[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14973]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 21, 1994]
BILLING CODE 1505-01-D
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Part II
Department of Justice
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Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
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Program Announcement for Regional Children's Advocacy Centers; Notice
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Program Announcement for Regional Children's Advocacy Centers
AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, Justice.
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of assistance applications for Regional
Children's Advocacy Centers.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP) is publishing an announcement of grants to support four
Regional Children's Advocacy Centers. An OJJDP Application Kit
containing a copy of the Guidelines, application form (Standard Form
424), standard and special conditions, the OJJDP Peer Review Guideline,
OJJDP Competition and Peer Review Procedures and other supplemental
information relevant to the application process can be obtained by
calling the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, toll-free, 24 hours a day,
(800) 638-8736.
DATES: Applications are due August 22, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 633
Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20531.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily C. Martin, Director Training,
Dissemination and Technical Assistance Division, (202) 307-5940.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose
To support four Regional Children's Advocacy Centers that will
encourage and facilitate the creation of local children's advocacy
centers, and strengthen those now in existence through the delivery of
training and technical assistance.
Background
Section 6 of Public Law 102-586, codified at 42 U.S.C. 13001 et.
seq., addressing the 1992 Amendments to the Victims of Child Abuse Act
(the Act), provides for the establishment of four Regional Children's
Advocacy Centers for purposes of providing information, technical
assistance and training to assist communities in establishing multi-
disciplinary programs which respond to child abuse. National Child
Abuse and Neglect Data System Working Paper 2 reports that based on
1990 revised data, States received and referred for investigation
approximately 1.7 million reports on an estimated 2.6 million children
who are the alleged subjects of child abuse and neglect. In 1991,
States received nearly 1.8 million reports on approximately 2.7 million
children. The number reported in 1991 represents an increase of
approximately 2.4 percent from 1990 data.1 Draft Working Paper 3
of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System reported
approximately 918,263 substantiated and indicated victims of child
maltreatment from 49 states in 1992. Of these, approximately 14%
(129,982) were sexually abused.2 The Carnegie Corporation of New
York reported, in its publication Starting Points, that one in three
victims of physical abuse is a baby less than a year old and that in
1990, more one year-olds were maltreated than in any previous year for
which data are available. Additionally, Starting Points reported that
``almost 90 percent of children who died of abuse and neglect in 1990
were under the age of five; and 53 percent were less than a year
old.''3 Based upon its annual telephone survey of states, the
National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse reported that at least
three children a day die from physical abuse inflicted by a parent or
caretaker.4
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\1\U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center
on Child Abuse and Neglect, National Child Abuse and Neglect Data
System Working Paper 2, p.25.
\2\U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center
on Child Abuse and Neglect, Unpublished, Draft Working Paper 3
(1994) The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
\3\Carnegie Corporation of New York, Starting Points--Meeting
the Needs of Our Youngest Children, April 1994, p.4.
\4\National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, Current
Trends in Child Abuse Reporting and Fatalities: The results of the
1991 annual fifty state survey, Chicago, Illinois 1992.
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To address this problem, in 1985, then Madison County Alabama
District Attorney Robert E. (Bud) Cramer mobilized professionals in
Madison County to establish a Children's Advocacy Center for victims of
child abuse. The Center is a facility-based, child-focused program
which coordinates the response to victims of child abuse through multi-
disciplinary teams of representatives from statutorily mandated and
other involved agencies. Team members include representatives from
child protective services, law enforcement, the district attorney's
office, and the mental health and medical fields. The elements of the
Madison County model are incorporated in the 1992 Amendments to the
Victims of Child Abuse Act.
A major goal of children's advocacy centers is to prevent the
inadvertent revictimization of an abused child by the judicial and
social service systems in their efforts to protect the child. The
multi-disciplinary team provides joint interviews of child victims and
makes joint decisions about appropriate actions ranging from
prosecution to referral for mental health services. Child victims and
non-offending family members are assigned an advocate to help them cope
with the criminal justice system's processing of their case. As a
consequence of a coordinated response, child victims are spared the
pain and confusion of multiple interviews by prosecutors, protective
service workers and social workers.
In 1990, the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers
(National Network) was incorporated in Madison County, Alabama, as a
national membership organization of local children's advocacy centers.
Its purposes are to support the development, growth and continuation of
non-profit, facility-based programs utilizing a multi-disciplinary team
approach for handling child abuse cases, and for setting standards and
regulating practices of children's advocacy centers. The growth in the
number of children's advocacy centers and the success of the National
Network in establishing performance standards led Congress to amend the
Victims of Child Abuse Act in 1992 to authorize this program.
Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) has been appropriated for
Fiscal Year 1994 to establish four Regional Children's Advocacy Centers
to provide training and technical assistance in communities throughout
the United States, toward which this announcement is directed. An
additional one million dollars ($1,000,000) has been appropriated to
provide direct funding assistance to community organizations and
agencies for development and expansion of local children's advocacy
centers. The one million dollar appropriation will be awarded to the
National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers by OJJDP under a
cooperative agreement to be awarded in July 1994 for purposes of
providing funds to assist local communities interested in developing or
expanding local children's advocacy centers. It is expected that these
funds will be available in the fall of 1994 through a national
competitive solicitation issued by the National Network.
