Massachusetts High Risk for Domestic Violence Re-assault and Homicide

Prevention Mini-Grant Proposal Guidelines

Through funds from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Department of Public Health (DPH) is offering the opportunity for short term grants to fund work that may impactindividuals at high risk for domestic violence re-assault and homicide.

Rationale

Research was conducted that formed the rationale for this mini-grant. DPH conducted a review of the research on risk and protective factors for domestic violence re-assault and homicide and analyzed domestic violence homicide data in MA for all available years, which spanned 1993-2009. Recommendations from the report, Guidance on Funding and Evaluating Domestic Violence High Risk Teams, were also included in forming the priorities for funding.

  • The domestic violence homicide rate in MA for whites has been declining at a rate of 2.7% annually. It has not been declining for Blacks, or Asians, and has only declined by 0.5% for Hispanics.
  • Compared to the MA population,black womenare 4 times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner , followed by Hispanics (three times more likely), and immigrants (twice as likely).
  • In recent years data has become available on domestic violence homicides among individuals in same sex relationships; however, not enough data is currently available to conduct analyses with meaningful significance.
  • Risk Assessment instruments have been tested primarily with white and black heterosexual women in urban areas. For other populations, such as men abused by same sex partners andelders,therisk factors have not been researched as extensively and risk assessment instruments have not yet been developed.When risk assessment instruments have been tested within subpopulations of immigrants and women in same sex relationships, some of the risk factors are different than those for the general population.
  • Twelve cities and towns account for half of the domestic violence homicides in MA.
  • Domestic Violence High Risk Teams are a promising practice. They function best when they are responsive to local needs and resources, and when they have staffing to coordinate the teams.

Funding Specifications

Deadline for submission is 1:00 pm, Friday Sept 12, 2014.It is anticipated that grant proposals will receive notification by 5:00 pm, Friday, October 3, 2014.

Bidders’ conference calls are offered August 27, 10:00-11:00 and August 27, 10:00-11:00. Please email Quynh Dang to register for the conference call, as there will be a PowerPoint that will be emailed out in advance of the call. The dial in number is:866 829-2907 and the participant passcode is: 1995611.

  • Lead applicants must be currently DPH funded GLBT programs, RISE programs, Batterer Intervention programs, Community Mobilization programs, or Rape Crisis Centers. This award will be permitted to fund programs that are not currently funded through these DPH grants, as subcontractors through the lead applicant.
  • The period of funding is from November 1, 2014-June 30, 2015. DPH is exploring the possibility of a no-cost extension beyond the June 30, 2015 contract period.
  • Lead applicants may submit proposals that address multiple priority areas.
  • The total available funding is up to $600,000, see priority areas below for details on number of awards expected to be made and amount of funding associated with each area.
  • Submit proposals via email to Quynh Dang at .
  • Questions may be posed to Quynh Dang or your DPH contract manager through September 3, 2014. Questions and responses will be made public and will be emailed out to all DPH eligible programs.

Priority areas

Priority A: Learning about risk factors for re-assault and homicide in marginalized/under-researched populations. Funding level $30-50K for each population. Up to 10 proposals may be funded in priority A. Multiple populations may be identified. Most risk assessment tools for domestic violence homicide and re-assault (such as the Danger Assessment, SARA, ODARA, DVSI, DVRAG, etc.) have not been extensively tested among diverse sub-populations. Funding can be used to support learning about the risk factors that are specific to sub-populations for which little is known. Applicants may adapt and pilot risk assessment tools that have been developed for sub-populations (Danger Assessment- Immigrant Version, Danger Assessment –Revised for women in same sex relationships) or develop, adapt and pilot risk assessment instruments for populations that have not been extensively studied. The populations of interest arepeople in same sex relationships, transgender populations, rural populations, immigrant populations, elders, people living with disabilities, and abusers. Additional sub-populations that have not been named will also be considered.

Priority B: Approaches that increase safety for marginalized populations. Funding level $30-50K for each population. Up to 10 proposals may be funded in priority B. Multiple populations may be identified. Between 1993-2009, MA domestic violence homicide has been decreasing at a rate of 2.7% for white heterosexual women, but it has not been decreasing significantly for other racial or ethnic groups. No data is available for other populations such as LGBT, people with disabilities, etc. Funding can be used to support approaches and services that increase safety for populations that have not experienced a decrease in domestic violence related homicides. Examples of some of the evidence based approaches that have been shown to increase safety include legal services for domestic violence survivors, community mobilization to engage social networks to address domestic violence, andculturally specific advocacy services. Additional approaches are also encouraged to apply.

Priority C: Training and technical assistance. Funding level $10-30K for each topic. Up to 5 proposals may be funded in priority C. Applicant may apply to provide training and technical assistance in prevention of domestic violence re-assault and homicide. Funding may support assessing risk for domestic violence re-assault and homicide marginalized populations and training and technical assistance on approaches that enhance safety. Examples of projects that may be eligible include statewide training on use of risk assessment tools that have been developed for specific populations; training and technical assistance on civil, criminal and immigration law for high risk teams; etc. Proposals must have a technical assistance component, as training alone is insufficient to build capacity.

Priority D: Coordination of high risk teams and enhancement of member organizations’ participation on the team. Up to 5 proposals may be funded in priorityD. Funding level $15-40K. Funding should support staff time to coordinate high risk teams, such as development of mission statements, development of MOU’s among partners, tracking of attendance, use of standard risk assessment instruments, increase participation from culturally specific organizations and legal services. Funding may also be used for High Risk Teams to recruit organizations that bring specific expertise that is under-represented on the team. Funding may also be used to enhance organizations’ participation on the team, particularly to enhance the team’s work with populations which experience greater risk for domestic violence re-assault or homicide.

Priority E: Geographic Areas with High Domestic Violence Homicide Incidents. Funding level $10-30K. This funding is a supplement to funding for priority areas A, B, C, or D to serve specific geographic areas. Efforts in priority areas A, B, C or D will be supported to expand to these locations or to support new or emerging partnerships in cities and towns in MA that account for almost half of the domestic violence related homicides. These cities and towns are Boston, Springfield, Lynn, Brockton, Lawrence, New Bedford, Lowell, Worcester, Framingham, Chelsea, Salem, Waltham (see attachment).

Data Collection Requirement

All awardees will be required to collect and submit performance metrics for the duration of the award. These metrics will be determined after the awards have been made. Your application should outline your capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project. If you will need additional resources to fulfill this requirement, please include an estimate in your budget breakdown and justification.

Mini-Grant Application Questions

Concise responses are encouraged. If you are applying for one priority area, please limit your response to 5 double spaced pages, 12-point font, one-inch margins. Each additional priority area is limited to 3 pages. Budget page is not included in the page limit. If you are applying in multiple priority areas, you may reference other sections rather than repeat your narrative.

Priority A: Learning about risk factors in marginalized/under-researched populations. If applying for multiple populations, please answer these questions for each population.

  • What high risk or under-researched population do you seek to understand more about regarding their risk for domestic violence re-assault or homicide? Describe why you selected this population.
  • From research or your own experience, what are the risk factors for this population? Provide a few examples of risk assessment questions that you think should be asked. If you are using or adapting an already established risk assessment instrument, please attach.
  • Describe how you would develop, adapt, and/or pilot a risk assessment instrument. Be as specific as possible, including a step‐by-step explanation of your planned activities.
  • What benefits do you expect to last after the project ends? If you think the work will need to continue beyond the life of this project, what are your plans for continuation of this work?
  • Describe your capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project.
  • Budget Breakdown & Justification.

Priority B: Approaches that increase safety for marginalized populations. If applying for multiple populations, please answer these questions for each population.

  • Describe the population that you seek to address and your program’s experience with this population.
  • What are the approaches/services that help this population stay safe from domestic violence re-assault or homicide? Is there research that supports this approach? If so, please summarize the research that supports your approach and include in your proposal.
  • Provide a detailed description of your action plan, including a step‐by-step explanation of your planned activities. Be as specific as possible.
  • What benefits do you expect to last after the project ends? If you think the work will need to continue beyond the life of this award/grant, what are your plans for continuation of this work?
  • Describe your capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project.
  • Budget Breakdown & Justification.

Priority C: Training and technical assistance about assessing risk for domestic violence re-assault and domestic violence homicide in marginalized populations. Funding may also be used to train and provide technical assistance on approaches that enhance safety.Funding level $10-30K. Multiple training and technical assistance topics may be offered by the same applicant.

  • On what topic do you wish to provide training and/or technical assistance? Describe your audience and how you plan to reach this audience. Describe the research or practice experience that supports why you think training and technical assistance on this issue is important.
  • What is the project’s primary purpose and needs/problems it is seeking to address? Describe what you expect the audience to learn or achieve by the end of the training and technical assistance?
  • Provide a detailed description of your action plan, including a step‐by-step explanation of your planned activities. Be as specific as possible.
  • What benefits do you expect to last after the project ends? If you think the work will need to continue beyond the life of this award/grant, what are your specific plans for continuing this work?
  • Describe your capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project.
  • Budget Breakdown & Justification.

Priority D: Coordination of high risk teams and enhancement of member organizations participation on the team.Funding level $15-40K. Up to 5 proposals may be funded for priority. Funding should be used for staff to coordinate a high risk team. Funding may also be used for High Risk Teams to recruit organizations that bring specific expertise that is under-represented on the team. Funding may also be used to enhance organizations’ participation on the team, particularly to enhance the team’s work with populations which experience greater risk for domestic violence re-assault or homicide.

  • Describe the High Risk Team, the geographic area that it serves, the membership of the team, the risk assessment tool(s) that the team uses (if any), the team’s confidentiality agreements, MOU’s or other formal agreements, etc. Describe the work that high risk team is engaged in. Describe how funding for staff coordinationwill contribute to this work.
  • Describe the step‐by-step explanation of the activities that will be coordinated, such as organizing meetings, recording attendance, developing MOU’s, selecting and using standard risk assessment instruments, etc.
  • If funding will be used to enhance participation from one or more organizations, describe the expertise that the organization(s) will bring and the specific activities that they will be doing on the teams.
  • What benefits do you expect to last after the project ends? If you think the work will need to continue beyond the life of this award/grant , what are your specific plans for continuing this work?
  • Describe the team’s or the members’ capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project.
  • Budget Breakdown & Justification.

Priority E: Geographic Areas with High Domestic Violence Homicide Incidents. Preference will be given to serving specific communities demonstrating substantial problems with domestic violence homicide incidents occurring in the past 17 years (1993-2009). 1- 2 pages total.Funding level up to $10-30K.Up to 10 proposals may be funded in priority E. This funding is in addition to funding for priority areas A, B, C, or D to serve these specific geographic areas.

  • Which city or town do you propose to serve?
  • Which services do you propose to provide (priorities A, B, C, or D)?
  • Describe how you propose to better enhance high risk work with this town or city? What key partners would you involve from this area?
  • If you are already working in this area, how would funding enhance this work?
  • What benefits do you expect to last after the project ends? If you think the work will need to continue beyond the life of this award/grant, what are your specific plans for continuing this work?
  • Describe your capabilities to collect and submit data, including a brief overview of any data that you currently collect related to the proposed project.
  • Budget Breakdown & Justification.

Resources

  • Danger Assessment:
  • Danger Assessment – Revised, for women in abusive same sex relationships:
  • Danger Assessment – Immigrant Version:
  • Guidance on Funding and Evaluating Domestic Violence High Risk Teams. To be released by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
  • MA Cities and Towns with High Incidents of Domestic Violence Homicide:

Top 12 Cities/Towns for

Domestic Violence Homicides

1993-2009

City/Town / Number of Homicides
Boston / 59 15.4% of total homicides
- Allston 1
- Back Bay 1
- Boston 16
- Dorchester 22
- East Boston 3
- Jamaica Plain 2
- Mattapan 4
- Roxbury 10
Springfield / 24
Lynn / 21
Brockton / 15
Lawrence / 12
New Bedford / 12
Lowell / 11
Worcester / 11
Framingham / 7
Chelsea / 6
Salem / 6
Waltham / 6
Total DV homicides in top 12 Cities/Towns / 190
Total DV homicides in MA / 381
Percent of total DV homicides / 49.8%