SOL-522-15-000002 _RFI-Secondary_Prevention.pdf

January 30, 2015

SPECIAL NOTICE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Issuance Date: January 26, 2015

Solicitation Number: SOL-522-15-000002

Notice Type: Special Notice – Request for Information (RFI)

Subject: USAID/Honduras Country Development Strategy (CDCS)

Issuance Date: January 30, 2015

Closing Date: February 20, 2015

This is a Request for Information (RFI) pursuant to FAR Part 15.201(c), (d) and (f) and FAR

Part 10.002 (b)(2)(iii). The purpose of this RFI is to:

invite comments regarding acquisition strategy (including contract type, terms and conditions, and acquisition planning schedules); feasibility of the requirement

(including performance requirements, statements of work, and data requirements);

the suitability of the proposal instructions and evaluation criteria, including the approach for assessing past performance information; the availability of reference documents; and any other concerns or questions; and improve the understanding of Government requirements and industry capabilities, thereby allowing potential offerors to judge whether or how they can satisfy the

Government’s requirements, and enhancing USAID/Honduras’ ability to obtain quality services at reasonable prices.

An additional purpose of this RFI is to increase the efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation, negotiation, and contract award in the event USAID/Honduras elects to issue a solicitation requesting proposals. However, this is an RFI, not Request for Proposals (RFP), and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue any solicitation or ultimately award a contract on the basis of this RFI, nor to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of any comments. Proprietary information should not be sent. USAID may use any information provided without incurring any obligations.

Submit comments to this RFI to Raphael Metzger, Contracting Officer, USAID/Honduras at oaahonduras@usaid.gov. Comments received prior to February 20, 2015 are more likely to receive consideration during mission planning.

Sincerely, Raphael Metzger

Contracting Officer

USAID/Honduras mailto:oaahonduras@usaid.gov

Draft Scope of Work Secondary Prevention Activity in Honduras

January 30, 2015

I. Summary

This activity is an expansion of the current secondary prevention pilot activity that is part of the Honduras Mission’s programming under the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). It will identify youth between the ages 8-17 that are at higher risk of engaging in criminal behavior determine their eligibility for individual and family counseling services. In addition, this activity will ensure that those eligible for social services are referred to existing service providers or, if necessary, develop these services as part of the activity. The $10.0 million, two-year activity will respond to USAID/Honduras’ place-based violence prevention strategy and expand coverage to more youth and more communities in the five municipalities with the highest crime rates. The activity will help create family support networks; establish working partnerships with health and education service providers; and establish strategic linkages with civil society organizations, private sector, and other USAID-funded activities to increase services for eligible youth and their families. It will also create a new cadre of family counselors in collaboration with academic institutions and/or professional associations that will enable quality counselling services to be provided to the target number of youth. In addition, a grant fund will be established to facilitate the necessary service provision within the target communities by creating community services or linkages to existing service providers that will in turn build local partner capacity in this endeavor.

II. Background

Honduras is the most violent country in the Western Hemisphere based on 2013 crime data. In response to this reality and related regional security challenges, the United States and the governments of Central America and Mexico have launched a joint effort to improve citizen security and the rule of law in the region and to create opportunities for youth at risk. USAID/Honduras has developed a strategy focusing in increasing citizen security targeting this vulnerable population.

The bulk of USAID/Honduras’ current programming focuses on primary prevention activities. However, the new citizen security strategy will emphasize secondary and tertiary violence prevention activities needed in target communities. In 2012, USAID established an agreement with the city of Los Angeles to adapt their secondary prevention programming in Central American countries. USAID/Honduras started a secondary prevention pilot in December 2013 called “PROPONTE”; it is a separate component under the Honduras Youth Alliance (Alianza Jovén Honduras) Program (AJH) implemented through a cooperative agreement with Creative Associates International. This secondary prevention pilot is an adaptation of the secondary prevention model developed by the Municipal Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) in Los Angeles and adapted for use in Honduras. The model selects participants through a risk assessment tool, called the Youth Service Eligibility Tool (YSET) developed by the University of Southern California and used by the GRYD office in Los Angeles. The tool was designed to identify empirically derived risk factors for gang joining and is followed by a seven-phase family centered approach to achieve a reduction of those risk factors.

