[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5833-5835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-3017]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Office of Minority Health; Notice of a Cooperative Agreement With 
Central State University

    The Office of Minority Health (OMH) announces that it will enter 
into a cooperative agreement with Central State University to support a 
Family and Community Violence Prevention Program.
    The purpose of the Family and Community Violence Prevention Program 
is to positively impact the increasing incidence of violence and 
abusive behavior in low income, at-risk communities through the 
mobilization of community partners to address these issues. In order to 
have an effect on this trend, interventions conducted through 
partnerships must be directed to the individual, the family and the 
community as a whole, and must be designed to impact the academic and 
personal development of those who are at risk.
    This cooperative agreement is intended to demonstrate the merit of 
programs that involve partnerships between community institutions and 
Family Life Centers to spearhead a community effort to improve the 
quality of life for all community residents.

Authority

    This cooperative agreement is authorized under section 1707(d)(1) 
of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 300u-6(d)(1).

Background

    Assistance will be provided only to Central State University of 
Wilberforce, Ohio. No other applications are solicited. Central State 
University is uniquely qualified to administer this cooperative 
agreement because it has:
    1. developed an infrastructure to manage a multi-faceted 
demonstration program coordinated among widely dispersed institutions 
of higher education addressing the issues of family and community 
violence;
    2. in place a management staff with the background and experience 
to guide, develop and evaluate a multimillion dollar demonstration 
program;
    3. established a relationship with a network of institutions of 
higher education actively involved in programs to prevent family and 
community violence;
    4. demonstrated an ability to bring together individual schools to 
function as a cohesive unit in addressing common issues and goals;
    5. experience in carrying out a program designed to reduce the 
incidence of violence and crime; and
    6. demonstrated through past activities its ability to pull 
together experts in the field of violence prevention to serve in an 
advisory capacity to a multi-year project.
    Approximately $4,800,000 (indirect and direct costs) is available 
in FY 1997 to fund this cooperative agreement. The project is expected 
to begin on September 30, 1997, for a 12-month budget period within a 
project period not to exceed 3 years. Continuation awards within the 
project period will be made on the basis of satisfactory performance 
and availability of funds.
    Violent and abusive behavior exacts a large toll on the physical 
and mental health of Americans. According to the Healthy People 2000 
Midcourse Review and 1995 Revisions, the United States ranks first 
among industrialized nations in violent death rates, with homicide and 
suicide claiming more than 50,000 lives each year. An additional 2.2 
million people are injured by violent assaults annually. According to 
this report, morbidity and mortality due to violence show some 
disturbing trends. Youth are increasingly involved as both perpetrators 
and victims of violence. In 1992, the homicide rate for young black men 
exceeded that of young white men by as much as 8 times. Women are 
frequent targets of both physical and sexual assault, often perpetrated 
by spouses, ex-spouses, intimate partners, or others known to them. 
Women with family incomes under $9,999 had the highest rates of 
violence attributable to an intimate while those with family incomes 
over $30,000 had the lowest rates.
    Blacks are disproportionately represented among both violent crime 
offenders and victims. While blacks constituted 12 percent of the U.S. 
population in 1993, in that same year they represented 58 percent of 
persons arrested for murder, 41 percent arrested for rape, 62 percent 
arrested for robbery, and 40 percent arrested for aggravated assault 
(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994). Arrest data also indicate that 
violent crime, especially murder, involve intraracial victims-offender 
relationship patterns. In 1993, 94 percent of black murder victims were 
killed by black offenders and 84 percent of white murder victims were 
killed by white offenders (Department of Justice, 1993).
    According to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, an 
estimated 2.9 million children were reported as alleged victims of 
maltreatment in 1994. Of the investigation dispositions, 1.0 million 
were determined to have been victims of either substantiated or 
indicated maltreatment. Of these, 53 percent suffered from neglect, 26 
percent were physically abused, 14 percent were sexually abused, 3 
percent suffered from medical neglect, 5 percent from emotional 
maltreatment, 15 percent from other types of maltreatment, and 4 
percent unknown. About 27 percent were 3 years old or younger, 20 
percent were age 4 to 6, 17 percent were 7 to 9, 15 percent were 
between 10 and 12, and 21 percent were teenagers (13 to 18). Of those 
cases where states reported race/ethnicity, 56 percent of the victims 
were white, 26 percent were African American, 9 percent Hispanic, 2 
percent Native American, and less than 1 percent Asian/Pacific 
Islander.

