Title: National Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal
Assistance Program.
Series: Solicitation
Author: National Institute of Justice
Published: NIJ, April 2000
Subject: Funding resources
11 pages
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U.S. Department of Justice 
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice

National Institute of Justice
Solicitation 

Julie E. Samuels, Acting Director
April 2000

National Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance
Program

APPLICATION DEADLINE:
July 10, 2000

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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
810 Seventh Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20531

Janet Reno
Attorney General


Daniel Marcus
Acting Associate Attorney General

Mary Lou Leary 
Acting Assistant Attorney General

Julie E. Samuels
Acting Director, National Institute of Justice

For grant and funding information contact:
Department of Justice Response Center:
800-421-6770

Office of Justice Programs
World Wide Web Site:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

National Institute of Justice
World Wide Web Site:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

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Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance Program

I. Introduction

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in collaboration with the Office of Justice
Programs' Violence Against Women Office (VAWO), is soliciting proposals
for a national Evaluation of the Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal
Assistance Program. One research project will be funded for up to $800,000
with a grant period of up to 36 months.

II. Background 

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) administers
various grant programs created under Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (otherwise known as the Violence Against
Women Act or VAWA) through its Violence Against Women Office
(VAWO). The passage of VAWA confirmed the Federal government's
commitment to responding to the needs of millions of women who are the
victims of violence every year. That commitment has grown as additional acts of
Congress have created further funding for programs to prevent the incidence of,
and reduce the impact of, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault on
women.

As a result, OJP administers seven grant programs to address various aspects
of violence against women, including: the Services*Training*
Officers*Prosecutors (STOP) State Formula Grant Program, the STOP
Violence Against Indian Women Discretionary Grant Program, the Grants to
Encourage Arrest Policies Program, the Rural Domestic Violence and Child
Victimization Enforcement Grant Program, the Grants to Combat Violent
Crimes Against Women on Campuses, and the Comprehensive Approaches to
Sex Offender Management Grant Program. Rounding out these programs is the
Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance Grant Program, created in
1998 by Congress. Together, these VAWO programs provide a context to be
considered in planning a national evaluation of the Civil Legal Assistance
Program. They are dedicated to enhancing victim safety and ensuring offender
accountability by supporting policies, protocols, and practices that call for zero
tolerance of all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence,
sexual assault, and stalking. 

Research and evaluation on some of these programs make up part of NIJ's
overall Violence Against Women and Family Violence Program, undertaken in
collaboration with the VAWO. Information on these can be obtained at our
website: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/vawprog.

This solicitation seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the local programs funded
under the Civil Legal Assistance Program. The purpose of the Domestic
Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance Discretionary Grant Program is to
strengthen direct civil legal assistance available to domestic violence victims.
The types of civil legal assistance programs eligible to receive funding under the
Civil Legal Assistance Program may include: nonprofit civil legal service
programs and clinics with a special interest in providing services to victims of
domestic violence; domestic violence victim services programs, such as
shelters, providing legal services in-house or as a supplementary service to
clients; law school clinical and seminar programs teaching future generations of
lawyers about legal issues related to domestic violence; family court-based
domestic violence intake programs; programs providing crisis line and referral
services for victims of domestic violence in need of civil legal assistance; bar
association programs; and other consortia of public and private agencies
working collaboratively to respond to the civil legal assistance needs of victims
of domestic violence.

This grants program is designed to strengthen civil legal assistance through
innovative, collaborative strategies that reach more battered women than are
currently being served. Its general purpose is to strengthen civil legal assistance
to domestic violence victims to stabilize their situation so that they can build a
safe healthy life apart from their batterer. Therefore, grants under this program
support activities that provide legal representation and/or referrals for civil cases
that are directly related to the violence, and/or civil cases related to establishing
the victim's economic security. Training, mentoring, and collaborative
relationships are core components of projects supported by this grant program.
Lawyers and legal advocates providing services through this program are to
establish respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with domestic violence
victim-advocacy organizations within the communities, within the context of
appropriate protocols and policies provided by VAWO in order to ensure that
clients' needs for confidentiality and safety are met and that lawyers' work
comports with locally applicable rules of professional conduct. Non-lawyers
must be fully supervised by attorneys in accordance with local professional rules
and laws. 

Legal service providers seeking funding through this VAWO grant program are
required to enter into a collaborative relationship with non-profit, non-
governmental domestic violence victim advocacy organizations. Such
collaborative relationships are meant to ensure that there is ongoing training and
mentoring on issues related to domestic violence and to strengthen
communication on domestic violence victim advocacy issues between the legal
and advocacy communities.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 1998, Congress appropriated $11 million specifically to
provide civil legal assistance to victims of domestic violence. This amount was
increased to $23 million for FY 1999. This program received another increase
in FY 2000 to $28 million. The Civil Legal Assistance Program awards grants
to non-profit, non-governmental organizations, either public or private, that
provide legal services to victims of domestic violence or that work with victims
of domestic violence who have civil legal needs. In FY 1998, VAWO awarded
54 grants, 94 new grants were awarded in FY 1999, and we anticipate that up
to 85-100 new and continuation grants will be funded in FY 2000. Grants
typically cover 12 to 24 months. Additional information on the Civil Legal
Assistance program can be found on the Internet at
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo.

