OARS funding Criminal Justice

The purpose of this BAA is to provide for the competitive selection of research proposals for social and behavioral science research to deepen our understanding of the complex social and behavioral processes underpinning intelligence interviewing and interrogation. Offerors will not conduct research for the HIG in HIG facilities The HIG Research Program is the premier provider and trusted source for the state of the art and science of interrogation. The HIG supports research and development of an effective, science-based model of interrogation. To this end, the HIG Research Program commissions basic and applied science and field validation/effectiveness studies to rigorously examine current and new approaches to interrogation. The program incorporates new insights and methods based on rigorous science to ensure practitioners are equipped with knowledge from the behavioral and social sciences that will make them better interrogators, interviewers and de-briefers. The HIG highly encourages participation from transdisciplinary research teams from social and behavioral sciences, and collaborative teaming arrangements amongst multiple institutions that have the relevant expertise and facilities to execute fundamental and applied research. Please refer to Appendix A for previous, published research supported by the HIG.

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Program (IPEP), administered by BJA, is designed to provide national support and improve the capacity of state, local, and tribal criminal justice systems to address IP enforcement, including prosecution, prevention, training, and technical assistance. Awards will be made by BJA to support law enforcement agencies in coordinating the goals, objectives, and activities of their IP enforcement task forces in close collaboration with the relevant state, local, tribal, and federal agencies, to include local U.S. Attorney's Offices (USAOs). The improved coordination of IP enforcement efforts among federal, state, and local authorities is a central goal of the Strategic Plan and is of primary importance to DOJ. As a result, projects funded under this solicitation must align with the mission of the DOJ IP Task Force, and establish and/or enhance state and local IP enforcement task forces that include relevant law enforcement agencies and federal agencies (to include, where appropriate, local offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigation [ICE HSI], and U.S. Attorneys.

The focus of this program is to enhance the capacity of state, local, tribal, and territorial criminal justice systems to prevent, investigate, respond, and prosecute economic, high-technology, and white collar crimes through specialized training and technical assistance. The program also supports the crime prevention of these types of crimes through education and training of law enforcement, corrections, probation/parole, prosecutors, first responders, and members of the community. The training classes are provided both in a classroom setting and online allowing state, local, tribal, and territorial officers, investigators, and prosecutors to attend the classes at no charge to their agency. The program also provides technical assistance to agencies, upon request, to assist with specific needs or investigative support.

In response to the growing national interest in pretrial reform and demand for risk assessment to aid courts in making release or detention decisions, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) plans to dramatically expand access to its Public Safety Assessment (PSA) and broaden the level of research on its use and effectiveness. Since the PSA was launched in 2013, more than 600 jurisdictions have contacted LJAF about possibly using it. This intense level of interest reflects the nationwide momentum favoring evidence-based pretrial decisions. The PSA was developed to address the inequity in the system that causes the poor to be jailed simply because they're unable to make bail. The PSA is currently in use in about 40 cities, counties and states. "The call for change is clear and now is the time to act," said Laura Arnold, co-chair of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. "Meanwhile, we must develop a deeper understanding of the effectiveness and impact of risk assessment."

Countries in the East Asia and Pacific region (EAP) are increasingly focused on enhancing regional security. Transnational criminal organizations take advantage of porous borders and fragile rule of law to illegally traffic drugs, arms, people, and wildlife. While countries in EAP face a range of challenges in developing robust rule of law, commonalities provide the context for INL's regional rule of law programming. Interagency and international cooperation on cases remains limited. Corruption is pervasive in many countries in the region. Legal systems are overburdened, and professionals may not have the resources to address their caseloads fully. This project will pilot professional development opportunities for legal professionals in the first five years of their career. The project will focus on sustainable legal professional development for prosecutors, judges, and public defense attorneys involved in criminal cases in the proposed pilot country. In the second year of the project, the implementer will conduct an assessment of a proposed second country for expansion.

The Justice Information Sharing (JIS) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) solicitation has 2 categories listed; (1) Criminal Intelligence Online Training and Technical Assistance (28 CFR Part 23), and (2) RISS Technology Service Center (RTSC) and Administration Support. The Criminal Intelligence Systems Operating Polices 28 CFR Part 23 TTA Program provides an online training to help state and local law enforcement professionals understand the guidelines that govern the development and implementation of policies and systems that facilitate criminal intelligence sharing and in FY16 over 6,900 users took this online training. The program also provide technical assistance to agencies wanting to ensure their policy and procedures protect the privacies and civil liberties as identified in 28 CFR Part 23. The RISS Technology Service Center (RTSC) staff supports technical programs and projects that span the RISS enterprise and support the six RISS Centers nationwide. This includes the infrastructure and security of the RISS Secure Cloud (RISSNET) and database applications development. The tasks will be to continue to operate, maintain, and upgrade RISSNET, support RISS member connectivity and access to RISSNET, maintain and enhance the RISSNET Portal and RISSNET infrastructure, continue to operate and further enhance RISS applications, participate in national information sharing projects and working groups, work with other federal agencies and share technology, and ensure applicable databases adhere to 28 CFR Part 23 Guidelines.

