Title: FY 1999 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Research and Evaluation Grants. Series: Solicitation Author: National Institute of Justice Published: National Institute of Justice, November 1998 Subject: Program evaluations, drug testing 11 pages 21,000 bytes ------------------------------- Figures, charts, application forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420 (877-712-9279 for TTY users). ------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice FY 1999 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Research and Evaluation Grants APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 2, 1999 ------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice Raymond C. Fisher Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General No‰l Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Travis Director, National Institute of Justice Department of Justice Response Center: 800-421-6770 Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov National Institute of Justice World Wide Web Site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij ------------------------------- FY 1999 ADAM Research and Evaluation Grants I. Introduction The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) seeks proposals to use the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program to conduct research using primary data collection or secondary data analysis and to foster research on the development of the ADAM program itself. It is anticipated that up to five grants will be awarded. Available funding is $750,000 with $250,000 set aside to address issues concerning violence against women through the use of ADAM data. The FY 1999 ADAM Research Grant offers an opportunity to use an ongoing Federally-supported and locally-implemented data collection system to investigate questions on a wide range of issues including: drug abuse and drug control policy, criminal behavior and law enforcement, domestic violence and sexual assault, social services and public health, job market and other economic concerns, and methods of drug use surveyance and other sensitive topics. Research sponsored through this solicitation will be executed through data collection at the 35 ADAM sites. (See Appendix A for a list of ADAM sites, including the major city and county from which the study population is drawn.) Secondary analysis of existing ADAM data that furthers methodological advancement may also be supported. The solicitation is open to current ADAM site management staff as well as other investigators who are able to establish an acceptable working relationship with the site management team. Research using primary data collection will be executed at the 35 ADAM sites and the applicant must obtain access to the arrestees through ADAM site management in order to ensure that relations with the local jail facility are not disturbed and that normal ADAM data collection is not significantly disrupted. II. Background In 1997, the ADAM program replaced the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program. ADAM represents a major expansion and revision of the DUF program, including the addition of 12 new sites in 1998 bringing the total number of sites to 35. Since 1987 DUF, and now ADAM, has conducted quarterly interviews and drug tests with arrestees in urban lock-ups. The data play an important role in assembling the national picture of drug abuse and have been a central component in studying the links between drug use and crime. ADAM data collection consists of a short (approximately 20 minutes) interview of recent arrestees in jails to collect demographic, drug use history, drug dependency, treatment needs, and drug market information. Information about the ADAM program including a copy of the data collection procedures manual is on the Internet at http://www.adam- nij.net.) NIJ is streamlining its process to accommodate the volume of proposals anticipated under this solicitation. Researchers can help in a significant way by sending NIJ a nonbinding letter of intent by January 19, 1999. You can reach NIJ by Internet by sending e-mail to fitzgera@ojp.usdoj.gov or rileyj@ojp.usdoj.gov. You can write a letter with the same information to FY99 ADAM Research and Evaluation Grants, 810 Seventh Street N.W., Washington, DC 20531. A urine specimen is collected from each arrestee. Data are collected from adult male and female arrestees and in some sites from juvenile male and female detainees. Data are collected quarterly in all sites from each specific population--male, female, adult, and juvenile--to whom access is provided in a particular site. Data collection periods for any single population are generally for 2 to 3 consecutive weeks. A national site management contractor and laboratory contractor provide support to sites for interviewing, data management, and urinalysis. Recent improvements to the program include: o The introduction of a new sampling strategy that will provide representative samples at the county level and greater ability to make site to site comparisons. Data will be collected from male and female arrestees in sample sizes proportionate to their representation in the arrestee population. NIJ, through the national site management contractor, is implementing sampling plans in each of the sites. Applicants who require approximate sample sizes for particular sites may contact Dr. Jack Riley at NIJ (202-616-9030 or rileyj@ojp.usdoj.gov) for information. o In 1999 the program will have the capacity to test for a broader range of drugs, increasing the ability to detect local variation in drug trends. o In 2000 a new interview instrument will be fielded. The objective of these sampling design and instrument improvements is to increase the capability of the ADAM program to deliver meaningful information to NIJ's national, State and local partners in treatment delivery, law enforcement, social services administration, and policy development. III. Research Design The proposed research design can employ either primary data collection that supplements regular ADAM data collection or secondary data analysis using existing data. If primary data collection is proposed, it must be carried out within the context of regular ADAM data collection so that basic ADAM protocols are preserved. These protocols include the sampling design and completion of the targeted number of cases and administration of the core questionnaire. Proposed changes to the standard panel of drugs for urinalysis will be considered. Changes in sites' drug testing panels must be coordinated through NIJ. The research design can be structured as a single or multiple quarter, cross-sectional addendum (i.e. supplemental to regular ADAM); or as a longitudinal study with a single or multiple quarter intake process. The applicant should explain why a particular site or sites are selected for the study. If a non-arrestee or non-ADAM-arrestee comparison population is proposed, justification for its inclusion must be provided. The proposed project design should include an explanation of how the research will be conducted within the context of regular ADAM collection. Applicant should describe and justify aspects of the proposed research that would affect ADAM data collection, such as: o Additional interview questions. How much more time would be required from the respondent? o Training on interview instrument. If items are to be added to the regular ADAM interview, who will develop and administer the interviewers' training module for these items? o Need for over sampling. Will the regular ADAM sample size support the research design? Who will monitor the sample selection process for the proposed study? How will additional study cases be distinguished from the regularly selected cases? o Confidentiality requirements. Does the research involve procedures such as collection of identifiable data that requires special institutional review board (IRB) approvals? Any collection of identifiable data requires an IRB review of the plan for maintaining respondent confidentiality. Each site has its own IRB approval that governs ADAM data collection. o Special needs for gaining access to the arrestees. Will the timing be sufficient for the needs of the research--e.g. in some facilities early releasees are not normally available to be interviewed. o Other special requirements. If the proposed research involves new methods of bioassay--e.g. hair, breath, sweat patch--what steps will be taken to ensure participation in the program? IV. Areas of Research This solicitation will support three types of research projects: studies that focus on specific policy issues, program evaluations, and survey methodology studies. A. Policy Issues Research on policy issues should be aimed at delivering relevant information for confronting problems in their communities to local policymakers and practitioners. The survey population is the current county catchment area of the particular ADAM site or sites being proposed for research. Funding for "outreach" research in nearby suburban, rural, and Indian Country populations is not included in this solicitation. The range of policy issues that can be explored through research of the arrestee population is broad. Potential areas to be addressed include: o law enforcement issues such as drug markets, community-policing strategies, police use of force, or police/minority interactions; o drugs or types of drugs prevalent in a local area or a significant segment of the local population--e.g. methamphetamine, Rohypnol, MDMA, ketamine, inhalants or alcohol; o violence against women issues including links between drug use and domestic violence or sexual assault (ADAM data system elements of relevance to violence against women issues are limited to arrest charge data); o public health issues such as incidence and prevalence of STDs or tuberculosis, primary health care needs, and mental health/co-morbidity; o social services for offenders such as drug treatment, job training and employment services, and housing placement; o juvenile drug use and offending issues, e.g. developmental pathways to drug use and crime; o links between drug use/other criminal activity and economic behavior such as gambling, drug dealing, employment history, etc.; o spatial analyses such as drug market locations, offender movement patterns, and routine activities and displacement following police interventions. B. Program Evaluation Through access to arrestees, the ADAM research platform offers an important intake population for carrying out longitudinal research for criminal justice program evaluation. To conduct studies of this nature, grantees will be required to develop a supplemental informed consent process that addresses the issue of collecting and retaining identifiable data from the arrestees. Types of programs to be studied can include: o domestic violence and drug use programs either as a single program or as separate coordinated programs; o pretrial diversion programs; o jail-based service programs--e.g. drug education; and violence control including domestic violence, and sexual assault; o community-based programs--e.g. Weed and Seed; o Drug Court programs (Office of Justice Program Drug Courts Program Office funding must serve as base funds if money is sought through ADAM as well). C. Methodology Studies NIJ is also interested in using ADAM for methodological research that will increase the utility of the data collected. Areas of study include: o self report validity--measuring and improving self-report for different drugs including alcohol, innovative methods of primary and collateral data collection such as hair testing technologies or official records, self-report validation through bioassay such as hair testing; o development of community indicators for monitoring substance abuse, and linking ADAM data to other data collection systems; o geographically-referenced arrestee data--using it to analyze spatial patterns of drug use and criminal behavior; o instrumentation--including issues around surveying juveniles, surveying immigrant populations in their native language, and mode of survey administration including automated methods; o secondary data analysis on site environmental factors such as interviewer characteristics, site characteristics, and temporal variation in interviewing time (time of day and day of week); o new sampling methods--technical assistance for designing and implementing. V. Funding NIJ will make up to 5 awards not to exceed a total of $750,000 in the areas of policy research, program development, and methodology studies. $250,000 of the $750,000 available under this solicitation is provided by the Violence Against Women Agenda Program and is reserved for studies in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault of women. For all awards made through this solicitation, NIJ will consider proposals to conduct any type of research--e.g. primary data collection, collateral data collection (such as official records) or secondary data analysis, longitudinal or cross-sectional, single site or multiple-site--and will base