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| 16.730 REDUCTION AND PREVENTION OF CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE |
| (Safe Start) |
| FEDERAL AGENCY |
| OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
| AUTHORIZATION |
| Public Law 105-277. |
| OBJECTIVES |
| To develop an initiative to understand, prevent and reduce the impact of family and community violence on young children by helping communities to expand existing partnerships between service providers (such as law enforcement, mental health, health, early childhood education and others) to create a comprehensive service delivery system. To study the efficacy of these service delivery systems, replicate the most effect systems, and study the scope of the problem of children's exposure to violence in the United States. |
| TYPES OF ASSISTANCE |
| Project Grants (Cooperative Agreements). |
| USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS |
| Applicant selected to receive Safe Start cooperative agreements may use funds to establish and enhance a broad range of local prevention, intervention and treatment services for young children who have been exposed and are at risk of being exposed to violence; develop effective multi-agency protocols; coordinate services to develop a community-wide system for responding to the needs of children exposed or at risk of exposure to violence; study the efficacy of these systems; and study the scope of the problem of children's exposure to violence in the U.S. |
| Applicant Eligibility |
| To be eligible for a Safe Start cooperative agreement, applicants must be public agencies (including state agencies, local units of government, and tribal governments) and/or private organizations who agree to waive any profit or fee. |
| Beneficiary Eligibility |
| Eligible applicants for the Safe Start Demonstration Projects are communities that have formed a strong collaborative group (or shown the ability and commitment to expand coordination with key partners such as courts, law enforcement, early childhood development and domestic violence agencies, and mental health services) to prevent and address the impact that exposure to violence has on young children. Applicants for the research and evaluation projects are public and private agencies (private, for-profit organizations must agree to waive any profit for fee), organizations, institutions, or individuals that have demonstrated experience in evaluating broad-based community initiatives and whose experience includes the design of studies capable of analyzing process and measuring impact across multiple communities and the development and delivery of evaluation-based training and technical assistance. |
| Credentials/Documentation |
| Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local governments, Circular No. A-21 for educational institutions, and Circular No. A-122 for nonprofit organizations. |
| Preapplication Coordination |
| None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. |
| Application Procedure |
| OJJDP will determine whether applications for funding be submitted through the Internet using the Office of Justice Programs online Grants Management System (GMS) or through Grants.gov. Applicants are expected to address each concern or requirement in the solicitation as clearly and specifically as possible, giving particular attention to goal and objective statements, methodology and data requirements. A peer review group is established as mandated in Section 262(d)(1)(A) of JJDP Act and applications are rated and ranked in relation to pre-defined selection criteria. This program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-110 and the Common Rule. |
| Award Procedure |
| Cooperative agreements are awarded directly to selected applicants, who are notified of a pending award. |
| Deadlines |
| Published in the program announcement/solicitation for proposals. |
| Range of Approval/Disapproval Time |
| From 1 to 6 months. |
| Appeals |
| None. |
| Renewals |
| Continuation grant and/or supplemental award. |
| Formula and Matching Requirements |
| Grants awarded under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act do not require a cash match; except for construction projects, where the match is 50 percent on community based facilities of 20 beds or less. |
| Length and Time Phasing of Assistance |
| Awards may be for projects from 12 to 48 months. Specific direction about the length of the projects to be funded is given in the solicitation. |
| Reports |
| Biannual progress reports, performance measure data submission and quarterly financial reports are required. |
| Audits |
| All organizations that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in any fiscal year must have a single audit for that year in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-133, as amended, unless the audit condition on the award says otherwise. These audits are due to the cognizant Federal agency not later than 9 months after the end of the grantee's fiscal year. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. |
| Records |
| Grantee must keep complete records on the disposition of funds, and records related to the grant must be retained for 3 years after the date of the final report. |
| Account Identification |
| 15-0404-0-1-754 and 15-0405-0-1-754. |
| Obligations |
| FY 07 $9,898,000; FY 08 est. not available; and FY 09 est. not available. |
| Range and Average of Financial Assistance |
| None. |
| PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
| OJJDP's Safe Start Initiative, originally funded through a Congressional set aside of $10 M annually, promotes practice innovation, research, and evaluation to build knowledge in the emerging area of children's exposure to violence. The purpose of the initiative is to prevent and reduce the impact of violence on children (particularly young children) and their families. The initiative currently encompasses both an original Safe Start demonstration project and the Safe Start Promising Approaches pilot project, and includes several evaluation components such as case level outcomes studies, experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation of the pilot project, and development of a first-ever national incidence and prevalence study on children's exposure to violence. Both the demonstration and pilot programs are designed to create evidence-based practice innovation through expanding current partnerships among service providers in key areas such as early childhood education, health, mental health, child welfare, family support, substance abuse prevention/intervention, domestic violence/crisis intervention, law enforcement, the courts, and legal services. These projects are aimed at enhancing the accessibility, delivery, and quality of services provided young children who have been exposed to violence or who are at high risk for exposure. In addition, other key initiative components include capacity-building work such as training and technical assistance, publications, information dissemination, and public and professional awareness. Through the Safe Start program, more than 15,000 children have been identified and provided with appropriate services in the aftermath of their exposure to violence. Close to 44,000 children serving professionals have been trained to identify and respond appropriately to these child victims in the Safe Start sites. In addition to the 27 communities directly funded to develop new practices to serve these children, national efforts to increase professional knowledge and specialized training to identify these children and get them critical services to ameliorate the impact of trauma from this exposure to violence in their daily lives. The Safe Start program supports the development of a long-range strategic plan for knowledge building in the area of children's exposure to violence. This plan relies on innovation and an evidence base for research, evaluation, practice, and capacity-building in information dissemination and training on children's exposure to violence (CEV). |
| REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE |
| The Safe Start solicitation/guideline is published in the Federal Register and awards are governed by the OJP Financial Guide, which is available upon request. Reports and studies developed through the OJJDP National Institute are available and can be secured by contacting OJJDP in Washington, DC. |
| Regional or Local Office |
| None. |
| Headquarters Office |
| Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Child Protection Division. Telephone: (202) 616-7323. |
| Web Site Address |
| http://www.usdoj.gov |
| RELATED PROGRAMS |
| None. |
| EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS |
| In fiscal year 2001, nine 5-1/2 year demonstration sites and three 2-year program sites continued and completed strategic planning efforts and OJJDP later made awards to an additional two demonstration sites in tribal communities. The National Center for Children Exposed to Violence continues to provide training and technical assistance to Safe Start communities and serves as a clearinghouse for information about violent traumatization and successful approaches to intervention, while further promoting public and professional awareness of the effects of violence on children. In FY05 OJJDP funded the Safe Start Promising Approaches Pilot Sites (SSPA) as the second phase of the Safe Start Initiative. SSPA is a four-year project that will provide funds to communities to implement evidence-based services for children exposed to violence and their families. The National Study on the Incidence and Prevalence of Children's Exposure to Violence is a five-year two-tiered study that will collect national data on the children's exposure to violence to inform the field about the types of exposure and the intensity, frequency and chronicity of such exposure. These numbers will provide the first robust comprehensive numbers on children's exposure to violence as well as providing a tool for local communities to collect their own local data. |
| CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS |
| Applications are judged according to their consistency with the policies and program priorities established by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Specific criteria are published in the Federal Register as part of the individual program announcement. Applications undergo a competitive peer review process as outlined in the OJJDP Competition and Peer Review Policy, 28 CFR Part 34. |
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General Services Administration Office of Chief Acquisition Officer Regulatory and Federal Assistance Division (VIR) |
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