PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSION ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY

AND
PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, OFFICE OF MENTAL
HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES

Establishment of a Center of Excellence for the Development and Improvement of

Programs Serving Adults with Mental Illness and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders
Involved in the Criminal Justice System
Deadline for Submission of Concept Papers: May 29, 2009
Preface:
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and the Office of Mental
Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), in a collaborative effort, are accepting
concept papers to support Pennsylvanias initiative to expand the successful implementation of
evidence-based practices (EBPs) for justice-involved individuals with mental illness (MI) and
co-occurring substance use disorders (COD). Through establishing a Center of Excellence, the
project aims to advance the capabilities of local communities to reduce the involvement of
individuals with MI/COD in the criminal justice system.
Funds for the Center of Excellence will be awarded in the form of a match-free, 24-month grant.
This project is part of a long-term commitment and multi-agency effort to support EBPs that
reduce the involvement of people with MI/COD in the criminal justice system. Pending
availability of funding, it is anticipated, but not guaranteed, that continuation funding will be
provided beyond the initial grant period. The successful applicant will be required to be an
active participant in regularly scheduled planning activities.
Background:
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has identified the overrepresentation of persons with
MI/COD in the criminal justice system as a phenomenon with profound public safety and public
health implications. For persons with MI/COD the pathways into and out of custody are
complex. Promising practices that reduce the number of people with MI/COD in jails and prison
exist, both within the Commonwealth and throughout the country. To address these issues, the
Commonwealth developed a statewide strategic plan to guide the response to criminal justice
involved individuals with MI/COD. The strategic plan may be found at:
http://www.parecovery.org/documents/Adult_Justice_Strategic_Plan.pdf
The overarching assumptions of the strategic plan are as follows:
The state can direct and support initiatives, but local communities will implement
and coordinate programmatic activity.

County Criminal Justice Advisory Boards (CJABs) are the appropriate

administrative entity to oversee development, implementation, and evaluation of
programs.
Judicial leadership, at both state and county levels, is critical to the success of
these efforts.
The Sequential Intercept Model is an appropriate typology for organizing state
and county activities.
The strategic plan includes the following three initiatives:
1. Competitive Grant Programs: The Commonwealth will sponsor planning grants and
implementation/expansion grants to implement best practices along the Sequential
Intercept Model. CJABs will be the eligible applicants for these grants.
2. Center of Excellence: The Commonwealth will provide $250,000/year to establish a
Criminal Justice/Mental Health Center of Excellence which will provide technical
assistance to all grantees on the design and implementation of EBPs, develop a repository
of county and state behavioral health and criminal justice resources to support programs;
and assist grantees in developing sustainability plans and conversion from state to local
funding support.
3. Pilot Counties Reentry Programs: The state proposes to implement pilot reentry
initiatives.
This funding announcement is for a Criminal Justice/Mental Health Center of Excellence.
Project Goals:
1. Support statewide strategies identified in the Strategic Plan to Guide Pennsylvanias
Response to People with Mental Illnesses Involved with the Criminal Justice System to
reduce the number of justice-involved individuals with MI/COD while enhancing public
safety and the well-being of Pennsylvanias communities.
2. Provide technical assistance in support of the start-up, operation and sustainability of
EBP and promising practices that target criminal justice-involved individuals with
MI/COD.
3. Ensure that PCCD- and DPW-funded EBP models are implemented with fidelity and
adherence to quality service delivery.
4. Serve as a resource to the field related to the implementation of evidence-based and
promising practices.
5. Act as a clearinghouse for information and resources related to criminal justice, mental
health and substance abuse.
6. Promote the proliferation of EBPs by educating practitioners and providers about the
practical and economic benefits of implementing and utilizing EBPs.

