We have received a couple of questions regarding applications for the RISE-APS Replication and Evaluation Project (that the contractor monitoring submissions forwarded to us without identifying who sent them). Responses appear below. Please feel free to submit any additional questions at the links on the RISE-APS Replication Project page and we will respond publicly as quickly as we can.
Thank you for your interest!
The RISE team
1. In my state, the AAAs are housed within our government and run as a governmental agency. Can that type of a AAA be the CBO that delivers the RISE services? Or does the CBO have to be non-governmental?
An Area Agency on Aging (AAA) housed inside a governmental entity can be the entity that delivers RISE as long as its status and the rules that bind it do not prevent it from implementing any of the core RISE program modalities, (for example, if the client wishes, providing services to persons other than the client, including alleged harmers). Some AAAs also have considered the option of contracting with a nonprofit to implement RISE.
2. Is a CBO partner required? Our APS program has an in-house unit connecting clients to services post-investigation. Are we eligible to apply?
Yes, a CBO partner is required. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) funded this project to replicate RISE-APS and evaluate that replication. The model being replicated is one where APS refers cases to a CBO for RISE services, like our flagship program in Maine that has since 2019 handled more than 900 RISE cases.
The APS-CBO partnership requirement also exists for research purposes. To enable studying the impact of RISE in new communities with populations different from Maine’s, it is necessary to compare similarly structured programs. (Or, said another way, we need to compare “apples to apples.”)
We are also excited to be working with one APS program to test the feasibility of RISE embedded within APS. We look forward to advancing that work and learning more as that project progresses.
That said, your APS program would be eligible to apply in partnership with a CBO.
3. We are considering applying in partnership with a large, urban county-based APS program. Can a single county-based program be selected to implement RISE? Would that meet the research (including randomization) needs of the project?
Any APS program is eligible to be the APS partner with a CBO including a single large, urban county-based APS program. We encourage you to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). (Applicants need not address or be concerned with randomization in their LOIs.)
The Phase I LOI submissions will allow the review panel to assess the universe of interested applicants. Because submitting an LOI is a condition of proceeding on to Phase II, we encourage all interested entities to submit LOIs even if you have remaining questions. Of course, please also feel free to submit any questions (at the link on the bottom of the RISE Replication Project page) and we’ll answer them as soon as we can.
4. Can this opportunity be used to provide services to any adult who meets APS jurisdiction (i.e., vulnerable/at risk of harm), or is there a requirement that the recipients of RISE referrals be older adults? Said another way, can this opportunity be used to provide services to younger adults with disabilities within APS's jurisdiction?
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) award that funds this project specifies that the RISE replication and evaluation project relates to APS clients 60 and older. In addition, the original RISE program being replicated specialized in serving APS clients aged 60+.
We do believe that RISE could also be effective for adults aged 18 to 60 who have disabilities, impairments, or are otherwise vulnerable or at risk of harm. We hope to pilot test RISE with a younger population in the future.
For purposes of the demographic information sought in the Letter of Intent (LOI), while it would be helpful to have the APS data broken down by client age, if that is not available to the applicant, please just provide the data in whatever form it is available.
Please feel free to reach out to us separately from this project if you’d like to discuss the possibility of pursuing these opportunities.
