oppOJJDP-2018-13560-cfda16.540-instructions..pdf

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

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is seeking applications for funding under the fiscal year (FY) 2018 National Juvenile Court Data Archive. This project furthers the Department’s mission to promote public safety by collecting and analyzing the United States’ only national information about juvenile court case processing of delinquency and status offenses.

OJJDP FY 2018 National Juvenile Court Data Archive

Applications Due: May 16, 2018

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are limited to states (including territories), units of local government,1 nonprofit organizations2 and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

OJJDP 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).3 The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the award, including administering the funding, managing the entire project, and monitoring and appropriately managing any subawards (“subgrants”). 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.

1 A “unit of local government” means—

(a) Any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a state.

(b) Any law enforcement district or judicial enforcement district that—

(i) Is established under applicable state law, and

(ii) Has the authority to, in a manner independent of other state entities, establish a budget and impose taxes.

(c) An Indian tribe that performs law enforcement functions, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior

(d) For the purposes of assistance eligibility, any agency of the government of the District of Columbia or the federal government that performs law enforcement functions in and for—

(i) The District of Columbia, or

(ii) Any Trust Territory of the United States.

2 See ojp.gov/funding/Explore/SolicitationRequirements/OrganizationalRequirements.htm#NPO for additional information on demonstrating nonprofit status.

3 For additional information on subawards, see "Budget and Associated Documentation" under Section D. Application and Submission Information https://www.usdoj.gov/ https://ojp.gov/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/

OJJDP-2018-13560

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.p.m. eastern time (ET) on May 16, 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 or 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 National Criminal Justice Reference Service Response Center (Response Center) at grants@ncjrs.gov 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, contact the Response Center by telephone at 800–851–3420 or TTY: 301–240–6310 (hearing impaired only), by email at grants@ncjrs.gov, or by web chat. Response Center hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

ET, Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET on the solicitation close date. General information on applying for OJJDP awards can be found at https://www.ojjdp.gov/funding/funding.html. Answers to frequently asked questions that may assist applicants are posted at https://www.ojjdp.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2018/FAQ/NJCDA.pdf.

Grants.gov number assigned to this solicitation: OJJDP-2018-13560 Release date: March 16, 2018 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html https://ojpnet.ojp.usdoj.gov/bureaus_offices/OJJDP/TeamSites/SolicitationInfo/Shared%20Documents https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Grants-govInfo.htm https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html mailto:support@grants.gov https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html mailto:grants@ncjrs.gov mailto:grants@ncjrs.gov https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp https://www.ojjdp.gov/funding/funding.html https://www.ojjdp.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2018/FAQ/NJCDA.pdf

Contents A. Program Description

Overview

Program-Specific Information

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

B. Federal Award Information

Type of Award

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls

Budget Information

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement

Preagreement Costs (also known as Preaward 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 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

Application Checklist

OJJDP FY 2018 National Juvenile Court Data Archive

CFDA #16.540

A. Program Description

Overview

This National Juvenile Court Data Archive (the Archive) aligns with the Attorney General’s priority to promote public safety by collecting, maintaining, and making accessible the nation’s primary source of detailed information on juvenile court case processing of juvenile delinquency and status offense cases. The Archive generates annual estimates of juvenile case processing and the juvenile court’s response to youth who violate the law. In addition, the Archive provides juvenile justice researchers and policymakers with the ability to access automated juvenile court data sets, study a wide range of national and subnational juvenile justice issues, monitor trends in juvenile offending, and identify emerging issues.

Statutory Authority: Any awards under this solicitation will be made under statutory authority provided by a full-year Department of Justice appropriations act for FY 2018. As of the writing of this solicitation, the Department of Justice continues to operate under a short-term "Continuing Resolution”; no full-year appropriation for the Department has been enacted for FY 2018.

Program-Specific Information

The Archive collects and analyzes the only national information about cases handled by more than 2,400 courts with juvenile jurisdiction in the United States. To inform both policy and practice in the juvenile justice system, it is essential to track progress and report trends in processing of juvenile and status offenders. The Archive amasses data contributions from juvenile courts across the nation and then generates national annual estimates and reports on trends across referral offenses and the court’s detention, adjudication, and disposition decisions.

