RFI 720538RFI00002 - USAID ESC Anti-Violence Activity.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

RFI TITLE: USAID ESC Tertiary Anti-Violence Activity

RFI NUMBER: 720538RFI00002

ISSUANCE DATE: August 2, 2024

RFI RESPONSE DUE DATE: September 2, 2024, 17:00 (AST)

SUBMIT RESPONSES TO: Ms. Ana Diaz at andiaz@usaid.gov, and Ms. Farah Canaan at fcanaanlachapelle@usaid.gov

The U. S. Government, represented by the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Eastern and Southern Caribbean (ESC), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit information and potential interest from organizations to reduce youth involvement in gangs and gang related violence in ESC countries.

The information contained within the RFI is intended solely to generate thinking and ideas;

eventual concepts may change significantly during the activity’s design and approval process.

Note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to respondents. It is solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that USAID/ESC will make an award to a firm or organization in any subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will be strictly held confidential. USAID will not provide answers to anything submitted in response to this request. Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. USAID posts its competitive business opportunities on www.sam.gov or www.grants.gov. It is the potential offeror’s/applicant’s responsibility to monitor these sites for announcements of new opportunities. Interested parties are also encouraged to monitor the USAID Business Forecast (https://www.usaid.gov/business-forecast) for updates on potential opportunities. Responses to this RFI may be used by USAID without restriction or limitation.

All information received in response to this RFI marked “Proprietary” will be protected and handled accordingly. Respondents are responsible for adequately marking proprietary information contained in their response. Responders are solely responsible for any and all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. USAID will not pay for information received in response to this RFI. Responses to this RFI cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or award.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted by email to Ms. Ana Diaz (andiaz@usaid.gov) and Farah Canaan (fcanaanlachapelle@usaid.gov) no later than the date and time shown above.

Please include RFI Number 720538RFI00002 in the subject line. Responders will not receive individualized feedback.

https://www.usaid.gov/business-forecast

All inquiries concerning this RFI must be directed only to the email addresses identified above.

Hard copy submissions will not be accepted nor will phone inquiries be entertained.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID/ESC programming.

Sincerely, Leigh Carlson

Contracting/Agreement Officer USAID/Dominican Republic Regional Office of Acquisition and Assistance

SECTION I: RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

The Objective of this RFI is to collect input from industry that can be used to refine the design of a potential activity focused on gang prevention. USAID/ESC is looking for best practices, qualitative assessments, impact evaluations, examples of evidence-based policy and approaches to addressing youth involvement in gangs and gang related violence.

USAID/ESC is focusing on approaches that are evidence-based, flexible, and cost-efficient. In particular, USAID/ESC is interested in how to ensure sustainability in interventions - at all stages

- when they are managed by local organizations or government institutions.

Essentially, USAID/ESC is soliciting comments from companies and organizations with relevant development experience that will help the design and the likelihood of success of a new potential activity to tackle youth engagement in gangs or gang related activity in the Caribbean context. Furthermore, to maximize potential impact, USAID is also seeking feedback on a phased approach to institutionalize, operationalize, systematize and handover interventions to local organizations and host governments at various stages throughout the life of the Activity to ensure the sustainability of investments. Respondents must ensure that their comments are concise and specific to information included within the description above.

A. Response Format

When responding to the RFI, please ensure comments are concise and specific to the question asked. Please do not submit requests for funding or proposals/applications in response to this request as they will not receive a response.

1. Cover Page (1 page)

A cover page not to exceed one (1) page, that includes:

a. Organization name and address, including point of contact name and contact information;

b. Organization’s Unique Entity Identifier - if applicable;

c. Organization type - See list below:

1. U.S. Small Business concern

2. U.S. Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) concern

3. U.S. SDB concern eligible for participation in the U.S. Small Business

Administration's 8(a) program

4. U.S. HUBZone Small Business concern

5. U.S. Veteran-Owned Small Business concern

6. U.S. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business concern

7. U.S. Women-Owned Small Business concern

8. U.S. Economically-Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business concern

9. Other types of organization (e.g., Non-U.S., non-profit, public or private university, non-governmental organization, social enterprise, civil society organization, etc.)

