Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program Evaluation and Outcomes Study for El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica | INL21CA0036 GREATEVAL CARSI 08182021

Opportunity Information: Apply for INL21CA0036 GREATEVAL CARSI 08182021

The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program Evaluation and Outcomes Study for El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) grant opportunity designed to produce a rigorous, evidence-based assessment of how well the G.R.E.A.T. school-based prevention program has worked in these four countries since 2010. The core purpose is not to deliver the curriculum itself, but to evaluate the program's methods, results, and overall effectiveness using scientifically validated data sources and research approaches. The evaluation is meant to help INL and host-country police institutions understand what outcomes the program is achieving with at-risk youth, why those outcomes are happening, and what changes could improve future implementation.

The study focuses on a large population of youth who have already completed the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum since 2010, with the targeted numbers listed as 170,767 in El Salvador, 487,890 in Honduras, 150,000 in Panama, and 45,685 in Costa Rica. Data collection is expected to go beyond students alone and include perspectives from teachers, school principals, and parents, allowing the evaluation to examine both student-level changes and the school and family conditions that may influence results. A key expectation is that the research will compare G.R.E.A.T. graduates with students who have not been exposed to the program, which is intended to strengthen the credibility of findings by providing a reference group rather than relying only on before-and-after impressions.

The outcomes evaluation is framed around concrete measures closely tied to gang prevention and police-community relations. INL is looking for evidence of changes in levels of gang affiliation, levels of violence perpetration, and youth attitudes toward the police, along with broader perceptions of police in their communities. In addition to measuring outcomes, the selected implementer is expected to analyze the factors that contribute to results, identify challenges that limit impact, and document any unintended outcomes if they arise. This means the study is intended to explain not just whether the program works, but how and under what conditions it works best, which is often what decision-makers need to improve programming at scale.

A major deliverable of this effort is usable learning for practitioners and policymakers. INL specifically intends to use the findings to share results and best practices with host-nation counterparts and implementing partners, and to release limited information publicly. The practical goal is to give police services and partner institutions in the target countries actionable information they can use to tailor approaches to at-risk youth and strengthen strategies to counter gang violence, rather than treating G.R.E.A.T. as a one-size-fits-all intervention.

Operationally, the project is built around collaboration with national police institutions in each country: the El Salvador Civilian Police (PNC), the Honduras National Police (HNP), the Panama National Police (PNP), and Costa Rica's Public Force (FPCR). To support sampling and outreach, INL, in coordination with these partners, will provide a database of public schools that have participated in G.R.E.A.T. across the target countries. INL and the G.R.E.A.T. program implementer will also provide a database of more than 2,300 certified officers in El Salvador, including assignment locations (such as delegations, sub-delegations, or posts), and a database of families of participating children. These data sources are meant to make it feasible to locate relevant schools, communities, implementers, and households for research activities and to strengthen the study design.

From a grants and administrative standpoint, this opportunity was released as a discretionary funding opportunity under a cooperative agreement, meaning the U.S. government typically expects substantial involvement and coordination during implementation. It is associated with the Law, Justice and Legal Services activity category and CFDA number 19.705. The funding opportunity number is INL21CA0036, created August 18, 2021, with an original closing date of October 18, 2021. The award ceiling is $2,025,000, and INL anticipated making up to four awards. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with clarification referenced in the official eligibility text, signaling that applicants likely include certain types of organizations beyond standard categories, depending on the specific guidance in the full announcement.

In short, this grant opportunity funds a multi-country, methodologically strong evaluation of the long-running G.R.E.A.T. program in Central America, with an emphasis on measurable behavioral and attitudinal outcomes, comparative analysis against non-participants, and practical lessons for police and partner institutions working with at-risk youth. The project is structured to leverage official school and policing databases to support robust sampling and fieldwork, and its end goal is to turn years of implementation into clear, credible evidence about what has worked, what has not, and how to improve prevention and police-community engagement moving forward.

• The Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program Evaluation and Outcomes Study for El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.705.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 18, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 18, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,025,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for INL21CA0036 GREATEVAL CARSI 08182021

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: