Project Safe Neighborhoods: Community Engagement and Media Outreach Technical Assistance Program, FY 2004

Selection Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated and rated by a peer review panel according to the criteria outlined below.

1. Project Design and Strategy (45 points)
   This section must describe how the applicant's organization will provide technical assistance through the following:

   • Training and Technical Assistance (TTA). The project design and strategy section must illustrate what applicants will do and how they intend to do it. Applicants must provide a project design that is innovative, viable, and within their ability to carry out. Applicants must indicate how project objectives and work requirements will be achieved and must describe a cohesive and well-thought-out plan for transferring knowledge to the field about community engagement and media outreach. This should include a description of how the applicant will both properly establish and maintain contact with PSN task forces and media partners and assist in identifying and prioritizing the districts' needs. Applicants should include a project timeline and task plan.

   • Protocols. Applicants must describe the TTA protocols and triage process that they will use. This includes addressing how applicants plan to develop practitioner-oriented self-help and self-assessment tools for the field. These tools are intended to help the PSN task forces identify the community to be reached, assess the inclusiveness of the proposed outreach activities, define the various messages being sent, and help the community to better understand the complex nature of gun violence and the dynamics of involving federal, state, and local agencies to combat it.

   • Evaluation. Applicants must describe the qualitative and quantitative measures that will indicate progress toward completing the assigned tasks. Applicants also must include a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of activities under the cooperative agreement. This plan must explain what will be measured, who will measure it, and how the evaluation findings will be used. Applicants must also describe how their organization will collect data to document the qualitative and quantitative measures defined above and how it will assess its services. The strategy for eliciting feedback should be described. Applicants must address the performance measures.

   • Deliverables. Applicants must describe how the deliverables will support the proposal and how they will be accomplished.

   • Response Time. Applicants must describe how services will be delivered in a short timeframe.

2. Management and Organizational Capability (40 points)
   Applicants must describe the skills and experience of staff in their organization and how they can accomplish the aforementioned tasks. Points will be awarded based on the following criteria:

   • Substantive experience in media outreach or community engagement, as appropriate.

   • Ability to assess substantive aspects of requests for service and develop technical assistance plans to meet those needs.

   • Experience providing technical assistance.

   • Experience developing and conducting training (including curriculum development).

   • Ability to manage technical assistance requests, including assessments, technical assistance strategies, provision of services, and documentation of services provided.

   • Experience and ability of project staff (provide résumés of key staff).

   • Technical capability (including meeting software, teleconferencing, and conference support equipment).

   • Management of workload, to include an identified process for prioritizing TTA needs among PSN task forces.

   • List of established partners or consultants.

   • Capacity to offer technical assistance in partnership with other practitioners in the field (i.e., peer-to-peer partnerships).

   • Ability to maintain continuous and coordinated contacts with PSN task forces and FEAT members to identify and disseminate information on issues of common concern and noteworthy activities of individual programs.

   • Ability to develop strategies that assess and enhance the ability of PSN coordinators and criminal justice agency partners to actively involve all segments of the local community in the PSN program, with particular attention paid to culturally diverse populations.

3. Budget (15 points)
   Applicants must provide a proposed budget that is complete, allowable, and cost effective in relation to the proposed activities. Applicants must set aside appropriate travel-related funds for key staff to attend the 3-day PSN national conference tentatively scheduled for June 2004, and three 1-day PSN technical assistance partner meetings in Washington, D.C.