Build the capacity of the Somali Police Force to prevent, respond to, and investigate terrorism through professional, multi-functional trained and mentored Joint Investigative Teams (JITs) based in Mogadishu and Baidoa.

The intent of the BAA is to allow co-creation and co-design to the maximum extent to create high quality, effective partnerships with great efficiency in time and resources. USAID/Malawi will invite selected for-profit and non-profit, public and private organizations, as detailed below, to co-create research and development (R&D) solutions to the Problem and Challenge Statements stated in this BAA, including those organizations that have ideas, expertise, resources, and/or funding to add to potential solutions. Co-Investing: USAID/Malawi wants to align goals with the partners under this BAA, to facilitate shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing. Shared resourcing requires that cash and other resources, both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information, are directed towards reaching the solution to the Problem/Challenge. Co-investing does not require equal shared resources (such as 1:1 leverage), but rather resource contributions that are appropriate to the specific project's objectives, considering the comparative advantages brought by the participation of each party. USAID/Malawi seeks expressions of interest to develop programming approaches to address the challenge through two themes: A. Catalytic Sustainable Development: Developing Malawian approaches to Malawian challenges. B. Organizational and Institutional Development: Strengthening support systems for local development.

To support a safer campus environment for all of Ohio's students, Governor John R. Kasich and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) encourage immediate and thoughtful action to help prevent the occurrence of terrible crimes, and ultimately support every college and university's aim to provide an excellent and safe learning environment for students. With the goal of ending and preventing sexual violence on Ohio's campuses, the Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education is issuing this RFP for the development of a comprehensive, outcomes-based program to train coaches, staff, and faculty working with campus athletic programs. The program supports the following recommendations from the Changing Campus Culture report: · Empower staff, faculty, campus law enforcement, and students to prevent and respond to sexual violence through evidence-based training. · Communicate a culture of shared respect and responsibility. · Develop a comprehensive response policy. · Adopt a survivor-centered response. The Chancellor is seeking proposals from qualified vendor(s) and will review proposed model support services to implement comprehensive prevention and response training model for coaches, staff, and faculty working with campus athletic programs. The award of this RFP will result in a contract with the Chancellor.

This award will support efforts in at least two of four target countries (select among: Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru) to identify priority substantive anti-corruption measures and assist in implementation of reform actions related to them. The substantive measures will be determined in reference to the international and regional standards to which these countries have agreed, and the recommendations of the peer review bodies associated with them. Several anti-corruption mechanisms and fora promote action on these standards by facilitating peer recommendations or encouraging country commitments. Exemplar mechanisms and fora include UNCAC and MESICIC (primary) and the Anti-Bribery Convention, Open Government Partnership, Summit of the Americas and related policy (secondary). Each of the target countries has engaged in at least one of these entities and has received recommendations or made commitments to address corruption in various ways. INL intends for this project to initiate a multi-stakeholder process in each country selected for this project to prioritize two to three peer review body recommendations addressed to - or political commitments made by -- the country. The project should then support the development of action plans and targeted follow-up action (i.e. technical assistance, advocacy, and coordination) to help governments implement the action plans. Suggested focus areas in which to develop priorities, action plans, and follow-up measures include judicial integrity/independence, criminalizing foreign bribery, public procurement, public sector ethics, and international legal cooperation. Supporting action in these areas would aid the criminal justice sector and civil society in making tangible steps to adopt laws, policies, or procedures that either prevent or combat corruption.

On September 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-79). The act requires BJS to carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape. The act further instructs BJS to collect survey data: the Bureau shall use surveys and other statistical studies of current and former inmates. The law was passed in part to overcome a shortage of available research on the incidence and prevalence of sexual violence in correctional facilities. To implement the act, BJS developed the National Prison Rape Statistics Program (NPRS), which includes four separate data collection efforts: the Survey on Sexual Victimization (SSV, formerly Survey of Sexual Violence), National Inmate Survey (NIS), National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), and National Former Prisoner Survey (NFPS). Each of these collections is independent and, while not directly comparable, they provide measures of the prevalence and characteristics of sexual assault in correctional facilities. The SSV collects information about incidents of sexual violence reported to and investigated by adult and juvenile correctional authorities and characteristics of substantiated incidents. The NIS collects allegations of sexual assault self-reported by adult and juvenile inmates in correctional facilities. The NSYC gathers self-reported sexual assault data from youth in juvenile correctional facilities. The NFPS measures allegations of sexual assault experienced during a person s last incarceration, as reported by former inmates under community active supervision