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Project Objectives:
1. Support the CJABs, PCCD, OMHSAS and county mental health and criminal justice
collaboration by providing technical assistance on the competitively awarded planning,
implementation and expansion grants. The grants will focus on diverting individuals
with MI/COD from the criminal justice system.
2. Provide technical assistance to pilot reentry programs to help counties determine how to
improve the transition of individuals with MI/COD from county jails and state
correctional institutions back to the community.
3. Provide technical assistance on the sequential intercept model as the typology for
organizing state and county activities.
4. Develop a central repository for collected data and information on criminal justice/mental
health responses throughout the Commonwealth.
5. Establish standardized outcome data and financial data reporting requirements for each
program, including baseline data to be gathered at the start of implementation. Efforts
will be coordinated with staff from PCCDs Office of Research, Evaluation, and Strategic
Policy Development and DPWs OMHSAS.
6. Support the assessments of local needs by providing templates and protocols to facilitate
appropriate data collection methodologies.
7. Provide technical assistance to improve access to evidence-based practices associated
with improved public safety and public health outcomes (e.g., access to appropriate
psychopharmacologic medication, integrated dual disorder treatment, cognitive
behavioral therapies addressing criminogenic features, assertive community treatment).
8. Research implementation strategies for overarching policy changes that state agencies
could initiate to assist counties with strategic planning and program implementation.
9. Participate in the development of cross-training initiatives, in support of and in
collaboration with existing training activities.
10. Develop in-state training and technical assistance capacity to support the implementation
of each program eligible for PCCD criminal justice/mental health funding. This may
include the establishment of subcontractor agreements with organizations having
expertise in programs, such as pre and post-booking Diversion Programs, Integrated Dual
Disorders Treatment, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment Teams, Forensic Peer
Specialists, Cognitive Behavioral Training, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
Supportive Housing Services or other EBPs and promising practices.
11. Develop a formalized process for requesting technical assistance for those sites with
planning and implementation/expansion grants and reentry programs, as well as
communities/agencies interested in implementing an evidence-based program. This

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protocol would describe the types of assistance available, and the different levels of
support available to PCCD and DPW funded sites and the field at large.
12. Facilitate a statewide training event every other year intended to increase knowledge
about EBPs, the process for choosing and successfully implementing an EBP, providing
networking opportunities for sites working with the same program, and other topics that
will advance this initiative.
13. Develop guidelines for agencies interested in implementing an EBP, including the
necessary prerequisites for successful implementation (such as court/agency/community
collaboration, community risk and resource assessment, program selection, quality
assurance, outcome measurement and reporting, etc.). Also develop an implementation
preparedness assessment process to measure a community/countys readiness to
implement an EBP (for self-evaluation and PCCD use).
14. Remain current on the latest information on EBPs and promising practices and provide
the means to transmit this information to the field.
15. Assist grantees in sustaining programs through identification and successful competition
for federal and private resources, and conversion from state to local funding support.
16. Report progress to PCCD and the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Advisory Committee
established for this solicitation.
Anticipated Impact:
Activities funded under this initiative must have the potential to result in the following:
1.

The establishment of standards of program design and key program components that
reduce criminal justice involvement of individuals with MI/COD;

2.

Greater local understanding of the process and advantages of grounding programming

in research-based techniques;

3.

The establishment of a program assessment process to assist local jurisdictions in

analyzing their efforts;

4.

The establishment of a technical assistance protocol for local programs addressing the
needs of justice-involved individuals with MI/COD;

5.

The identification of programs operating consistently with established best practices;

and

6.

Information on the costs of providing EBPs for justice-involved individuals with

MI/COD compared to the costs of continued involvement in the criminal justice
system (including involvement of police, probation/parole, jails and prisons, courts,
and other criminal justice costs).