At-risk youth are initially identified using the YSET- I tool. If eligible, these at-risk youth receive family-centered services for six months and then are re-evaluated through the use of the YSET-R to determine the reduction in the risk factors identified in the initial assessment. This expanded secondary prevention intervention will serve as a vehicle to understand the most critical risk factors in the Honduras context, to refer at-risk youth eligible for other prevention services available through alternate USAID or other programming, and inform other USAID program strategies related to secondary prevention.

III. Program Description

USAID recognizes that identifying higher-risk youth is critical to lowering crime and violence rates in the most dangerous neighborhoods within CARSI-targeted municipalities. Secondary prevention for youth between the ages of 8-17 is a new approach in Honduras mostly due to the lack of information on this subject and outdated curriculums in the schools of social work and psychology at Honduras Universities.

Based on lessons learned from the current USAID-funded pilot and successes gained after 20 years of implementing in Los Angeles, USAID/Honduras wishes to expand current secondary prevention activities to more youth and their families in new locations and help establish a network of family support services known to reduce their risk factors for committing and being victims of violent acts.

Youth benefiting from this program will be eligible to receive secondary prevention services as provided by the implementer in alliance with other locally-based programs, GOH provided services, and USAID-funded CARSI programs. Said services will support an integrated development plan to reduce risk factors. Secondary prevention is a key part of USAID’s place-based strategy, which focuses resources on specific locations and the specific population at higher risk and vulnerability within CARSI municipalities.

This targeted approach will also emphasize improved access to specific quality services that improve protective factors to communities, families and individuals in these selected locations.

A. Expected Results

Result One: At-risk youth receiving secondary prevention services in target locations

Research conducted in the United States, specifically in Los Angeles and Chicago, demonstrates that a focused approach on specific individuals at higher risk of committing violent acts yields positive outcomes in violence reduction within their families and their communities. It emphasizes the acquisition of adequate attitudes, behaviors, and skills as a buffer against delinquent behavior.

Secondary prevention programs – such as the model adapted to the Honduran context utilizing the YSET tool – are one way to address the growing violence problem in the most insecure neighborhoods in CARSI municipalities.

The current PROPONTE pilot is implemented in five communities in Tegucigalpa. Expansion of secondary prevention services for at-risk youth using identification tools (such as the YSET piloted in Honduras, genograms, etc.) in two other cities, La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula, in a minimum of seven new communities is required for the first year of implementation, with the possibility of adding on communities in the cities of Tela and Choloma with additional funds. Communities will be selected by USAID based on the criteria established for the place-based strategy. The Rivera Hernandez and Chamelecón districts of San Pedro Sula must be included in the list of new communities.

The referral process is a critical component of the methodology (i.e. communities and other partners must successfully identify and refer at-risk youth who are good candidates for the application of the YSET tool). Therefore it is necessary for community partners and service providers to be engaged in greater numbers and with an enhanced understanding of the identification methodology and secondary prevention model. This is the most effective way to dramatically increase the number of at-risk youth to be identified and thus targeted with specific secondary prevention services. In addition, selected GOH service providers in target locations will be trained to administer the YSET tool (or similar) in order to increase local partner capacity to identify higher risk youth.

Performance of this result will be assessed by the following measures:

• At a minimum, 800 referred youth benefiting from secondary prevention services

• At a minimum, seven new communities in targeted locations within the first year of implementation. Two of these communities must be within the Rivera Hernandez and Chamelecón districts of San Pedro Sula.

