[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16562-16566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6849]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
National Institute of Corrections
Solicitation for a Cooperative Agreement--Curriculum Development
for MET, ECCP, and ICMS Training Project
AGENCY: National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice.
ACTION: Solicitation for a cooperative agreement.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is soliciting
proposals from organizations, groups, partnerships of organization and
groups, or individuals to enter into a cooperative agreement for a 12-
month project period to develop curricula, pilot them, and participate
in the planning for the delivery of three closely related training
programs. These training programs, together with other training
components being developed separately, will ultimately be delivered at
the beginning of 2013 as part of the training correctional staff and
treatment providers will receive during the Second Chance Act/
Demonstration Field Experiment (SCA/DFE). This project is a joint
effort being carried out by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the
National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and NIC. To successfully integrate
the entire project, these three programs will be developed together and
piloted during the first 6 months of this award. Also during this six-
month period and for the remainder of the project, the awardee will
participate in the planning for the delivery of each training component
to staff and treatment providers at the DFE sites.
The three training curricula to be developed under this award are
as follows:
Training 1
The first training to be developed will be Effective Core
Correctional Practices (ECCP), which will be based on similar programs
developed in recent years (such as STICS, EPICS, STARR and the like).
This competency-based curriculum will be used to train line level staff
using an integrated case management approach within a desistance
framework in working with parolees.
Training 2
The second training will focus on the basics of Integrated Case
Management and Supervision (ICMS), with an additional focus on
supervision officers working with community service providers to
coordinate and track services received by parolees.
Training 3
The third training will be on the use of Motivational Enhancement
Therapy (MET) by treatment providers working with parolees. This
revised MET curriculum will be an adaptation of the traditional MET's
emphasis on substance abuse to include a broader focus on criminal
thinking and behavior.
The SCA/DFE will be a multi-year effort and awardees under this
solicitation will also be eligible to continue to participate in the
project with additional funding to be awarded in 2013. Tasks under that
future award will include training delivery, quality assurance, follow-
up coaching, refresher training, monitoring the fidelity of the
training, and other technical assistance to the SCA/DFE sites. Because
the selection of the SCA/DFE sites is ongoing, the details of these
tasks will be defined as part of the planning process which will in
turn inform the future work.
DATES: Applications must be received by 4 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 23,
2012.
Submissions: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their
proposals electronically via http://www.grants.gov. Applications may
also be submitted to: Director, National
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Institute of Corrections, 320 First Street NW., Room 5002, Washington,
DC 20534. Applicants submitting proposals non-electronically should
provide an original and three unbound copies of all documents. The
original proposal should be submitted with the applicant's signatures
in blue ink. Applicants are encouraged to use Federal Express, UPS, or
similar service to ensure delivery by the due date. Faxed applications
will not be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All technical or programmatic
questions concerning this announcement, including additional
information about the background or format of the training, should be
directed to Christopher A. Innes, Ph.D., Chief, Research and
Information Services Division, National Institute of Corrections. He
can be reached by calling (202) 514-0098 or by email at [email protected].
Questions, answers, and additional information on this solicitation
will be posted and updated regularly on http://nicic.gov/ during the
time this solicitation remains open.
Related Solicitation
Please note that NIC has issued a second separate, but closely
related solicitation titled, ``Development of Core Correctional
Practice Curriculum'' which concerns the development of blended
learning materials for ECCP training. Two separate awards will be made
through these two solicitations. Applicants may submit a separate
proposal in response to the second solicitation, but the award under
this solicitation will be made independently and each project will be
managed separately.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Justice Assistance issued a
request for proposals titled, ``Second Chance Act Demonstration Field
Experiment: Fostering Desistance through Effective Supervision'',
seeking agencies interested in participating in an innovative
intervention using a desistance approach as part of a randomized
controlled trial experiment in prisoner reentry. BJA anticipates that
it will make awards to up to four sites for what is expected to be a
three-year project. The selection of the demonstration sites is in
progress and sites will be expected to fully implement the intervention
early in 2013. The BJA solicitation closed on February 23, 2012 and the
applications from the sites to participate in the project are under
review. Applicants responding to this solicitation are strongly
encouraged to familiarize themselves with the description of the
project and research design in the BJA solicitation. Please visit the
Office of Justice Programs (OJP) SCA DFE site at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/scadfe.htm and for the full text of the BJA
solicitation, see: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/12SecondChanceDFEsol.pdf.