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Eligible Applicants:
This funding announcement is being issued on a competitive basis and is open to any non-profit
agency or organization that is able to meet all the necessary requirements described within the
Project Goals and Project Objectives sections, and who can demonstrate in their application
that they have the capacity, experience and reputation to successfully implement this initiative.
Applicants must have actual experience working with EBPs in Pennsylvania. Applicants are
encouraged to demonstrate relationships with local CJABs and the participation of consumers in
the development of their responses.
Due Date:
Concept papers must submitted electronically through PCCDs Egrants system by
May 29, 2009. This is a competitive solicitation. Late submissions and materials not received
in Egrants will not be considered. For further information on accessing and utilizing the Egrants
system, please refer to the Egrants Help Center at www.pccdegrants.state.pa.us or contact the
Egrants Help Desk.
The concept paper will not be considered complete unless all required, signed documents are
received at PCCD postmarked no later than May 29, 2009. A concept paper without the required
signed documentation will be administratively rejected and will not be considered for funding. The
successful application is expected to be considered at the September 8, 2009 PCCD meeting. If
approved, the funded project will have a start date of October 1, 2009 and operate for 24 months.
Amount of Funding Available:
A total of $500,000 in state funds is available through this Funding Announcement over a 24-month
project period.
Application Procedures:
Concept papers and applications must be submitted online through PCCDs Egrants system. You
will be required to register, submit the concept paper, application and all quarterly reports via
Egrants. Hardcopy concept papers, applications and reports will not be accepted.
This Funding Announcement can be accessed via the Egrants website by entering, Center of
Excellence in the title field of the Funding Announcement search screen. All concept papers must
address each of the areas that comprise the scoring criteria listed below. PCCD reserves the option
of reducing the total score on concept papers if the above-mentioned information is not provided in
an organized fashion. Note: Egrants may allow for the submission of attachments in some sections.
It will be clearly noted if you are permitted or required to include attachments. If not permitted or
required, you will not be able to include attachments.
I. Applicant Overview (30 points)
This section establishes the applicants ability to undertake this project and is worth 30 points in
the overall concept paper score. Applicants should explain their experience implementing similar
projects and their relationships with other organizations they will be partnered with to
accomplish the objectives of the project. Please address the following items in this section:
Explain the mission and applicable experience of the applicant agency.
Describe the agencys capacity to complete the work as described in the funding
announcement to include a description of similar completed projects.

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Describe the agencys experience in providing detailed technical assistance to a wide

variety of agencies in Pennsylvania.
Discuss successes and challenges (both past and present) that have been experienced
in facilitating multi-agency projects. This would include agencies such as PCCD,
DPW, DOC, AOPC, PBPP, Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers, Juvenile
Court Judges Commission (JCJC), etc.
Describe the agencys previous experiences in facilitating statewide system
enhancement activities.
Identify those staff that will be involved in the project as well as a description of their
qualifications and anticipated role in the project.
II. Proposed Approach (30 points)
This section establishes that the applicant has reviewed the required activities and has established
a plan to accomplish these tasks. It is also worth 30 points in the overall application score.
Please address the following items in this section:
Explain the implementation plan and methods to be used to accomplish the stated
objectives, as well as any activities added by the applicant. This description should
include who will perform the work, what actions are proposed to accomplish these
activities, timeframes for completing each activity, and any other details necessary to
clearly establish how this project will be implemented.
Define the method for establishing the key program components and the method for
building momentum around the adoption of these standards.
Describe the methods of disseminating information to the field for each of the
appropriate objectives.
Describe the work that will be accomplished in the first two years of the project and
the work anticipated for years three and four if continuation funding is available.
Discuss how technical assistance will be provided to individual agencies and the field
at large for each of the objectives where technical assistance is appropriate.
Identify plans for subcontracting any part of the project, including the role to be
performed by each subcontractor.
Describe internal quality assurance processes that will be used to monitor the
implementation of this project.
III. Budget Detail and Budget Narrative
These sections establish each item to be supported with grant funds and provide justification for
each of those items. Applicants will be chosen based on the cost-effectiveness and quality of
their proposal. This funding announcement is designed for a two-year operational period and the
applicant should provide a comprehensive budget for each year. Note: This section of the
application is broken into two parts in the Egrants System, and must be entered as such.
However, it will be scored as one section, and is worth a combined 20 points in the overall
application score. Please address the following items in the appropriate section:
Budget Detail Section (10 points):
This section should identify what the funds will be used for and how they were
calculated.
Clearly identify all costs, including salary and benefits.

6.

