Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 13 / Thursday, January 20, 2000 / Notices 3251

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Corrections

Solicitation for a Cooperative

Agreement—Development of Training

Curriculum and Delivery of Managing

Initial Criminal Justice Decisions

Forums

AGENCY: National Institute of

Corrections, Department of Justice.

ACTION: Solicitation for a cooperative

agreement.

SUMMARY: The National Institute of

Corrections is seeking applications for a

cooperative agreement to join NIC in

assisting five to seven local jurisdiction

criminal justice policy teams in

developing an ‘‘outcome based decision

process’’ for the pretrial phase activities

of their system. This initiative is being

undertaken as an interagency activity

between the Bureau of Justice

Assistance and the National Institute of

Corrections.

NIC has been involved in several

projects which examine the

relationships of component parts of the

justice system to each other. Our

experience indicates that while justice

agencies within a jurisdiction may have

a general working knowledge of what

each other does, true collaboration is

not the norm. One of the purposes of

this project is to bring jurisdictional

policy makers together to discuss and

define what they want as an outcome for

their pretrial efforts. To assist them in

defining their desired outcome

statement, NIC will provide them with

information on best practices together

with team building activities designed

to produce collaborative planning and

determine what degree of investment

they are prepared to make from current

and/or new resources to accomplish

their desired outcome.

The cooperative agreement is an

assistance relationship in which the

National Institute of Corrections is

substantially involved in all aspects of

the project during the award period. An

award will be made to an organization

or individual who will, in concert with

the Institute, provide technical

assistance to the selected jurisdictions.

No funds will be transferred to state or

local governments.

Project Objectives

The goal of the project is to bring

together system policy makers, affected

by pretrial decisions, as a team to build

an awareness of ‘‘outcome based

decision making’’. NIC will provide

them with relevant information they can

take back home and use in future design

and implementation. This project will

present content information about

policy adopted and programs

implemented in a number of

jurisdictions to improve case flow,

reduce officer court appearances, reduce

officers processing time, reduce

prosecutor and public defender

preparation time and provide the court

with accurate defendant information to

effectively and efficiently produce

desired outcomes. Finally, the project

will emphasize the need to establish

and maintain a policy level group for

ongoing strategic planning.

Each local policy team will consist of

seven (7) identified positions and will

attend two three-day forums. The policy

team will consist of the following

representatives: 1. Judge, 2. The

Prosecutor, 3. Chief Law Enforcement

Officer, 4. Community Based Victim

Advocate, 5. Pretrial Program

Administrator or Jail Administrator, 6.

city/county CAO/CFO or Executive, 7.

Public Defender or Defense Bar. The

final team participants will be

determined based on individual

jurisdictional circumstances.

The overall goal is to assist the

jurisdiction to produce an outcome

based policy statement which will be

implemented for pretrial activities. i.e.,

reduce the potential for offenses by

pretrial defendants, reduce the amount

of time from arrest to trial and assure

adequate facilities for all pretrial

defendants etc. In support of this goal

the objectives are:

1. Discuss what is required to plan a

systemic course of action for all pretrial

activities. i.e., the investment of time to

build trust, to share resources and to

jointly share responsibility.

2. Identify how their present system

works and provide an overview of

mapping the activities from arrest to

trial in each component. (Actual

mapping activity should occur between

the first and second forum meeting.)

3. Develop written policy and

procedure based on a systemic plan.

4. Identify a policy level planning to

attend and participate in the forums.

5. Assist the jurisdiction identifying

data elements needed for policy

decisions in future decision making.

6. Provide exercises during the forums

which require team members to

examine their individual/agency actions

against the team’s desired outcome

statement.

7. Develop strategic planning skills

which can be applied to future policy

making activities.

Design and content of the project

This project will provide training

forums and on-site technical assistance

to support the development and

implementation of a collaborative

planning process for the components

involved in the pretrial phase of the

criminal justice system. The project will

bring five to seven jurisdiction teams of

seven (7) members each from local

justice systems to a central location for

content presentations and team building

exercises. It will also provide a limited

amount of on-site technical assistance.

The project is designed to bring

together policy level teams to

collaboratively define the desired

outcome of the pretrial process in their

jurisdiction and to test out policy

change scenarios they develop which

move toward the desired outcome. Our

previous experience in working with

criminal justice components suggests

that before systemic change can occur

there must be agreement among policy

makers. (Of course, before the policy

can be successful there must be

understanding and agreement at the

implementation point.) Therefore, the

jurisdictional teams make-up requires

those at the top of their organizations to

be the participants. Each jurisdiction

must be willing to commit the time and

effort of their policy makers to a process

of team building, visioning and strategic

planning to develop both system and

agency policies which will lead to

effective and efficient pretrial processes.

Project assistance will be in the form

of providing travel and per diem to

attend two (2) forums consisting of three

(3) days each at the National Institute of

Corrections, Longmont, Colorado

facility. During the forums the

participants will be provided content

information from practitioners after

which they will produce at a desired

outcome statement based on their

values. Each participating jurisdiction

will receive one (1) on site technical

assistance visit between the first and

second forum to complete a mapping

exercise. Additionally, each jurisdiction

will have the option of requesting

additional technical assistance based on

their identified needs and the initiatives

funding limitations.

