oppNIJ-2018-13800-cfda16.741-cidNIJ-2018-13803-instructions.pdf

Notice Regarding the solicitation “Forensic DNA Laboratory Efficiency Improvement and Capacity Enhancement Program” April 3, 2018: Item 9.e. titled “Disclosure of Process Related to Executive Compensation” under “What an Application Should Include” in Section D. Application and Submission Information was redacted. The original solicitation document begins on the next page.

April 3, 2018: The total expected award amount for this solicitation has changed from $9 million to $12 million.

The original solicitation document begins on the next page.

U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329 Office of Justice Programs Approval Expires 11/30/2020 National Institute of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for FY 2018 Forensic DNA Laboratory Efficiency Improvement and Capacity Enhancement Program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by reducing crime and supporting prosecutors in their efforts to meet their mission.

FY 2018 Forensic DNA Laboratory Efficiency Improvement and Capacity Enhancement

Program

Applications Due: May 7, 2018

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are States1 and units of local government with existing crime laboratories that conduct forensic DNA and/or DNA database sample analysis and:

Participate in external audits, not less than once every two years, that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Quality Assurance Standards established by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

Are accredited by a nonprofit professional organization actively involved in forensic science that is nationally recognized within the forensic science community; and

Participate in the National DNA Index System (NDIS), or have an agreement with an NDIS participating laboratory to upload their data.

Note: A prospective recipient of grant funds that is found to have an “unresolved audit finding” from a DOJ Office of the Inspector General audit, as described at 34 U.S.C. § 10263, will be ineligible to receive grant funds during the period specified in that statute. See 34 U.S.C. § 10263(2).

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

NIJ 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

1 For purposes of this solicitation, the term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.

https://www.usdoj.gov/ https://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ http://nij.gov/Pages/welcome.aspx http://nij.gov/Pages/welcome.aspx

NIJ-2018-13800

(subgrantees).2 The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the award, including administering the funding and managing the entire project.

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.

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 May 7, 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 NIJ 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 assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 1-800-851-3420; 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 operates from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the solicitation close date. General information on applying for NIJ awards can be found at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx. Answers to frequently asked questions that may assist applicants are posted at www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx.

Grants.gov number assigned to this solicitation: NIJ-2018-13800

Release date: March 23, 2018

2 For additional information on subawards, see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D. Application and Submission Information.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Grants-govInfo.htm https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html mailto:support@grants.gov mailto:grants@ncjrs.gov https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/welcome.aspx http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/faqs.aspx

Contents A. Program Description

Overview Project-Specific Information Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables Purpose Area 1: Multidisciplinary Analysis of Evidence Purpose Area 2: Building and Improving Laboratory Infrastructure Purpose Area 3: Process Efficiency Projects Purpose Area 4: Backlog Reduction of Missing Persons’ Samples Purpose Area 5: Special Projects 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 Matching Requirement (Purpose Areas 1, and 3-5 only) 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 Performance Measures 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 Agency Contact(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: Application Checklist

FY 2018 Forensic DNA Laboratory Efficiency Improvement and Capacity

Enhancement Program

CFDA No. 16.741

A. Program Description

Overview

Demands for forensic DNA analysis have increased every year from 2009 to 2014, with a 28 percent increase in cases submitted to forensic DNA laboratories from 2009 to 2014.3 The growing demand for DNA testing comes from two primary sources: (1) improved analytical techniques that have led to the recovery of DNA profiles from items of evidence from which it was not previously possible to retrieve such profiles, and (2) the increased collection and processing of DNA from crime scenes; victims of sexual assault; reference and elimination samples; arrestee and convicted offender samples as required by applicable State laws;

unidentified human remains; cold case investigations; and postconviction relief efforts.

Often, a single case submission includes requests for forensic analyses in DNA and non-DNA disciplines. Enhancing capacity and improving efficiency in the processing and testing of non- DNA evidence from cases that also involve a request for DNA analysis will ultimately reduce the backlog of DNA evidence. NIJ’s DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction (CEBR) program does not permit the use of funds for non-DNA disciplines. The Forensic DNA Laboratory Efficiency Improvement and Capacity Enhancement (EI&CE) program is intended to help address that gap.

