oppBJA-2018-13565-cfda16.752-instructions..pdf

OMB No. 1121-0329 Approval Expires 11/30/2020

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding under the Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and Technical Assistance Program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by supporting and assisting state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in enhancing their efforts to prevent, investigate, and respond to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes.

Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and

Technical Assistance Program

Applications Due: June 14, 2018

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit or for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations) and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education).

Applicants must possess experience in providing training and technical assistance (TTA) on a national level to state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, intelligence analysts, prosecutors, judges, staff who work in fusion centers, and other criminal justice entities who prevent, investigate, and respond to economic, high-technology, white collar, or internet crimes. In addition, applicants are required to have the capacity to deliver TTA nationally to include remote locations throughout the United States and its territories, as needed.

The recipient and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

BJA welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award;

however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any others must be proposed as subrecipients (subgrantees).1 The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the award, including administering the funding and managing the entire program.

Under this solicitation, only one application by any particular applicant entity will be considered.

An entity may, however, be proposed as a subrecipient (subgrantee) in more than one application.

BJA may elect to fund applications submitted under this FY 2018 solicitation in future fiscal

1 For additional information on subawards, see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D.

Application and Submission Information.

http://www.justice.gov/ http://www.ojp.gov/ https://www.bja.gov/ https://www.bja.gov/ years, dependent on, among other considerations, the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

Deadline

Applicants must register with Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on June 14, 2018.

To be considered timely, an application must be submitted by the application deadline using Grants.gov, and the applicant must have received a validation message from Grants.gov that indicates successful and timely submission. OJP urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior to the application due date, to allow time for the applicant to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

OJP encourages all applicants 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.

Contact Information

For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726, 606–545–5035, at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or at support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays.

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must email the contact identified below within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its application after the deadline. Additional information on reporting technical issues appears under “Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the How To Apply section.

For any other requirement of this solicitation, contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 800–851–3420; via TTY at 301–240–6310 (hearing impaired only); email grants@ncjrs.gov; fax to 301–240–5830; or web chat at https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. The NCJRS Response Center hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

eastern time on the solicitation close date.

Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement: BJA-2018-13565

Release date: April 30, 2018

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Contents

A. Program Description Overview Program-specific Information Objectives and Deliverables Evidence-based Programs or Practices Information Regarding Potential Evaluation of Programs and Activities

B. Federal Award Information Type of Award Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Budget Information Cost Sharing or Match Requirement Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) 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 (if applicable)

C. Eligibility Information D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include How To Apply

E. Application Review Information Review 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 AgencyContact(s) H. Other Information

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a) Provide Feedback to OJP Appendix A: Performance Measures Table Appendix B: Application Checklist

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Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and Technical

Assistance (TTA) Program

CFDA #16.752

A. Program Description

Overview The BJA Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program supports law enforcement officers, public safety officers, and prosecutors by providing TTA to state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement officials; intelligence analysts; prosecutors; judges; fusion center staff; and other criminal justice entities who prevent, investigate, and respond to economic, high-tech, white collar, and internet crimes. These crimes are committed using networked computers, handheld devices, and internet technology; examples include various kinds of theft (financial, identity, etc.), selling illegal goods using the internet, cyber stalking, hijacking accounts on social networking websites, infrastructure intrusions, and hacking (i.e., reconfiguring or reprogramming a system to function in ways not approved by the owner, administrator, or designer).

Statutory Authority Awards under this solicitation will be made under statutory authority provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141, 132 Stat. 348, 420).

Program-specific Information The Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National TTA Program is designed to enhance the capacities of state, local, territorial, and tribal criminal justice systems to prevent, investigate, and respond to economic, high-tech, white collar, and internet crimes by delivering TTA to diverse audiences, as described in the Overview. In addition, the program is intended to serve as a key resource to identify new and emerging issues in the areas of economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crime. Therefore, applicants are strongly encouraged to identify and describe new and emerging issues, and explain how their proposed TTA efforts will help agencies address these issues.