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    According to the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, 
abused children have been found to have lower cognitive maturity and 
more severe behavior problems than children who have not been abused. 
Abused children are also at increased risk for the extremes of risk-
seeking or risk-avoiding behaviors. Maltreated children experience 
significant problems including poor social skills, aggressiveness and 
emotional unresponsiveness.
    Troublesome and delinquent children are more likely to come from 
troubled families and neighborhoods. Delinquency is not a problem that 
appears alone. Delinquent youths are also at higher-than-average risk 
for drug use, problems in school, dropping out of school, and teenage 
pregnancy (Elliott, Huizinga, and Menard, 1989; Greenwood, 1993). The 
recognition that problems in school or early dropout are primary risk 
factors for juvenile delinquency and drug use have led to the 
development of a wide range of interventions. Unfortunately, many of 
these efforts have not been evaluated, and most of those evaluated have 
produced negligible impacts (Tolan and Guerra, 1994), particularly on 
later delinquency. When asked, students who have been victims of 
violence and those at greater risk of being victims are more likely to 
express concern about relations with their parents. One-fourth of 
students (25%) say they sometimes wonder if their parents really love 
them. Minority students are more concerned than white students. One-
third of African-American (32%), and Hispanic (34%) students say this 
statement is true for them as compared with one in five white students 
(22%).
    The 1985 Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority 
Health provided a national focus on violence as a leading public health 
problem in the United States. Since that time, public health strategies 
to prevent death and disability due to violent and abusive behavior 
have emerged across the country. The Health People 2000 Midcourse 
Review and 1995 Revision identified the following strategies for 
addressing violence in communities at high risk: promoting awareness of 
violence as a public health problem, taking more agreesive steps to 
counter the high rates of physical abuse and violence against women, 
offering alternative school and community-based activities for youth, 
and increasing collaboration and partnerships between State and local 
public health agencies with mental health and substance abuse programs.

Project Requirements

    The cooperative agreement will include substantive involvement of 
both the recipient and the Federal Government. At a minimum,, the 
following expectations are anticipated:

Recipient Responsibilities

    (1) Central State University will solicit proposals from four year 
undergraduate institutions historically identified as providing 
education primarily to minority students, or having a majority 
enrollment of minority students for the purposes of carrying out a 
program to positively impact the increasing incidence of violence and 
abusive behavior in low income, at-risk communities. Up to 19 
institutions will be selected, based on criteria development in 
conjunction with OMH staff, to received awards of approximately 
$200,000 per year. Special consideration will be given to those 
institutions which currently have Family Life Centers with support form 
Central State University. (2) Central State University will participate 
with OMH in the selection of the institutions, and provide funding to 
conduct comprehensive programs of support and education for a defined 
community. The selected institutions must:
    <bullet> Establish a Family Life Center (FLC) within a 10 mile 
radius of the target community to facilitate access to the program's 
services/activities on a regular basis. The FLC can be located at a 
site of the undergraduate school, or at a facility of a community 
institution with which it has established a partnership. The FLC is to 
be open year round, with activities/services offered at various times 
(e.g. weekdays, evenings, weekends) to accommodate the target group(s).
    <bullet> Offer project activities in the areas of Academic 
Development Personal Development, Cultural/Recreational Enrichment, and 
Career Development.
    <bullet> Offer opportunities for community youth to participate in 
activities on campus or other appropriate sites, including a summer 
academic enrichment program of at least 3 week in length for middle and 
high school students.
    <bullet> Formalized arrangements/partnerships with appropriate 
community groups, involving tangible, inkind contributions from each of 
the collaborating partners.
    (3) Central State University will utilize a Management Team to 
oversee the Family and Community Violence Prevention Program.
    (4) Central State University will select up to 10 individuals to 
serve on an Advisory Board to provide guidance and technical advice to 
the Management Team. A meeting limited to this Board will be held once 
per year.
    (5) Central State University will convene a yearly meeting of the 
Family Life Centers to discuss common goals and direction, and exchange 
information on various approaches and evaluation strategies.
    (6) In addition to the yearly Advisory Board meeting, Central State 
University will convene an annual meeting of Family Life Center 
Directors and Evaluators, and the Advisory board to facilitate a 
discussion surrounding program activities, evaluation, and future 
direction.
    (7) Central State University will monitor the activities of the 
funded institutions to ensure compliance with the intent of the 
program.
    (8) Central State University will conduct a yearly evaluation of 
the actitivties of each of the funded institutions, as well as the 
overall project.

OMH Responsibilities

    Substantial programmatic involvement is as follows:
    (1) OMH will provide technical assistance and oversight as 
necessary for the overall design of the Family and Community Violence 
Prevention Program.
    (2) OMH will develop the evaluation criterion for the selection and 
funding of applications.
    (3) OMH will participate with Central State University in the 
review and selection of applications and ensure the absence of conflict 
of interest in the review process.
    (4) OMH will have final approval of the Advisory Board membership.
    (5) OMH will provide assistance to the Management Team on program 
strategies, direction, evaluation activities, and decisions related to 
adjustments in funding levels of participating institutions.
    (6) OMH will participate in the planning of and attend the annual 
Advisory Board Meeting, the annual meeting of the Family Life Centers, 
and the annual meeting of the Family Life Center Directors/Evaluators 
and the Advisory Board.
    (7) OMH will participate in site visits to the participating 
institutions as deemed appropriate by OMH staff.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

    If you are interested in obtaining additional information regarding 
this project, contact Ms. Cynthia H. Amis, Director, Division of 
Program

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Operations, Office of Minority Health, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1000, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852, telephone number (301) 594-0769.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.910.

    Dated: January 13, 1997.
Clay E. Simpson, Jr.,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health.
[FR Doc. 97-3017 Filed 2-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-17-M