The EI&CE program awards funding to eligible entities, through a competitive application process, with three (3) program objectives:

1. Enhancing the capacity and increasing the efficiency of crime laboratories to process, record, screen, and analyze DNA and other forensic evidence.

2. Decreasing the turnaround time to process and analyze DNA evidence.

3. Ensuring continued support for enhancing the quality of DNA analysis results.

Statutory Authority: Any awards under this solicitation would be made under statutory authority provided by a full-year appropriations act for FY 2018. As of the writing of this solicitation, the Department of Justice is operating under a short-term "Continuing Resolution";

no full-year appropriation for the Department has been enacted for FY 2018.

3 Durose, Matthew R. and Andrea M. Burch. “Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories: Resources and Services, 2014.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. November 2016. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pffclrs14.pdf.

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pffclrs14.pdf

Project-Specific Information

The following requirements apply to all DNA analyses conducted under this program:

Applicants must ensure that all eligible DNA profiles obtained with funding from this program are entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database and, where applicable, are uploaded into NDIS.4 No profiles generated with funding from this program may be entered into any non-governmental DNA database without prior express written approval from NIJ.

Applicants must ensure that all profiles uploaded to NDIS5 follow NDIS DNA Data Acceptance Standards.

Applicants must ensure that each DNA analysis conducted and resulting profile generated under this program is maintained pursuant to all applicable federal privacy requirements, including those described in 42 U.S.C. § 14132(b)(3).

Rapid DNA and Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS)/Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies must comply with applicable laws, Quality Assurance Standards, and follow the regulations identified by the FBI.6

Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables

The central goal of NIJ's FY 2018 EI&CE program is to assist eligible crime laboratories in substantially increasing laboratory capacity through a well-defined project. The EI&CE program objectives of increasing efficiency and decreasing turnaround time for DNA evidence processing to help laboratories to reduce the number of DNA samples awaiting analysis will be assisted by mechanisms to improve overall laboratory efficiency. This will, in turn, help prevent future accumulations of samples awaiting analysis. The EI&CE program objective of ensuring continued support for enhancing the quality of DNA analysis results will be assisted by projects that evaluate and implement improved methods of DNA analysis and data interpretation.

Projects are to align with one of five purpose areas:

1. Multidisciplinary analysis of evidence.

2. Building and improving laboratory infrastructure.

3. Process efficiency projects.

4. Backlog reduction of missing persons’ samples.

5. Special projects.

The EI&CE program is designed to support projects that significantly enhance capacity and improve efficiency of laboratories that perform multidisciplinary forensic testing, including DNA analysis. The applicant must propose a fully developed, self-contained project, and not simply

4 https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet.

5 https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet.

6 https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/rapid-dna-analysis.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2015-title42/pdf/USCODE-2015-title42-chap136-subchapIX-partA-sec14132.pdf https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/rapid-dna-analysis propose a supplement to the activities funded through NIJ’s DNA CEBR program, the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant (“Coverdell”) program, or the Research and Evaluation for the Testing and Interpretation of Physical Evidence in Publicly Funded Forensic Laboratories (“R&E for Public Labs”) program.

Applications should be project-oriented, and goals and deliverables should be project-specific. The applicant must adequately convey how the proposed project will advance the goals and objectives of this program through the selected purpose area. All projects (including non DNA projects) must identify how the proposed activities will improve DNA evidence processing capacity, efficiency, and turnaround time.

Agencies that receive EI&CE funding will be required to report their progress to NIJ, including relevant and appropriate data metrics.

Non-supplanting: This program is to assist crime laboratories by defraying costs — successful applicants will be expected to provide assurances, as a condition of receiving grant funds under this program, that the funds will be used to supplement, not supplant, funds that would otherwise be available for the purposes described in this solicitation. NIJ will include grant special conditions to this effect for any award made from this solicitation.

Purpose areas: Applicants are encouraged to propose innovative and creative projects that address the goals of the EI&CE program. There are five purpose areas under which an application may be submitted. Applications should clearly identify the purpose area under which funds are requested on the title page. An applicant may submit more than one application under this program, but may submit only one application per purpose area.

Purpose Area 1: Multidisciplinary Analysis of Evidence

Competition ID: NIJ-2018-13801

As part of a case submission, forensic laboratories often receive requests to test evidence that requires multidisciplinary analysis. The case submission can include a request for DNA analysis, but also may include items of evidence that require additional types of forensic analysis such as firearms and other weapons, the presence of friction ridge impressions, various types of trace evidence, and/or toxicological analysis for drugs and poisons.