An important area of emphasis for this program is the joint simultaneous delivery of TTA to prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement. One of the objectives of the TTA is to support law enforcement and prosecutors to work more closely together to address specific areas of need like collecting and preserving digital evidence associated with these types of crimes;

documenting the chain of custody; presenting that evidence in court; and maintaining evidence over a period of time. With the growing prevalence of digital evidence, it is a priority to provide educational material to both prosecutors and judges regarding evidence associated with these types of crimes. It is important to leverage appropriate content and delivery mechanisms that meet the demanding schedules of prosecutors and judges.

It is also a priority that the grantee will provide guidance and protocols for the coordination between law enforcement and prosecutors to address the growing use of technology to collect or produce evidence for the investigation and prosecution of economic, high-tech, white collar, or internet crimes. The delivery of TTA must also address the ethical and statutory requirements for the collection of digital evidence, preparation of case materials for testimony, and the proper format and evidence authenticated for introduction in court.

It is also important that law enforcement and prosecutors understand and meet the legal obligations of providing digital evidence to defense counsel; have the ability to obtain digital evidence and redact it for witness safety; have the necessary resources to review the evidence;

and have protocols in place guiding the timing and release of digital evidence.

The grantee will also be expected to work with BJA partners to make appropriate digital evidence resources available for federal agencies to enhance the outcomes in these cases. This includes judges at the local, state, and federal levels.

Other areas of interest to BJA include, but are not limited to, combating the commission of crimes using social networking websites and hand-held devices (e.g., cell phones, smartphones, etc.), proactive efforts to support infrastructure protection, and responses should an intrusion occur. There are numerous documented cases across the United States of cyberstalking on social networking sites, using hand-held devices for criminal purposes, and specific attacks on government-hosted networks over the recent years. In response to these problems, BJA encourages applicants under this program to include TTA related to preventing, investigating, and responding to crimes that are committed using social networking websites and hand-held devices, and evaluating and strengthening public safety infrastructures.

BJA is also interested in applications that address new or trending crimes using technology and the internet to defraud unknowing victims. The applicant should not only identify the crimes, but also the methods used against victims, and identify how public safety systems can educate their communities and train law enforcement to be able to identify and investigate these types of crime. Some examples may include, but are not limited to, crimes targeting the elderly, defrauding victims of natural disasters, skimming credit information at point-of-sale devices and bank kiosks, etc.

Applicants are expected to demonstrate effective collaboration and coordination with other organizations that conduct TTA related to preventing, investigating, and responding to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes. These collaborations require working with professional organizations, federal agencies, educational institutions, and the private sector to develop tools that assist in investigations of these types of crimes. Applicants that do not currently have such partnerships in place should clearly and comprehensively describe how they will be developed, so that the work supported under this program extends current national TTA capacity and results in the creation and implementation of a national, integrated, and collaborative TTA strategy which targets these specific criminal areas. In addition, the grantee will work closely with BJA to identify and apply resources to address other emerging threats and evolving criminal behavior resulting from economic, high-technology, and white collar crime trends, including effective prevention methods for internet-based crimes.

A portion of the funding will also be used to partner with institutions of higher learning in furthering educational opportunities for students training in computer forensics and digital investigations.

Funds may not be used to provide TTA to federal agencies.

Objectives and Deliverables Because this national program leverages and builds upon existing TTA, applicants must clearly articulate how they will expand and/or enhance existing efforts. (For more information regarding existing efforts, go to www.nw3c.org and www.search.org.) In addition, applicants must explain how they will provide training and technical assistance to small agencies in rural and remote

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During the 12-month program period, the award recipient will receive oversight and guidance from BJA, and will be required to achieve the following objectives and produce the following deliverables, including, but not limited to:

• Provide high quality, cost-effective training to the field that targets the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and response to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet-based crimes. Applicants should propose the use of innovative, cost-effective delivery methods such as webinars, online training sessions, law enforcement roll calls, and academy training (for both new recruits and experienced officers) and clearly explain how they will address the training needs of different agencies and disciplines (e.g., law enforcement, prosecution, judges, intelligence, etc.). In addition, applicants must describe how they will expand, update, and improve existing training initiatives that focus on preventing, investigating, and responding to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet-based crimes. Applicants also are expected to propose training strategies that better equip professionals to educate their communities and build awareness through prevention.

