SSHS Application FY 08 Final Tracked changes 19 Dec

Applications for grants under this grant competition may be submitted electronically or in paper format by mail or hand delivery. The electronic submission of applications is voluntary. However, if you choose to submit your application electronically, you must use the site listed below. Note: You may not submit your application by e-mail or facsimile.

Attention Electronic Applicants: Please note that you must follow the application procedures as described in the Notice Inviting Applications for this grant competition that was published in the Federal Register May 10, 2007.

If you want to apply for a grant and be considered for funding, you must meet the following deadline requirements:

Applications Submitted Electronically

You must submit your grant application through the Internet, using the software provided on the Grants.gov Web site (www.grants.gov), by 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on the application deadline date. If you submit your application through the Internet via the Grants.gov Web site, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment when we receive your application.

For more information on using Grants.gov, please refer to the Notice Inviting Applications that was published in the Federal Register May 10, 2007, the Grants.gov Submission Procedures and Tips document on pages 3 and 4 of this application package, and the Grants.gov Web site (www.grants.gov).

You may access the electronic application for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant at any of the following Web sites: www.grants.gov, www.ed.gov/programs/dvpsafeschools/index.html and www.sshs.samhsa.gov/initiative/currentinit.aspx.

Applications Sent by Mail

You must mail the original and two copies of the application on or before the deadline date. 12 a.m. midnight on March XXX, 2008. To help expedite our review of your application, we appreciate your voluntarily including an additional copy of your application. Please mail copies by midnight on the deadline date to:

U.S. Department of Education

Application Control Center

Attention: CFDA #84.184L

400 Maryland Ave., SW.

Washington, DC 20202–4260

To help expedite our review of your application, we appreciate your voluntarily including an additional copy of your application.

You must show one of the following as proof of mailing:

A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal Service.
A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial carrier.
Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary.

If you mail an application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:

1. A private metered postmark.

2. A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.

Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your local post office.

Applications Delivered by Commercial Carrier

Special Note: Due to disruptions to normal mail delivery, the Department encourages you to consider using an alternative delivery method (for example, a commercial carrier, such as Federal Express or United Parcel Service, or U.S. Postal Service Express Mail) to transmit your application for this competition to the Department. If you use an alternative delivery method, please obtain the appropriate proof of mailing under “Applications Sent by Mail,” then follow the mailing instructions under the appropriate delivery method.

Applications that are delivered by commercial carrier, such as Federal Express or United Parcel Service, should be mailed to:

U.S. Department of Education

Application Control Center–Stop 4260

Attention: CFDA #84.184L

7100 Old Landover Rd.

Landover, MD 20785–1506

Applications Delivered by Hand

You or your courier must hand deliver the original and two copies of your application by 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on or before the deadline dateMarch XXX, 2008. To help expedite our review of your application, we would appreciate your voluntarily including an additional copy of your application. Please hand deliver copies to:

U.S. Department of Education

Application Control Center

Attention: CFDA #84.184L

550 12th St., SW., PCP–Room 7041

Washington, DC 20202–4260

To help expedite our review of your application, we would appreciate your voluntarily including an additional copy of your application.

The Application Control Center accepts application deliveries daily between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time), except Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays.

Grants.gov Submission Procedures and Tips for Applicants

ATTENTION: Microsoft Vista and Word 2007 Users

~~Please note that Grants.gov does~~ ~~not~~ currently support the new Microsoft Vista operating system. The PureEdge software used by Grants.gov for forms is not compatible with Vista. Grants.gov will be reviewing this new product to determine if it can be supported in the futurere.

Grants.gov uses two viewer products – Adobe Acrobat Reader and PureEdge – that predate the release of Windows Vista. Adobe Reader 7.0.9 may work with Vista, but Adobe does not fully support this configuration. PureEdge Viewer v.6.0.2 is only compatible with Vista when using a Citrix server connection. Grants.gov is anticipating the release of Adobe Reader 8.1.1 shortly, which will be compatible with Microsoft Vista. Until Adobe Reader 8.1.1 is released, you have two choices: Use an operating system other than Vista or use Citrix, which has been identified as an option for any applicant that is using Vista. The Grants.gov Web site (www.grants.gov/help/general_faqs.jsp#18) has been updated to provide applicants with instructions on how to utilize the Citrix solution.

In addition, the new version of Microsoft Word saves documents with the extension “.docx.” The Grants.gov system does not process Microsoft Word documents with the extension “.docx.” When submitting Microsoft Word attachments to Grants.gov, please use the version of Microsoft Word that ends in “.doc.” If you have any questions regarding this matter, please e-mail the Grants.gov Contact Center at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or call 1-800-518-4726.

To facilitate your use of Grants.gov, this document includes important submission procedures you need to be aware of to ensure your application is received in a timely manner and accepted by the Department of Education.

Register early. Grants.gov registration may take five or more business days to complete. You may begin working on your application while completing the registration process, but you cannot submit an application until all of the registration steps are complete. For detailed information on the registration steps, go to www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp. Note: Your organization will need to update its Central Contractor Registry (CCR) registration annually.

Submit early. We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last day to submit your application. Grants.gov will put a date and time stamp on your application and then process it after it is fully uploaded. The time it takes to upload an application will vary depending on a number of factors, including the size of the application and the speed of your Internet connection, and the time it takes Grants.gov to process the application will vary as well. If Grants.gov rejects your application (see step three below), you will need to resubmit successfully before 4:30 p.m. Washington, DC time on the deadline date. Note: To submit successfully, you must provide the D-U-N-S number on your application that was used when your organization registered with the CCR.

Verify submission is OK. You will want to verify that Grants.gov and the Department of Education received your Grants.gov submission timely and that it was validated successfully. To see the date and time your application was received, log in to Grants.gov and click on the Track My Application link. For a successful submission, the date and time received should be earlier than 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on the deadline date, and the application status should be Validated, Received by Agency, or Agency Tracking Number Assigned.