Scope of Work

Applicants for this cooperative

agreement should propose a training

and technical assistance plan which

identifies how the following tasks will

be accomplished together with the

associated costs:

1. Identify a group of practitioners for

lesson plan development and content

presentations at forums. The final

selection of presenters will be a joint

NIC/Awardee decision.

2. Prepare curricula for presentation

at two (2) forums. The National Institute

of Corrections paper entitled ‘‘Designing

3252 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 13 / Thursday, January 20, 2000 / Notices

Training for the National Institute of

Corrections; Instructional Theory into

Practice’’ will be used in preparing

curricula.

Understanding decision points and

their impact. These include but are not

limited too:

a. physical vs citation arrest;

b. information for initial appearance;

c. diversion programs;

d. case processing;

e. community supervision options;

f. victim perspectives; and

g. an overview of a strategic planning

process which includes a description of

mapping and visioning.

A content notebook should be

prepared for each participant. The

notebooks should include current and

relevant information on the following

subjects: citation vs physical arrest, case

processing, release options, supervision

options, jail vs community release,

economic impact of decisions together

with strategic planning and visioning

information.

3. Assist in the development and

dissemination of program application

materials.

4. Assist in the review and rating of

applications.

5. Conduct/contract a pre-forum

meeting with each participating

jurisdiction at their home location to

discuss objectives/expectations with all

participants.

6. Contract for and pay presenters for

two (2) forums of three days each in

Colorado.

7. Contract for and pay a facilitator to

travel to each jurisdiction and assist in

a mapping process of all pretrial

activities. This activity will occur

between the first and second forum

meeting.

8. Coach faculty for the forum events.

9. Prepare a program description for

dissemination to participants.

10. Host the forum events.

11. Prepare and disseminate an

evaluation form to participants

concerning the total initiative including

training and technical assistance.

12. Provide documentation of services

performed to include number of events

and participants served.

Authority: Public Law 93–415.

Funds Available: The award will be

limited to $210,000 (direct and indirect

costs and project activity must be

completed within 12 months of the date

of award. Funds may not be used for

construction, or to acquire or build real

property. This project will be a

collaborative venture with the NIC

Community Corrections Division.

Deadline for Receipt of Applications:

Applications must be received by 4:00

p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 2000,

4:00 p.m. Eastern daylight time. They

should be addressed to: National

Institute of Corrections, 320 First Street,

NW, Room 5007, Washington, DC

20534. Hand delivered applications

should be brought to 500 First Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20534. The front

desk will call Bobbi Tinsley at (202)

307–3106, extension 0 for pickup.

Addresses and Further Information:

Requests for the applicant kit, which

includes further details on the project’s

objectives, etc., should be directed to

Judy Evens, Cooperative Agreement

Control Office, National Institute of

Corrections, 320 First Street, N.W.,

Room 5007, Washington, DC 20534 or

by calling 800–995–6423, ext. 159, 202–

307–3106, ext. 159, or email:

jevens@bop.gov. A copy of this

announcement, application forms, and

additional information may also be

obtained through the NIC web site:

http.//www.nicic.org (click on ‘‘What’s

New’’ and ‘‘Cooperative Agreements’’).

All technical and/or programmatic

questions concerning this

announcement should be directed to Al

Hall at the above address or by calling

800–995–6423 or 2020–307–1300, ext.

162, or by E-mail via ahall@bop.gov.

Eligibility Applicants: An eligible

applicant is any state or general unit of

local government, public or private

agency, educational institution,

organization, team, or individual with

the requisite skills to successfully meet

the outcome objectives of the project.

Review Considerations: Applications

received under this announcement will

be subjected to an NIC 3 to 5 member

Peer Review Process.

Number of Awards: One (1).

NIC Application Number: 00C01 This

number should appear as a reference

line in your cover letter and also in box

11 of Standard Form 424.

Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance Number: 16.601.

Dated: January 13, 2000.

Morris L. Thigpen,

Director, National Institute of Corrections.

[FR Doc. 00–1255 Filed 1–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–36–M

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

National Institute of Justice

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

ACTION: Extension of a currently

approved collection; Crime Mapping

Survey.

The Department of Justice, Office of

Justice Programs, National Institute of

Justice, has submitted the following

information collection request for

review and clearance in accordance

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995. This proposed information

collection is published to obtain

comments from the public and affected

agencies. Comments are encouraged and

will be accepted for ‘‘sixty days’’ until

March 20, 2000.

If you have additional comments,

suggestions, or need a copy of the

proposed information collection

instrument with instructions or

additional information, please contact

the Office of Research and Evaluation,

National Institute of Justice, 810 7th

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531, or

via facsimile (202) 616–0275, Attention:

La Vigne.

Written comments and suggestions

from the public and affected agencies

concerning the proposed collection of

information should address one or more

of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

function of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the

use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology,

e.g., permitting electronic submission of

responses.

Overview of this information:

(1) Type of information collection:

Extension of a currently approved

collection.

(2) The title of the form/collection:

Crime Mapping Survey

(3) The agency form number, if any,

and the applicable component of the

Department sponsoring the collection:

Form: None. Office of Research and

Evaluation, National Institute of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, United States

Department of Justice.

(4) Affected public who will be asked

or required to respond, as well as a brief

abstract: Primary: Law enforcement

agencies.

Other: None.