• Increase the knowledge of criminal justice practitioners through in-person training.

Provide classroom-style trainings on economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes at locations and times approved by BJA. Each must include pre- and post-event participant evaluations that assess the quality of the faculty members and the information provided, and evaluate the impact on the participants’ knowledge. Class evaluations will need to be prepared, and results summarized and shared with BJA in order to inform and enhance future TTA activities. Applicants should propose specific topics that will be the focus of these classroom-style trainings, justify why the field should receive live, “face-to- face” training on these topics, and propose the number of events to be conducted (based on the needs of the field, available resources, and geographic location) and the number of students who will participate in each. In addition, applicants should recommend locations for these trainings, include a corresponding rationale for proposing each location, and coordinate with other federal agencies that may be providing similar training for that particular subject or in the same proposed geographic location of the class.

• Increase the knowledge of criminal justice practitioners through web-based learning. An expanded, updated, and improved online training program will be maintained, under the guidance of BJA, that focuses on economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes. Applicants must articulate the specific training objectives that will target these types of crimes. Applicants should explain how online training will result in savings to participating agencies and BJA. It is also important to demonstrate how traditional in-person classes can be modified and presented in an online format to ensure this type of training is available to law enforcement, intelligence analysts, prosecutors, and judges at any time from any location through a secure internet connection. Additionally, it is important to ensure these classes are coordinated with and complement classes provided by other federal agencies and educational institutions.

• Provide a “train-the-trainer” initiative, based on identified and verified needs, utilizing class content, other resources, and subject experts. The award recipient is expected to collaborate with local, state, tribal, and federal partners, educational institutions, and private sector entities in an effort to minimize costs, reach larger audiences, and maximize the educational value to the field. Any train-the-trainer curricula must first be approved by BJA and then developed, pilot tested, finalized, and maintained. These curricula will integrate presentation materials, discussion exercises designed to promote exchanges among the participants and faculty about the information presented, and other resources. This train-the-trainer initiative will result in a select group of qualified experts from across the nation equipped to deliver effective training related to economic, high-tech, white collar, and internet crimes. Applicants should articulate the specific topics that will be the focus of the “train-the-trainer” curricula, and explain why it is important that the field’s training capacity be enhanced, as related to the identified topics. In addition, applicants should explain who will be selected to participate in the train-the-trainer initiative, provide a rationale regarding why these individuals will be included, and propose a specific number of curricula to be developed. It is important for applicants to provide documentation of any train-the-trainer classes that currently exist and how they will update existing materials to address ever-evolving criminal activities in the areas of focus. New classes under this objective must be justified, particularly if similar classes already exist and are available to the field.

• Update and/or enhance existing materials and develop new written resources and educational deliverables. Instructional aides, such as PowerPoint presentations, issue papers, policy and practice briefs, and handbooks, which will assist agencies or jurisdictions examine and improve their own policies and practices related to preventing, investigating, and/or responding to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes, are examples of the kinds of resources and materials that may require updating, enhancement, or development under the guidance of BJA. These resources and materials should target law enforcement administrators and policymakers, mid-level supervisors, and line staff. Materials should also be developed specifically for prosecutors and judges. These resources should be made available, using cost-effective methods (e.g., on CDs, thumb drives, or downloads from the internet), with the intent to reach large numbers of professionals. Although the primary target audience for these materials is criminal justice system stakeholders, the products developed will, ideally, be adaptable for use by the general public to build awareness of prevention methods utilized by state and local agencies. Applicants should identify the specific resources and materials that will be updated, enhanced, or developed, as well as the specific topics they will cover. The items identified, updated, and/or enhanced under this objective shall be made available to the BJA-supported Law Enforcement Cyber Center (LECC). The applicant should also allocate a portion of the funding in its budget to continue the support of the LECC.

