Call for Proposals - Preventing Gender-Based Violence: the Health Perspective - Teen/Youth Dating Violence Prevention

Section 1 – Overview

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious public health issue with long-lasting health and social impacts. The gender of both perpetrators and victims has an impact on all forms of violence across the lifespan, including violence among teens/youth. Adolescence is a key time to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to develop healthy relationships that are free from violence and abuse. These skills and behaviours can pave the way for healthy relationships throughout life.

While many promising interventions exist in this area, more rigorous research is needed to understand which programs are effective to prevent violence. This investment will help to build this evidence base by investing in intervention research to measure and assess changes in attitudes and behaviours, while also identifying  what works, for whom and in which settings. The investment will also support knowledge exchange so that effective programs can be identified and incorporated into ongoing practice.

Section 2 – Objectives of this Funding Opportunity

As part of It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence, the objective of this funding opportunity is to support the implementation and testing of programs and initiatives to prevent dating violence among teens and youth.

Projects funded through this investment should:

• Deliver promising programs to prevent dating violence among teens/youth;
• Incorporate intervention research to determine if the program or initiative is effective, in which settings and for which populations; and
• Share knowledge about "what works" in this field.

In addition, where appropriate, projects should:

• Improve the capacity of organizations and service providers to deliver effective violence prevention programs to teens/youth.

Section 3 - Principles

The following principles should be applied in developing applications for this funding opportunity.

Trauma- and Violence-informed

Trauma- and violence-informed practice is a client-centred model that is built on knowledge about the impact of violence and trauma on people’s lives and health. It requires programs to integrate this knowledge into all aspects of practice and programming in ways that foster their clients’ safety, respect and empowerment. Applicants must describe the ways in which the design, implementation and evaluation of the proposed project, including intervention research methods, are trauma- and violence-informed.

Evidence-based

The Government of Canada is focused on outcomes for Canadians and making evidence-based decisions that are anchored in meaningful data and indicators. Applicants must provide clear evidence that supports the use of the proposed program or initiative to prevent and address teen/youth dating violence. Evidence refers to rigorous, scientific research and/or evaluation of the program or initiative, or the application of relevant research to support the adaptation of the program or initiative to a new context or audience. Applicants must also provide a detailed research and evaluation plan that will measure outcomes and impacts related to preventing and addressing teen/youth dating violence, and contribute to the evidence base about effective interventions and approaches.

Youth Engagement

Youth engagement involves working with teens/youth to embed their voice into either the development of the proposed program or initiative, the way the project is implemented, and/or the research component. This engagement is intended not only to ensure that the program or initiative is responsive to the needs of youth participants, but also offers youth opportunities to develop supportive relationships, learn skills and work on issues that are important to them and contribute to social change. Applicants must demonstrate how teens/youth have or will be engaged in the development and/or implementation of the proposed program or initiative.

Cultural Safety

Cultural safety is an approach to working across ethnic and other differences to make systems and organizations responsible for ensuring that service environments are safe for everyone—regardless of their expressed or assumed culture. This approach to policy and practice is compatible with, and often an embedded component of, trauma- and violence-informed approaches. Applicants must demonstrate their experience, knowledge and understanding of culture as it pertains to the project, and describe the ways in which the design, implementation and evaluation of the proposed project, including intervention research methods, are culturally safe.

Health Equity

Heightened efforts to address the needs of populations that are at higher risk for violence can help reduce health inequities between different population groups in Canada. Applicants must demonstrate how equity, including consideration of sex and gender as well as other identity factors such as age, education, language, geography, culture and income, has been considered in the design, implementation and evaluation of the proposed project, including intervention research methods.

Section 4 – Applicant Capacity and Collaboration

Applicants must demonstrate that they and/or their collaborators bring the following organizational capacities and expertise to the project:

• Experience or expertise related to violence prevention, promoting healthy relationships and youth engagement.
• Experience in the delivery of programs or initiatives to teens/youth.
• Confirmed access to the primary population for program delivery (e.g. a demonstrated partnership with a school board or individual school for school-based programs).
• Evaluators or researchers with appropriate subject matter, knowledge, and sensitivity.
• Experience and capacity to conduct intervention research and/or outcome evaluation. 

Section 5 – Funding Details and Requirements

5.1 Funding Amount and Duration

Applicants can request up to $200,000 per year for two to five years, totalling a maximum funding request of $1,000,000 over five years.

Note that with available resources, PHAC anticipates supporting two to four projects through this call for proposals.

5.2 Additional Sources of Funding

Applicants will be assessed on their ability to leverage in-kind and financial contributions that will contribute to the project’s development, implementation and associated research. A specific matched funding ratio is not required. Applicants will be required to demonstrate secured funding if invited to submit a full proposal.

Section 6 – Application Process

The full application process will consist of two stages. The first stage is the submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI), which outlines the proposed project. Only applicants with LOIs deemed to best fit the overall goals of the funding program will move onto the second stage of the application process and be invited to submit a full Proposal. Applicants with ineligible, incomplete or unsuccessful LOI submissions will not be invited to submit a full Proposal.