If the date and time received is later than 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on the closing date, your application is late. If your application has a status of “Received,” it is still awaiting validation by Grants.gov. Once validation is complete, the status will either change to “Validated” or “Rejected with Errors.” If the status is “Rejected with Errors,” your application has not been received successfully. Some of the reasons Grants.gov may reject an application can be found on the Grants.gov site (www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp#10). For more detailed information on why an application may be rejected, please review the Application Error Tips document (www.grants.gov/section910/ApplicationErrorTips.pdf). If you discover your application is late or has been rejected, please see the instructions below.

Note: You will receive a series of confirmations both online and via e-mail about the status of your application. Please do not rely solely on e-mail to confirm whether your application has been received on time and validated successfully.

Submission Problems—What Should You Do?

If you have problems submitting to Grants.gov before the deadline date, contact Grants.gov Customer Support at 1–800–518–4726 or use the customer support available on the Web site (www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp).

If electronic submission is optional and you have problems that you are unable to resolve before the deadline date and time for electronic applications, please follow the transmittal instructions for hard copy applications in the Federal Register notice and get a hard copy application postmarked by midnight on the deadline date.

If electronic submission is required, you must submit an electronic application before 4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time), unless you follow the procedures in the Federal Register notice and qualify for one of the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these exceptions. See the Federal Register notice for detailed instructions.

Helpful Hints When Working With Grants.gov

Please note that once you download an application from Grants.gov, you will be working offline and saving data on your computer. Please be sure to note where you are saving the Grants.gov file on your computer. You will need to log on to Grants.gov to upload and submit the

application. You must provide on your application the D-U-N-S number that was used when your organization registered with the CCR.

Please go to www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp for help with Grants.gov. For additional tips related to submitting grant applications, please refer to the Grants.gov Submit Application FAQs found on Grants.gov (www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp).

Dial-Up Internet Connections

When using a dial-up connection to upload and submit your application, it can take significantly longer than when you are connected to the Internet with a high-speed connection (e.g., cable modem/DSL/T1). While times will vary depending upon the size of your application, it can take a few minutes to a few hours to complete your grant submission using a dial-up connection. If you do not have access to a high-speed connection and electronic submission is required, you may want to consider following the instructions in the Federal Register notice to obtain an exception to the electronic submission requirement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date. See the Federal Register notice for detailed instructions.

Mac Users

If you do not have a Windows operating system, you will need to use the Citrix solution discussed on Grants.gov or a Windows Emulation program to submit an application using Grants.gov. For additional information, review the FAQs for non-Windows users (www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp#non_window). To view the white paper for Macintosh users published by PureEdge, go to www.grants.gov/section678/PureEdgeSupportforMacintosh.pdf or contact Grants.gov Customer Support (www.grants.gov/contactus/contactus.jsp) for more information. If electronic submission is required and you are concerned about your ability to submit electronically as a non-Windows user, please follow the instructions in the Federal Register notice to obtain an exception to the electronic submission requirement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date. See the Federal Register notice for detailed instructions.

II. Program Background Information

General Information

Eligibility

This competition limits eligibility to local educational agencies (LEAs) that are not current Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grantees with an active grant.

Note: The SS/HS grant competition limits eligibility to applicants that do not currently have an active grant under this program. For the purpose of this eligibility requirement, a grant is considered active until the end of the grant’s project or funding period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the grantee’s authority to obligate funds (71 FR 70369).

Requirements for SS/HS Grant Applications

To be eligible for funding, all applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Be an eligible applicant. An eligible applicant is a local educational agency (LEA) or a consortium of LEAs that is not a current SS/HS grantee. Applicants are encouraged to check with State educational agencies to verify their status as an LEA.

For the purpose of this eligibility requirement, a grant is considered to be a current grant until the end of the grant’s project or funding period, including any extensions of those periods that extend the grantee’s authority to obligate funds (71 FR 70369).

A former LEA is eligible to reapply as a single applicant or as a member of a consortium provided that a signed program-specific assurance confirming eligibility is submitted with the application. (See Appendix C for additional information.)

2. Propose a project that meets the absolute project priority. The LEA’s application must propose to implement an integrated, comprehensive community-wide plan designed to create safe, respectful, and drug-free school environments and to promote prosocial skills and healthy childhood development. Plans must focus activities, curricula, programs, and services in a manner that responds to the community’s existing needs, gaps, or weaknesses in areas related to the following five elements:

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Activities.
Element Two: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Activities.
Element Three: Student Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports.
Element Four: Mental Health Services.
Element Five: Early Childhood Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

See page 15 for additional information about this topic under “SS/HS Absolute Priority.”

3. Request no more than the maximum amount established based on the district’s enrollment data. An applicant’s request for funding must not exceed the maximum amount established based on enrollment data. The maximum request for any of the project’s four 12-month budget periods is

$2,250,000 for an LEA with at least 35,000 students.
$1,500,000 for an LEA with at least 5,000 students but fewer than 35,000 students.
$750,000 for an LEA with fewer than 5,000 students.

Applicants must use the most recent student enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) as published on the NCES Web site. See page XXX for additional information about this topic under “Determining Your Maximum Funding Request.”

4. Include a signed preliminary memorandum of agreement (MOA). To demonstrate that the applicant has the support and commitment of the required SS/HS partners, each applicant is required to include a preliminary MOA with the application. The preliminary MOA must be signed and dated by the required SS/HS partners—the authorized representatives of the LEA, local juvenile justice agency, local law enforcement agency, and local public mental health authority. See page XXX for additional information.

5. Include a logic model. The logic model is a graphic representation of the project in chart format that depicts by element the integration of the proposed activities, curricula, programs, and services with the identified needs and gaps, goals, objectives, activities, partners’ roles, outcomes, and measures for outcomes.

See page XXX for additional information about this topic in Appendix B—Resource List and a sample logic model in Appendix D.

Applications that fail to meet any one of the above five requirements will not be submitted to peer reviewers for consideration.

Other Administrative Requirements That Apply to This Grant Program

General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) statement. Section 427 of GEPA requires each applicant for funding to include in its application a description of the steps the applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable access to, and participation in, Federal-assisted programs for students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries with special needs. Applicants for new SS/HS awards must include information in their applications to address this provision. More detailed information about the requirements is included on page XXX.