Budget Narrative Section (10 points):

This section explains why each of the items requested is necessary to successfully
implement the project.
Clearly describe how expenditures will contribute to the completion of project
objectives. The narrative section should contain more explanation than calculation,
which should be entered in the Budget Detail section. For example, provide details
about the work each staffed position will be responsible for accomplishing and how
their efforts will advance the project.
Describe how costs will be calculated for the provision of technical assistance on a
fee-for-service basis by program-specific consultants.
Reminder: PCCD funds may not be used to cover program costs incurred prior to the start date of
an awarded subgrant.
IV. Performance/Outcome Measures/Anticipated Results (20 points)
This section establishes that the applicant has a clear understanding of the intent of the project
and has a reasonable method to measure its success and impact. This section is worth 20 points
in the overall application score. Please address the following items in this section:
Discuss how the effects of the project will be assessed and how the overall impact
will be gauged.
Describe the process measures that will be used to monitor the implementation of the
project.
Establish intermediate outcomes that will be used to measure the success of the
project and how they will be tracked (what data will be collected).
Required Documentation that must be submitted to PCCD (No points)
Documents can be mailed or attached in Egrants. Please provide the following documents:
Resumes/Curriculum Vitae for all staff included in the budget. If staff will be hired
after the grant is awarded, provide the job description for each position to be filled.
Required signature pages.
Application Sections Required in Egrants
In addition to the budget and programmatic sections identified above, the following standard
sections must also be completed in Egrants:
1. Main Summary Information;
2. Recipient Agency Budget;
3. Approval Checklists;
4. Payment Terms;
5. Audit Responsibilities; and
6. Private Non-Profit Agency Checklist.
No points are associated with these sections; however, concept papers submitted without these
sections completed will be administratively rejected. As well, the Egrants system will not allow
an application to be submitted unless all required sections have been completed.

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Submission Information:
Concept papers must be entered into Egrants no later than May 29, 2009. All respondents will
be notified of PCCDs intention to fund the proposal in approximately 30 days. The submission
of formal applications in response to an invitation to apply for funding will be due, via Egrants,
no later than July 10, 2009. The Signature Page is to be submitted only by invited
applicants.
Agency and User Registration:
Your agency must be registered in Egrants in order to submit an application through the PCCD
Egrants System. If your agency has never submitted a concept paper or a grant application
through PCCDs Egrants System, you will not be able to do so until your agency registration is
complete. To register your agency in Egrants, complete the Egrants Agency Registration
Request Form, which can be found on-line within the PCCD Egrants Help Center under Egrants
Quick Start Guides.
Once your agency is registered in Egrants, individuals who will enter information in Egrants, or
be a contact for the proposed concept paper or application, must also register to use Egrants.
When creating a new grant application, the Project Director, Financial Officer and Primary
Contact identified on the Main Summary page must now be registered Egrants users. At least
two of the three contacts must be different users. These users must also have security access
to the specific Grant ID Number in order to access it. If the individuals name does not appear in
the dropdown list as a selection for the Project Director, Financial Officer or Primary Contact,
then the individual is not a registered user with security access to the grant. The individual must
register in Egrants to obtain a user ID and password and/or obtain appropriate security to the
specific grant. Refer to the PCCD Egrants On-line Registration Quick Start Guide, PCCD
Egrants Security Roles Quick Start Guide, and PCCD Egrants User Registration Request Form
for help with registering and obtaining the required security.
All concept papers associated with this funding announcement must be submitted online through
the PCCD Egrants System. Quarterly reports will also require on-line submission. Hardcopy
concept papers and reports will not be accepted.
Additionally, please note: The Commonwealth will make payments to grant recipients through
ACH. When your application is submitted to PCCD, your agency must submit or must have
already submitted its ACH information using the Pennsylvania Electronic Payment Program
(PEPP) Enrollment Form to the Commonwealths Central Vendor Management Unit at (717)
214-0140 (Fax) or by mail to the Central Vendor Management Unit, Bureau of Financial
Management, Verizon Tower 6th Floor, 303 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1830. The
PEPP Enrollment Form/EFT Payment Enrollment Form may be found on PCCDs web-site
under Grant Opportunities>Grant Forms.
Sole Source:
All procurement transactions shall be conducted in a manner such as to provide maximum open
and free competition. Competitive bidding procedures must be used if the projected cost for
products or services (items of a similar nature) exceeds $10,000. Procurement standards for use
by grant recipients are described in the PCCD Applicants Manual in Appendix E. The
Applicants Manual may be found on the PCCD web-site at www.pccd.state.pa.us.