III. Areas of Research Required

This announcement solicits proposals for a National Evaluation of the Domestic
Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance Program. A multi-method evaluation,
including both quantitative and qualitative approaches, is required. Evaluating
impact and capturing the voices of the victims served will be essential
components. Applicants are encouraged to use charts, tables, and diagrams as
visual presentations to summarize the logic model for the evaluation, the data to
be used, or the various analyses to be conducted. 

The purpose of this national evaluation is to (1) document the range of local
activities and programs supported by the FY1998, FY1999, and FY2000
grants; (2) document local programs funded by other sources of assistance, the
gaps these programs fill, whom they serve, and how VAWO funded programs
fit into the larger funding picture in a jurisdiction; (3) examine and document
grantee planning and implementation efforts; (4) evaluate the need for and
adequacy of special conditions imposed on grantees to preserve victim safety
and confidentiality, while simultaneously enhancing the professional services
offered by grantees; and (5) determine the effectiveness of these programs in
meeting the needs of the women they serve.

The evaluation should include both quantitative and qualitative methods, and
may involve the following steps:

o Examining how programs assess need and conduct outreach to clients;

o Analyzing grantee implementation plans, reports, and other documents; 

o Conducting process evaluations in selected sites that will involve a thorough
descriptive analysis of the problems being addressed and the projects being
supported by the Civil Legal Assistance Program;

o Conducting case studies of the jurisdiction and programs to understand the
structure of the social service system and the dynamics of planning,
implementation, and performance;

o Interviewing grantees to assess progress, implementation, and performance
issues as seen from the field; 

o Defining and collecting data on essential outcome measures that can be used
to assess the immediate and long-term impact of the programs and the
effectiveness of the grant program;

o Conducting outcome/impact evaluation studies to determine the success of
the Civil Legal Assistance Program in meeting the needs of the women they are
meant to serve;

Questions to be addressed in assessing the implementation of the Civil Legal
Assistance Program may include:

o Was program planning appropriate to local needs and resources?

o Were projects implemented as planned?

o What portion of the agency's caseload is DV-related? What is the success
rate for these cases? What number of DV-related cases are rejected or
referred out?

o If there was a low number of cases, what do programs attribute that to?
What substantiation do they have of the reason(s) given?

o What criteria are used to determine eligibility of the client to receive
assistance, (e.g., income, police report, etc.)?

o What is the effectiveness of Law School Clinic programs compared to that of
direct victim services?

o What was the most frequently handled type of case for DV victims, (e.g.,
protection order, divorce, custody/visitation, housing, employment, benefits,
etc)?

o What problems did jurisdictions encounter? What was the source of the
problem (courts, regulations, statues, etc.)? How were they addressed? How
successfully were they resolved?

o What problems did the individual organization have? How successfully were
they addressed?

o How have project designs addressed safety considerations?

o To what extent have projects attained the goals of the program?

o Do grantees require a certain minimum amount of training in order to carry
out the goals of their programs, was this training delivered, and how effective
were these training programs? Who provided the training and what were their
qualifications?

The evaluation of program effectiveness should include such questions as the
following:

o What was the baseline level of need in the jurisdiction; how was need
determined; how much of the need was unmet before, and, after the program; 
and how was this determined?

o How have victims been served and how have their lives been affected by the
services provided by the program?

o Do the programs have any information on how the criminal and civil justice
systems may have been enhanced?

o Did the project initiate or lead to improved coordination between the relevant
community agencies and organizations?

o Have there been any unintended consequences resulting from the projects? If
so, what are they?

o What was the nature of the collaborative efforts between grantees and local
domestic violence service programs? To what extent did local domestic
violence service programs find the grantees' services to be useful for their
clients?

o Has the project had an impact on the larger community? What indicators are
there of this?

The above examples are not exhaustive or intended to limit the applicant. Other
techniques of evaluating the Civil Legal Assistance Program and developing a
strategy for documenting long-term effects will be considered. 

Methodological Considerations. 

The Civil Legal Assistance Program encompasses a wide variety of services
and providers. Applicants to this solicitation should describe their approaches
to such issues as: developing a typology of programs and program clients;
developing sampling strategies within these typologies; determining which
program organization, process, operation, and outcome variables to examine;
determining how these variables will be measured; determining the needs of the
targeted victim populations; and assessing how effectively these victim needs
were met--whether by program or non-program sources of assistance. 

The need for innovation, particularly on qualitative measures, culturally sensitive
measures, and the need for many different levels of data, is acknowledged. The
views of victims, advocates, and knowledgeable civil and criminal justice
practitioners should be sought as appropriate when developing the various
stages of the research and evaluation.