The Archive was initiated by the U.S. government in the 1920s and has been in continuous operation ever since. In the 1920s, the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor developed the National Juvenile Court Data Archive project to obtain national statistics concerning cases that juvenile courts handled. Following the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1974, OJJDP assumed responsibility for the Archive and began awarding grants the following year to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to support its operation. From 1975 to the present, the Archive has collected, documented, and analyzed millions of automated juvenile court case records and aggregate case counts. The Archive now houses a sizable collection of automated juvenile court databases that support the study of a wide range of national and subnational juvenile justice issues. Currently, the Archive collects and processes data from contributing jurisdictions on almost 1 million juvenile court delinquency and status offenses cases annually. The most recently released data are based on analyses of case data from more than 2,400 juvenile courts with jurisdiction over 84 percent of the U.S. juvenile population in 2014.

The Archive provides empirical information on the nation's juvenile courts and juvenile offenders (including the most serious offense charged, level of court processing, and sanctions ordered) to support federal, state, and local policy and program development as well as a wide range of basic, applied, and legal research.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The Archive’s primary goal is to collect and disseminate national information and statistics about delinquency and status offenses handled by juvenile courts. The secondary goals are to continue to expand the coverage of reporting court jurisdictions and to increase the quality and timeliness of the data.

Objectives

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

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

o Request and collect data from state and local agencies, enter into data sharing agreements (as necessary), and increase the number of participating agencies (see Juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance below).

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

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

o Standardize data files and develop national estimates.

o Prepare and maintain backups of all archived files.

o Protect privacy and human subjects.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

o Produce up to two bulletins, up to three special OJJDP fact sheets, and three or more Data Snapshots annually (topics to be determined in consultation with OJJDP).

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

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

Applicants should include information about their plans to:

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

o Monitor nonreporting jurisdictions and conduct outreach, as appropriate, to encourage their participation.

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

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

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

http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/default.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/asp/products.asp http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/ http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/pdf/jcs2011.pdf https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/snapshots/ o Plan and conduct efforts to increase the level of interaction between Archive staff and data suppliers to provide technical assistance, training, support, networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer sharing of innovative data collection, management, and analysis.

Successful applicants should anticipate submitting the following deliverables to OJJDP:

• A detailed progress report to OJJDP every 6 months describing the status of the data archiving initiative, methodological and implementation issues, progress toward the project goals, and any other issues relevant to the project’s completion. At the conclusion of the project, the final progress report should summarize the extent to which the goals and objectives were met throughout the period of performance under the award.

• Annual Juvenile Court Statistics report for two consecutive years, including detailed presentation of national estimates of delinquency cases, delinquency case processing, status offense cases, and status offense case processing, and the methodology used.

• Maintenance and updates to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive webpage.

• Data files for use in OJJDP’s juvenile court-related Easy Access online tools: Juvenile

Court Statistics and State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts.

• OJJDP bulletins (up to two annually), OJJDP fact sheets (up to three annually), and Data Snapshots (three or more annually) with topics to be determined in consultation with OJJDP.

• A plain language summary of the Juvenile Court Statistics reports, to be updated annually with highlights of the national estimates/trends for a nontechnical audience.

(See https://www.ojjdp.gov/research/research-grantee.html for more information.)

In addition to these deliverables (and the required reports and data on performance measures described in Section F. Federal Award Administration Information), OJJDP expects scholarly products to result from each award under this solicitation, taking the form of one or more published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles and/or (if appropriate) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, technological prototypes, patented inventions, or similar scientific products.

The Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products are directly related to the performance measures that demonstrate the results of the work completed..

Performance Measures

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).

http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/jcsreports/jcs2008.pdf http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/njcda/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/snapshots/ https://www.ojjdp.gov/research/research-grantee.html

Applicants should visit OJP’s performance measurement page 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.

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.

Objective

Performance Measure(s)

Data Recipient Provides

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

Number of deliverables that met the expectations of the project.

List of deliverables, including citation(s) to all scholarly products, that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the OJJDP award.

Identified gaps that can be addressed by the proposed research as demonstrated by the scholarly products that result in whole or in part from work funded under the OJJDP award (published, peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, technical reports, and/or (as appropriate for the funded project) law review journal articles, book chapter(s) or book(s) in the academic press, or similar scientific products).