Please note that the BJA solicitation provided specific numbers of
days expected for the on-site training. However, the length of each
training program is subject to modification as necessary. Applicant
should propose training program designs that are of adequate length to
deliver the program content, but are encouraged to consider blended
learning strategies to keep the on-site portion of the training to a
reasonable limit.
The SCA/DFE is a multi-site, multi-year project that will provide a
rigorous test of a reentry model designed to: (1) Improve offenders'
motivation to change; (2) address cognitive and behavioral functioning
regarding criminal thinking and behaviors; and (3) address core factors
that affect offender performance while under community supervision
following release from prison. For this project, only offenders who are
assessed as moderate- to high-risk for re-offending will be recruited
to participate. To qualify for a SCA/DFE award, sites must have in
place a reentry program that includes assessing offenders and using the
results to tailor reentry plans to individuals.
As described in the BJA solicitation, NIC has the responsibility of
organizing and delivering all of the training for line staff and
community-based service providers. Line staff will receive ECCP
training (training 1), which should include skills building in
relationships, coaching, problem-solving, motivational enhancement,
role clarification and the use of authority, and using reinforcement
and disapproval effectively. Line staff will also receive training in
the key elements from the ICMS approach (training 2) that are
focused on using risk and needs assessments to match appropriate
treatment or programming options, coordinated services, follow-up, and
community collaboration.
Treatment providers will receive training on using MET in working
with parolees (training 3). Both groups will receive education
and training in the desistence model (this training is being developed
under a separate cooperative agreement). All of the training developed
under this award will also be designed to complement NIC's Thinking for
a Change (T4C) cognitive behavioral training program. NIC has recently
revised the T4C training (see http://nicic.gov/T4c for full information
on this training). In the SCA/DFE design, parolees will receive the T4C
program as part of the intervention (that training will be delivered by
NIC), in conjunction with MET.
The SCA/DFE project sites will also receive program quality
assurance assessment, and feedback/coaching or technical assistance as
needed throughout the project. Awardees under this solicitation will
participate in the planning for the coordination and delivery of these
additional services and will also be eligible to receive future funding
to assist in the delivery of these services to the SCA/DFE sites.
Statement of Work
(1) Design and pilot a curriculum for Effective Core Correctional
Practices (ECCP) Training: The awardee under this solicitation will be
responsible for the development and piloting of an ECCP curriculum
designed to be delivered to staff at the SCA/DFE sites. In recent
years, several curricula have been developed to train line-level
correctional staff in working with people under correctional
supervision. These include Strategic Training Initiative in Community
Supervision (STICS) by Public Safety Canada, Effective Practices in
Community Supervision (EPICS) by the University of Cincinnati
Corrections Institute, and Strategic Techniques Aimed at Reducing Re-
arrest (STARR) from the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts, Office of Probation and Pretrial Services as well others. These
approaches for individual offender interventions use somewhat differing
combinations of cognitive-behavioral techniques, motivational
enhancement, cognitive restructuring, relationship building, and role
clarification. The ECCP training program to be developed by the awardee
under this solicitation will combine these elements and blend them with
ICMS approaches and the Desistance Model. The awardee under this
solicitation will develop both a curriculum and facilitators manual for
Training for Trainers (T4T) and the curriculum for the training program
the trainers will deliver to line staff.