2. Organization Capacity Statement (1 page) Please provide a brief capacity statement of your organization, aligning it to the presented requirement (See Section III for Concept Note). Please note that some of the questions of point 3 under A. Response Format, are related to your organization’s capacity. You may reference the questions in this section. (1 page)

3. Questions and Comments on the Draft Concept Note (5 pages maximum)

Procurement/Characteristics of the Award

a. Unforeseen opportunities or emergencies may entail implementing activities with new or additional locations, goals, partners, or other emerging stakeholders in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. How would you advise incorporating this flexibility within this potential award? Please note that the countries in the ESC region are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas; Barbados; Dominica; Grenada;

Guyana; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and The Grenadines;

Suriname; and Trinidad and Tobago.

b. This Award is being developed through an innovative partnership with USAID’s Office of the Chief Economist. As part of this partnership, the Award will involve a third-party impact evaluation led by an academic researcher. What questions would be most appropriate to focus the impact evaluation on? What subjects are to be prioritized? What steps should USAID take in the design of the award to ensure it is able to produce robust evidence in conjunction with the third party researcher?

Programmatic

c. What initiatives, if any, have you worked on to build the capacity of local organizations and host governments to increase access to viable pathways for gang-involved youth to reintegrate them into society and reduce recidivism?

i. How are you or have you measured the impact of those initiatives?

d. Have you been engaged in any anti-gang work focused on youth? If yes, please describe where, the work, key challenges and how these were mitigated. Have you noticed differences by age or some other factor in how youth are able to disengage from gangs? Have you produced any evaluation reports/appraisals of such interventions that can be shared?

e. What are key barriers facing youth who want to disengage from gangs? What are the incentives (if any)?

f. What networks or institutions do you think could be reinforced to facilitate increased resilience of at-risk youths?

g. Who are the key stakeholders that should be involved in the implementation of this Activity, including from government, civil society, community leaders, business communities, and affected populations?

h. Given the resources available, which populations should USAID prioritize for this tertiary prevention activity to maximize impact? Per the USAID Crime and Violence Prevention For At -Risk Youth Handbook for practitioners, tertiary populations may include former youth offenders, violent and/or crime-involved youth, gang-involved youth, and youth offenders (both serving sentences and involved in judicial processes).

i. Given the resources available, what types of interventions should USAID prioritize for this tertiary prevention Activity to maximize impact? Intervention types may include family-based, community-based, facility-based, or reentry. Are there other types of interventions that USAID should consider? Are there opportunities for school-based or educational activities?

j. How can USAID most effectively engage the justice sector in promoting tertiary violence prevention?

k. What opportunities exist for USAID to undertake facilities-based tertiary violence prevention interventions? What are the most effective tertiary violence activities that USAID can implement in these settings? Are there opportunities for violence intervention and gang desistance activities in this space? What are the risks associated with these types of interventions?

l. How can we ensure sustainability of proven interventions in beneficiary countries?

m. How can the private sector engage to support tertiary violence prevention activities? Are you aware of promising examples of private sector engagement on tertiary prevention from the Caribbean region?

n. What opportunities exist to work regionally to promote effective tertiary violence prevention interventions. How can this Activity engage local community based and faith based organizations to achieve the stated objectives?

https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA021Q9V.pdf https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA021Q9V.pdf

o. What experience does your organization have in achieving the anticipated results?

p. What experience does your organization have working in the geographic area of focus?

q. Describe your organization's experience working with a risk-needs responsivity model, or other similar approaches to identify and deliver differentiated services.

r. In addition to the specific questions requested above, please outline any general program recommendations, relevant context, existing capacities, or other information pertinent to the design of this activity you would like to share. See Section III Concept Note for further context.