Quarterly financial reports, semi-annual and final progress reports, a final technical report, and a plain language executive summary of the work performed under the OJJDP award.

B. Federal Award Information

OJJDP expects to make one award with an estimated total amount awarded of up to $1,300,000. This award provides support for a 2-year period of performance.

To allow time for (among other things) any necessary post-award review and financial clearance by OJP of the proposed budget and for any associated responses or other action(s) that may be required of the recipient, applicants should propose an award start date of October 1, 2018.

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

Type of Award

OJJDP expects to make any award under this solicitation in the form of a grant. See Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements, under Section F. Federal Award https://www.ojp.gov/performance

Administration Information, for a brief discussion of important statutes, regulations, and award conditions that apply to many (or in some cases, all) OJP grants.

Note: Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to comply with DOJ regulations on confidentiality and protection of human subjects. See “Requirements related to Research” 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.

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls

Award recipients and subrecipients (including recipients or subrecipients that are pass-through entities4) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements5 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 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 recipients.)

4 For purposes of this solicitation, the phrase “pass-through entity” includes any recipient or subrecipient that provides a subaward (“subgrant”) to carry out part of the funded award or program.

5 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://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/LegalOverview/index.htm https://ojp.gov/funding/index.htm https://ojpfgm.webfirst.com/

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 access and review the OJP Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf) 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

What will not be funded:

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

• Applications that are not responsive to this specific solicitation.

• Funds may not be used to support biomedical or behavior control experimentation on individuals or any research involving such experimentation.

Cost Sharing or Match Requirement This solicitation does not require a match. However, if a successful application proposes a voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit.

Preagreement Costs (also known as Preaward Costs) Preagreement 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 preagreement 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 project 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 preagreement 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 preagreement 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 https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/FinancialCapability.pdf https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/index.htm agency with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System for that year.6 The 2018 salary table for SES employees is available at 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 nonfederal funds. (Nonfederal 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 OJJDP Administrator 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 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 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 project timelines) of most conference, meeting, and training costs for cooperative agreement recipients and of 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.

6 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.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/18Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/18Tables/exec/html/ES.aspx https://ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/LegalOverview/index.htm https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/LegalOverview/index.htm

C. Eligibility Information

For eligibility information, see the 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, including the funding limit, or that OJP determines does not include the application elements that OJJDP has designated to be critical, will neither proceed to peer review nor receive further consideration. For this solicitation, OJJDP has designated the following application elements as critical: Program Narrative, Budget Detail Worksheet, Budget Narrative, and résumés/curriculum vitae of key personnel. (For purposes of this solicitation, “key personnel” means the principal investigator and any and all coprincipal investigators.)

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

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, current 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 (GAN) 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 not subject to Executive Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, an applicant is to answer question 19 by selecting the response that the “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.”)

2. Project Abstract

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

Applications should include a high-quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed project in 250–400 words. Project abstracts not submitted in the template below should be—

• Written for a general public audience.

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

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

The abstract should describe—

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

• The number of participating juvenile court jurisdictions and associated youth population, and national estimation of the number of juvenile court cases.

• The research design and methodology, including the type of data, archiving strategies, and other methods or procedures.

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12372.html

• The techniques proposed for conducting statistical analysis.

• The expected key deliverables, identified in the “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and

Expected Scholarly Products” section on pages 5–7.

• Any key partners involved in conducting the Archive activities.

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

Project abstracts should follow the detailed template available at ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/ProjectAbstractTemplate.pdf. Formatting cannot be altered in this template; therefore, the above formatting requirements do not apply.

3. Program Narrative

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

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

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

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

Program Narrative Guidelines:

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

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

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

https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Resources/ProjectAbstractTemplate.pdf

1. Statement of the Problem and Research Questions. The statement of the problem should address the need for research in this area. Applicants must clearly and concisely discuss their understanding of the scope and functions of the juvenile court system in the United States, including how the proposed project will address the gaps and needs in what is understood about juvenile court case processing. As part of this discussion, applicants should present a review of previous literature and discuss previous research related to these problems. Applicants should articulate research questions that will contribute both to juvenile court case processing knowledge, policy, and practice.

Applicants should identify their proposed research questions and how they relate to the goals and objectives for the Archive described on pages 5–7 regarding:

• Juvenile court case data collection and processing.