• Percentage increase of youth identified through referrals from targeted partners

• Number of selected GOH service providers capable of administering the YSET (or similar) tool in selected locations

Result Two: Support services provided for eligible youth and their families in targeted location

Lessons learned from the current secondary prevention pilot program have highlighted the need to provide additional services to individuals and their families as part of the secondary prevention interventions. Given the nature of the targeted communities, the challenges faced in accessing these communities during non-office hours, and other circumstances, these services require a degree of community embedding or anchoring that had not been foreseen in the current pilot. Therefore, a family support network will be needed in each targeted community to ensure adequate services can be provided to individuals and families in crisis as needed. The family support network will be tailored to existing resources in the communities but should encompass support services directly related to USG or non USG-funded secondary prevention services. Said support services, created for or provided by the implementer themselves, other USAID-funded programs, or existing services identified from the GOH through alliances, may include: individual and family counseling; academic support; mentoring; access to formal or non-formal education; access to public health services, including mental health; fast-tracking to workforce development opportunities; targeted economic support for emergency situations;

and other targeted services in support of an integrated development plan to reduce risk factors. The implementer should emphasize locally and/or GOH provided services to ensure continuity of services and sustainability of the family support network. A grant fund will be established to ensure that services are being provided, created and serviced by the implementer or sub-grantee to another service provider established as part of the family support network.

In addition, youth that do not test eligible but are otherwise identified for either primary or tertiary prevention will be referred to the existing services for their specific needs. Additional alliance building and communication may be necessary to establish working relationships between primary and tertiary services and justice sector operators in target communities to ensure adequate services to the youth identified through this process are being provided.

Performance of this result will be assessed by the following measures:

• Number of locally delivered services as part of the individualized treatment plan (disaggregated by type of service, e.g. health and education)

• Number of partners engaged in providing prevention and reintegration services through alliances

• At a minimum, one family support network established per target community

• Number of sub-grants allocated to service providers within the family support network

• Number of youth identified for primary and/or tertiary prevention services referred to other existing services in targeted locations

Result Three: Cadre of family counselors established

Honduras has a robust number of existing professionals with pedagogical, social work and psychological degrees; however, there is very little experience in family counseling and in conflict-like situations such as those faced by these targeted communities. Furthermore, the experience of these types of professionals is mostly clinical rather than contextual. It has also been evident that within the most crime-ridden communities, there are clearly identified individuals that either through interpersonal skills or due to their vocation (faith-based leaders, community leaders, etc.) provide speculative counseling which could sometimes lead to misinformed advice to individuals or families in crisis. An expanded secondary prevention program will (amongst others) require an influx of lay and professional family counselors that clearly understand the basic principles of secondary prevention work, and are therefore certified to provide the type of family counseling services in close coordination with other service providers in the community to ensure that a family support network is clearly identifiable by beneficiaries. Participants for this cadre of family counselors could be identified in the target communities, as existing counselors within public schools and community health centers, through professional associations of social work and psychologists, in academia, or as they are about to graduate from university studies. Partnerships with international and national universities will need to be established in order to create the tailored curriculum for certification programs, associate degree or post-graduate programs as well as the national university curriculum revisions necessary to develop qualified professionals in Honduras. Scholarships, work-study programs or other means to have working professionals within six months of project start up can be considered.

Result Four: Community-based secondary prevention model established

USAID/Honduras recognizes the groundbreaking work in the current secondary prevention pilot . It is therefore critical to ensure adequate documentation and scientific rigor in measuring results and impact of this model as it is being implemented. A comprehensive systematization of the experience is necessary, including the collection of baseline data, the need for a treatment and control group that will allow internal or external sound evaluation methodologies to validate this model for the Honduran context. The evidence gathered throughout implementation will be critical for violence prevention through policy dialogue, curriculum development, and resource allocation from USAID, GOH, local partners and other donors in this field. International research partners should work with local academia and/or research partners in order to create local capacity in performance and impact assessment methodologies.

Performance of this result will be assessed by the following measures:

• Systematization of the secondary prevention experience (including a tool kit that could aid replication of experiences) documented and disseminated.

