6848 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 30 / Thursday, February 13, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention

[OJP(OJJDP)–1114]

RIN 1121–ZA61

Notice of Funding Availability for

Evaluation of Youth Substance Use

Prevention Program

AGENCY: Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention, Office of

Justice Programs, Justice.

ACTION: Notice of funding availability.

SUMMARY: To conduct a formative

evaluation that documents the

effectiveness of youth-led substance

abuse prevention programs to be funded

by the President’s Crime Prevention

Council (the Council) and administered

by the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The

purpose of the evaluation is to provide

a better understanding of the processes

by which youth-led prevention

programs are developed and

implemented, and their effects on youth

participants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT: For

further information call Eric Peterson,

Program Manager, Research and

Program Development Division, 202–

307–5929 or send an email inquiry to

eric@ojp.usdoj.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background:

The President’s Crime Prevention

Council ‘‘Ounce of Prevention Program’’

was established in 1994 through the

Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement Act, Title III, Subtitle A

(Pub. L. 103–322, 42 U.S.C. 13741–44).

The Ounce of Prevention Program

supports the coordination and

integration of programs, initiatives, and

service delivery for summer and afterschool education and recreation

programs; mentoring, tutoring, and

other programs involving participation

by adult role models; programs assisting

and promoting employability and job

placement; and prevention and

treatment programs to reduce substance

abuse, child abuse, and adolescent

pregnancy, including outreach programs

for at-risk families.

To address the significant problems of

drug and alcohol use among youth, the

Council developed its Fiscal Year 1996

grant program to support communitybased, youth-led and grassroots

organizations that significantly and

substantially involve youth in

preventing and combating drug and

alcohol use among youth. It is believed

that traditional, adult-managed

substance abuse prevention programs

typically do not address youth-specific

problems. The Council believes that atrisk youth will respond more favorably

to substance abuse prevention programs

if other young people from the same

community play substantial and

meaningful roles in the management

and operation of such programs. The

President’s Crime Prevention Council

and OJJDP will award up to 12 one-year

grants to non-profit youth-led/youthinvolved organizations to support

activities designed to combat youth drug

and alcohol use.

Organizations funded under this

program will work to design, enhance,

or expand substance use prevention

services that target youth and that are

provided by or substantially involve

other young people between the ages of

12 and 21 in the design,

implementation, and delivery of

program services. The Youth Substance

Use Prevention Program will

accomplish the following objectives:

• Increase collaboration between

community-based, youth-serving and

youth-led groups and law enforcement,

schools, houses of worship, and

government in combating youth drug

and alcohol use.

• Assist and empower youth to help

solve problems that affect them.

• Promote personal growth and social

responsibility among young people.

In support of the Council, OJJDP will

fund an evaluation of the Youth

Substance Use Program.

Goals: The goals of this evaluation are

to build the local program grantees’

capacity for designing, implementing,

and interpreting evaluations; to

determine whether youth-led

delinquency and substance use

prevention activities have more of an

impact on youth than adult-led

prevention; and to define the critical

elements of implementing a successful

youth-led prevention activity. The

evaluation should address the following

research questions:

1. What effects do these youth-led

prevention activities and services have

on youth participants who receive

program services? How do they compare

with the effects of adult-led prevention

activities and services?

2. What are the key elements of

organizing and implementing effective

youth-led prevention activities and

services?

Objectives: The objectives of this

evaluation are:

1. To conduct an evaluability

assessment of up to 12 local program

grantees, including a cross-site

evaluation, and select a sample of

programs for the evaluation.

2. To provide assistance to local

program grantees on refining program

goals and objectives; articulating logical

relationships between youth substance

use problems, prevention activities and

services; and tracking and measuring

success.

3. To describe the key organizational

components and processes involved in

implementing youth-led prevention

activities and services.

4. To document the prevention

activities and services provided by the

youth.

5. To compare the effects of youth-led

prevention services on youth with those

of adult-led services.

Program Strategy: Applicants must

provide a clear discussion of the

research questions for the evaluation.

The evaluation grantee will be required

to conduct an evaluability assessment of

up to 12 local program grantees,

recommending for participation in the

national evaluation grantee programs

from which lessons can be learned. As

part of the assessment, the evaluation

grantee will be responsible for working

with the local grantee programs to

develop program logic models and

identify outcome measures and data

collection methods, tailored to each

grantee’s program design, which will

serve as a basis for the overall

evaluation strategy. The evaluation

grantee also will be responsible for

developing data collection instruments,

coordinating the data collection with

the program grantees, gathering the data

collected by the grantees, and

conducting analyses that will answer

the questions associated with the goals

and objectives stated earlier. Applicants

should describe how they will use

existing self-evaluation materials, such

as Prevention Plus III, to assist local

program grantees in data collection.

Applicants should provide a description

of how they will make comparisons

with adult-led prevention services.

OJJDP and the Council recognize that

it will be difficult for applicants to

propose a detailed evaluation design in

the absence of more information about

the specific approaches to be

implemented by the local communities.

For that reason, the evaluation grantee

will be expected to develop a detailed

evaluation plan during the first 60 days

after the grant award, based on more

detailed information about the local

grantees’ programs. It is intended that

the evaluation of this program will be

accomplished through a partnership

effort among the grantees, OJJDP, the

Council, and the evaluation grantee.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 30 / Thursday, February 13, 1997 / Notices 6849

Products: The evaluation grantee is

required to prepare four products:

1. A final evaluation design, including

the results of the evaluability

assessment, not later than 60 days

following the award of the grant.

2. A draft outline of the structure for

the final report not later than six months

after the award of the grant.

3. A final evaluation report, not later

than 30 days following the end of the

project year, detailing the results of the

study. The report must include a full

discussion of the evaluation objectives,

study findings, and recommendations

for program implementation.