8.

Sole Source purchases or contracts are discouraged, but if such a request is made, the prospective
applicant must identify the request as a Sole Source and provide a substantial justification for the
Sole Source request along with their funding request. (See the PCCD Applicants Manual,
Appendix K, Sole Source Procurement Justification Approval Criteria.) PCCD will scrutinize
these requests and may not approve them.
Reporting Requirements:
Under this funding announcement, successful concept papers that result in subgrants will require
that the recipients submit Quarterly Progress Reports to PCCD via the Egrants System. Award
recipients under this funding announcement will be required to accept and report on performance
measures selected by the staff of PCCDs Office of Criminal Justice System Improvements and
OMHSAS. Award recipients will be required to develop additional performance measures that
are specifically related to the activities of their project, and will be required to track and report all
measures on a quarterly basis through the PCCD Egrants System.
Keywords
Keywords provide a valuable tool to PCCD Staff. As an example, keywords for Diversion may
include: police-based interventions, pre-booking, post-booking, pre-trial interventions, specialty
courts. By asking applicants to select the appropriate keywords within Egrants, it will allow
searches to be done within that group of grants to identify only the grants that conduct programs
associated with these keywords. Please select the following Keywords in the dropdown menu,
found toward the bottom of the Main Summary screen, when entering your application: Center
of Excellence, Evidence Based Practices, Research; Assessment; Evaluation. You may also pick
other keywords that apply to your specific grant application.
Compliance with State Information Technology Conditions:
PCCD is required to include mandated state and federal special subgrant conditions for IT
Grants. These conditions are to ensure that PCCD is not funding technology at a local level that
is incompatible with what is going on at the state and federal level. These IT Grant conditions
are as follows:
All IT components (hardware, software and/or firmware) funded through this award must be
compliant with applicable Commonwealth IT Standards (as referenced in Pennsylvania Office of
Administrations Information Technology Bulletins (ITBs) that have been promulgated at the
time of this award.
In addition, if technology is being implemented as part of a larger IT project, these components
must also comply with all Office of Administration (OA) standards that have been promulgated
at the time the hardware/software specifications of the detailed system design are approved by
the (OA/OIT) project manager.
A listing of the Commonwealth IT Standards is found at:
http://www.oit.state.pa.us/oaoit/taxonomy/taxonomy.asp?DLN=1821.

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In addition, all grantees must review these standards quarterly during the project funding cycle,
as well as at major project milestones through design, finalization and procurement. Deviation
from Commonwealth IT standards will require final approval from program staff within PCCD,
who will coordinate this review process with OA/OIT.
Technical Assistance:
The Egrants Help Center contains a vast array of technical assistance materials. Within the
Egrants Help Center there are on-line tutorials, step-by-step guides called Quick Start Guides,
Frequently Asked Question lists, and a glossary.
If you cannot find what you are looking for in the Egrants Help Center, please contact the PCCD
Egrants Help Desk at (717) 787-5887 or toll free at (800) 692-7292, using option 6 and then
option 9 when prompted. Hours of operation for the Help Desk are 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily.
Do not send the concept paper in paper format. Concept papers received in this format will
not be reviewed. Only concept papers submitted via the PCCD Egrants System will be
reviewed. Any required signature pages (application only) must be sent by United States Postal
Service or express delivery service or hand-delivered to PCCD. Mail to the following address:
Via U. S. Mail:

P. O. Box 1167
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1167

Via Express Delivery Service:

PCCD Building*
3101 North Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110

*Because staff is not available at this location on Saturday and Sunday, do not send your
document to this location by Express Mail or courier service on a Friday. United States Postal
Service should be used when mailing over a weekend.
Contact Person:
For further information concerning this announcement, please contact Jacqueline Weaknecht at
PCCD at (717) 265-8498 or toll-free at (800) 692-7292, option 6.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency is an equal opportunity employer.

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