SMART FY Campus Sexual Assault Perpetrator Treatment Pilot Project

The summary for the SMART FY Campus Sexual Assault Perpetrator Treatment Pilot Project grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the SMART, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

SMART FY Campus Sexual Assault Perpetrator Treatment Pilot Project: According to a 2007 study of campus sexual assault, nearly one in five women have been sexually assaulted while in college. Most college victims are assaulted by someone they know, especially in incapacitated assaults. Reporting rates for campus sexual assault are very low: on average only 12% of student victims report the assault to law enforcement. Perpetrators often prey on incapacitated women, and even provide their victims with drugs or alcohol. A study of repeat rapists found that over 80% of undetected college rapists reported committing rapes of women who were incapacitated because of drugs or alcohol. Evidence further suggests that many campus perpetrators of sexual assault are serial offenders. The same study found that 63% of rapists reported committing repeat rapes, averaging six each. More than two-thirds (68%) of the repeat rapists admitted to other forms of interpersonal violence, averaging 14 violent acts. This data indicate that college perpetrators are similar to rapists in the general population and that alcohol is often use to facilitate the assault. Unfortunately little happens to the campus perpetrator, and many alleged perpetrators are found not responsible by the campus judicial process. Research is desperately lacking in this area. Anecdotal information suggests that consequences for offenders include reprimand, suspension, counseling, community service, probation, stay-away or no-contact order, residence hall and/or parking lot restrictions. Perpetrators might also be removed from a class or activity they had in common with the victim. Sometimes the perpetrator voluntarily withdraws and expulsion is rare. Recent research has shown a relatively consistent pattern of positive findings related to treatment effectiveness for individuals who commit sexual assault. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that employ more advanced and scientifically rigorous methods consistently indicate that treatment works. For example, one study found that cognitive-behavioral/relapse prevention treatment, behavioral treatment, and hormonal medication significantly reduced sexual recidivism. For sex offenders receiving cognitive-behavioral/relapse prevention treatment, the study showed an average recidivism rate of 9%, compared to an average recidivism rate of 21% for untreated sex offenders. A recent meta-analysis of six highly rigorous studies of adult sex offender treatment with aftercare found that these programs reduced recidivism, on average, by nearly 10%. In addition, these programs produced a net return on investment of more than $4,000 per program participant. Taken together, the overall pattern of positive findings from single studies and synthesis research lend support to the conclusion that treatment for sex offenders can be effective. Many campuses lack the training and resources to adequately address sexual assault, and rape crisis services are often minimal; appropriate sanctions and treatment options for perpetrators are practically nonexistent. To address this dearth of programming, the SMART Office has developed this solicitation in order to create a treatment curriculum for campus perpetrators of sexual assault based upon treatment approaches demonstrated to be effective through empirical research. The curriculum will be implemented and tested on one or more college campuses for the purposes of demonstrating treatment effectiveness with this population and future replication on other campuses. Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables The purpose of this project is to support the development and implementation of a Campus Sexual Assault Perpetrator Treatment Program. Additionally, applicants must collect information about sexual assault adjudication processes and perpetrator adjudication outcomes on the campus, document available sanctions for those individuals found responsible, and incorporate the developed treatment curriculum as a possible sanction. An applicant will be selected for SMART Office funding based upon their responses to the Selection Criteria listed on page 14 and their commitment to: • Building knowledge and new evidence to support the program. • Implementing the evidenced-based treatment program with fidelity. • Participating in an evaluation at a later date (should funds become available). • Collecting program development and participant data. • Protecting victim safety and avoiding processes and treatments that may traumatize or blame victims. • Working collaboratively with the SMART Office. Project plans must include a monitoring and evaluation plan for information collection and analysis. Jurisdictions are encouraged to consider and include the following outcomes of interest in monitoring and evaluation plans: • Descriptive information about perpetrators on the campus(es), including those eligible for the program. • Recidivism (new findings for sexual, violent, and any criminal offenses). • Changes in participant behavior, measured as pro-criminal attitudes or antisocial behavior. • Employment and housing opportunities. • Drug and alcohol use. • Participation in other treatment, including substance abuse and mental health services. • Program cost effectiveness. A report will be the final deliverable for this project. The report should contain, but not be limited to, the final treatment curriculum developed, a detailed description of the theoretical and evidence-base for the treatment curriculum, documentation of the process of implementing the curriculum, descriptive information on the number and types of perpetrators served, offender profiles (including demographics, adjudication information, risk/needs assessment information, treatment received, and a description of adjunct supervision and/or treatment services), descriptive information about services provided to the victims of these perpetrators, as well as any outcome information available (see above).