LOIs must be completed using PHAC’s LOI template, and be no longer than ten (10) pages. Appendices that demonstrate the evidence-base, such as literature reviews, needs assessments, and past evaluation results, are permitted in addition to the ten-page maximum. To obtain a copy of the template, or for additional information about this Call for Proposals, please contact: CGCOperationsCSC@phac-aspc.gc.ca

6.1 Letter of Intent Deadline and Submission Process

The deadline for submission for this LOI process is January 24, 2018. Funding will be subject to budgetary and project considerations.

All LOIs must be submitted via email to: CGCOperationsCSC@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Applications will be acknowledged by email. Please ensure that your email address is included in your LOI application.

6.2 Full Proposal Requirements

Applicants whose LOIs are successful will be invited to submit a full proposal that elaborates on the project proposed in the LOI. Full proposals must be completed using PHAC’s template, which will be shared with applicants at the time of invitation. Deadlines and submission instructions will also be provided at that time.

Section 7 – Eligibility

7.1 Eligible Recipients

The following types of organizations are eligible for funding:

• Not-for-profit voluntary organizations and corporations
• For-profit organizations
• Unincorporated groups, societies and coalitions
• Provincial, territorial, regional, and municipal governments and agencies
• Organizations and institutions supported by provincial and territorial governments (regional health authorities, schools, post-secondary institutions, etc.)
• Indigenous organizations

Non-Canadian recipients may be considered.

For-profit organizations are required to engage and collaborate with non-profit organizations.

7.2 Eligible Expenses

Eligible costs include such expenses as:

• personnel
• travel and accommodations
• materials
• equipment
• rent and utilities
• evaluation/dissemination
• “other” costs related to the approved project

A detailed budget will be required as part of the full proposal in stage two of the application process.

No project expenses may be incurred prior to the acceptance of the Grant Agreement or Contribution Agreement by all parties.

7.3 Ineligible Activities and Expenses

The following activities and expenses are not eligible for funding:

• pure research in any discipline
• provision of services that are the responsibility of other levels of government
• costs of ongoing activities for the organization
• stand-alone activities, which could include conferences, symposia, workshops, audio visual production or website/smartphone application development and maintenance. Such activities are considered stand alone when they are unrelated to the delivery, evaluation and dissemination of the program or initiative
• capital costs such as the purchase of land, buildings, or vehicles
• ongoing operational support or overhead/administrative fees expressed as a percentage of ongoing activities of an organization
• unidentified miscellaneous costs
• travel and hospitality expenses that exceed the National Joint Council rates
• renting charges for space and computer use when already owned by the recipient organization
• membership fees

Section 8 – Other Considerations

Official Language Requirements

The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada (Francophones living outside the province of Quebec and Anglophones living in the province of Quebec), support and assist their development, and foster the full recognition and use of both official languages in Canadian society. Projects must be accessible in one or both official languages depending on the reach and audience. For additional information, consult the Official Languages Act.

Gender-based Analysis Requirements

The Government of Canada is committed to Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+). GBA+ incorporates consideration of gender as well as other identity factors such as age, education, language, geography, culture and income in the development of policies and programs. Applicants are expected to incorporate these considerations into their Letter of Intent submission.

Research Ethics Approval

All projects that involve research with humans must be approved by a research ethics board that adheres to the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. In addition, project lead should consult the Tri-Council Policy Statement website before the research portion of the project begins. Research is defined as an activity designed to test a hypothesis or answer a specific research question, permit conclusions to be drawn, and extend knowledge through the use of scientific methods and standardized protocols, systematic collection or analysis of data, or other types of inquiry.

Section 9 – Contact Us

To obtain additional information about this invitation to submit a Letter of Intent, please contact: CGCOperationsCSC@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Glossary of Terms

Gender-based violence (GBV) involves the use and abuse of power and control over another person and is perpetrated against someone based on their gender identity, gender expression or perceived gender.

Intervention research is the use of scientific methods to produce knowledge about policy and program interventions that operate within or outside of the health sector and have the potential to impact health at the population level. The intervention research approach focuses on building knowledge on how the intervention process brings about change and the context in which the intervention worked best and for which populations.

A program or initiative, sometimes referred to as an intervention, is a set of actions and practical strategies that aims to bring about positive changes in individuals, communities, organizations, or systems in a way that produces identifiable and measurable outcomes.

The term teen typically refers to people ages 13 to 19 years old, while youth refers to a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood’s independence. Using teen/youth together is an effort to acknowledge the fluidity of this age-group and be inclusive of potential programs geared towards those who are not included within the fixed age-range of teenager, but for whom dating violence is still an issue.

Teen/youth dating violence is an intentional act of violence (whether physical, sexual or emotional) by one partner in a dating relationship. It can occur in any type of dating relationship, regardless of a person's sexual orientation, age, gender or gender identity.