[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25742-25744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11741]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Justice Programs
[OJP(BJS) No. 1050]
RIN 1121-ZA13


Bureau of Justice Statistics; Survey of Inmates in State 
Correctional Facilities

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Statistics 
(BJS).

ACTION: Solicitation for award of cooperative agreement.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce a public 
solicitation for services of sampling, data gathering, and data 
processing for the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 
1996.

DATES: Proposals must be postmarked on or before June 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Proposals should be mailed to: Application Coordinator, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Room 1144, 633 Indiana Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20531, (202) 616-3500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., Survey 
Statistician, Corrections Statistics, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
(202) 307-0757.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Survey of Inmates in State 
Correctional Facilities was first conducted in 1974 and was followed by 
subsequent surveys in 1979, 1986 and 1991. These surveys have employed 
complex multistage samples to obtain comprehensive information on State 
prison inmates.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Number of   Number of 
                                                 facilities    inmates  
                                                   sampled   interviewed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974...........................................         190       8,869 
1979...........................................         215      11,397 
1986...........................................         275      13,711 
1991...........................................         275      13,986 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Through personal interviews with a nationally representative sample 
of State prison inmates, data were collected on individual 
characteristics of prison inmates, current offenses and sentences, 
characteristics of victims, criminal histories, family background, gun 
possession and use, prior drug and alcohol use and treatment, 
educational programs and other services provided while in prison, and 
other personal characteristics. These surveys have been BJS's primary 
source of detailed information on characteristics of State prison 
inmates. The data have been collected pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 3732. Many 
major publications have been written by BJS staff using the data from 
these surveys, including Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, NCJ-
136949, Profile of State Prison Inmates, 1986, NCJ-109926, and Women in 
Prison, NCJ-145321. These publications as well as other reports from 
these surveys are available from the National Criminal Justice Research 
Service and can be requested by using the NCJ number.

Objectives

    The purpose of this award is to continue this data series by 
procuring data collection services for the fifth Survey of Inmates in 
State Correctional Facilities. It is anticipated that the information 
collected will be essential to anyone needing detailed, authoritative 
information on characteristics of State prison inmates, particularly 
their offenses, criminal and other histories, and current conditions.

Type of Assistance

    Assistance will be made available under a cooperative agreement.
    [[Page 25743]]
    
Statutory Authority

    The cooperative agreement to be awarded pursuant to this 
solicitation will be funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics 
consistent with its mandate as set forth in 42 USC 3732.

Eligibility Requirements

    Both profit making and nonprofit organizations may apply for funds. 
Consistent with OJP fiscal requirements, however, no fees may be 
charged against the project by profit making organizations.

Scope of Work

    The objective of this solicitation is to provide BJS with high 
quality data for the fifth Survey of Inmates in State Correctional 
Facilities. Specifically, the recipient of funds will perform the 
following tasks.
    1. Develop a detailed timetable for the completion of each task 
involved in the project, with data collection taking place from October 
through December 1996. In general, it is anticipated that the timetable 
will be as follows:
    September 1995 thru February 1996, development of CAPI instrument, 
OMB Clearance for pretest;
    March 1996, pretest, including training of interviewers;
    April thru September 1996, revisions to questionnaire, training of 
interviewers, OMB Clearance for full survey;
    October 1996 thru January 1997, field work for survey; and
    February thru June 15, 1997, data processing and weighting.
    After BJS has agreed to the timetable, all work must be completed 
as scheduled.
    2. Select a sample. Pursuant to BJS specifications and standards, 
the recipient will select two samples of prisons, one representative 
sample for prisons housing males and another for prisons with females. 
A list of all prisons and sampling specifications will be provided by 
BJS. The recipient will be expected to update the list. About 300 
facilities will be selected from that list. In each selected prison a 
systematic sample of prison inmates will be selected from a random 
start, using a list of all inmates provided by the sampled facility. A 
sampling questionnaire will be used to determine the completeness of 
the list and the eligibility of inmates. Because of their small number 
in the prison population, women will be oversampled to decrease 
standard errors. This sample should produce a reliability of 5.0% 
coefficient of variation for estimates of 10% subpopulations of male 
inmates, and a reliability of 7.4% coefficient of variation for 
estimates of 10% subpopulations of female inmates at the national 
level.
    3. Write edit specifications and program the questionnaire for 
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) on laptop computers. The 
questionnaire, which will be provided by BJS, will be between 45 and 60 
minutes in duration. It will be similar to the questionnaire used in 
1991, which is available from BJS upon request. BJS will be allowed to 
review and approve all edit specifications developed by recipient. It 
is expected that, in programming the CAPI instrument, most editing for 
the data would be programmed to take place as the interview is 
conducted. The CAPI instrument will be provided to BJS for review 
before both the pretest and full survey, either in a system compatible 
with BJS computer capabilities or on a laptop computer. For weighting 
the sample, the recipient will also develop an additional questionnaire 
using CAPI which will be used to obtain data on inmates who are not 
interviewed, based on a questionnaire provided by BJS. In addition, a 
sample listing sheet will be needed to list all those selected for 
interview.
    4. Perform a pretest. All computer and paper systems will be 
subjected to a pretest conducted in 5 prison sites near the Washington, 
DC metropolitan area or in the general area of the recipient's 
operations. A draft request for OMB Clearance pursuant to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act and 5 CFR 1320 for the pretest will be provided by the 
recipient to BJS for submission to OMB in sufficient time to receive 
clearance. Interviews will be conducted with approximately 150 inmates. 
A data file will be provided BJS from these interviews and a debriefing 
will be held with recipient staff, interviewers and BJS staff to assess 
the effectiveness of the questionnaire and the operations of all 
computer and paper systems.
    5. Make arrangements for conducting the survey. Recipient will 
contact all sampled prisons and arrange to interview inmates. It is 
anticipated that almost all sampled facilities will cooperate and allow 
their inmates to be interviewed. In the past, fewer than 5 selected 
facilities have not participated, generally because changes in the 
nature of an institution made it ineligible, for example, a facility 
had housed women but no longer did so or a facility was no longer in 
operation. Recipient will also develop an interviewer's manual and 
train their interviewers in gathering data using the BJS questionnaire 
and CAPI software. All training materials will be submitted to BJS for 
their review and input before being used. Recipient will also draft a 
request for OMB clearance for the full survey in sufficient time to 
allow for BJS revision and OMB review. Recipient may accompany BJS 
staff to meetings to discuss the survey with interested parties.
    6. Gathering data. At the selected facilities, recipient's field 
staff will select the sample of inmates to be interviewed and will 
interview sampled prisoners, using the CAPI questionnaire. Response 
rates are expected to be in the 90 to 95% range. The response rate on 
the 1991 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities was 93.7%. 
For those sampled inmates who are not interviewed, a noninterview 
questionnaire will be completed to obtain information needed for 
weighting sample estimates to the Nation.
    7. Weight the sample according to BJS specifications. The sample 
will be adjusted for deviations from the expected population size in 
the sampled facility, nonresponse, and custody population numbers at 
the time of the survey as provided by BJS. Documentation will be 
furnished to BJS.
    8. Producing a data file. An edited data file compatible with BJS 
computer systems will be submitted to BJS at the end of the project, 
together with machine readable documentation. BJS will provide 
standards for both the data file and documentation, which will be both 
electronic and on paper. Some variables will need coding, namely all 
offense categories, occupation, and any specified response to a 
question which the interviewers were unable to code during the 
interview. Copies of these literals, accompanied by identifiers, will 
be submitted to BJS. All post-survey edit specifications will be 
reviewed by BJS before implementation. The data file will be matched to 
the sampling file.
    9. Provide BJS with all data files, both computerized and on paper. 
Recipient will not conduct any analyses of data prior to release from 
BJS of a public use tape. BJS will check the data files thoroughly 
before turning them over to the National Archive of Criminal Justice 
Data for public dissemination.