• Calibration of the YSET tool and any other diagnostic tool utilized throughout the secondary prevention interventions

• Baseline data gathered

• Evaluation methodologies implemented that effectively measure change in risk factors

• Treatment and control groups established homogenously to ensure scientific rigor

• Number of local research partners significantly involved in secondary prevention intervention assessments

B. Expected Approach

The implementer will work with international expertise and local resources to ensure maximum sustainability of each result. This may include direct coordination and collaboration with community organizations, faith based organizations, other USAID-funded initiatives, and local government or other GOH service providers.

The results described herein are considered the first phase of the expanded, secondary prevention programming for the target communities. Based on performance, USAID may exercise the option of adding additional funds and extending for a maximum of up to five years to continue building on success and relationships established through this intervention.

Geographic Scope: USAID will focus on up to three municipalities for this proposed expansion of the secondary prevention services: Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba. Special attention will be made in communities within these municipalities that evidence the most critical crime and violence statistics in which secondary prevention is deemed feasible. That will include the five current communities in Tegucigalpa in which secondary prevention activities take place, as well as a minimum of seven new communities in two other cities, La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula. Two of these communities must be within the Rivera Hernandez and Chamelecón districts of San Pedro Sula.

IV. Expected timeframe The estimated timeframe for the life of the program is 24 months from the signing date. However, USAID may extend the period of performance up to three additional years.

Independent Government Cost Estimate

YEAR 1 YEAR 2 TOTAL

Result 1 2,000,000.00 1,400,000.00 3,400,000.00

Result 2 1,500,000.00 1,000,000.00 2,500,000.00

Result 3 2,000,000.00 1,500,000.00 3,500,000.00

Result 4 350,000.00 250,000.00 600,000.00

Total Per Year 5,850,000.00 4,150,000.00 10,000,000.00

Goal: A more prosperous and safer Honduras that advances inclusive social and economic development among vulnerable populations

DO1: Citizen security increased for vulnerable populations in urban, high-crime areas

IR 1.1: Resilience of communities and individuals to crime increased

Sub-IR 1.1.1: Community structures that mitigate against crime improved

DO2: Extreme poverty sustainably reduced for vulnerable populations in Western Honduras

Sub-IR 1.1.2: Quality services that protect against violence increased

IR 1.2:

Performance of national and municipal justice and security systems improved

Sub-IR 1.2.1: Citizen engagement with the justice and security sectors improved

Sub-IR 1.2.2: Efficiency of security and justice systems improved

Sub-IR 1.2.3: Effective community police presence increased

IR 2.1:

Resilience of livelihoods increased

Sub-IR 2.1.1: Natural resource management and biodiversity protection improved

Sub-IR 2.1.2: Adaptation of poor household to climate risks increased

IR 2.2:

Incomes

Increased

Sub-IR 2.2.1: Agricultural productivity improved

Sub-IR 2.2.2: Market demand and access increased

IR 2.3: Human capital improved, with a focus on children

Sub-IR 2.3.1: Basic education and nutrition service delivery improved

Sub-IR 2.3.2: Local service management systems improved

USAID/Honduras FY 2015-2019 Country Development Cooperation Strategy Results Framework

CDCS OVERVIEW

Honduras’ fragile democracy is increasingly threatened by alarming levels of crime and violence, high levels of poverty and food insecurity, and generally weak governance. These threats to citizen security and economic development are so severe that the Government of Honduras (GOH) has requested outside assistance to address them, through the Central American Alliance for Prosperity plan. Failure to adequately counter these threats directly impacts U.S. security and other national interests. USAID/Honduras will help Honduras to improve citizen security and human rights, strengthen economic performance, reduce poverty, and fortify its democratic institutions.

The USAID/Honduras Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for FYs 2015-19 seeks as a goal a more prosperous and safer Honduras that advances inclusive social and economic development among vulnerable populations. USAID/Honduras’ emphasis extends to the social and economic development of vulnerable populations within Honduras to ensure that the economic trajectory of the country is not only upward but also equitable, inclusive, and sustainable.

In pursuit of this goal, USAID collaborates and coordinates with other USG agencies such as the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the Departments of Agriculture and the Treasury, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as well as USG security and defense agencies. The success of this strategy also relies upon strong partnerships with the GOH at national and local levels, community organizations and civil society, and the private sector.