(2) Design and pilot a curriculum for Integrated Case Management
(ICMS). The awardee under this solicitation will be responsible for the
development and piloting of an ICMS curriculum designed to be delivered
to staff at the SCA/DFE sites. The key elements from the ICMS approach
that are most important to the project are assessment, matching
treatment or programming, coordinated services, follow-up, and
community collaboration. The training
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should be modeled after NIC's Transition from Prison to the Community
Project's materials. These include the TPC Case Management Handbook: An
Integrated Case Management (ICM) Approach and the TPC Reentry Handbook:
Implementing the NIC Transition from Prison to the Community Model (see
http://nicic.gov/TPJC for both documents). The ICMS training program to
be developed by the awardee under this solicitation will combine these
elements and blend them with ECCP and the Desistance Model. The awardee
under this solicitation will develop both a curriculum and facilitators
manual for Training for Trainers (T4T) and the curriculum for the
training program the trainers will deliver to line staff.
(3) Design and pilot a curriculum for Motivational Enhancement
Training (MET): The awardee under this solicitation will be responsible
for the development and piloting of an MET curriculum designed to be
delivered to treatment providers at the SCA/DFE sites. Motivational
Enhancement Therapy (MET) is an approach that has proven effective,
particularly in working with people with substance abuse issues. It is
a short intervention that begins with the assumption that clients will
be better able to change their behavior when they develop a sense of
intrinsic motivation and feel themselves able to make significant
changes in their life. The approach is based primarily on Motivational
Interviewing techniques developed by William R. Miller and Stephen
Rollnick (1991). It is derived from a number of sources, including
stages of change theory (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1984), other
strength-based, client-centered approaches, and research on clinical
practices that are associated with client success.
In their book on the principles of motivational interviewing,
Miller and Rollnick identified five strategies to use in employing this
approach; (1) Expressing empathy and acceptance through respect and
support instead of confrontation; (2) helping clients see the contrast
between their behavior and their own desired goals; (3) avoiding
arguments by letting the client talk about changing; (4) managing
resistance by empathetically reflecting the client's resistance to
change; and (5) supporting self-efficacy by helping the client believe
that he or she can change.
MET was designed as a standardized approach in Project MATCH, a
nine-site clinical trial of patient-treatment matching sponsored by the
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (see Miller et al.,
1995). The MET strategy is not designed to train clients through a step
by step process of change. Instead, it can be used to prepare a client
for a more structured intervention to follow. The MET approach differs
from cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies that teach specific
skills and, in the SCA/DFE project, parolees will receive the Thinking
for a Change program while at the same time working with treatment
providers using skills they developed in the MET training. Under the
cooperative agreement to be awarded under this solicitation, the
awardee will develop a curriculum and assist in the planning for the
delivery of training, with follow up coaching as necessary, to the
treatment providers at each of the SCA/DFE sites. While the original
MET training focused on substance abuse issues, this curriculum should
be more broadly tailored to offenders. A typical MET intervention is
structured around four sessions with the client. The awardee under this
solicitation will work closely with NIC, the Federal partners, subject
matter experts, and the evaluation team to design an MET approach
appropriate for the SCA/DFE intervention which may differ from the
traditional four session structure. Applicants are encouraged to
include their ideas on this subject in their proposals.
The revised MET intervention developed under this solicitation
should be compatible with a focus on criminal thinking and behaviors to
blend seamlessly with the subject in NIC's T4C program (such as
antisocial/pro-criminal attitudes, values and beliefs; criminal
associates; temperament and personality factors; family factors; low
levels of education, vocational or financial achievement; and substance
use) and the other components of the intervention included in the ECCP
and crime desistance. The awardee under this solicitation will develop
both a curriculum and facilitators manual for Training for Trainers
(T4T) and the curriculum for the training program the trainers will
deliver to line staff. MET References: Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S.
(1991). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people to change addictive
behavior. New York: Guilford; Miller, W. R., Zweben, A., DiClemente, C.