Dissemination of Results. NIJ is interested in expeditious and innovative
methods to disseminate the results from all projects supported under the
solicitation. Methods that would supplement the more traditional forms of
dissemination are encouraged. Results of projects are expected to be reported
to NIJ as they become available, and at a minimum, through semi-annual
progress reports. Applicants should provide a discussion of the types of reports
or products that would become available over the course of the project.

An annual NIJ grantee meeting in Washington, D.C., should be anticipated in
the budget. In addition, meetings with NIJ should be considered, as should
interim grant products. Applicants should budget appropriately for such
expenses for each year of the grant.

IV. How to Apply 

Those interested in submitting proposals in response to this solicitation must
complete the required application forms and submit related required
documents. (See below for how to obtain application forms and guides for
completing proposals.) Applicants must include the following information/forms
to qualify for consideration:

o Standard Form (SF) 424--application for Federal assistance. The budget
amount for the entire length of the project must be placed in box 15 of the SF
424.

o Geographic areas Affected Worksheet

o Assurances

o Certifications Regarding Lobbying, Debarment, Suspension and Other
Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (one form)

o Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

o Budget Detail Worksheet

o Budget Narrative (the project funding requested on the SF 424 should reflect
the costs of the entire project)

o Negotiated indirect rate agreement (if appropriate)

o Names and affiliations of all key persons from applicant and subcontractor(s),
advisors, consultants, and advisory board members. Include name of principal
investigator, title, organizational affiliation (if any), department (if institution of
higher education), address, phone, and fax 

o Proposal abstract

o Table of contents

o Program narrative or technical proposal

o Privacy certificate

o Form 310 (Protection of Human Subjects Assurance
Identification/Certification/ Declaration)

o Environmental Assessment (if required)

o References

o Letters of cooperation from organizations collaborating in the research
project

o Resumes

o Appendices, if any (e.g., list of previous NIJ awards, their status, and
products [in NIJ or other publications])

Confidentiality of information and human subjects protection. NIJ has adopted
new policies and procedures regarding the confidentiality of information and
human subjects protection. Please see the Guidelines for Submitting Proposals
for National Institute of Justice-Sponsored Research for details on the new
requirements.

Proposal abstract. The proposal abstract, when read separately from the rest of
the application, is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the
proposed work. Applicants must concisely describe the research goals and
objectives, research design, and methods for achieving the goals and
objectives. Summaries of past accomplishments are to be avoided, and
proprietary/confidential information is not to be included. Length is not to
exceed 400 words. Use the following two headers:

Project Goals and Objectives:

Proposed Research Design and Methodology:

Page limit. The number of pages in the "Program Narrative" part of the
proposal must not exceed 40 (double-spaced pages). 

Due date. Completed proposals must be received at the National Institute of
Justice by the close of business on July 10, 2000. Extensions of this deadline
will not be permitted.

Award period. The work must be completed within 36 months.

Number of awards. NIJ anticipates supporting one grant under this solicitation. 

Award amount. One award of up to $800,000 will be made available for this
NIJ solicitation.

Applying. Two packets need to be obtained: (1) application forms (including a
sample budget worksheet) and (2) guidelines for submitting proposals (including
requirements for proposal writers and requirements for grant recipients). To
receive them, applicants can:

o Access the Justice Information Center on the web: 

http://www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#NIJ

or the NIJ web site:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/funding.htm 

These web sites offer the NIJ application forms and guidelines as electronic files
that may be downloaded to a personal computer.

o Request hard copies of the forms and guidelines by mail from the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420 or from the Department
of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D.C., area,
at 202-307-1480).

o Request copies by fax. Call 800-851-3420 and select option 1, then option 1
again for NIJ. Code is 1023.

Guidance and information. Applicants who wish to receive additional guidance
and information may contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center
at 800-421-6770. Center staff can provide assistance or refer applicants to an
appropriate NIJ professional. Applicants may, for example, wish to discuss
their prospective research topics with the NIJ professional staff.

Send 10 copies (one with original signature) of completed forms to:

Evaluation of the Civil Legal Assistance Program
National Institute of Justice
810 Seventh Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20531
[overnight courier ZIP code 20001]

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NIJ is streamlining its process to accommodate the volume of proposals
anticipated under this and other Crime Act solicitations. Researchers can help in
a significant way by sending NIJ a nonbinding letter of intent by June 10, 2000.
The Institute will use these letters to forecast the numbers of peer panels it
needs and to identify conflicts of interest among potential reviewers. There are
two ways to send these letters. You can reach NIJ by Internet by sending e-
mail to tellnij@ncjrs.org and identifying the solicitation and section(s) for which
you expect to apply. You can write a letter with the same information to:
National Institute of Justice, Evaluation of the Civil Legal Assistance Program,
810 Seventh Street N.W., Washington, DC 20531. Please help us help you.

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To find out more information about the National Institute of Justice, please
contact:

National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
800-851-3420
e-mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org

To obtain an electronic version of this document, access the NIJ web site
(http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij).

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