The Act requires coordination in the delivery of technical
assistance by the Regional Children's Advocacy Centers with the
activities of local children's advocacy centers that are funded under
the provisions of the Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 13002. This will be
achieved by representation of the grantees selected to implement the
Regional Children's Advocacy Centers on the Board of Directors of the
National Network as ex officio members who will also serve on a
Committee of the Board on Training and Technical Assistance.
Goal
To increase the number of facility-based multi-disciplinary
children's advocacy centers for purposes of providing coordinated, non-
traumatizing services to children and families who are victims of abuse
and neglect.
Objectives
To assist communities to develop a comprehensive, multi-
disciplinary response to child abuse that is designed to meet the needs
of child victims and their families.
To enhance the skills of volunteers and professionals
staffing multi-disciplinary, facility-based Children's Advocacy
Centers.
To provide support for non-offending family members of
child victims of abuse and neglect.
To enhance coordination among community agencies and
professions involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and
investigation systems that respond to child abuse cases.
To support national coordination among children's advocacy
centers for purposes of maximizing efficient and effective use of
technical assistance and training resources.
To facilitate the development and utilization of training
and technical assistance materials.
To promote the implementation of national standards of
practice.
Program Strategy
OJJDP will competitively select one applicant from each of the four
census regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West), and award
cooperative agreements of up to $125,000 to each. The states identified
in these regions are:
Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey;
South: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Arkansas, Texas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Oklahoma, and West
Virginia;
Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri,
Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota;
West: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah,
Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and California.
While each grantee will participate in national coordination of the
Children's Advocacy Program through representation on the Board of
Directors of the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, the
primary focus of each will be on delivery of technical assistance and
training to children's advocacy centers, and on communities interested
in establishing multi-disciplinary, facility-based local advocacy
centers in the census regions where they are located or are otherwise
designated to serve. Pursuant to the Act, codified at 42 U.S.C.
13001b(b)(2)(A), the Regional Children's Advocacy Centers will assist
communities in:
Developing a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary response to
child abuse;
Establishing free-standing facilities for providing multi-
disciplinary services to child victims and their families;
Preventing or reducing trauma to children caused by
multiple contacts with community professionals;
Providing families with needed services;
Maintaining open communication and case coordination among
community professionals and agencies involved in child protection
efforts;
Coordinating and tracking investigative, preventive,
prosecutorial, and treatment efforts;
Supporting effective investigative, preventive,
prosecutorial, and treatment efforts;
Enhancing professional skills of professionals and
volunteers who support local children's advocacy centers; and
Enhancing community understanding of child abuse.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants are invited from local public and private/non-profit
children's advocacy agencies and organizations who can demonstrate the
existence of a combination of two or more of the following:
The successful operation of a facility-based children's
advocacy center;
Multi-disciplinary staff experienced in providing
coordinated services to child victims and non-offending family members;
Experience in providing training and technical assistance
to other children's advocacy centers;
National expertise in providing training and technical
assistance to communities with respect to supporting the work of
professionals and volunteers providing multi-disciplinary services to
child victims and their families.
Selection Criteria
Applications will initially be screened to determine if the
applicant meets the eligibility requirements. They will then be
reviewed and rated as a regional group on the extent to which they meet
the following criteria:
1. Conceptualization of the Problem. (15 Points) The applicant must
demonstrate a clear understanding of the status and developmental needs
of children's advocacy centers in the census region in which they would
target their services.
2. Statement of Objectives. (10 Points) The objectives to be
achieved by the project must be clearly defined with a delineation of
the services which would be provided during this grant period.
3. Project Design. (15 Points) The procedures, workplan, tasks and
proposed products of the project must clearly reflect how identified
activities will achieve the stated objectives.
4. Project Management. (10 Points) The project's management
structure and staffing must be adequate for the successful
implementation and completion of the project. The management plan
describes a system whereby logistic activities are handled in the most
efficient and economical manner.
5. Staffing. (20 Points) The staff must demonstrate a high degree
of expertise in management and delivery of multi-disciplinary
investigation and intervention services to victims of child abuse and
their families.
6. Organizational Capability. (20 Points) The applicant
organization's ability to conduct the project successfully must be
documented in the proposal. Organizational experience with facility
based, multi-disciplinary responses to victims of child abuse is
mandatory.
7. Budget. (10 Points) The proposed budget must be reasonable,
allowable and cost effective with respect to the activities to be
undertaken.
Selection Process
If no acceptable applications are submitted from one or more of the
designated regions, the next highest rated application from one of the
other regions may be selected if it is feasible to provide the required
services to the targeted region.
Award Period
Each project will be funded for 12 months. Additional funding will
depend upon future appropriations and satisfactory performance under
the assistance award.
Award Amount
Up to $125,000 will be available for each of the four projects.
Due Date
Applications must be received by mail or delivered to OJJDP by
August 22, 1994, at Room 709, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20531.
John J. Wilson
Acting Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 94-14973 Filed 6-20-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P