C., & Rychtarik, R. G. (1995). Motivational enhancement therapy (MET)
manual. (Vol. 2). Project MATCH Monograph Series. Rockville, MD:
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Prochaska, J. O., &
DiClemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing
traditional boundaries of therapy. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
Tasks to be performed under this cooperative agreement include; (1)
Creation of curricula for ECCP training. The awardee under this
solicitation will develop both a trainer for trainers (T4T) program and
a training curriculum for line staff for the trainers to deliver on-
site. The curricula should allow for the use of blended elements,
including classroom or individual instruction, e-courses, virtual
instructor led training and coaching/feedback. The curriculum must use
NIC's Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) model (see http://nicic.gov/Training/NICWBT16 and http://nicic.gov/Library/010714). In
addition to developing the ECCP curricula, the awardee will also
develop and deliver a facilitator's manual and any other supplementary
material necessary for the delivery of the training.
(2) Creation of curricula for ICMS training. The awardee under this
solicitation will develop both a trainer for trainers (T4T) program and
a training curriculum for line staff for the trainers to deliver on-
site. The curricula should allow for the use of blended elements,
including classroom or individual instruction, e-courses, virtual
instructor led training and coaching/feedback. The curriculum must use
NIC's Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) model (see http://nicic.gov/Training/NICWBT16 and http://nicic.gov/Library/010714). In
addition to developing the ICMS curricula, the awardee will also
develop and deliver a facilitator's manual and any other supplementary
material necessary for the delivery of the training.
(3) Creation of a curriculum to train service providers in the use
of MET that can be delivered as on-site training. The awardee under
this solicitation will develop both a trainer for trainers (T4T)
program and a training curriculum for line staff for the trainers to
deliver. The curriculum should allow for the use of blended elements,
including classroom or individual instruction, e-courses, virtual
instructor led training, and coaching/feedback. The curriculum must use
NIC's Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) model (see http://nicic.gov/Training/NICWBT16 and http://nicic.gov/Library/010714). In
addition to developing the MET curricula, the awardee will also develop
and deliver a facilitator's manual and any other supplementary material
necessary for the delivery of the training. For the MET training, this
should include a revision of the personal feedback report commonly used
in MET sessions.
(4) Pilot testing of all of the curricula and revisions to each
curriculum after
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the pilot. The design of the pilots and curricula revisions will be
carried out in consultation with NIC and the other Federal partners,
subject matter experts, and the evaluation team.
(5) Development, in consultation with NIC staff, Federal partners,
subject matter experts, and the evaluation team, of instruments to aid
in the evaluation of the training under this project, including
knowledge tests.
(6) Participation in development and planning meetings with NIC
staff, Federal partners, subject matter experts, and the evaluation
team to coordinate the curriculum development and planning for training
delivery. Awardee expenses for these meeting are limited to the
awardee's own project team's costs of travel, lodging, meals,
incidental expenses, and compensation. Awardees should plan on up to
four, two-day meetings. (For budgeting purposes, applicants may assume
that 2 meetings will take place at the NIC National Corrections Academy
in Aurora, Colorado, and two at NIC's offices in Washington, DC) To
conform to DOJ rules, all project team members who may be attending
these planning meetings must be listed by name in the proposal.
Participation in other planning and coordination meetings will take
place as necessary throughout the life of the project through
teleconferences and WebEx meetings as required.
(7) Delivery of a full report on the project together with the
final, edited versions of all materials developed during the project in
a design and format appropriate for public dissemination. A draft of
these materials must be submitted prior to the end of the project and
follow NIC's specific requirements for documents or other media.
Specific Requirements: Documents or other media that are produced
under this award must follow these guidelines: Prior to the preparation
of the final draft of any document or other media, the awardee must
consult with NIC's Writer/Editor concerning the acceptable formats for
manuscript submissions and the technical specifications for electronic
media. The awardee must follow the guidelines listed herein, as well as
follow the Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Manuscripts for
Publication as found in the ``General Guidelines for Cooperative
Agreements,'' which can be found on our Web site at www.nicic.gov/cooperativeagreements.
All final documents and other media submitted under this project
will be posted on the NIC Web site and must meet the Federal
Government's requirement for accessibility (i.e., 508 PDF or HTML
files). The awardee must provide descriptive text interpreting all
graphics, photos, graphs, and/or multimedia to be included with or
distributed alongside the materials and must provide transcripts for
all applicable audio/visual works.