In Honduras, transnational gangs and narcotics traffickers commit crime and violence in an environment of widespread impunity, creating a pervasive sense of citizen insecurity. Criminal activities have escalated to critical levels, especially along the north coast, drug transit routes, and larger cities. The United Nations reports that in 2013 Honduras had the highest murder rate in the world, at 79 killings per 100,000 inhabitants - an average of 18 murders a day. In addition, Honduras also has a high prevalence of many other types of crime, such as extortion, domestic violence, and trafficking in persons. Crime and violence cost the country 9.6 percent of its gross domestic product. This has an incalculable effect on the potential growth of Honduras’ business sector, erodes the legitimacy and authority of government institutions, and threatens the protection of basic human rights.

Nationally, two-thirds of Hondurans live in poverty and an astounding 40 percent live in extreme poverty. Poverty robs Hondurans of the opportunity to lead productive lives, and its consequences, such as malnutrition, severely impact the development trajectory of the next generation. Some 23 percent of children under-five years of age suffer from chronic malnutrition and its effect on their future cognitive capacity. Approximately 30 percent of the Honduran population lacks access to permanent, quality health services. Additionally, less than one-third of children who complete primary school meet grade level standards and only about 10 percent of public school students finish high school.

Programmatically, USAID/Honduras will focus on two Development Objectives (DOs): (1) citizen security increased for vulnerable populations in urban, high-crime areas, (2) extreme poverty sustainably reduced for vulnerable populations in Western Honduras. The prioritization of these two DOs is the result of extensive analysis and evaluation, and is shaped by USAID’s core values as well as expected resource levels.

DO1 programs will concentrate in high-density urban areas with notably high crime rates.

These include Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Choloma, Tela, and La Ceiba. Those populations most vulnerable to crime and violence in Honduras are to be empowered with resources and opportunities to reduce their risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of crime or violence in their communities. Under DO1, USAID will scale-up successful programs such as community policing, outreach centers which provide educational and off-street social opportunities for at risk youth, community infrastructure that mitigates crime, expansion of middle and high school opportunities and classroom infrastructure, social services to address household and gender based violence, and public financial management in the GOH security and justice agencies.

USAID programs will help authorities recover areas taken over by gangs and restore proper functioning of civil administration. This urban approach has been shown to be effective in pilot areas, both in terms of cost and sustainability. Narco-trafficking routes will be mostly excluded to avoid duplication of effort with other entities.

While USAID/Honduras recognizes extreme poverty can be found throughout the country, activities under DO2 will be strategically focused on the six western departments, given the severe poverty, under-nutrition, and low education indicators in this geographic area. USAID-funded contractors will expand technical agricultural extension activities that substantially increase yields of basic grains, introduce high value horticulture crops, including coffee, improve marketing opportunities, and provide off-farm employment. Biodiversity and climate change adaptation will be advanced through watershed management activities that protect habitats and forests as well as by creating water harvesting systems. Basic education will focus on early grade reading, and where possible on increasing student access to 7-9th grades. Local governments will be encouraged to improve services for their constituents. This five–year period will result in a reduction of both the number of families living on less than $1.25 per day per person (the international poverty level) and suffering malnutrition, as well as increased school completion rates and local government capacity. Overall, DO2 activities will be designed so that the poor will acquire the tools to sustainably increase their incomes through improved resource management and human capacity. National-level institutions will be assisted to scale-up and become more effective in the region, in many cases by decentralizing authority to local governments and institutions.

The two DOs incorporate a well-reasoned mix of short- and long-term strategies to address the fundamental root causes of crime, violence, and poverty. Guided by USAID’s principles to maximize our impact through more strategic, focused, and result-oriented approaches, USAID/Honduras will strengthen integration among democracy and governance, health, economic growth, education, and CARSI (Central America Regional Security Initiative) activities which all contribute to crime prevention under DO1 and poverty reduction under DO2. This CDCS is a living document that will be adapted to a progressive learning agenda, changes in the Honduran environment, as well as USG policies and resource availability.