SECTION II. FURTHER SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

a. Please send responses to this RFI via email to the addresses listed on the cover page by the closing date listed. The responses should include 3 sections: 1. Cover Page, 2.

Organization Capacity Statement, 3. Answers to Questions and Comments on the Draft Concept Note. Please keep your responses to no more than seven (7) pages total in length, Calibri font. Font Size should not be less than 10 pt. USAID values concise, issue-specific comments. We appreciate that respondents support their approaches/claims with research and citations and to consider local communities, women, youth, and other marginalized and/or under-represented groups in their responses. To expedite USAID’s review and in consideration of your time, please adhere to the page limits specified above. Any pages beyond the 7 requested may not be reviewed. Responses must be submitted in English. Please number each page consecutively and please relate your responses to each question included in Section I of this RFI.

b. Please be reminded that you will only receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. No feedback or debrief will be provided on comments received. Phone calls or hard copy responses will not be accepted.

SECTION III. CONCEPT NOTE

1. BACKGROUND

The UNODC’s 2023 report1 on crime in Latin America and the Caribbean noted that the Caribbean is experiencing a dramatic increase in homicidal violence in recent years, largely associated with intense competition between gangs over drug markets. To better understand the nature and drivers of this problem specific to our region, USAID/ESC conducted a regional Criminal Dynamics Study (hereafter referred to as the Study). The Study gauged the magnitude of the problem based on an in-depth literature review spanning over two decades to identify programming gaps and opportunities as well as provide recommendations.

This Study, in addition to law enforcement data, corroborated the UNODC report which revealed that an alarming and persistent number of youth have increasingly joined gangs in the past ten years. Recruitment occurs online, in schools, in communities, and in prisons. Using the evidence from this Study, the Design Team therefore proposes an Activity to be implemented in targeted countries where gang related crime and violence is surging. Below are key findings from the Study that will inform this new activity. Based on police data for ESC countries, there is a notable increase in violent gang-related crimes. The nature and prevalence of criminal activities vary from country to country, and may include firearms, drugs, human trafficking, murder for hire, kidnapping, extortion, and robberies. The fight for turf and inter-gang warfare are also key factors contributing to high homicide rates.

In some countries, like Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), gangs allegedly have connections with politicians, and access to state funding through government-issued contracts. Gangs leverage these contracts to solidify their hold through community projects thereby winning the trust and confidence of community members. State-run and non-government interventions designed to tackle gangs are limited, and existing programs do not address the key push and pull factors that result in youth joining gangs.

The Study findings present some key common characteristics across ESC countries that profile youth involved in gangs. For example, common individual-level risk factors for gang involvement include being a young male, low educational attainment, prior contact with the law, engaging in risk seeking behavior, and having experienced adverse “traumatic” childhood experiences including having been exposed to violence, and/or having experienced psychological, sexual or physical abuse. At the family/relationship level, common risk factors include growing up in a single parent home, with low parental oversight, and negative family and peer influences.

1 Homicide and Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNODC 2023 https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/2023/GSH_2023_LAC_web.pdf

The Study identified an emerging role of females in gangs as co-leaders and advisors.

Girls also play an indirect role in gang recruitment, as young men cited one of the reasons for joining gangs is to attract the opposite sex. In prisons, incarcerated youth are being recruited into gangs due to exposure, the need for protection and security, and for financial benefits. Due to limited rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities, gang membership is solidified when youth are released. Police Forces are also grappling with curbing gang violence, detecting, apprehending, and convicting gang leaders and its members despite existing gang laws in some countries. Poor evidence gathering; lack of intelligence led operations; and detection rates as low as 12 percent create a rife environment for gangs to operate with impunity. Gangs are using online platforms to influence, operate and communicate to its rivals as well as existing and potential members. Gangs are infiltrating the entertainment industry by promoting violent music created by its members and prom “entertainers''. This worrying trend is contributing to transnational gang-related crime, and expanded gang networks across the region.

2. GOAL

Youth leaving gangs have a viable pathway leading them to fulfilling lives and contributing positively to society.

