. As part of this discussion, applicants should address any anticipated problems, challenges, and limitations associated with the proposed implementation and maintenance of the Archive and data dissemination activities, including potential for bias in the production of national estimates.

Applicants should propose potential solutions, as appropriate.

Successful applicants must provide OJJDP with evidence of receipt of IRB clearance prior to collecting data. IRB clearance is not required at application.

Performance measures. OJJDP does not require applicants to submit performance measures data with their applications. Performance measures (see page 16) are included as an alert that OJJDP will require successful applicants to submit specific data as part of their reporting requirements. For the application, applicants should indicate an understanding of these requirements and discuss how they will gather the required data should they receive funding.

OJJDP encourages award recipients to use information from existing program records to fulfill performance measures reporting requirements rather than initiating new data collection activities for this purpose.

Logic model. Applicants should include a logic model that graphically illustrates the theory of change to be measured by the evaluation. Sample logic models are available at www.ojjdp.gov/grantees/pm/logic_models.html. Applicants should submit the logic model as a separate attachment, as stipulated in Additional Attachments, page 19.

Timeline. Applicants should submit a realistic timeline or milestone chart for each year of this 3-year project that indicates major tasks associated with the goals and objectives of the project, assigns responsibility for each, and plots completion of each task by month or quarter for the duration of the award, using “Year 1,” “Month 1,” “Quarter 1,” etc., not calendar dates (see “Sample Project Timelines” at www.ojjdp.gov/grantees/timelines.html).

Applicants should submit the timeline as a separate attachment, as stipulated in Additional Attachments, page 19.

3. Potential impact. Applicants should describe the potential impact of the research and how it may inform or improve juvenile justice-related policy, practice, and theory in the United States. This includes a description of:

how the proposed research will inform juvenile justice courts and systems reform and improvement efforts.

how applicants will complete the deliverables stated in the Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables section on page 7.

a plan for dissemination to broader audiences.

4. Capabilities/competencies. This section should describe the experience and capability of the applicant organization and any contractors or subgrantees that the applicant will use to implement and manage this effort and its associated federal funding, highlighting any previous experience implementing projects of similar scope, design, and magnitude.

Applicants should describe the roles and responsibilities of project staff, and clearly highlight the capabilities of project staff. Resumes/curriculum vitae are required (as attachments) for all key personnel.

Applicants should explain the program’s organizational structure and operations.

Applicants should include a copy of an organizational chart showing how the organization operates, including who manages the finances; how the organization manages subawards, if there are any; and the management of the project proposed for funding.

http://www.ojjdp.gov/grantees/timelines.html

Applicants should also highlight their experience/capability/capacity to manage subawards, including details on their system for fiscal accountability.

Management and staffing patterns should be clearly connected to the project design described in the previous section.

Applicants should address whether an advisory board will be included in the development and review of the research methodology.

5. 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:

Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Grantee Provides

To collect, archive, and analyze the nation’s primary source of detailed information on juvenile court case processing of delinquency and status offense cases.

Percentage of deliverables (e.g., reports, fact sheets, Statistical Briefing

Book updates) completed on time.

Percentage of deliverables that meet

OJJDP’s expectations for depth, breadth, scope and quality of study, and pertinence, as determined by

OJJDP.

During the reporting period:

Number of deliverables to be submitted to

OJJDP.

Number of deliverables completed on time.

Number of deliverables that meet

OJJDP’s expectations for depth, breadth, scope and quality of study, and pertinence as outlined in the solicitation.

6. Appendices. 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 all coprincipal 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 3-year project timeline and expected milestones.

list of any previous and current OJJDP awards to applicant organization and investigator(s), including the OJJDP-assigned award numbers and a brief description of any scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the OJJDP award(s). (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, 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).

letters of support/memoranda of understanding. If submitting an application with a subaward, as described under Eligibility, page 1, applicants should provide signed and dated letters of support or memoranda of understanding for all key partners that include the following:

o expression of support for the program and a statement of willingness to participate and collaborate with it.

o description of the partner’s current role and responsibilities in the planning process and expected responsibilities when the program is operational.

o estimate of the percent of time that the partner will devote to the planning and operation of the project.

4. Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative

a. Budget Detail Worksheet. A sample Budget Detail Worksheet can be found at www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/BudgetDetailWorksheet.pdf. Applicants that submit their budget in a different format should include the budget categories listed in the sample budget worksheet. OJJDP expects applicants to provide a thorough narrative to each section of the Budget Detail Worksheet. For the purposes of this solicitation, applicants are required to submit budget materials for the first year of the proposed 3-year project.

http://www.nij.gov/funding/documents/nij-project-staff-template.xlsx http://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/BudgetDetailWorksheet.pdf

For questions pertaining to budget and examples of allowable and unallowable costs, see the Financial Guide at www.ojp.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 should generally 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 provided to describe expenses for the first year of the proposed 3-year project.

c. Noncompetitive 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 Financial Guide.

d. Preagreement cost approvals. For information on preagreement costs approvals, see Section B. Federal Award Information.

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

Indirect costs are allowed only if the applicant has a current 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 the definition of Cognizant Federal Agency, see the “Glossary of Terms” in the Financial Guide. For assistance with identifying your cognizant agency, please contact the 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.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/IndirectCosts.pdf.

http://www.ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm http://ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm http://ojp.gov/financialguide/index.htm mailto:ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov http://www.ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/IndirectCosts.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 that would receive services or assistance under the grant. 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

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.

8. Additional Attachments

a. Applicant disclosure of pending applications3. Applicants are to disclose whether they have pending applications for federally funded grants or subgrants (including cooperative agreements) that include requests…