• Increase the ability of criminal justice agencies to solve problems and/or modify policies or practices related to preventing, investigating, and responding to economic, high-technology, white collar, and internet crimes. Applicants should describe the customized technical assistance (onsite and offsite) that is designed to address the specific need(s) of each requesting jurisdiction or agency. Applicants should outline the elements of an effective technical assistance process, including the specific steps associated with selecting jurisdictions or agencies to receive assistance. In addition, applicants should propose a specific number of onsite and offsite instances of assistance (based on resources that may be available under this program and the needs of the field that the applicant anticipates). Applicants also should describe a strategy that includes provision of assistance to agencies in rural and remote jurisdictions across the United States, and outline how all recipients of technical assistance will provide feedback regarding the effectiveness of the assistance that is delivered. The types of technical assistance, the outcome of the services provided, and any success stories are expected to be reported in the award recipient’s bi-annual progress reports and to BJA program leads.

With guidance from BJA, provide training and technical assistance to Intellectual Property Theft Enforcement Program (IPEP)-funded state and local task forces to enhance and/or improve criminal investigation, prosecution, prevention, and education as they relate to IP theft. Also, support IPEP task forces in developing ways to conduct proactive investigations of IP crimes within each task force location in coordination and collaboration with local, state, tribal, regional, and federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

The award recipient shall communicate regularly with BJA to assess the impact of TTA services on IPEP objectives and individual site progress with a concentrated focus on counterfeit goods posing a threat to human health and safety that are sold by organized crime, gang, and/or drug trafficking organizations. Applicants should allocate a minimum of $200,000 of their budgets to this TTA objective in order to:

• Provide ongoing TTA (both remote and onsite) to IPEP grantees throughout the duration of their BJA grant awards.

• Provide targeted outreach and onsite TTA to law enforcement and prosecution agencies within a jurisdiction that receives IPEP funding to ensure that they are collaborating effectively.

• Develop and deliver content for IP-specific law enforcement training for both the IPEP grantee community, as well as the general law enforcement community, and employ a variety of training delivery mechanisms such as regional trainings, online trainings, and other electronic or distance-learning formats, including podcasts, webinars, etc.

• Recruit, maintain, and use a cadre of subject experts to assist agencies with technical assistance needs; schedule and organize training venues; market trainings and recruit participants; administer and oversee implementation of the trainings; and coordinate TTA and subject expert activities with BJA’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center (https://www.bjatraining.org/).

• Plan and deliver technical assistance to IPEP sites; for example, assisting with program implementation challenges; facilitating partnerships with relevant stakeholders and federal, state, or local law enforcement entities (to include the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, and other relevant federal agencies); sustainment planning; and assisting on any other issue that may hinder a site’s progress or sustainment of activities beyond the life of its grant.

• Assist BJA with ongoing assessment of IPEP sites’ progress by holding monthly calls with grantee agencies; assisting them with the development, validation, and submission of performance metrics to BJA; and producing reports outlining IPEP site progress and results on quarterly and annual bases.

• Maintain a website where TTA services and other relevant resources are made available to IPEP sites and the law enforcement community.

• Provide technical assistance in implementing and disseminating evidence-based practices in IP theft prevention, investigation, and prosecution.

Applicants should outline in their proposals a strategic and comprehensive process to achieve the objectives and generate the deliverables that are described above.

The Objectives and Deliverables are directly related to the performance measures that demonstrate the results of the work completed, as discussed in Section D. Application and Submission Information, under Program Narrative.

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Evidence-based Programs or Practices OJP strongly emphasizes the use of data and evidence in policy making and program development in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services. OJP is committed to:

• Improving the quantity and quality of evidence OJP generates.

• Integrating evidence into program, practice, and policy decisions within OJP and the field.

• Improving the translation of evidence into practice.