• Juvenile court data use and dissemination.

• Juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance.

2. Project Design and Implementation. Applicants should provide a detailed description of the research design and methods for this 2-year project, addressing how the proposed approach would advance the goals and objectives for the Archive described on pages 5–7 regarding:

• Juvenile court case data collection and processing.

• Juvenile court data use and dissemination.

• Juvenile court case data quality improvement and technical assistance.

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

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

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

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

Applicants should propose potential solutions, as appropriate.

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

The discussion of impact should include a discussion of the deliverables, including planned scholarly products indicated in the Program-Specific Information on page 4 and a plan for dissemination to appropriate audiences.

Applicants should identify plans to produce or make available the planned scholarly products to broader interested practitioners and policymakers in a form that is designed to be readily accessible and useful to them.

4. Capabilities/Competencies. This section should describe the experience and capability of the applicant organization and any contractors or subgrantees that the applicant will use to implement and manage this effort and its associated federal funding, highlighting any previous experience implementing projects of similar scope, design, and magnitude. Applicants should also highlight the experience and capacity to work with the proposed data sources.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Bibliography/references.

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

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

• To assist OJP in assessing actual or apparent conflicts of interest (including such conflicts on the part of prospective reviewers of the application), a complete list of the individuals named or otherwise identified anywhere in the application (including in the budget or in any other attachment) who will or may work (or advise or consult) on the proposed research, development, or evaluation project. This applies to all such individuals, including, for example, individuals who are or would be employees of the applicant or employees of any proposed subrecipient entity, any individuals who themselves may be a subrecipient, and individuals who may (or will) work without compensation (such as advisory board members). This appendix to the program narrative is to include, for each listed individual: name, title, employer, any other potentially pertinent organizational affiliation(s), and the individual's proposed roles and responsibilities in carrying out the proposed project. If the application identifies any specific entities or organizations (other than the applicant) that will or may work (or advise or consult) on the proposed project, without also naming any associated individuals, the name of each such organization also should be included on this list.

• If the application (including the budget) identifies any proposed noncompetitive agreements that are or may be considered procurement "contracts" (rather than subawards) for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements the applicant also must list the entities with which the applicant proposes to contract. Applicants should provide this list as a separate sheet titled "Proposed noncompetitive procurement contracts."

For information on distinctions—for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements—between subawards and procurement contracts under awards, see “Budget and Associated Documentation,” below.

• Proposed project timeline for the 2-year project period and expected milestones.

• Applicants may, but are not required to, submit Institutional Review Board

(IRB) and Privacy Certificate paperwork at the time of application. Applicants selected for an award will not be permitted to obligate, expend, or draw down funds for any research or statistical activity or project involving the collection, use, analysis, transfer, or disclosure of information identifiable to a private person until (1) the recipient has submitted full and complete documentation to demonstrate that it will conduct or perform research involving human subjects in accordance with an approved federalwide assurance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; (2) the research has been determined, by an appropriate IRB, to be an exempt research activity, or has been reviewed and approved by an appropriate IRB in accordance with the requirements of 28 CFR Part 46; (3) the recipient has submitted a properly executed Privacy Certificate in accordance with the requirements of 28 CFR Part 22; and (4) an OJP Human Subjects Protection Officer has reviewed and approved the submitted materials. See https://www.ojjdp.gov/research/research-grantee.html.

• A list of any previous and current OJJDP awards to the applicant and investigator(s), including the OJJDP-assigned award numbers and a brief description of any scholarly products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the OJJDP award(s). (See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products” under “Program-Specific Information,” above, for a definition of “scholarly products.”)

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

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

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 Excel workbook contains worksheets for multiple budget years that can be completed as necessary. All applicants should use the Excel version when completing the proposed budget in an application, except in cases where the applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences technical difficulties. If an applicant does not have access to Microsoft Excel or experiences technical difficulties with the Excel version, then the applicant should use the 508-compliant accessible Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) version.

Both versions of the Budget Detail Worksheet can be accessed at https://ojp.gov/funding/Apply/Forms/BudgetDetailWorksheet.htm.

a. Budget Detail Worksheet

The Budget Detail Worksheet should provide the detailed computation for each budget line item, listing the total cost of each and showing how it was…