Application Requirements: Applications should be concisely written,
typed, double spaced, and reference the project by the ``NIC
Opportunity Number'' and Title in this announcement. The package must
include: a cover letter that identifies the audit agency responsible
for the applicant's financial accounts as well as the audit period or
fiscal year that the applicant operates under (e.g., July 1 through
June 30); a program narrative, not to exceed 30 pages, in response to
the statement of work, and a budget narrative explaining projected
costs. Applicants may submit a description of the project teams'
qualifications and expertise relevant to the project, but should not
attach lengthy resumes. Large attachments to the proposal describing
the organization or examples of other past work are discouraged.
The following forms must also be included: OMB Standard Form 424,
Application for Federal Assistance; OMB Standard Form 424A, Budget
information--Non-Construction Programs; OMB Standard Form 424B,
Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (these forms are available at
http://www.grants.gov) and DOJ/NIC Certification Regarding Lobbying;
Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and the Drug-
Free Workplace Requirements (available at http://nicic.gov/Downloads/General/certif-frm.pdf. Failure to supply all required forms with the
application package may result in disqualification of the application
from consideration.
Authority: Pub. L. 93-415.
Funds Available: NIC is seeking the applicant's best ideas
regarding accomplishment of the scope of work and the related costs for
achieving all seven of the goals of this solicitation. The award under
this solicitation will be based on best value and quality of the work
as defined under the scope of work outlined above. Funds may only be
used for the activities that are directly linked to the tasks of the
project.
This project will be a collaborative venture with the NIC's
National Corrections Academy and its Research and Information Services
Division.
Eligibility of Applicants: An eligible applicant is any public or
private agency, educational institution, organization, individual, or
team with expertise in the described areas.
Review Considerations: Applications received under this
announcement will be subject to the NIC Review Process. Proposals which
fail to provide sufficient information to allow evaluation under the
criteria below may be judged non-responsive and disqualified.
The criteria for the evaluation of each application will be as
follows:
Programmatic (40%)
Are all of the seven project tasks adequately discussed? Is there a
clear statement of how each task will be accomplished, to include:
major sub-tasks, the strategies to be employed, required staffing, and
other required resources? Are there any innovative approaches,
techniques, or design aspects proposed that will enhance the project?
Organizational (35%)
Does the proposed project staff possess the skills, knowledge, and
expertise necessary to complete the tasks listed under the scope of
work? Does the applicant organization, group, or individual have the
organizational capacity to achieve all seven project tasks? Are the
proposed project management and staffing plans realistic and sufficient
to complete the project within the project time frame?
Project Management/Administration (25%)
Does the applicant identify reasonable objectives, milestones, and
measures to track progress? If consultants and/or partnerships are
proposed, is there a reasonable justification for their inclusion in
the project, and a clear structure to insure effective coordination? Is
the proposed budget realistic, provide sufficient cost detail/
narrative, and represent good value relative to the anticipated
results?
Note: NIC will NOT award a cooperative agreement to an applicant
who does not have a Dun and Bradstreet Database Universal Number
(DUNS) and is not registered in the Central Contractor Registry
(CCR). A DUNS number can be received at no cost by calling the
dedicated toll-free DUNS number request line at 1-800-333-0505 (if
you are a sole proprietor, you would dial 1-866-705-5711 and select
option 1). Registration in the CRR can be done online at the CCR Web
site: http://www.bpn.gov/ccr. A CCR Handbook and worksheet can also
be reviewed at the Web site.
Number of Awards: One.
NIC Opportunity Number: 12RE05. This number should appear as a
reference line in the cover letter, where indicated on Standard Form
424, and
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outside of the envelope in which the application is sent.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 16.601.
Executive Order 12372: This project is not subject to the
provisions of Executive Order 12372.
Morris L. Thigpen,
Director, National Institute of Corrections.
[FR Doc. 2012-6849 Filed 3-20-12; 8:45 am]
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