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata (PAS Kolkata) seeks proposals for a project titled "Youth for Peace: Follow-on Programming." The project will bring together young leaders from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, to understand the complex variables that affect peace and violence in their communities, identify best practices of conflict resolution and see themselves as key catalysts in the peace building process. Proposals should be based on the framework of an inaugural two-day workshop with a follow on two-day workshop after a span of two-three months, and a final Youth for Peace Summit. The focus of the first workshop will be on understanding cultural contexts, the empowerment of young people to think creatively about community resilience and causes of extremism, and the promotion of grassroots campaigns to challenge violent narratives. The second workshop will help participants identify and focus on topics of individual interest which may include, but not be limited to, best practices in building "online and offline" community resilience, creating successful social media campaigns, smartphone photography, film-making and interview techniques, boosting media literacy, develop critical thinking skills, and challenging narratives with empathy and humor. The grantee is encouraged to recruit private sector collaborations, i.e. with Microsoft and Facebook, to support breakout discussions on improving youth employment prospects and using technology to counter radicalization. The project year will culminate in a South Asia Youth for Peace Summit in Kolkata to showcase how young leaders are utilizing their diverse skill sets, knowledge and networks to effectively address persistent problems of today. The grantee will also create 5 short videos using content from the workshops to amplify messaging.

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects to address the potential negative human rights and labor rights impacts of international mega-sporting events.

This solicitation will support field-initiated, methodologically rigorous research and/or evaluations focused on interactions between law enforcement and youth, with practical implications for the identification and development of programs and policies that ensure officer, youth, and community safety. This solicitation encourages researchers to propose studies that contribute to the development of scientific evidence about factors that facilitate or inhibit positive police-youth interactions, as well as evaluations of the implementation and effectiveness of trainings, programs, practices, or policies designed to facilitate productive law enforcement and youth engagement.

The field of corrections is constantly evolving, requiring continuous learning and professional development for its administrators. With responsibility for leading complex correctional systems, Correctional Executives are charged with managing human resources, developing and implementing agency policy and procedure, engaging with internal and external stakeholders, and administering significant fiscal resources - all while supporting strong business practices and delivering results. As such, it is imperative for Correctional Executives to stay current regarding critical issues facing the field and methods for effectively addressing areas of need. It is critically important for them to keep abreast of correctional best practices and emerging issues, as well as developing and maintaining a strong association participant's network of other correctional administrators. Further, other Correctional Executives provide vital assistance in gathering information, sharing perspectives, and providing possible solutions for their associate participants. . NIC has been committed for years to improving executive performance by providing excellent leadership and management training through previous Executive Excellence programs to corrections professionals. In an effort to expand on the resources NIC has provided the field with the document Correctional Leadership Competencies for the 21st Century, a portion of which specifically addresses the role of Correctional Executive. The next step is to continue to create an increasingly vital blended training curriculum for this position and the final phases for two program presentations

Work with mid-senior level customs officials with a national customs enforcement mandate, to create and institutionalize a long-term CITES enforcement training program that would provide ongoing training to existing and new customs officials stationed in key countries in Africa.

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai (PAS Chennai) seeks proposals for a project entitled "This House Believes That: A U.S.-India Comparative Constitutional Law Debate Project." Under this project, the grantee will organize and implement a multi-tiered program which will include a workshop, mentorship and debate competition in English that offers youth (especially law students) from South India (age 19-30 years) an opportunity to objectively and dispassionately deliberate important contemporary issues through the lens of U.S. and Indian comparative constitutional law. The program will compare, contrast, and provide insight into the salient features of the foundational documents of the world's two greatest democracies. In the process, the project will interrogate the rationale and impact of democratic tenets such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press in an open, non-judgmental environment. (Please refer to the full announcement available under 'related documents' tab.)

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi (PAS New Delhi) seeks proposals for a project entitled "Gender Equity: Women's Equality, Empowerment and Leadership through Safe Higher Educational and Work Spaces." Through this grant project, the grantee will establish partnerships with five Indian universities/ colleges to organize five gender sensitization training workshops for 125 faculty of Higher Educational Institutions (HEI's) and conduct gender and safety audits at these institutions. Each workshop would be led by an eminent American feminist scholar or activist in addition to Indian experts. The workshops should predominantly be in Tier II Indian cities including one in North India and one each in the American Consulate districts (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad). As part of the workshop, the grantee will organize and implement a creative exhibition/installation/performance showcasing narratives on safe and gender-just work places and campuses. (Please refer to the full announcement available under 'related documents' tab.)

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to build knowledge on best practices in offender reentry. Specifically, NIJ requests proposals for rigorous research to examine reentry initiatives for adult or juvenile offenders that incorporate promising practices, strategies, or programs. These initiatives may be applicable to institutional or community corrections, or both. Preference will be given to applications that propose to use a randomized controlled trial (RCT). This research supports the U.S. Department of Justice priorities to reduce violent crime and to protect police and other public safety personnel by reducing recidivism and giving individuals tools to be law-abiding productive members of society.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks to build knowledge on best practices in offender reentry. Specifically, NIJ requests proposals for rigorous research to examine reentry initiatives for adult or juvenile offenders that incorporate promising practices, strategies, or programs. These initiatives may be applicable to institutional or community corrections, or both. Preference will be given to applications that propose to use a randomized controlled trial (RCT). This research supports the U.S. Department of Justice priorities to reduce violent crime and to protect police and other public safety personnel by reducing recidivism and giving individuals tools to be law-abiding productive members of society.