Participation by private school children and teachers. Section 9501 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), requires that LEAs or other entities receiving funds under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act provide for the equitable participation of private school children, their teachers, and other educational personnel in private schools located in areas served by the grant recipient. In order to ensure that grant program activities address the needs of private school children, LEAs must engage in timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials during the design and development of the program. This consultation must take place before any decision is made that affects the opportunities of eligible private school children, teachers, and other educational personnel to participate.

Maintenance of effort. Section 9521 of the ESEA requires that LEAs may receive a grant only if the State educational agency finds that the combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the LEA and the State with respect to the provision of free public education by the LEA for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the combined effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year.

Authority

This application package is based on 34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR). This competition is authorized under Title IV, Section 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa); and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 5614(b)(4)(e) and 5781 et seq.).

Official Documents Notice

The official documents governing this competition are the Notice Inviting Applications and the Notice of Final Priorities, Requirements, Selection Criteria, and Definitions published in the Federal Register (see section III. Legal and Regulatory Documents of this application package). These notices also are available electronically at the following Web sites: www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister and www.gpoaccess.gov/nara.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this collection is 1865-0004 and will expire on April 20, 2010. The time required to complete these forms is estimated to average 26 hours per response, including the time to review the instructions, search existing data sources, gather needed data, and prepare and review responses. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202–4651. If you have any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education, Lyndon Baines Johnson Education Building 6, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20202–6450.

Resources

Any questions related to the requirements of this grant competition should be directed to Karen Dorsey, of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) at 202–708–4674. For more information about the Safe Schools/Healthy Students program and related subjects, you can visit

the following Web sites: www.ed.gov/programs/dvpsafeschools/applicant/html and www.sshs.samhsa.gov. Additional related Web sites are contained in Appendix B—Resource List.

Available Technical Assistance

A series of 1-hour audio conferences will be held in May February and JuneMarch. The calls will take place on May 17, May 24, May 31, June 6, and June 13 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time). During these audio conferences, Federal staff will take questions from prospective applicants on eligibility requirements, grant application requirements, and the application review process. Instructions on how to access these call will be posted on www.sshs.samhsa.gov.

Grant Awards and Project Period

An estimated XXX new awards will be made. Projects will be funded for approximately $750,000 to $2,250,000 per year, depending on the enrollment data of the LEA or the combined enrollment data of the LEAs for consortia applications. These figures are only estimates and do not bind the Department of Education to a specific number of grants or amount of any grant.

The project period for this grant is 48 months with four 12-month budget periods. We intend the project and budget periods for projects funded under this grant competition to be July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2012. However, awards may be made as late as September 30, 2008. Projects will be funded for 1 year, with continuation funding for additional years contingent upon substantial progress by the grantee and the availability of funds.

The project period for this grant is 48 months (four budget periods of 12 months each). We intend the project and budget periods for projects funded under this grant competition to be September 1, 2007–August 31, 2011. However, awards may be made as late as September 30, 2007. Projects will be funded for 1 year, with continuation funding for additional years contingent upon substantial progress by the grantee and the availability of funds.

Applicants requesting funds must submit ED Standard Form 524 and a detailed budget narrative for each of the four 12-month budget periods in order to be eligible for funding each year. No funds will be awarded for those years for which a budget request and narrative are not provided. An estimated 25 new awards will be made. Projects will be funded for approximately $750,000 to $2,250,000 per year, depending on the enrollment data of the LEA or the combined enrollment data of the LEAs for consortia applicants. These figures are only estimates and do not bind the Department of Education to a specific number of grants or amount of any grant.

Budget

Applicants requesting funds must submit a [single] ED Standard Form 524 and two detailed budgets for each of the four 12-month budget periods to be eligible for funding each year. No funds will be awarded for those year for which a budget request and detailed budget are not provided.

The ED Standard Form 524 should represent the total funds needed to support the proposed project for each of the 12-month budget periods. The first detailed budget should represent the funds needed to support program Elements One, Two, and Three. The second detailed budget should represent the funds needed to support program Elements Four and Five. Each detailed budget should contain the same budget categories of the ED Standard Form524 and provide sufficient itemization (cost per unit, per month, per person, etc.) to demonstrate how costs were determined. The sum of the total amounts requested for each budget category (i.e., personnel, fringe, travel) of the first and second detailed budgets should be entered on the ED Standard Form 524. Failure to submit an ED Standard Form 524 and budget narrative for each of the four 12-month budget periods will result in no funding for those years for which documents (ED Standard Form 524 and detailed budgets) were not submitted.

Applicants must complete and submit two sets of the ED Standard Form 524 for each of the project’s four 12-month budget periods. One set should represent funds needed to support program Elements One, Two, and Three, and another set should represent funds needed to support program Elements Four and Five. A budget narrative should accompany each ED Standard Form 524. The budget narrative should contain the same budget categories of the ED Standard Form 524 and provide detailed information on how costs were determined. Failure to submit an ED Standard Form 524 and budget narrative for each grant year will result in no funding for those years for which budgets were not submitted.

E-Mail Addresses

As part of our review of your application, we may need to contact you with questions for clarification. Please be sure your application contains valid e-mail addresses for the project director and authorized representative or another party designated to answer questions in the event the project director and authorized representative are unavailable.

Review of Applications and Notification of Award

The review of applications and notification of award for this grant competition requires approximately 12 to 14 weeks. We expect to notify successful applicants in early September July 20087.

Human Subjects Research

Please see Item 3 of the instructions for Supplemental Information for Standard Form 424 on page 98 of section V. General Application Instructions and Information of this application package. Projects funded under this grant program may be subject to protection of human subjects research requirements. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under these requirements, please contact the Education Department’s protection of human subjects coordinator at 202–245–6153.

Grant Expectations

By submitting an application for this program, applicants agree to cooperate fully with any evaluation efforts conducted by ED, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and their contractors. At a minimum, grantees are expected to maintain administrative direction and control over grant funds and to do the following:

Maintain records on how their program is operating.
Maintain records on the extent to which their program objectives are being met.
Include specific performance measures in their evaluation plan.
Make ongoing project information, findings, and products available to ensure the dissemination of knowledge gained from this effort during the grant period.