Evidence items from a single case can provide information from a variety of forensic analyses

— but particular attention is often given to DNA analyses without consideration of any other forensic disciplines. Sometimes, one item of evidence must proceed through two or more types of forensic analyses before DNA analysis can occur. Without support for non-DNA testing, critical information that might have been gathered from other forensic analyses may be missed when: 1.) court demands push the evidence to DNA analysis without completion of non-DNA analysis, or 2.) the case may be stuck in a bottleneck of potential DNA evidence related cases backlogged in another section of a laboratory. Therefore, providing assistance to other forensic disciplines in the laboratory may help to decrease the turnaround time of analysis of an entire case, thus providing the requesting agency with faster analytical results, and may provide the opportunity for higher-quality results.

The objective of this purpose area is to provide assistance to laboratories to complete entire cases that involve requests for both DNA and at least one other type of forensic analysis.

Projects may include assistance in the non-DNA disciplines as they overlap with and affect DNA analysis and processing.

Projects under this purpose area should be measured by project-specific metrics above and beyond the performance measures listed on page 24. The application should include a list of the project-specific metrics and how they will demonstrate efficiency improvement and capacity enhancement in the non-DNA discipline. For example, this could include data such as, but not limited to, number of firearms items analyzed with funds from this program.

Projects that propose any equipment to be purchased under this purpose area that will be used for cases without a request for DNA analysis must demonstrate that the anticipated increase in the throughput for the specific non-DNA discipline will positively impact turnaround time of DNA cases, or have a demonstrated increase in the quality of results obtained from DNA analyses completed after non-DNA analyses. In addition, applications that include equipment purchases to analyze a backlog of cases in a non-DNA discipline should also include a discussion of how federally-funded equipment will be used after the project period has ended and how the equipment will continue to impact the efficiency of DNA analysis.

Projects requesting assistance only to process evidence in a non-DNA discipline without also requesting assistance for the forensic biology/DNA section of the laboratory must have a strong justification for not including funding requests for the forensic biology/DNA section, including how funding for the non-DNA section will benefit DNA evidence processing and efficiency.

NIJ expects to award up to $1.5 million under Purpose Area 1.

Purpose Area 2: Building and Improving Laboratory Infrastructure

Competition ID: NIJ-2018-13802

Advancing technologies coupled with the increased demand for forensic analysis may often require laboratories to retrofit existing work areas to make room for newer and additional pieces of equipment. Laboratories may be unable to undertake expensive renovations and the minor, often temporary, fixes employed in those situations may negatively impact DNA turnaround time and capacity. Increases in demand for paperless tracking systems may also be difficult for agencies to implement since introducing a new information technology (IT) system can be expensive and time consuming.

The goal of Purpose Area 2 is to allow agencies to to incorporate new technologies into their laboratory or expand their operations to allow for the continuing demands for forensic analysis by providing assistance for laboratories to build or improve both physical and IT laboratory infrastructure. Building or improving laboratory infrastructure can include capital improvements7 or the implementation of a laboratory information system or technology, with the goal of enhancing capacity or improving the efficiency of the laboratory.

7 A capital improvement is generally defined as the addition of a permanent structural change or the restoration of some aspect of a property.

Applications submitted under Purpose Area 2 are subject to a cash match of at least twenty five (25) percent. A Purpose Area 2 application that proposes a cash match that exceeds 25 percent of the total cost of the proposed project may, in appropriate circumstances, be given special consideration in award decisions. See Section B. Federal Award Information for details on cost sharing or matching requirements under this program.

Projects under this purpose area may be measured by project-specific metrics above and beyond the performance measures listed on page 24. If applicable, the application should include a list of the project-specific metrics, and how they will demonstrate efficiency improvement and capacity enhancement in the laboratory.

NIJ expects to award up to $1.5 million under Purpose Area 2.

Purpose Area 3: Process Efficiency Projects

Competition ID: NIJ-2018-13803

With law enforcement officers realizing the importance of collecting, preserving, and submitting forensic evidence from both violent and nonviolent crime scenes, there has been a steep increase in submissions of DNA evidence to crime laboratories. Continuing to increase efficiency and enhance laboratory capacity are critical if laboratories are to meet, and eventually exceed, the demand for DNA analysis.

Under this purpose area, laboratories may request assistance for assessment projects to identify areas that need improvement or thoroughly evaluate available process improvements in the forensic biology/DNA discipline, and/or for implementation projects that allow the laboratory to implement improvements identified in previous process mapping or efficiency studies into casework. NIJ may also support phased projects. For example, a project may have an initial phase that includes an assessment of areas that may need improvement, with a proposal for utilization of tools such as process mapping or another efficiency study; a second phase may include implementation of a plan derived based on the outcome and data generated from phase one.

Assessment projects have two general categories:

Identification of needs: Projects requesting assistance to assess the state of their laboratory by conducting process mapping or efficiency studies to identify areas of the case processing and/or physical laboratory that need to be improved and that consider potential solutions for the identified issues.

o NIJ strongly encourages applicants to use funds for, or otherwise conduct, an assessment project if their lab has not already done so before requesting funds for an implementation project.

Evaluation of methods, protocols, and equipment: Projects requesting assistance to address one of these objectives:

o Objective A: Assess existing DNA laboratory protocols to improve understanding of the scientific rationale underpinning existing laboratory processes. Applicants should perform validation and evaluation of existing laboratory schemes and methods to determine possible improvements.

o Objective B: Evaluate emerging DNA methods to assess the value of these emerging laboratory processes. Applicants should conduct validation to compare emerging methods to those currently used to accomplish the same purpose in their laboratories. These evaluations should consider factors such as accuracy, reliability, cost, and analysis time.

o Objective C: Evaluation of methods, protocols, and equipment projects must also propose to use a specific number of casework samples as part of the validation and evaluation process. NIJ also strongly encourages applicants to seek guidance from a statistician to ensure rigorous testing measures are employed. Areas that may benefit from a statistician include, but are not limited to, project design (e.g., experimental designs, planning sample size or sampling designs, designing data collection methods), selection and application of appropriate statistical methods, and how to use software to perform data analyses.

Implementation projects:

Implementation projects include purchase, validation, and training on new equipment, software, or chemistries that will improve laboratory capacity as a result of a process mapping or efficiency study in order to reduce turnaround time or increase the quality of results obtained from forensic analyses.

Applications submitted under this purpose area must be for specific projects designed to identify and/or alleviate one or more bottlenecks in forensic processing or analysis. Applications submitted under this purpose area must demonstrate that the proposed project is separate and distinct from grants awarded under the DNA CEBR program,8 the Coverdell Program,9 the R&E for Public Labs Program,10 or the Research and Development for Criminal Justice Purposes program.11

Projects under this purpose area may be measured by project-specific metrics above and beyond the performance measures listed on page 24. Any application with non-DNA disciplines incorporated should include a list of project-specific metrics specific to that discipline, and how they will demonstrate efficiency improvement and capacity enhancement in the specified non-DNA discipline. For example, a project involving firearms examinations may include metrics such as: 1.) Increase in the number of firearms items analyzed; and 2.) Number of evidentiary items put into the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN).

Recipients of an award under this solicitation will be expected to submit to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) all data sets that result in whole or in part from the work funded by the award, along with associated files and any documentation necessary for future efforts by others to reproduce the project’s findings and/or to extend the scientific value of the dataset through secondary analysis. For more information, see “Program Narrative” in Section D. Application and Submission Information.

8 http://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13781.pdf.

9 https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13760.pdf, https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13740.pdf.

10 https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13900.pdf.

11 https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13600.pdf.

http://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13781.pdf https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13760.pdf https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13740.pdf https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13900.pdf https://nij.gov/funding/Documents/solicitations/NIJ-2018-13600.pdf

NIJ expects to award up to $2 million under Purpose Area 3.

Purpose Area 4: Backlog Reduction of Missing Persons’ Samples

Competition ID: NIJ-2018-13804

DNA technology can be used to provide valuable information in determining the source of unidentified human remains. In recent years, newer DNA technologies have substantially increased the successful analysis of aged, degraded, limited and/or low-quantity, or otherwise compromised biological evidence. As a result, biological samples, including skeletal remains, once thought to be unsuitable for testing, may now yield DNA profiles. Additionally, samples that previously generated inconclusive DNA results may now be amenable to reanalysis using newer methods. A census by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) illustrated the magnitude of the unidentified decedents issue nationwide — over 4,000 unidentified human decedents are reported each year by medical examiners and coroners, and of those, an estimated 1,000 remain unidentified one year later and become “cold cases.”12

The goal of Purpose Area 4 is to support laboratories in performing DNA analysis on samples collected from unidentified human remains and family reference samples in missing persons cases in order to assist in efforts to identify previously unidentified human remains and resolve missing persons cases.