funding decisions on the merits of the proposal and degree to which the proposed budget is commensurate with the scope of work. Applicants must submit a detailed budget and budget narrative that includes labor and direct and indirect costs for the proposed work. The ADAM research program offers a rare opportunity to conduct primary data collection without absorbing the basic operational costs. Therefore, proposal budgets should not include the regular ADAM data collection costs of site labor (interviewer and supervisory), supplies and incentives, mailing, laboratory fees for urine testing of the regular panel of drugs, and data processing costs for the regular quarterly collection. (In this case, regular means data collection that would occur in the absence of the grant- funded project.) NIJ expects that applicants will develop their own interview forms and interviewer training materials. NIJ will retain the right to review these materials for possible conflicts with regular training and data collection. Once materials are completed, NIJ will absorb costs of training on new instruments and procedures by its regional field management staff. Costs beyond those covered by regular data collection must be budgeted for in the applicants proposal and can include: interviewer and supervisory labor if additional cases are to be collected or if staff time is required for administering additional survey questions or for procedures such as obtaining informed consent and sample accounting; travel to facilities other than the regular data collection sites; testing of drugs not included in the regular panel; and data entry costs. If the applicant proposes to ask interview questions in addition to the standard ADAM interview questions, the costs of processing the additional responses, including programming, shipping, and data entry costs must be specified in the budget proposal. The cost of testing for drugs not included in the regular panel must likewise be specified in the budget proposal. If the applicant proposes to use ADAM staff and can make satisfactory arrangements with the site management, budgeted costs should be based on regular staff hourly rates. Otherwise, the budget should include expected labor costs for any personnel who will be provided through the applicant. VI. How to Apply Those interested in submitting proposals in response to this solicitation must complete the required application forms and submit related required documents. (See below for how to obtain application forms and guides for completing proposals.) Applicants must include the following information/forms to qualify for consideration: o Standard Form (SF) 424--application for Federal assistance o Assurances o Certifications Regarding Lobbying, Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (one form) o Disclosure of Lobbying Activities o Budget Detail Worksheet o Budget Narrative o Negotiated indirect rate agreement (if appropriate) o Names and affiliations of all key persons from applicant and subcontractor(s), advisors, consultants, and advisory board members. Include name of principal investigator, title, organizational affiliation (if any), department (if institution of higher education), address, phone, and fax o Proposal abstract o Table of contents o Program narrative or technical proposal o Privacy certificate o References o Letters of cooperation from organizations collaborating in the research project, including existing ADAM site partners o R‚sum‚s o Appendixes, if any (e.g., list of previous NIJ awards, their status, and products [in NIJ or other publications]) Proposal abstract. The proposal abstract, when read separately from the rest of the application, is meant to serve as a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work. Applicants must concisely describe the research goals and objectives, research design, and methods for achieving the goals and objectives. Summaries of past accomplishments are to be avoided, and proprietary/confidential information is not to be included. Length is not to exceed 400 words. Use the following two headers: o Project Goals and Objectives: o Proposed Research Design and Methodology: Page limit. The number of pages in the "Program Narrative" part of the proposal must not exceed 30 (double-spaced pages) for awards of $50,000 or more; for smaller awards (under $50,000), the maximum page length is 15 (double-spaced pages). Due date. Completed proposals must be received at the National Institute of Justice by the close of business on February 2, 1999. Extensions of this deadline will not be permitted. Award period. In general, NIJ limits its grants and cooperative agreements to a maximum period of 12 or 24 months. However, longer budget periods may be considered. Number of awards. NIJ anticipates supporting up to 5 grants under this solicitation. Award amount. Awards totaling $750,000 will be made available for this NIJ solicitation. Applying. Two packets need to be obtained: (1) application forms (including a sample budget worksheet) and (2) guidelines for submitting proposals (including requirements for proposal writers and requirements for grant recipients). To receive them, applicants can: o Access the Justice Information Center on the web: http://www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#NIJ or the NIJ web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/NIJ/funding.htm These web sites offer the NIJ application forms and guidelines as electronic files that may be downloaded to a personal computer. o Request hard copies of the forms and guidelines by mail from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420 or from the Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770 (in the Washington, D.C., area, at 202-307-1480). Request copies by fax. Call 800-851-3420 and select option 1, then option 1 again for NIJ. Code is 1023. Guidance and information. Applicants who wish to receive additional guidance and information may contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770. Center staff can provide assistance or refer applicants to an appropriate NIJ professional. Applicants may, for example, wish to discuss their prospective research topics with the NIJ professional staff. Information about the program, including a copy of the data collection procedures manual, can be found on NIJ's ADAM web site at http://www.adam-nij.net. Send completed forms to: FY 1999 ADAM Research and Evaluation Grants National Institute of Justice 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 [overnight courier ZIP code 20001]