OJP considers programs and practices to be evidence-based when their effectiveness has been demonstrated by causal evidence, generally obtained through one or more outcome evaluations. Causal evidence documents a relationship between an activity or intervention (including technology) and its intended outcome, including measuring the direction and size of a change, and the extent to which a change may be attributed to the activity or intervention. Causal evidence depends on the use of scientific methods to rule out, to the extent possible, alternative explanations for the documented change. The strength of causal evidence, based on the factors described above, will influence the degree to which OJP considers a program or practice to be evidence-based.

The OJP CrimeSolutions.gov website at https://www.crimesolutions.gov is one resource that applicants may use to find information about evidence-based programs in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services.

Information Regarding Potential Evaluation of Programs and Activities The Department of Justice has prioritized the use of evidence-based programming and deems it critical to continue to build and expand the evidence informing criminal and juvenile justice programs to reach the highest level of rigor possible. Therefore, applicants should note that the Office of Justice Programs may conduct or support an evaluation of the programs and activities funded under this solicitation. Recipients and sub-recipients will be expected to cooperate with program-related assessments or evaluation efforts, including through the collection and provision of information or data requested by OJP (or its designee) for the assessment or evaluation of any activities and/or outcomes of those activities funded under this solicitation. The information or data requested may be in addition to any other financial or performance data already required under this program.

B. Federal Award Information

BJA expects to make one award of up to $10,400,000, and the one award will be for a 12-month period of performance, to begin on October 1, 2018.

BJA may, in certain cases, provide additional funding in future years to awards made under this solicitation, through continuation awards. In making decisions regarding continuation awards, OJP will consider, among other factors, the availability of appropriations, when the program or project was last competed, OJP’s strategic priorities, and OJP’s assessment of both the management of the award (for example, timeliness and quality of progress reports), and 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.

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Type of Award BJA expects to make any award under this solicitation in the form of a cooperative agreement, which is a type of award that provides for OJP to have substantial involvement in carrying out award activities. See Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements, under Section F. Federal Award Administration Information, for a brief discussion of what may constitute substantial federal involvement.

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Award recipients and subrecipients (including recipients or subrecipients that are pass-through entities2) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements3 as set out at 2 C.F.R.

200.303:

(a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that [the recipient (and any subrecipient)] 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 recipient’s (and any subrecipient’s)] compliance with statutes, 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 recipient (or any subrecipient)] considers sensitive consistent with applicable Federal, state, local, and tribal laws regarding privacy and obligations of confidentiality.

To help ensure that applicants understand the applicable administrative requirements and cost principles, OJP encourages prospective applicants to enroll, at no charge, in the DOJ Grants Financial Management Online Training, available at https://ojpfgm.webfirst.com/. (This training is required for all OJP award recipients.)

Also, applicants should be aware that OJP collects information from applicants on their financial management and systems of internal controls (among other information) which is used to make award decisions. Under Section D. Application and Submission Information, applicants may

2 For purposes of this solicitation, the phrase “pass-through entity” includes any recipient or subrecipient that provides a subaward ("subgrant”) to a subrecipient (subgrantee) to carry out part of the funded award or program. Additional information on proposed subawards is listed under What an Application Should Include, Section 4c of this solicitation.

3 The "Part 200 Uniform Requirements” means the DOJ regulation at 2 C.F.R Part 2800, which adopts (with certain modifications) the provisions of 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

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Budget Information

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.

For additional information on cost sharing and match, see the DOJ Grants Financial Guide at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.3b.htm.

Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs) Pre-agreement costs are costs incurred by the applicant prior to the start date of the period of performance of the federal award.

OJP does not typically approve pre-agreement costs; an applicant must request and obtain the prior written approval of OJP for all such costs. All such costs incurred prior to award and prior to approval of the costs are incurred at the sole risk of the applicant. (Generally, no applicant should incur program costs before submitting an application requesting federal funding for those costs.)

Should there be extenuating circumstances that make it appropriate for OJP to consider approving pre-agreement costs, the applicant may contact the point of contact listed on the title page of this solicitation for the requirements concerning written requests for approval. If approved in advance by OJP, award funds may be used for pre-agreement costs, consistent with the recipient’s approved budget and applicable cost principles. See the section on Costs Requiring Prior Approval in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide at https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm 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, a recipient may not use federal funds to pay total cash compensation (salary plus cash bonuses) to any employee of the 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 year.4 The 2018 salary table for SES employees is available on the Office of Personnel Management website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/18Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx. 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. (Non-federal funds used for any such additional compensation will not be considered matching funds, where match requirements apply.)

If only a portion of an employee's time is charged to an OJP award, the maximum allowable compensation is equal to the percentage of time worked times the maximum salary limitation.

The Assistant Attorney General for OJP may exercise discretion to waive, on an individual basis, this limitation on compensation rates allowable under an award. An applicant that requests a waiver should include a detailed justification in the Budget Narrative of its application. An applicant that does not submit a waiver request and justification with its application should anticipate that

4 OJP does not apply this limitation on the use of award funds to the nonprofit organizations listed in Appendix VIII to 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

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OJP will require the applicant to adjust and resubmit the budget.

The justification should address, in the context of the work the individual would do under the award, the particular qualifications and expertise of the individual, the uniqueness of a service the individual will provide, the individual’s specific knowledge of the proposed program or project, and a statement that explains whether and how the individual’s salary under the award would be commensurate with the regular and customary rate for an individual with his/her qualifications and expertise, and for the work he/she would do under the award.

Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs OJP strongly encourages every applicant that proposes to use award funds for any conference-, meeting-, or training-related activity (or similar event) to review carefully—before submitting an application—the OJP and DOJ policy and guidance on approval, planning, and reporting of such events, available at https://www.ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm. OJP policy and guidance (1) encourage minimization of conference, meeting, and training costs; (2) require prior written approval (which may affect program timelines) of most conference, meeting, and training costs for cooperative agreement recipients, as well as some conference, meeting, and training costs for grant recipients; and (3) set cost limits, which include 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 under “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm.

C. Eligibility Information

For eligibility information, see title page.

For information on cost sharing or match requirements, see Section B. Federal Award Information.

D. Application and Submission Information

What an Application Should Include This section describes in detail what an application should include. An applicant should anticipate that if it fails to submit an application that contains all of the specified elements, it may negatively affect the review of its application; and, should a decision be made to make an award, it may result in the inclusion of award conditions that preclude the recipient from accessing or using award funds until the recipient satisfies the conditions and OJP makes the funds available.

Moreover, an applicant should anticipate that an application that OJP determines is nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation, or that OJP determines does not include the application elements

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NOTE: OJP has combined the Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative in a single document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. See “Budget Information and Associated Documentation” below for more information about the Budget Detail Worksheet and where it can be accessed.

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

Please review the “Note on File Names and File Types” under How To Apply to be sure applications are submitted in permitted formats.

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 the OJP 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).

To avoid processing delays, an applicant must include an accurate legal name on its SF-424.

On the SF-424, current OJP award recipients, when completing the field for “Legal Name” (box 8a), should use the same legal name that appears on the prior year award document (which is also the legal name stored in OJP’s financial system.) Also, these recipients should enter the Employer Identification Number (EIN) in box 8b exactly as it appears on the prior year award document. An applicant with a current, active award(s) must ensure that its GMS profile is current. If the profile is not current, the applicant should submit a Grant Adjustment Notice updating the information on its GMS profile prior to applying under this solicitation.

A new applicant entity should enter its official legal name in box 8a, its address in box 8d, its EIN in box 8b, and its Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in box 8c of the SF-

424. A new applicant entity should attach official legal documents to its application (e.g., articles of incorporation, 501(c)(3) status documentation, organizational letterhead, etc.) to confirm the legal name, address, and EIN entered into the SF-424. OJP will use the System for Award Management (SAM) to confirm the legal name and DUNS number entered in the SF-424; therefore, an applicant should ensure that the information entered in the SF-424 matches its current registration in SAM. See the How To Apply section for more information on SAM and DUNS numbers.

