DARE Drug Prevention Education Campaign

Deadline: 15 June 2016

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is seeking applications from eligible organisations for a program entitled “Evaluation of Colombian National Police’s DARE Drug Prevention Education Campaign ” with an aim to partner with a Colombian academic institution in order to conduct a thorough evaluation of the drug demand situation within Colombia, the current prevention activities of the CNP, and the latest academic literature on drug prevention in order to develop a plan to transform and modernize the DARE program.

The objective of this project is to develop a proposal to modernize the DARE campaign and transform it into the best possible evidence-based, evaluated, and nationwide drug prevention program in Colombia.

Objectives

Conduct an academic review of the latest findings in the field of drug prevention, as well as an assessment of the drug demand situation within Colombia.
Conduct a thorough evaluation of all aspects of the CNP’s DARE program, from its curriculum to its implementation.
Develop recommendations for an overall reform of the DARE program, based on the findings of the academic review and evaluation phases.
Compile a written report, containing the evaluation findings and reform proposals, and present it to the CNP and INL Bogota

Funding Information

The anticipated total federal funding amount is not to exceed $250,000.00.
The period of performance is one (1) year with an anticipated start date of July 2016.

Eligibility Criteria

U.S. private or public educational institutions that can demonstrate competent programmatic ability, drug prevention education expertise, experience evaluating and implementing drug prevention programs in foreign countries (with particular preference for experience in Latin America), experience in conducting long-term evaluations and the ability to meet INL reporting requirements;.
The U.S. university must have previously established academic ties to a Colombian academic institution or the demonstrated ability to, upon receiving the grant, partner with an in-country university within a timely manner.
Preference will be given to those applicants with an existing, formal relationship to an appropriate Colombian academic institution.
The selected Colombian university must have experience and adequate personnel in the areas of health, education or drug prevention and have experience partnering with a foreign institution.
Preference will also be given to a partner institution that can demonstrate past experience working with the CNP.
While the U.S. university will assume the lead for the evaluation process, the American team will be expected to work closely with its Colombian partners throughout the assessment and reporting phases.
Colombian and American universities may form a consortium and submit a combined The U.S. institution should be designated as lead.
As part of the evaluation team, the applicant must include one international drug prevention expert or someone with extensive international experience in this field.
Preference will also be given to a team that includes a professional with experience conducting economic analysis of prevention programs, as well as someone with experience evaluating the institutional capacity and human resources of partner organizations.
Prior experience developing and implementing long-term evaluations, as well as conducting academic studies on behalf of a government (preferably, the Colombian government).
Prior experience evaluating national education programs and investigating issues related to drug prevention.
Preference will be given to those applicants with prior experience implementing a project at the national level on behalf of the CNP, the Colombian government, and/or international organizations.
Preference will also be given to applicants who can demonstrate existing partnerships with the Committee of Interested Parties’ institutional members. If such a relationship does not already exist, the applicant must be able to demonstrate the ability to develop productive working relationships with these entities.
INL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering similar programs and/or federal grant awards.
Applicants must have the ability to produce diagnostic materials, deliver final reports, and conduct evaluations in Spanish and English. Those members of the applicant’s staff involved with in-country evaluations should be proficient in Spanish. Other staff must be proficient in English in order to fulfill reporting requirements.
Applicants must be able to respond to the NOFO and be able to mobilize in a short period of time.
INL encourages applications from potential new partners.