Grantees also may be expected to work with a national evaluator to collect key program information helpful in assessing the extent to which projects supported under this grant competition are meeting their goals and objectives. ED, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may use the results of these projects to identify and disseminate to LEAs and their surrounding communities those strategies that are effective in preventing violence and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and in promoting prosocial behaviors in youth.

Government Performance and Results Act

The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) is a straightforward statute that requires all Federal agencies to manage their activities with attention to the consequences of those activities. Each agency is to state clearly what it intends to accomplish, identify the resources required, and periodically report its progress to the U.S. Congress. GPRA is intended to contribute to improvements in accountability for the expenditures of public funds; enhance congressional decision making through more objective information on the effectiveness of Federal programs; and promote a new government focus on results, service delivery, and customer satisfaction.

The Department has established the following six GPRA performance measures for the SS/HS program:

1. Student Victimization/Perception of School Safety

Percentage of grantees that experience a decrease in students who did not go to school on 1 or more days during the past 30 days because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to and from school.
Percentage of grantees that experience a decrease in students who have been in a physical fight on school property in the 12 months prior to the survey.

2. Student Substance Use and Abuse

Percentage of grantees that report a decrease in students who report current (30-day) marijuana use.
Percentage of grantees that report a decrease in students who report current (30-day) alcohol use.

3. Mental Health Services Provided

Percentage of grantees that report an increase in the number of students receiving school-based mental health services.
Percentage of grantees that report an increase in the percentage of mental health referrals for students that result in mental health services being provided in the community.

Grantees are required to collect data on the six GPRA performance measures and report that data to ED in their annual performance report and final performance reports. In year one, grantees are expected to conduct two data collections: the first to collect baseline data (prior to implementing the project) and the second to collect year one actual performance data for the annual performance report. Grantees will be asked to provide student-level data for each of the measures listed above so that staff can determine whether grantees are achieving progress in these areas. Consequently, applicants should give careful consideration to these measures in conceptualizing the approach and evaluation for their proposed project.

Tips for Preparing and Submitting an Application

1. Beginning the Application Process

Read this application package carefully and make sure you follow all of the instructions.
Use the tools we have provided to help you, including:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section in this application package.

Resources related to this specific grant competition on our Web site at www.ed.gov/programs/dvpsafeschools/index.html and on www.sshs.samhsa.gov.

General grant application technical assistance resources on our Web site at www.ed.gov/admins/grants/apply/techassist/index.html.

If you do not understand an instruction or requirement, contact Karen Dorsey of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) at 202–708–4674 for this grant competition.

2. Preparing Your Application

Organize your narrative according to the selection criteria headings.
Be thorough in your responses. Write so that someone who knows nothing about your community and the proposed activities, curricula, programs, and services can understand what you are proposing and why.
Make sure your budget narrative detailed budgets provides sufficient detail itemization about planned expenditures so ED staff can easily determine how the funds will be spentamounts were calculated.
Link your planned expenditures to the goals and objectives of your programproposed activities, curricula, programs, and services. Do not request funds for miscellaneous purposes. Make sure you demonstrate that your proposed expenditures are necessary to carry out your program.

3. Submitting Your Application

Use the checklist provided on page 102 in this application package to ensure your application is complete before submitting it.
Make sure all required forms are included and signed by an authorized representative of your organization.
Transmit your application by the deadline date and time. If you submit your application electronically, you must use the Grants.gov Web site. If you use the U.S. Postal Service, make sure you have a legible postmark date. If you use an overnight carrier, get a receipt.

4. What Happens Next?

In approximately 2 weeks (depending on the volume of applications we receive), you should receive a postcard from ED’s Application Control Center acknowledging receipt of your application and giving you its assigned number. Please refer to this number when you need to contact us about your application.
Staff members screen each application to ensure that all program eligibility requirements are met and that all forms are included.
Your application will be assigned to a three-person panel of independent reviewers and will receive a score from 0 to 100, depending upon how well it addresses the selection criteria. Agency staff will award any appropriate competitive preference points based on data concerning prior recipients of SS/HS grants. Competitive preference points will be in addition to points awarded by peer reviewers.
A Grant Award Notification will be sent to applicants whose proposals rank high enough to be awarded a grant. UnsSuccessful applicants will also receive a notification letter. All applicants will receive information on how to get access to peer reviewers’ comments approximately 6 to 8 weeks after notification. Please be sure your application contains valid e-mail addresses.
Unsuccessful applicants will receive a notification letter along with peer reviewers’ comments approximately 6 to 8 weeks after grant awards are announced.

III. Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

Background

Since 1999, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice (the Federal partners) have collaborated on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative. The SS/HS Initiative is a discretionary grant program that provides communities with Federal funding to implement a coordinated and SS/HS comprehensive plan of activities, curricula, programs, and services that focus on creating safe school environments, promoting healthy childhood development, and preventing youth violence and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use, henceforth referred to as the SS/HS comprehensive plan. An eligible applicant is a local educational agency (LEA) or a consortium of LEAs that partner with their local public mental health, law enforcement, and juvenile justice agencies to develop and submit a community-specific SS/HS comprehensive plan that addresses the following five elements:

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Activities.
Element Two: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Activities.
Element Three: Student Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports.
Element Four: Mental Health Services.
Element Five: Early Childhood Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

Over the past years, the SS/HS Federal partners, individually and collectively, have worked diligently to improve the lives of America’s children. Unfortunate recent events of school violence and research show that more work and resources are needed. The SS/HS Initiative allows LEAs, in partnership with their local juvenile justice, law enforcement, and public mental health agencies, to submit a single application for Federal funds to coordinate and strengthen existing effective programs, policies, and strategies and to institute new programs, policies, and strategies that reduce and prevent violence and promote healthy childhood development.