The primary objective of all proposals submitted under this purpose area should be to help alleviate or prevent a backlog of unidentified human remains and/or family reference samples by conducting DNA analysis on those types of samples, with the following stipulations:

All resulting profiles must be reviewed and uploaded to NDIS.

All appropriate case information, including whether DNA samples have been collected, whether they have been successfully profiled, and the location of the profiled samples;

dental records and radiographs; fingerprint cards; photographs, if available; and any other relevant information must be entered into the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs’ National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) by the appropriate medical examiner, coroner, or law enforcement agency. If the case information is not uploaded to NamUs, a justification will be required.

The following activities are permissible as secondary objectives. The proposal should demonstrate clearly that these activities can be successfully performed and that the applicant has prior experience performing this work:

Anthropological and odontological examinations of unidentified human remains for the following purposes:

o Pre-DNA analysis: to establish if the remains are amenable to DNA analysis.

o Post-DNA analysis: for creating a case record and entering information into the unidentified decedents database of NamUs.

12 Medical Examiners and Coroners’ Offices Special Report, 2004, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/meco04.pdf.

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/meco04.pdf

Evaluation and application of new DNA technologies designed to increase the amount of genetic information obtained from compromised skeletal remains.

Applications submitted under Purpose Area 4 may include requests for funding overtime, salary, and benefits of additional personnel, limited travel expenses, equipment, DNA testing supplies, and contract services as they relate to analyzing DNA samples from unidentified human remains and family reference samples, as well as anthropological and odontological examinations of unidentified human remains. Applicants should demonstrate through past performance or data collection that their proposed project requests (i.e., overtime, additional personnel) resulted in, or will result in, a decrease in samples awaiting analysis.

Projects under this purpose area should be measured by project-specific metrics above and beyond the performance measures listed on page 24, including metrics to measure the number of unidentified human remains samples analyzed, family reference samples analyzed, profiles uploaded, hits, and cases put into NamUs. Any application with non-DNA disciplines incorporated should include a list of project-specific metrics specific to that discipline, and how they will demonstrate efficiency improvement and capacity enhancement in the specified non- DNA discipline. For example, a project involving anthropological examinations may include metrics such as: 1.) number of exhumations completed; and 2.) number of anthropological examinations completed.

NIJ expects to award up to $3 million under Purpose Area 4.

Purpose Area 5: Special Projects

Competition ID: NIJ-2018-13805

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any Purpose Area 5 application (or applications made to any other purpose area other than Purpose Area 2) that includes renovation, construction, or laboratory information management systems (LIMS) purchase will not be considered for funding as these should be applied under Purpose Area 2, and are subject to a 25 percent match.

Projects under this purpose area must be specific projects designed to enhance capacity, improve efficiency, improve the quality of DNA results, or improve services provided by the DNA laboratory.

Since 2003, states have been enacting legislation to increase the collection of DNA samples of convicted offenders to include arrestees of certain crimes, with at least 30 states having now passed legislation expanding DNA databases to include arrestees.13 Therefore, there is a growing need to expand the capacity of database laboratories to manage the increased collections as a result of enacted legislation.

Applicants may also consider projects designed to analyze or re-analyze biological evidence from violent crime cold cases.14 Advances in DNA technologies have substantially increased the successful DNA analysis of aged, degraded, limited, low-quantity, or otherwise compromised

13 http://dnaresource.com/documents/RecentlyPassedArresteeLaws2016pdf.pdf.

14 Any unsolved UCR Part 1 Violent Crime case for which all significant investigative leads have been exhausted.

http://dnaresource.com/documents/RecentlyPassedArresteeLaws2016pdf.pdf biological evidence, and, as a result, crime scene samples once thought to be unsuitable for testing or previously analyzed samples with inconclusive results may now yield DNA profiles.