4. An executive summary of the final

evaluation report suitable for

widespread distribution.

Eligibility Requirements: OJJDP

invites applications from public and

private agencies, organizations,

institutions, and individuals.

Applicants must demonstrate technical

knowledge of evaluation methods and

tools; their practical knowledge of

substance use prevention among

juveniles; and their skills for assisting

those who must develop and make

decisions about program directions.

Private, for-profit organizations must

agree to waive any profit or fee. Joint

applications from two or more eligible

applicants are welcome, as long as one

is designated primary applicant and any

others co-applicant.

Selection Criteria: Applicants will be

evaluated and ranked by a peer review

panel according to the criteria outlined

below.

Problem(s) To Be Addressed (20 Points)

Applicants must include a clear and

concise statement of their

understanding of youth substance use

prevention, youth-led prevention

programs, community-based prevention,

and evaluation methods. They should

also discuss the methodological

problems associated with this type of

evaluation and how the proposed effort

overcomes these potential problems.

Project Design (35 Points)

Applicants must present a clear

research design for the conduct of an

evaluability assessment and a formative

process and outcome evaluation that

meet the goals and objectives in this

solicitation. The research design should

also include a workplan for the conduct

of these tasks. The research design and

workplan must be sound, feasible, and

capable of achieving the objectives set

forth in this solicitation. The applicant

should describe as completely as

possible the research products and how

they will be disseminated.

Management and Organizational

Capability (35 Points)

The application should include a

discussion of how the grantee will

coordinate and manage this evaluation

to achieve the evaluation objectives.

Applicants’ management structure and

staffing must be adequate and

appropriate for the successful

implementation of the project.

Applicants must identify responsible

individuals, their time commitment,

and major tasks. Key staff should have

significant experience with multi-site

evaluation/research of communitybased initiatives, youth substance use

prevention, and/or juvenile or related

criminal justice programs. They must

demonstrate the ability to work

effectively with practitioners in data

collection and analysis issues and other

requirements of the project. Staff

resumes should be attached as part of

the appendices. Applicants must

demonstrate the organization’s ability to

conduct the project successfully.

Organizational experience with

evaluation of community-based

prevention initiatives is recommended.

Budget (10 Points)

Applicants must provide a proposed

budget that is complete, detailed,

reasonable, and allowable, and cost

effective in relation to the activities to

be undertaken.

Format: The narrative must not

exceed 25 pages in length (excluding

forms, assurances, and appendices) and

must be submitted on 81⁄2- by 11-inch

paper, double-spaced on one side of the

paper in a standard 12 point font.

Award Period: This project will be

funded for an 18 month budget and

project period.

Award Amount: Up to $180,000 is

available to support one evaluation

grant.

Application Instructions and Contact:

To apply for this grant, applicants must

complete an Application Kit which

includes detailed instructions, forms,

checklists, worksheets, and application

forms. To have the Application Kit or a

copy of this Notice of Funding

Availability (NOFA) faxed to you, call

OJJDP’s Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

at 1–800–638–8739, select option #2 for

automated ordering services, then select

option #2 again for OJJDP Clearinghouse

documents, then select fax on demand,

then select document #9023 for the

Application Kit and/or document #9022

for the Evaluation NOFA.

To have the Application Kit or the

Evaluation NOFA mailed to you, call 1–

800–638–8736, select option #3 for

publication ordering, then request

publication #SL0001888 for the

Application Kit and/or publication

#SL000187 for the Evaluation NOFA.

An Application Kit or the Evaluation

NOFA may be obtained electronically

by accessing OJJDP’s bulletin board at

301–738–8895 (set modem at 9600 Baud

and 8–N–1) or by accessing OJJDP’s

world wide web site at http://

www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.html.

Application Submission and

Deadline: All required forms and

documentation must be submitted by

the application deadline to the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention, c/o Juvenile Justice

Resource Center, 1600 Research

Boulevard, Mail Stop 2K, Rockville, MD

20850, 301–251–5535.

Note: In the lower left-hand corner of the

envelope, you must clearly write ‘‘Substance

Use Prevention Program Evaluation.’’

All applications must be received, not

postmarked, by the submission

deadline.

The deadline date for submission of

an application is on or before 5:00 p.m.,

Eastern Standard Time, on April 25,

1997.

Applicants are responsible for

ensuring that the original and five

copies of the application package are

received at the OJJDP address by that

deadline date. No facsimiles are

allowed.

Contact: For further information call

Eric Peterson, Program Manager,

Research and Program Development

Division, 202–307–5929 or send an

email inquiry to eric@ojp.usdoj.gov.

Dated: February 10, 1997.

Shay Bilchik,

Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention.

References

Kaye, G. and T. Wolff (eds.) From the Ground

Up: A Workbook on Coalition Building

and Community Development. Amherst,

MA: AHEC/Community Partners, Spring

1995.

Kumpfer, K., G. H. Shur, J. G. Ross, K. K.

Bunnell, J. J. Librett, and A. R. Millward.

Measurements in Prevention: A Manual

on Selecting and Using Instruments to

Evaluate Prevention Programs. CSAP

Technical Report No. 8. Rockville, MD:

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention,

1993.

Linney, J. A. and A. Wandersman. Prevention

Plus III: Assessing Alcohol and Other

Drug Prevention Programs at the School

and Community Level. Rockville, MD:

Office of Substance Abuse Prevention,

1991.
6850 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 30 / Thursday, February 13, 1997 / Notices

Muraskin, L.D. Understanding Evaluation:

The Way to Better Prevention Programs.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of

Education, 1993.

[FR Doc. 97–3664 Filed 2–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–18–P