To date the SS/HS Federal partners have provided more than $1 billion in funding and other resources to 249 276 communities across the Nation as they work collaboratively to implement their SS/HS comprehensive plans. In implementing their SS/HS comprehensive plans, SS/HS grantees have provided students, schools, families, and communities with a network of effective activities, curricula, programs, and services that have:

Enhanced prosocial behaviors to prevent violent behavior and drug use.
Increased availability of mental health services.
Reduced incidents of violent behavior and drug use.
Created schools and communities that are safe, disciplined, and drug free.
Engaged parents, community organizations, faith-based groups, and other agencies.
Developed an infrastructure that has been institutionalized and sustained after the Federal funding ended.

Key to the SS/HS Initiative is partnership. Issues that affect the learning environment of schools —such as bullying, fighting, ATOD use, need for mental health services, and truancy—cannot be solved by schools alone. These diverse and complex problems not only affect students and their families but also frequently spill out into the community. A community collaboration approach can be very effective in responding to these issues. Collaboration allows for combined knowledge, skills, and resources of various local public, private, and community agencies to respond to issues that frequently cross professional field, cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic lines. The SS/HS Initiative identifies four local agencies—education, mental health, law enforcement, and juvenile justice—to provide leadership and management to the community collaboration in supporting the vision of the SS/HS program:

“To promote the mental health of students, to enhance academic achievement, to prevent violence and substance use, and to create safe and respectful climates through sustainable school-family-community partnerships and the use of research-based prevention and early intervention programs, policies, and procedures.”

The SS/HS Initiative draws on the best practices of education, justice, law enforcement, social, and mental health services to encourage applicants to use a community-focused, collaborative approach to develop an SS/HS comprehensive plan with a continuum of activities, curricula, programs, and services. We hope that the SS/HS partnership will continue beyond the life of the project, ensuring continuation of the SS/HS-funded activities, curricula, programs, and services as well as a continued community-focused, collaborative approach in resolving future community problems.

Requirements for SS/HS Grant Applications

To be eligible for funding, all applicants must meet the following requirements:

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Activities.

Element Two: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Activities.

Element Three: Student Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports.

Element Four: Mental Health Services.

Element Five: Early Childhood Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

See page 15 for additional information about this topic under “SS/HS Absolute Priority.”

$2,250,000 for an LEA with at least 35,000 students.

$1,500,000 for an LEA with at least 5,000 students but fewer than 35,000 students.

$750,000 for an LEA with fewer than 5,000 students.

Applicants must use the most recent student enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) as published on the NCES Web site. See page 19 for additional information about this topic under “Determining Your Maximum Funding Request.”

See page 48 for additional information about this topic in Appendix B—Resource List and a sample logic model in Appendix D.

Applications that fail to meet any one of the above five requirements will not be submitted to peer reviewers for consideration.

Other Administrative Requirements That Apply
to This Grant Program

Administrative direction and control over grant funds must remain with the grantee.

SS/HS Absolute Priority

SS/HS applicants’ proposals must meet the absolute priority for the competition in order to be considered for funding. Applicants’ proposal must support the LEA’s implementation of an integrated, comprehensive community-wide plan designed to create safe, respectful, and drug-free school environments and to promote prosocial skills and healthy childhood development in youth. Plans must focus activities, curricula, programs, and services in a manner that responds to the community’s existing needs, gaps, or weaknesses in areas related to the five SS/HS comprehensive plan elements:

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Activities.
Element Two: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Activities.
Element Three: Student Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports.
Element Four: Mental Health Services.
Element Five: Early Childhood Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

A complete discussion of the five elements begins on page 22XXX.

Competitive Preference Priority

A competitive preference will be given to applications from LEAs that have not yet received a grant under this program as an applicant or as a member of a consortium. For a consortium application to be eligible under this priority, no member of the LEA consortium can have received a grant or services under this program as an applicant or as a member of a consortium applicant. Under this competitive preference, an additional five points will be added to the external reviewer’s score of those eligible. To be considered for the competitive preference priority, an applicant will need to submit a program-specific assurance stating novice status. See Appendix C for additional information.

Program-Specific Assurance for Former SS/HS Grantees

Former LEAs are eligible to reapply as a single applicant or as a member of a consortium, provided that a signed program-specific assurance is submitted with the application. For consortium applicants, all participating LEAs in the consortium must sign this program-specific assurance if one member of the consortium received funding from an SS/HS grant as a sole applicant or as part of another consortium. The program-specific assurance must state that, if awarded, the project will not serve those schools or sub-regions that were served by the first SS/HS project. See Appendix C for additional information.

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

To demonstrate the support and commitment of the required SS/HS partners—LEA, local juvenile justice agency, local law enforcement agency, and local public mental health authority—the application must include a preliminary MOA. The preliminary MOA must also include information that supports the selection of the local juvenile justice agency, local law enforcement agency, and local public mental health authority to ensure effective change to and access to resources, policies, programs, and services that relate to the absolute priority.

Definitions for Required Partnerships

Local Juvenile Justice Partner: an agency or entity at the local level that is officially recognized by State or local government to address juvenile justice issues in the communities to be served by the grant. Examples of juvenile justice agencies include juvenile justice task forces, juvenile justice centers, juvenile or family courts, juvenile probation agencies, and juvenile corrections agencies.

Local Law Enforcement Partner: the agency (or agencies) that has law enforcement authority for the LEA. Examples of local law enforcement agencies include municipal, county, and State police; tribal police and councils; and sheriffs' departments.

Local Public Mental Health Partner*: the entity legally constituted (directly or through contract with the State mental health authority) to provide administrative control or oversight of mental health services delivery within the community.

*Applicants should contact their State Department of Mental Health to identify the relevant local public mental health authority. Mental health entities that have no legal authority in the administrative oversight of the delivery of mental health services are not acceptable as the sole mental health partner. The local public mental health authority is not required to provide mental health services to the selected population.For contact information for your State Department of Mental Health, go to http://www.samhsa.gov/Grants/generalinfo/state_agencies.aspx.

The preliminary MOA must name a core management team responsible for supporting the project director and for providing leadership and management to SS/HS project/collaborative process. The preliminary MOA must also describe the process used to engage multiple and diverse sectors of the community in the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the SS/HS comprehensive plan. Community engagement allows those affected to help define problems (and causes for those problems) and identify solutions. Meaningful community engagement is essential in responding to diverse needs. It not only builds trust and a sense of community but can also empower individuals to become actively involved and committed to sustaining the project. Finally, the preliminary MOA must include a logic model, a graphic representation of the project in chart format. Additional information about “Developing Your SS/HS Logic Model” can be found on page 22XXX.

We have found that some communities experience significant changes from the time the SS/HS application is submitted to the time of the award. To ensure that needed partners and resources remain available to implement the SS/HS comprehensive plan, grantees will be required to submit a final MOA. The final MOA will update information included in the preliminary MOA and provide additional assurances, address management and service delivery issues, and contain other pertinent information that will increase the likelihood of a successful project. The final MOA would be signed by the authorized representatives of each of the required partners and be submitted no later than 6 months after the award is made.

The requirements for the signed MOAs are as follows:

At a minimum, the preliminary MOA must:

Be signed by the authorized representatives of the LEA, the local juvenile justice agency, the local law enforcement agency, and the local public mental authority—the required SS/HS partners.
For consortium applicants, be signed by the authorized representatives of each member LEA and by the authorized representatives of each corresponding required SS/HS partner for each member LEA.
Include information that supports the selection of each identified SS/HS required partner that has signed the preliminary MOA.
Demonstrate the support and commitment of the required SS/HS partners to implement and sustain the project if funded.
Name a core management team of senior representatives from the required partners and clearly define how each member of the team will support the project director in the day-to-day management of the project.
Describe how multiple and diverse sectors of the community, including parents and students, have been and will continue to be involved in the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the project.
Include, as an attachment, a logic model (a graphic representation of the project in chart format) that identifies needs or gaps and connects those needs or gaps with corresponding project goals, objectives, activities, partners’ roles, outcomes, and outcome measures for each of the SS/HS elements.

Applications that do not include the preliminary MOA signed by the authorized representatives of each of the required partners (the LEA, local juvenile justice agency, local law enforcement |

agency, and local public mental authority) and the logic model will be rejected and not considered for funding.

At a minimum, the final MOA must:

Be signed by the authorized representatives of the LEA, the local juvenile justice agency, the local law enforcement agency, and the local public mental health authority—the required SS/HS partners.
For consortium applicants, be signed by the authorized representatives of each member LEA and by the authorized representative of each corresponding required SS/HS partner for each member LEA.
Include information that supports the selection of each identified SS/HS required partner that has signed the final MOA.
Include any needed revisions to the statement of support and commitment for each of the required SS/HS partners to implement and sustain the project.
Include a final roster of the core management team of senior representatives from the required SS/HS partners that clearly defines how each member of the team will support the project director in the day-to-day management of the project.
Include any needed revisions to the process for involving multiple and diverse sectors of the community in the implementation and continuous improvement of the project.
Include a final logic model that identifies needs or gaps and connects those needs or gaps with corresponding project goals, objectives, activities, partners’ roles, outcomes, and outcome measures for each of the SS/HS elements.
Include a description of each partner’s financial responsibility for the services that it will provide along with the conditions and terms of responsibility for those services, including the quality, accountability, and coordination of services as they relate to achieving the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the project.
Include a description of the procedures to be used for referral, treatment, and follow-up for children and adolescents in need of mental health services and an assurance that the local public mental health authority will provide administrative control and/or oversight of the delivery of mental health services.
Include any other necessary revisions to information furnished in the preliminary MOA.

Additional information and technical assistance will be provided to grantees to support them as they finalize the MOA. Decisions for continuation funding will be based, in part, on the submission of a complete final MOA in a timely manner.

Developing Your SS/HS Logic Model

SS/HS projects are usually large and complex. Our experience has shown that the use of a visual tool, such as a logic model, can be invaluable to applicants, peer reviewers, and Federal staff. The logic model provides a snapshot view, by element, of key information, presented in the narrative.

The chart format allows for easy cross-referencing between the project narrative, preliminary MOA, and the budget. The logic model will allow the applicant, peer reviewer, and Federal staff to readily evaluate if:

Needs and gaps have been identified.
Goals and objectives respond to the identified needs and gaps.
Proposed activities are related to and will contribute toward achieving identified goals and objectives.
Partners are actively and appropriately participating in implementing the project.
Outcomes and measures for outcomes are presented.
Resources (such as staff, materials, and training) are allocated in the budget.

The SS/HS logic model should provide a clear picture (graphic representation in a chart format) of your SS/HS comprehensive plan. The logic model should not introduce new or different information from what is included in the narrative.

For each element, the logic model chart should illustrate the relationship between the information identified as a need or gap with the corresponding goals; objectives; activities, curricula, programs, and services; partners’ roles in implementing those activities; and outcomes and methods for measuring outcomes. (An example of this presentation is presented in Figure 1.)

FIGURE 1: SS/HS Program Logic Model

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Materials

Needs and Gaps

Goals

Objectives

Activities, Curricula, Programs,
and Services

Partners’ Roles

Outcomes

How Outcomes Will Be Measured

Determining Your Maximum Funding Request

To determine your maximum funding request for the SS/HS application, you must use the most current enrollment data published by NCES. The enrollment data can be found by using the National Public School and School District Locator available online at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/.

An applicant’s request for funding must not exceed the maximum amount established with enrollment data. A consortium applicant should base its maximum funding request on the

combined enrollment of all participating LEAs. The maximum request for any of the project’s four 12-month budget periods is:

$2,250,000 for an LEA with at least 35,000 students.
$1,500,000 for an LEA with at least 5,000 students but fewer than 35,000 students.

$750,000 for an LEA with fewer than 5,000 students.

How To Use the NCES School District Locator To Access Enrollment Data

Go to the online NCES Locator at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/.

Type in the city and State of the school district that will serve as the fiscal agent and primary applicant for the SS/HS grant application. Click on the “Search” button to bring up a list of possible school districts found in that city and State.

Click on the correct district link to bring up information under two headings: “District Information” and “District Details.”

Under the heading “District Details,” you will find a number for “total students.” Use this number to determine the maximum funding you are eligible to request.

Print this page and include it with the SS/HS application. Consortia applicants will need to print and include this page for each of the participating LEAs.

Note: Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Education-funded (BIE-funded) schools are not required to use the locator. BIE-funded applicants need only to include documentation of their status as a BIE-funded school if the request for funding does not exceed $750,000 for any of the project’s four 12-month periods. BIE-funded schools requesting more than $750,000 for any of the project’s four 12-month periods must also provide documentation of student enrollment data.

Applicants should ensure that their budget requests do not exceed the maximum funding request allowable for their student enrollment data. Applications that exceed the maximum for their designated enrollment size will not be read, and grants will not be awarded for amounts that exceed these established maximum amounts.

Including a Continuum of Evidence-Based Strategies in Your SS/HS Comprehensive Plan

As you design your SS/HS comprehensive plan, include a continuum of evidence-based strategies—activities, curricula, programs, and services—to help you in reaching your project’s goals and objectives. Make sure the five elements are represented.

Continuum of Strategies

Recent literature on the subjects of violence and substance use prevention emphasizes the importance of providing a continuum of strategies (activities, curricula, programs, and services). This continuum is frequently described as a three-stage model: 1) universal prevention, 2) early intervention, and 3) intensive strategies. This model recognizes that all students can benefit from participating in universal prevention activities and that students at higher risk for substance use and/or violence already demonstrating such problematic behaviors require different interventions.

Universal prevention—Activities, curricula, programs, and services provided to students regardless of risk to delay or prevent negative and/or violent behavior (such as bullying or fighting) and to enhance knowledge and skills that will improve the level of respect and caring attitude displayed by all.

Early intervention—Activities, curricula, programs, and services provided to students who are at risk of engaging in, or experiencing, negative and/or violent behavior.

Intensive strategies—Activities, curricula, programs, and services designed for individuals at highest risk of engaging in negative and/or violent behavior or already demonstrating such behavior. For additional information on this topic, see Appendix B—Resource List.

Choosing Evidence-Based Programs

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and many Federal K-12 grant programs require educational practitioners to use “scientifically based research” (also referred to as “evidence-based,” “science-based,” or “research-based”) programs. With limited resources available, the selection of programs that have proven to be effective in creating positive change is critical. A wide range of evidence-based strategies (activities, curricula, programs, and services) is available to choose from as well as a growing body of evidence-based principles and research to consider (see page 26). Below are a few of the questions (this is not an inclusive list) you may want to consider when selecting strategies to include in your SS/HS comprehensive plan:

Is the activity, curriculum, program, or service based on a well-defined theory or model?
Is there sound research (quality and appropriateness of design, data collection, and analysis) to show evidence that the activity, curriculum, program, or service caused or contributed to a desired outcome?
Given your community’s risk and protective factors, can you replicate the activity, curriculum, program, or service with fidelity?
Is the program age-, gender-, and culturally appropriate for your selected population?

SS/HS Elements

Element One: Safe School Environments and Violence Prevention Activities

Without a safe learning environment, teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn. Safe school environments and effective violence prevention efforts promote a climate in which learning can take place. The twofold goal of this element is to identify issues, conditions, behaviors, and/or structures that contribute to unsafe school environments and violence in schools and the community and then to propose strategies that will address identified issues and result in safe and orderly schools and reduced levels of violence in schools and the community.

To accomplish this goal, applicants should consider including strategies that focus on the entire school population as well as those students with disruptive, destructive, or violent behaviors. A continuum of strategies—including universal prevention, early intervention, and intensive activities, curricula, programs, and services—is key to success.

Examples of strategies for universal prevention include conducting a safety and security assessment and then implementing interventions to correct deficiencies such as installing surveillance cameras. (No more than 10 percent of the total budget for each year may be used to support costs associated with security equipment, personnel, and minor remodeling of school facilities to improve safety.) Other universal prevention activities could include developing and implementing a district-wide school safety plan, instituting a district-wide research-based violence prevention curriculum, and promoting good citizenship and character as part of a plan to improve overall school climate.

Early intervention strategies include providing violence prevention curricula in an intensive, small group setting, training staff on the early warning signs of violence, developing a district-wide policy for assessment and referral to parenting programs, and training staff and identified students on conflict resolution skills.

More intensive strategies include alternative programs, case management and coordinated services for students reentering schools from juvenile justice or alternative school placements, and student courts.

Element Two: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Activities

ATOD use is a complex human behavior often related to other factors in the home or wider community but having a negative impact on the learning environment of the school. Schools have developed and implemented curricula and instructional programs to address ATOD use. Although curricula and instructional programs are important and necessary, they are insufficient alone.

The prevention or reduction of substance use and abuse among youth needs to be coordinated with broader environmental strategies that address change not only at the individual, classroom, and school levels but also at the family and community levels. Recognizing the importance of the family is critical. Research has suggested that family interventions aimed at improving parenting practices and the family environment can be effective in reducing risk for later problem behaviors and ATOD use among youth.

Examples of strategies include school-wide implementation of research-based ATOD prevention curricula, social norms campaigns aimed at reshaping attitudes and beliefs regarding ATOD use, and review of policies and procedures addressing ATOD use across schools and other community institutions. (All of these are examples of universal prevention.) Programming to address the needs of students who are at higher risk or already engaging in problem behavior would include more individually focused supports and more intensive evidence-based programming or practices.

Element Three: Student Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Supports

Academic and social success depends on more than instruction alone. In addition to having a strong academic focus that supports students to achieve high standards, successful schools foster positive relationships for youth, promote meaningful parental and community involvement, and recognize that the social and emotional needs of students play an important role in their development. When youth participate in supervised, engaging, and well-planned programs that provide positive interaction with peers and adults, promote initiative, and encourage youth to contribute to society, youth are more likely to succeed academically and have positive attitudes toward their school and community.

Youth who engage in such activities also exhibit improved behavior, including an increase in self- and social awareness; an ability to effectively manage negative emotions; and improved decision making and negotiation skills to address negative peer pressure. Students, families, and other community members such as law enforcement officers, juvenile justice personnel, social services and mental health professionals, and faith- and community-based organizations are important partners in addressing the behavioral, social, and emotional supports for students. They should be involved in the planning of these activities.