Applicants may also implement projects designed to analyze cases that are generally not prioritized as highly as violent crime, such as property crimes, but that have been shown to yield positive results. For example, the DNA Field Experiment funded by NIJ in 2005 showed that suspects in property crimes who were identified using DNA evidence had significantly more serious criminal histories than those identified through traditional property crime investigations.15

Projects under this purpose area may be measured by unique metrics above and beyond the performance measures listed on page 24. The application should include a list of the unique metrics, and how they will demonstrate efficiency improvement and capacity enhancement in the non-DNA disciplines, if applicable.

Expungement of profiles: If funded, an applicant that proposes to use any grant funds for arrestee DNA sample collection processes must agree to provide NIJ, within 60 days of award notification, as a condition of receiving access to grant funds, documentation that demonstrates that the applicant has a procedure in place to —

Provide written notification of expungement provisions and instructions for requesting expungement to all persons who submit a DNA profile or DNA data for inclusion in NDIS.

Provide the eligibility criteria for expungement and instructions for requesting expungement on an appropriate public web site.

Make a determination on all expungement requests not later than 90 days after receipt and provide a written response of the determination to the requesting party.

Applicants are encouraged to include documentation of procedures regarding expungement of profiles, as described above, with the application for funding if the information is available.

In addition to any requirements under State (or other applicable) law, States must adhere to applicable federal expungement of records requirements for States described in 42 U.S.C. § 14132(d)(2).

Please note: No profiles generated with funding from this program may be entered into any non-governmental DNA database without prior express written approval from NIJ. All DNA analyses conducted, and profiles generated under this program must be maintained pursuant to all applicable federal privacy requirements, including those described in 42 U.S.C. § 14132(b)(3).

NIJ expects to award up to $1 million under Purpose Area 5.

The Goals, 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.

15 https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/224084.pdf.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2015-title42/pdf/USCODE-2015-title42-chap136-subchapIX-partA-sec14132.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2015-title42/pdf/USCODE-2015-title42-chap136-subchapIX-partA-sec14132.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2015-title42/pdf/USCODE-2015-title42-chap136-subchapIX-partA-sec14132.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2015-title42/pdf/USCODE-2015-title42-chap136-subchapIX-partA-sec14132.pdf https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/224084.pdf

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

NIJ expects to make awards of up to $1,000,000 in total with an estimated total amount awarded of up to $12 million. NIJ expects to make awards for up to a 36-month period of performance, to begin on January 1, 2019.

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

https://www.crimesolutions.gov/

Type of Award

NIJ 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 entities16) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements17 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

16 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.

17 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.

https://ojpfgm.webfirst.com/ award decisions. Under Section D. Application and Submission Information, applicants may access and review a questionnaire – the OJP Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire – that OJP requires all applicants (other than an individual applying in his/her personal capacity) to download, complete, and submit as part of the application.

Budget Information

In developing requests for funding under this program, applicants should consider whether, if awarded, funds requested can be obligated and expended within required timeframes. All obligations properly incurred by the end of the federal award must be liquidated no later than 90 days after the end date of the award. Properly obligated awards will have the full liquidation period for remaining expenditures. The liquidation period exists to allow project time to receive ordered goods and make final payments. No new obligations may be made during the liquidation period. Disbursements made by recipients or subrecipients after the end date, but within the liquidation period, must have documentation to demonstrate that the obligation occurred before the end date of the award.

This program is not intended as a supplement to awards made under the DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Formula program in the current or previous fiscal years. All expenses must be used for the proposed project and must concur with the level of effort of the project and its components.

Note: Procurements made under awards from this program are subject to the “Procurement Standards” set forth in 2 C.F.R. 200 (“Subpart D — Post Federal Award Requirements”) — including the provisions relating to competition — and other applicable law.

The Procurement Standards, at 2 C.F.R. §200.317 through §200.326, detail requirements and restrictions imposed on non-federal entities (i.e., recipients and subrecipients) that use federal assistance funds to procure property or services needed to carry out the grant-funded project.

Recipients and subrecipients must conduct all procurement transactions in a manner that provides full and open competition consistent with the Procurement Standards. Contractors that develop or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work, and invitations for bids or requests for proposals must be excluded from competing for such procurements.