Award Procedures

    Proposals should describe in appropriate detail the procedures to 
be undertaken in furtherance of each of the activities described under 
the Scope of Work. Information on staffing levels and qualifications 
should be included for each task and descriptions of experience 
relevant to the project should be included. Resumes of the proposed 
project director and key staff should be enclosed with the proposal. 
[[Page 25744]] 
    Applications will be reviewed competitively by a BJS selected panel 
which will make recommendations to the Director, BJS. Final authority 
to enter into a cooperative agreement is reserved for the Director, 
BJS, or his designee, who may, at his/her discretion, determine that 
none of the applications shall be funded.

    Applications will be evaluated on the overall extent to which they 
respond to criminal justice priorities, conform to standards of high 
data collection quality, and appear to be fiscally feasible and 
efficient. In particular, applicants will be evaluated on the basis of:

    1. Knowledge of criminal justice issues, especially in the area of 
corrections.

    2. Survey research expertise and experience in the areas of 
questionnaire development, sampling, data gathering, and production of 
data files.

    3. Demonstrated ability to conduct high quality survey research 
projects.

    4. Demonstrated ability and experience in safeguarding the privacy 
of the collected data, pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and 
the confidentiality provisions of 42 U.S.C. 3789(g).

    5. Demonstrated ability and experience in developing and utilizing 
a CAPI questionnaire. In addition, it must be demonstrated that the 
CAPI software is able to perform complex skip patterns, intricate 
inserts and fill-ins, a variety of types of questions, and complicated 
editing during the course of the interview.

    6. Availability of qualified professional, field and support staff 
and of suitable equipment for data gathering and processing.

    7. Demonstrated fiscal, management and organizational capability 
and experience suitable for providing sound data within budget and time 
constraints.

    8. Reasonableness of estimated costs for the total project and for 
individual cost categories.

Application and Awards Process

    An original and five (5) copies of a full proposal must be 
submitted with SF 424 (Rev. 1988), Application for Federal Assistance, 
as the cover sheet. Proposals must be accompanied by SF 424A, Budget 
Information; OJP Form 4000/3 (Rev. 1-93), Program Narrative and 
Assurances; OJP Form 4061/6, Certifications Regarding Lobbying; 
Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free 
Workplace Requirements; and OJP Form 7120-1 (Rev. 1-93), Accounting 
System and Financial Capability Questionnaire (to be submitted by 
applicants who have not previously received Federal funds from the 
Office of Justice Programs). If appropriate, applicants must complete 
and submit Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities. All 
applicants must sign Certified Assurances that they are in compliance 
with the Federal laws and regulations which prohibit discrimination in 
any program or activity that receives Federal funds.

    The application should cover a 3-year period with information 
provided for completion of the entire project. Proposals must include a 
program narrative, detailed budget, and budget narrative. The program 
narrative shall describe activities as stated in the scope of work and 
address the evaluation criteria. Budget information should provide 
details for the first-year expenses and should contain data in required 
categories for years two and three. The detailed budget must provide 
costs including salaries of staff involved in the project and portion 
of those salaries to be paid from the award; fringe benefits paid to 
each staff person; travel costs; and supplies required to complete the 
project. The budget narrative closely follows the content of the 
detailed budget. The narrative should relate the items budgeted to the 
project activities and should provide a justification and explanation 
for the budgeted items including the criteria and data used to arrive 
at the estimates for each budget category. Please refer to the 
aforementioned timetable when developing the program narrative and 
budget information. Contractual services must be procured through 
competition or the application must contain a sole source justification 
for any noncompetitive procurement in excess of $100,000. This award 
will not be used to procure equipment for the conduct of this study.

    Awards will be made for a period of 12 months with supplemental 
funding for two additional continuation years conditional upon the 
quality of initial performance and products.

Jan M. Chaiken,

Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

[FR Doc. 95-11741 Filed 5-11-95; 8:45 am]

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