Grants to USA and territories local and state-level government agencies for the development of jurisdiction-wide strategies to reduce recidivism and promote positive outcomes for youth involved with the juvenile justice system. Applicants are advised to ensure the required registrations well in advance of the deadline.
Overview:
Section 101 of the Second Chance Act authorizes the Department of Justice to award grants to counties and states to improve reentry outcomes for incarcerated youth. The Second Chance Act Program supports counties and states in refining and implementing improved collaborative strategies to address the challenges that reentry and recidivism reduction pose. Implementing a cooperative and wide-ranging plan for reducing recidivism is challenging for even the most sophisticated juvenile justice agencies and requires an intensive systemwide realignment to address gaps in programs and services to improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.
This program will provide grants to support counties and states that have developed a recidivism reduction plan to better align juvenile justice policy, practice, and resource allocation with what research shows works to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system. OJJDP expects that a committee, task force, or working group will designate an agency to act as the legal applicant for this grant program. This solicitation will support counties and states that illustrate their readiness to implement a planning strategy developed and coordinated among multiple systems, to track implementation progress, and to show progress toward sustainable changes.
Program-Specific Information:
Over the past decade, the nation has made significant progress in reducing juvenile incarceration rates as the number of juveniles in residential placement fell 50 percent between 1999 and 2013. Although this is a significant accomplishment, essential work remains to be done to reduce recidivism and improve other outcomes, such as education and behavioral health, for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.
Significant barriers to improving youth outcomes include (1) insufficient fidelity to the program model or strategy when implementing research-based improvement strategies; (2) limited collaboration across government agencies, service systems, and state/local lines; and (3) a lack of data to track and measure progress and hold agencies and providers accountable for results.
To address these challenges, counties and states need a comprehensive implementation plan to better align their juvenile justice policies, practices, and resource allocation with what works to improve outcomes for youth.
Successful applicants will use OJJDP funding to implement existing countywide or statewide planning strategies to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth. These plans must have been formalized through legislation, appropriations, and/or administrative policy and/or have resulted from two or more state or county agencies collaborating on key policy and practice changes.
These plans and all implementation activities should reflect the key principles and practices for improving outcomes for youth outlined in Appendix A, “Second Chance Act Grantees: What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Program Is Built on Principles of Effective Practice.” OJJDP will provide funding and technical assistance to grantees to support and guide adherence to these principles and practices.
Target Population:
This solicitation will support the implementation of a countywide or statewide plan to improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system. As a result, the target population should be all youth involved in the juvenile justice system, with a specific emphasis on youth assessed in the strategic plan, using a validated risk assessment tool, as moderate and high risk for reoffending; under community supervision; and placed in and returning from a period of incarceration in state, local, and privately run facilities.
Award recipients must admit targeted youth to the program prior to their 18th birthday. However, they may continue to implement their plan for these individuals beyond their 18th birthday. OJJDP does not have a set timeline for terminating these services; instead, they can continue as long as is deemed necessary per the statewide plan for providing services.
Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables:
The goal of this program is for selected counties and states to (1) implement an existing plan for systemwide improvement to reduce juvenile recidivism rates and (2) improve other outcomes for youth countywide or statewide. To support this program, OJJDP will provide grants to county and state government agencies to commence implementation strategies over a 2-year period.
Successful applicants must be able to develop and execute a strategy to:
-Implement an existing statewide plan to better align juvenile justice policy, practice, and resource allocation with what the research shows works to reduce recidivism and improve other outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.
-Implement policy, practice, and resource allocation changes with fidelity to research- based strategies.
-Track recidivism rates and other youth outcomes to measure implementation progress, share these data with system leaders and policymakers, use data to hold providers and agencies accountable for results, and guide implementation improvements.
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)
State governments
State Agencies
Additional Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants are limited to units of local government and states that have developed a countywide or statewide plan to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system. Eligible applicants must have developed and attached a completed jurisdiction wide plan to the application.
OJJDP welcomes applications under which two or more entities would carry out the federal award; however, only one entity may be the applicant. Any others must be proposed as subrecipients (“subgrantees”). The applicant must be the entity that would have primary responsibility for carrying out the award, including administering the funding and managing the entire program. Under this solicitation, only one application by any particular applicant entity will be considered. An entity may, however, be proposed as a subrecipient (“subgrantee”) in more than one application.
States, counties, and local units of government are eligible to apply for funding only if they meet all of the following criteria:
-Established a statewide, countywide, or jurisdiction wide plan to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system. This plan must have been formalized through legislation, appropriations, and/or administrative policy and/or have resulted from two or more agencies collaborating on key policy and practice changes.
-Obtained letters of support or memoranda of understanding from key state, county, or local leaders for this plan.
-Aligned the plan with what research has shown works to reduce recidivism and improve other youth outcomes, from diversion through reentry.
-Developed the capacity to collect data for all major juvenile justice system points at the individual youth or case level and have the ability to interpret those data to evaluate progress and inform decision making.
In order to meet the eligibility criteria of this program, applicants must provide written documentation that shows their plan exists and has been endorsed by the appropriate state and/or local officials.
Pre-Application Information
As required by the Second Chance Act, federal funds awarded under this solicitation may not cover more than 50 percent of the total costs of the project.
Applicants must have a DUNS number to apply. A DUNS number is usually received within 1-2 business days.
All applicants for OJP awards (other than individuals) must maintain current registrations in the SAM database. An applicant must be registered in SAM to successfully register in Grants.gov. Each applicant must update or renew its SAM registration at least annually to maintain an active status. SAM registration and renewal can take as long as 10 business days to complete.
Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline.
All applications are due by 11:59 PM eastern time (ET) on June 29, 2017.
To be considered timely, an application must be submitted by the application deadline using Grants.gov, and the applicant must have received a validation message from Grants.gov that indicates successful and timely submission.
OJP urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior to the application due date to allow time for the applicant to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov and to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.
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