3. OBJECTIVE:

The Activity’s objective is to provide gang-involved youth with tailored interventions that reduce their risks of re-engaging with gangs and incentivize youth against joining gangs, and lead them to positive life outcomes. To achieve this, the Activity may:

a. Pilot, test, identify, and implement effective individualized case management approaches for gang-involved youth.

b. Pilot tailored interventions to address gang-related risk factors for school students.

c. Strengthen State and NGO capability to implement anti-gang evidence-based interventions.

d. Reduce youth involvement in gangs by piloting a prison anti-gang rehabilitation and re-entry program.

e. Improve national and regional gang related security information sharing and coordination to strategically address gang-related transnational crime.

f. Suppress gang violence by de-escalating inter-gang rivalry; strengthening information sharing; improving gang monitoring among law enforcement agencies; and building capacity for effective apprehending and prosecuting of gang leaders and members.

4. LENGTH AND AMOUNT

USAID/ESC estimates that this will be a five-year Activity (2025-2030) with a total estimated amount not to exceed $10 million over the period of the award. Subject to funds availability.

5. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

Using the USAID Study’s statistical data (e.g., murder rates, number of gangs and members, number and type of gang related crimes committed, public perception of gangs, etc), USAID grouped countries in the region into three categories: (1) Low gang prevalence countries: Guyana, Suriname, and Dominica; (2) Medium gang prevalence countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and Grenada; and (3) High gang presence countries: T&T, SKN, The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Saint Lucia (SLU). This Activity will be implemented in up to three countries, based on the available budget of $10M. Considerations include:

a. Trinidad and Tobago: There is a potential for residual positive impact on both national and transnational crime if effective suppression and rehabilitation/reentry interventions are employed by the criminal justice system.

Early apprehension of gangs in schools and targeted communities, and enhancing the Trinidad and Tobago Police capabilities will assist in curbing gang introductions into the island.

b. Saint Kitts and Nevis: Their small population and high concentration of gangs situated in specific parishes presents an opportunity for USAID to make a significant impact at the national level.

c. Saint Lucia: Escalating gang rivalry has a high probability of reaching crisis levels if left unchecked. Interventions aimed at curbing gang violence in communities and schools and adopting a customized youth case management approach to remove youth from gangs can assist in derailing gang influence.

d. St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Escalating gang rivalry has a high probability of reaching crisis levels if left unchecked. Interventions aimed at curbing gang violence in communities and schools and adopting a customized youth case management approach to remove youth from gangs can assist in derailing gang influence.

The number and specific countries where the work may take place may change based on the availability of funding and new or additional data.

6. RESOURCES:

This Activity contributes to the Mission’s Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (RDCS) (2020-2025). Specifically, this activity supports the achievement of Development Objective (DO) 1, Intermediate Result (IR) 1.2, and DO 2, (IR) 2.1. It also directly contributes to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) Pillar 3 Development Objective: Youth Crime and Violence Prevented throughout the Caribbean, IR 1: Youth Crime and Violence Prevented in Targeted Communities and IR 2: Institutions' Effective Response to Growing Crime and Violence.

7. CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

a. Youth, gender, local partner engagement, and private sector engagement are key cross cutting issues that will be integrated into the Activity design process.

b. Digital technologies will be important for managing and sharing data and considering alternative activities and careers for youth.

8. PARTNERSHIPS AND CATALYTIC PROGRAMMING

Private sector businesses are often reluctant to support high risk-youth who have interacted with the justice system. The potential partnership(s) and role(s) they could play will be defined during the consultation process. A recent USAID-funded study identified gaps in donor programming around gangs in the selected countries. Any information regarding current or planned interventions that target gang-involved youth supported by international donors would be welcomed.

9. LOCALIZATION AND NEW PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVES

USAID/ESC is striving to increase its outreach to local organizations and communities.

This Activity is expected to ensure a local systems approach is considered.

[END OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION]