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Tribal Courts Assistance Program, FY 2004
Selection Criteria
Selection Criteria for Categories I and II
Tribal governments without a functioning tribal court or without
a comprehensive plan to establish a tribal court are encouraged
to submit an application for a category I (intertribal) or category
II (single-tribe) court system. Applicants for intertribal
grants must list all the federally recognized tribes that will
be partners and provide a statement certifying their participation
under Problem Definition. Applicants will be evaluated and rated
by a peer review panel according to the criteria outlined below.
- Problem Definition (10 points)
Identify the population
the court will serve and the geographic area it will cover. Include
socioeconomic data for the area, if
available. Identify the problems the proposal addresses and the
commitment of the tribe(s) to resolve these problems. In doing
so, identify and discuss the caseload and offenses that the project
will address. Include information about violent crimes, property
crimes, domestic violence, child welfare, juvenile offenses, alcohol
and substance abuse, and other priority crimes that are committed
and other issues that arise in the proposed area.
- Strategy Overview (25 points)
Describe what the applicant
is proposing to do and how it plans to accomplish it. Identify
the types of both civil and criminal
caseloads that the tribal court will address. Summarize the
applicant's intent to establish and implement a comprehensive
plan and detail
the proposed court's purpose, structure, and operation. Describe
current efforts to coordinate services among tribal providers,
including law enforcement, corrections, and treatment.
- Implementation
Plan (25 points)
Describe how the strategy defined
above will be implemented. (See the Performance
Measures section.)
Provide a strategy to collaborate with other tribal and/or
nontribal agencies to implement the plan. Along with the
goals and objectives,
include a timeline that describes each project goal, related
objective, and activity; give the expected completion date;
and identify the
responsible person or organization (also in Attachment
#3). Briefly explain how each task will support
and/or enhance the development of the tribe's justice system.
- Coordination (10 points)
Describe who will make up
the project advisory team. This may be either an existing or
a newly formed group. If the application
is for an intertribal grant, a minimum of one and maximum
of three persons from each tribe involved in the intertribal
court system
may be members of the project advisory team. Explain how
these members will fulfill the roles defined in the implementation
plan
and identify those individuals who will attend training seminars
sponsored by BJA (to be determined). Include letters of support
and commitment and memorandums of understanding, where appropriate.
Discuss how the community will be involved in planning the
tribal court.
- Program Effectiveness (10 points)
Explain how
the applicant will know if the program works. Describe the
kind of data the tribe or consortium has collected and will
collect to guide the focus of planning the tribal court. (See
the Performance
Measures section.) Explain how the applicant
will assess the impact of its efforts. A clear connection should
be
maintained from the proposed strategy to the issues identified
in the problem statement. Explain what will be measured, who
will measure it, and how the information will be used. If available,
tribes are encouraged to describe their current data collection
instruments. If data are not being collected, this must be
stated
in the application.
- Sustainment (10 points)
Identify resources that
complement this project. Outline a strategy for continuing
the project when the federal grant period ends.
- Budget (10
points)
Applicants must provide a proposed budget that is complete,
allowable, and cost effective in relation to the activities
to be undertaken.
Applicants should demonstrate that expenses for travel, information
technology, and personnel follow the guidelines listed in the Budget
Detail Worksheet section of
this solicitation.
Selection Criteria for Category III
Tribal governments that want to enhance or continue to operate
their tribal court may submit an application based on the population
the court serves. The cover page must indicate the tier (I, II,
III, IV, or V) under which the applicant is applying.
- Problem Definition (10 points)
Identify the problems
the proposal addresses and the tribe's commitment to resolve these
problems. In doing so, identify and
discuss the historic caseload/offenses that the proposed project
of the tribal court will address. Describe the current operation
of the tribal court and the cost to sustain it. Include information
that defines the current caseload, staffing patterns, and services.
Include information about violent crimes, property crimes, domestic
violence, child welfare, juvenile offenses, alcohol and substance
abuse, and other priority crimes that are committed and other issues
that arise within jurisdictional boundaries.
- Strategy Overview (25 points)
Describe what the
applicant is proposing to do and how it plans to accomplish
it. Summarize the court's comprehensive plan and
detail its authority, purpose, structure, and operation.
Identify the types of both civil and criminal caseloads
that the tribal
court will address. Describe current efforts to coordinate
services among tribal providers, including law enforcement,
corrections,
and treatment.
- Implementation Plan (25 points)
Describe how
the strategy defined above will be implemented. (See the Performance
Measures section.)
Provide a strategy to collaborate with other tribal and/or
nontribal agencies to implement the plan. Discuss who the
partners will be,
what role they will play, and whether these partnerships have
been ongoing or will be new. Along with the goals and objectives,
include
a timeline that describes each project goal, related objective,
and activity; gives the expected completion date; and identifies
the responsible person or organization (also in Attachment
#3). Briefly explain how each task will support
and/or enhance the development of the tribe's justice system.
- Coordination (10 points)
Describe the applicant's
strategy to collaborate with other tribal agencies; federal,
state, and local courts; and federal agencies
(e.g., U.S. Attorney's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs).
Discuss who the partners will be, what role they will play,
and whether
these partnerships have been ongoing or will be new. Include
letters of support and commitment and memorandums of understanding,
where
appropriate. Explain how these members will fulfill the roles
defined in the implementation plan and who will attend
training seminars
sponsored by BJA (to be determined). Discuss how the community
will be involved in the implementation of the program.
- Program
Effectiveness (10 points)
Explain how the applicant
will know if the program works. Describe the kind of data
the tribe or consortium has/will collect to guide
the focus of planning the tribal court. (See the Performance
Measures section.) Explain how the applicant
will assess the impact of its efforts. A clear connection should
be
maintained from the proposed strategy to the issues identified
in the problem statement. Explain what will be measured, who
will do it, and how the information will be used. If available,
tribes
are encouraged to describe the current data collection instruments.
If data are not being collected, this must be stated in the
application.
- Sustainment (10 points)
Identify resources that
complement this project. Outline a strategy for continuing
the project when the federal grant period ends.
-
Budget (10 points)
Applicants must provide a proposed budget that is complete,
allowable, and cost effective in relation to the activities
to be undertaken.
Applicants should demonstrate that expenses for travel, information
technology, and personnel follow the guidelines listed in the Budget
Detail Worksheet section.
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