Intergovernmental Review: This solicitation ("funding opportunity") is subject to Executive Order 12372. An applicant may find the names and addresses of State Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) at the following website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Intergovernmental_-Review-_SPOC_01_2018_OFFM.pdf. If the State appears on the SPOC list, the applicant must contact the State SPOC to find out about, and comply with, the State’s process under E.O. 12372. In completing the SF-424, an applicant whose State appears on the SPOC list is to make the appropriate selection in response to question 19 once the applicant has complied with its State E.O. 12372 process.

(An applicant whose State does not appear on the SPOC list should answer question 19 by

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2. Program Abstract Applications must include a high quality program abstract that summarizes the proposed program in 400 words or less. Program abstracts should be:

• Written for a general public audience.

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

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

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

If the Program Abstract is not submitted as part of the application, the application will not be considered for funding.

3. Program Narrative The Program Narrative must respond to the objectives and deliverables in this solicitation and the review criteria (described below) in the order given. The Program Narrative should be double-spaced, using a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred) with 1-inch margins, and should not exceed 10 pages. Number pages “1 of 10,” “2 of 10,” etc.

If the Program Narrative fails to comply with these format and length-related restrictions, BJA may consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions.

If the Program Narrative is not submitted as part of the application, the application will not be considered for funding.

The following sections should be included as part of the Program Narrative5:

a. Statement of the Problem

b. Program Design and Implementation

c. Capabilities and Competencies

d. Plan for Collecting the Data Required for this Solicitation’s PerformanceMeasures

OJP will require each successful applicant to submit regular performance data that demonstrate the results of the work carried out under the award (see “General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements” in Section F. Federal Award Administration Information). The performance data directly relate to the objectives and deliverables identified under "Objectives and Deliverables" in Section A. Program Description.

Applicants should visit OJP’s performance measurement page

5 For information on subawards (including the details on proposed subawards that should be included in the application), see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D. Application and Submission Information.

at www.ojp.gov/performance to view the specific reporting requirements for this grant program.

The application should demonstrate the applicant’s understanding of the performance data reporting requirements for this grant program and detail how the applicant will gather the required data should it receive funding.

Please note that applicants are not required to submit performance data with the application. Performance measures information is included as an alert that successful applicants will be required to submit performance data as part of the reporting requirements under an award. For the application, applicants should indicate an understanding of these requirements and discuss how they will gather the required data, should they receive funding.

Award recipients will be required to provide the relevant data by submitting bi-annual performance metrics as part of their progress reports in GMS.

To assist applicants in developing their plans for collecting and reporting performance measurement data that will meaningfully evaluate progress, sample core performance measures can be viewed in Appendix A.

Note on Program Evaluations An applicant that proposes to use award funds through this solicitation to conduct program evaluations should be aware that certain program evaluations (such as systematic investigations designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge) may constitute “research” for purposes of applicable DOJ human subjects protection regulations. However, program evaluations that are intended only to generate internal improvements to a program or service, or are conducted only to meet OJP’s performance measure data reporting requirements, likely do not constitute “research.” Each applicant should provide sufficient information for OJP to determine whether the particular program it proposes would either intentionally or unintentionally collect and/or use information in such a way that it meets the DOJ definition of research that appears at 28 C.F.R. Part 46 (“Protection of Human Subjects”).

“Research,” for purposes of human subjects protection for OJP-funded programs, is defined as “a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” 28 C.F.R.

46.102(d).

For additional information on determining whether a proposed activity would constitute research for purposes of human subjects protection, applicants should consult the decision tree in the “Research and the protection of human subjects” section of the “Requirements related to Research” webpage of the "Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and Cooperative Agreements - FY 2018 Awards," available through the OJP Funding Resource Center at https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm.

Every prospective applicant whose application may propose a research or statistical component also should review the “Data Privacy and Confidentiality Requirements” section on that webpage.

4. Budget and Associated Documentation The Budget Detail Worksheet and the Budget Narrative are now combined in a single document collectively referred to as the Budget Detail Worksheet. The Budget Detail Worksheet is a user-friendly, fillable, Microsoft Excel-based document designed to calculate totals. Additionally, the

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