Sole source procurement (or, noncompetitive procurement) should be used only when use of competitive solicitation procedures like sealed bids, or competitive proposals is not applicable to the requirements, or is impracticable. All sole source procurements in excess of the Simplified Acquisition Threshold set in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1908 (currently set at $150,000) must receive advance authorization from the grant-making agency component to use a non-competitive approach for the procurement before entering into the contract.

What will not be funded:

Applications deemed nonresponsive to this solicitation will not be considered for funding. This includes:

Applications that do not clearly identify with one of the five (5) allowable purpose areas (see Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables).

https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCODE-2011-title41/USCODE-2011-title41-subtitleI-divsnB-chap19-sec1908/content-detail.html

Applications for assistance in non-DNA disciplines that do not demonstrate how the project would positively impact the turnaround time, capacity, or quality of DNA analysis.

Applications with the sole purpose of analyzing casework samples in non-DNA disciplines without DNA analysis requests that do not provide a justification that includes anticipated benefits for capacity enhancement or turnaround time improvements in the DNA unit.

Applications in the area of digital evidence or digital forensics. Digital evidence includes information stored or transmitted in binary form that may be relied upon in court. It is typically found on computer hard drives, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, CDs/DVDs, flash memory equipment, and other electronic devices. Digital evidence is commonly associated with electronic crime (e.g., child pornography or credit card fraud);

however, digital evidence can also be used as forensic evidence in other types of crimes.18

Applications under Purpose Area 2 that do not provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the minimum 25 percent match requirement has been met.

Applications under Purpose Area 5 (or any other purpose area other than Purpose Area

2) that include renovation, construction, or LIMS purchase.

Expenses that are not permitted for awards under this program include the following:

1. Travel costs and conference fees for general attendance at conferences including, but not limited to, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) annual meeting, the International Symposium for Human Identification (ISHI), any regional association for forensic scientists meeting, or Bode conferences. However, projects may include costs for travel and training specific to the proposed project only. These specific instances would need to be reviewed by NIJ in advance of the event, and include significant justification.

2. Direct administrative expenses that exceed three (3) percent of the federal portion of the award.

3. General office supplies and equipment, including but not limited to, paper, pens, toner, printer cartridges, office/modular furniture, chairs, tables, floor mats, “basic supplies,” etc.

4. Maintenance and service contracts for existing laboratory equipment, software, or laboratory information management systems (LIMS).

5. Work that is funded under another federal award. Recipients and subrecipients are prohibited from commingling funds on either a program-by-program or project-by-project basis.

6. Costs associated with conducting conferences. A conference is a symposium, seminar, workshop, or any other organized and formal meeting — whether conducted face-to-face or via the internet — where individuals assemble (or meet virtually) to exchange

18 www.nij.gov/topics/forensics/evidence/digital/welcome.htm.

http://www.nij.gov/topics/forensics/evidence/digital/welcome.htm information and views, or explore or clarify a defined subject, problem, or area of knowledge, whether or not a published report results from such a meeting. A meeting where a gathering discusses general matters as part of a normal course of doing business is not considered a conference.

7. Costs incurred outside of the project period of performance.

8. Executives, such as the president or executive director of an organization, may not be reimbursed for overtime or compensatory overtime under grants and cooperative agreements.

Program Income

If funded, applicants must declare program income on quarterly and final Federal Financial Reports (SF-425) if the recipient laboratory charges a fee for DNA testing services and uses any funds from this program to work cases in which the laboratory accepts a fee for testing.

Program income means gross income earned by the non-federal entity that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the federal award during the period of performance. See 2 C.F.R. § 200.80 (definition of “Program Income”). Non-federal entities are encouraged to earn income to defray program costs where appropriate. See 2 C.F.R. § 200.307(a).

Applicants must submit a declaration that they will or will not be generating program income on this award.

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement (Purpose Areas 1, and 3-5 only)

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.

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement (cash only) (Purpose Area 2 only)

Federal funds awarded under this solicitation may not cover more than 75 percent of the total costs of the project being funded under Purpose Area 2. An applicant must identify the source of the minimum 25 percent non-federal portion19 of the total project costs and how it will use match funds. If a successful applicant’s proposed match exceeds the required match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit. (“Match” funds may be used only for purposes that would be allowable for the federal funds.) Recipients must satisfy this match requirement with cash only. The formula for calculating match is:

Federal Award Amount = Adjusted (Total) Project…