Some examples of universal strategies that can be included in your SS/HS comprehensive plan are opportunities for students to participate in afterschool programs, staff training focused on knowledge and skills needed to support positive student behavior, and designated staff to improve school-community liaisons. Well-designed mentoring programs may address the needs of students at higher risk for problem behavior or already demonstrating such behavior.

(This grant is not intended to fund activities that support direct academic instruction, such as academic tutoring.)

Element Four: Mental Health Services

Many children and adolescents have mental health needs but are unable to access appropriate high-quality mental health services. Growing evidence shows that school mental health programs improve educational outcomes by decreasing absences, reducing discipline referrals, and improving test scores. Identifying mental health problems early and providing appropriate

services are especially important in improving academic achievement and overall student well-being.

In responding to this element, an applicant should consider including the following activities:

Providing early identification and assessment in the school setting.
Providing appropriate school-based mental health early intervention services for at-risk children and adolescents and their families.
Providing referral and follow-up with local public mental health agencies when treatment is indicated, consistent with the written agreement between the schools and the local public mental health authority.
Providing training and consultation to school personnel.
Providing supportive services to families in order that they may participate fully in the educational, social, and healthy development of their children.
Revising policies and procedures as needed to ensure enhanced communication and information-sharing across service systems (such as common referral or intake forms).

This element’s activities are intended to support enhanced integration, coordination, and resource sharing among education, mental health, and social services providers. For this reason, the SS/HS final MOA requires a formal arrangement between schools and public mental health entities. The arrangement specifies the delivery of mental health services for children and adolescents with more serious mental health problems to complement school-based universal prevention and early intervention services.

These grant funds are not intended to supplant the financial resources already dedicated to improving mental health services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These funds are intended to leverage and coordinate mental health services.

Element Five: Early Childhood Social and Emotional Learning Programs

Experiences that occur in the first five years of life profoundly affect later development. Learning that occurs in these early years is rapid, spanning various domains—cognitive, linguistic, moral, social, emotional, and behavioral—all of which impact school readiness. Children who develop a secure attachment to at least one adult are more likely to develop social and emotional skills that lay the foundation for future healthy interpersonal relationships, association with nonviolent peers, and improved academic achievement.

Because younger children are not yet enrolled in school, access to families with children and toddlers may be complex. For this reason, proposed activities should include ways to overcome barriers to identifying and serving children and families in need of the services to be provided. Appropriate community partners should be identified and consulted in the development of services to address the proposed early childhood social and emotional learning programs.

Some examples of activities, curricula, programs, and services that can be included under Element Five are training for parents, training for professionals working in early child care centers, parent and caregiver support groups, and screening for developmental milestones and school readiness in all early childhood programs. (These are examples of universal prevention activities.) Examples of activities and programs that address the needs of youngsters at higher risk or already demonstrating problem behavior might include pre- and postnatal nurse home visitation, case management, crisis intervention, and intensive therapy.

Local Evaluation

Applicants must present a plan for evaluating their SS/HS comprehensive plan and collecting data on the six GPRA performance measures. At least seven percent of the total budget must be allocated to local evaluation efforts for each of the four years of the grant. The purpose of the local evaluation is to provide timely information for creating strategic plans, measuring progress, and keeping the project focused on the overall objective of SS/HS—promoting healthy childhood development and preventing violence and substance use. Local evaluation is also an important tool in sustaining local progress after Federal funding has ended.

Goals are generally broad outcome statements (for example, improve school safety), and objectives are more specific statements for achieving the goal. Objectives are attainable, measurable, and time specific (for example, reduce injuries during the school year).

The local evaluation design should include both process and outcome measures linked directly to goals and objectives. Process measures describe what was done, how it was done, and to whom and for whom it was done. Process measures are especially important to ensure that evidence-based programs are implemented with fidelity in order to maximize their effectiveness. Outcome measures evaluate the effect of activities, curricula, programs, and services.

Applicants should demonstrate a strong commitment to making evaluation an integral part of their SS/HS planning and implementation activities.

Evaluation Planning Considerations:
Characteristics of Strong Evaluation Plans

The design is consistent with the goals and objectives and links with activities and proposed process and outcome measures.

The design provides needed levels of autonomy and independence to collect, analyze, and report on data.

The design includes both process and outcome measures that

Describe how the SS/HS comprehensive plan (activities, curricula, programs, and services) will be implemented and how the applicant will determine whether goals and objectives have been met.
Report on the local adaptation and fidelity of implementation of selected evidence-based programs.
Show if, and to what extent, the SS/HS comprehensive plan (activities, curricula, programs, and services) is producing its intended effects with the targeted population.

The design describes how the SS/HS partners will be provided with data that can be used to make adjustments in service delivery and improve the SS/HS comprehensive plan.

The design provides for a lead evaluator and staff to serve in an advisory capacity to the local SS/HS partners and assist with planning, implementation, and sustainability activities.

The design allows for the accurate and timely collection of Government Performance and Results Act data.

Selection Criteria

The following selection criteria will be used to evaluate applications. For ease of reading by the reviewers, applicants should develop their narrative to follow the sequence of the criteria below. The maximum number of possible points for all selection criteria is 100. Applicants must address each subcriterion. The narrative portion of your SS/HS application represents your response to the selection criteria. This portion of your application, combined with your logic model, will serve as your SS/HS comprehensive plan. The narrative portion is limited to 40 double-spaced pages and must adhere to the format requirements on page 98.

Community Assessment—20 points
Goals and Objectives—15 points
Project Design—25 points
Evaluation—15 points
Management—20 points
Budget—5 points

1. Community Assessment (20 points)

(a) The extent to which the applicant describes individual, family, school, and community risk and protective factors that relate to the five SS/HS elements and that will be addressed by the project. (8 points)

(b) The extent to which the applicant describes student problem behaviors as they relate to the five SS/HS elements and how they will be addressed by the project. (7 points)

(c) The extent to which the applicant identifies, in the project narrative and the logic model, needs and gaps related to the five SS/HS elements that are not addressed by current services and programs. (5 points)