# Discretionary Cooperative Agreements to Support the Demonstration and Evaluation of Safe Communities Programs

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-8312

## Record

- **Collection:** Federal Register
- **Document type:** Notice
- **Published:** April 4, 1996
- **Citation:** 61 FR 15156

## Text

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Discretionary Cooperative Agreements to Support the Demonstration
and Evaluation of Safe Communities Programs

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of discretionary cooperative agreements to support
the demonstration and evaluation of Safe Communities programs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
announces a discretionary cooperative agreement program to demonstrate
and evaluate the effectiveness of the Safe Communities concept for
traffic safety initiatives. The Safe Communities program offers
communities a new way to control traffic injuries. This approval
recognizes that traffic-related deaths and injuries are primarily a
local community problem. The Safe Communities program adopts a
comprehensive injury control approach to address traffic injury
problems within the context of all injuries. Recognizing that traffic
fatalities are only a small part of the total traffic injury problem,
it focuses on injuries (as opposed to fatalities) to define the traffic
safety problem, and asks who is paying the costs of the injuries. Four
characteristics define the Safe Communities approach: data linkage,
expanded partnerships, citizen involvement in setting priorities, and
integrated and comprehensive injury control.
This notice solicits applications from public and private, non-
profit, not-for-profit and commercial organizations, governments and
their agencies, or a consortium of these organizations that are
interested in developing, implementing and evaluating the Safe
Communities approach in their community. The funds from this program
may only be used to support traffic safety activities within the larger
context of community injury control efforts. NHTSA anticipates awarding
two (2) demonstration and evaluation projects for a period of three
years as a result of this announcement.

DATES: Applications must be received at the office designated below on
or before June 4, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement
(NAD-30), ATTN: Amy Poling, 400 7th Street, S.W., Room 5301,
Washington, D.C. 20590. All applications submitted must include a
reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement Program No. DTNH22-96-H-05166.
Interested applicants are advised that no separate package exists
beyond the contents of this announcement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
General administrative questions may be directed to Amy Poling, Office
of Contracts and Procurement, at (202)-366-9552. Programmatic questions
relating to this cooperative agreement program should be directed to
Dr. Maria E. Vegega, Policy Advisor, Traffic Safety Programs, NHTSA,
Room 5125 (NTS-01), 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 (202)
366-1755, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The past several decades witnessed dramatic advances in medical
care and shifts in health behaviors. Despite the advances, injuries
remain a major health care problem, and the leading cause of death for
persons from age 1 to 44. Fatalities, however, are only a small part of
the total injury picture. For each injury-related death, there are 19
injury hospitalizations and over 300 injuries that require medical
attention. These injuries account for almost 10 percent of all
physician office visits and 38 percent of all emergency department
visits. For an individual, these injuries can vastly diminish quality
of life. For society, injuries pose a significant drain on the health
care system, incurring huge treatment, acute care and rehabilitation
costs.
Motor vehicle injuries, in particular, are the leading cause of all
injury deaths and the leading cause of death for each age from 5
through 27. Motor vehicle-related injuries are the principal cause of
on-the-job fatalities, and the fatalities, and the third largest cause
of all deaths in the U.S. Only heart disease and cancer kill more
people. However, far more people are injured and survive motor vehicle
crashes than die in these crashes. In 1994, for example, while over
40,000 persons were killed in motor-vehicle related incidents, over 3.1
million were injured in police-reported incidents; an even greater
number utilized emergency departments. These injured persons often
required medical care and many required long-term care. The costs of
these injuries are enormous, over $137 billion each year in economic
costs and $14 billion in medical costs.
The vast majority of these injuries and deaths are not acts of
fate, but are predictable and preventable. Injury patterns, including
traffic-related injury patterns, vary by age group, gender, and
cultural group. There are also seasonal and geographic patterns to
injury. Once the cause of the injury is identified, intervention can be
designed to address the cause and reduce the number of injuries.

Safe Communities: A New Generation of Community Programs

American traffic safety advocates have traditionally worked in
partnerships with many organizations and groups to achieve a
successful, long and established history in preventing and reducing
traffic-related injuries and fatalities. For over 15 years, community-
based traffic safety programs have been and remain an effective means
for identifying local crash problems and providing local solutions.
Building on past success, the Safe Communities program offers
communities a new way to control traffic injuries. This approach
recognizes that traffic-related deaths and injuries are primarily a
local community problem. Effective preventive efforts require a
coordinated approach involving Federal, State and local organizations.
The Safe Communities approach adopts a comprehensive injury control
approach to address traffic injury problems within the context of all
injuries. Recognizing that traffic fatalities are only a small part of
the total traffic injury problem, Safe Communities focus on injuries
(as opposed to fatalities) to define their traffic safety problem, and
ask who is paying the costs of the injuries. Safe Communities recognize
the importance of citizens in identifying community problems and
solutions, as well as the importance of partnerships in implementing
solutions to community problems.
The Safe Communities approach represents an evolutionary (rather
than revolutionary) way in which community programs are established and
managed. Four characteristics define the Safe Communities approach:
data linkage,

[[Page 15157]]
expanded partnerships, citizen involvement in setting priorities, and
integrated and comprehensive injury control. Each of these
characteristics is described below.
Data linkage is critical to Safe Communities because addressing
traffic-related injuries suggests that not only fatalities are reduced,
but injuries and health care costs as well. This shift from an emphasis
on fatalities to one emphasizing injuries and cost reduction means that
different data bases need to be identified. Police crash reports tell
only part of the story. Health departments, hospitals, EMS providers,
business, rehabilitation programs, and insurance companies become
sources for understanding the magnitude and consequences of traffic
injuries and monitoring progress in reducing the problem. Data linkage
also identifies common risk factors (e.g., young people who drink are
at risk for impaired driving, violence, sex, drowning, etc.) so that
countermeasures can be designed to address them (e.g., traffic safety
and violence prevention efforts can join forces to reduce youth access
to alcohol).
Expanded partnerships are important to solve local injury problems
effectively through comprehensive and collaborative strategies. Traffic
safety advocates have long recognized that traffic problems are too
complex and resources too limited for them to solve in isolation. As a
result, over the years, the traffic safety community has worked with
law enforcement, emergency medical services, local government, schools,
courts, business, health departments, and community and advocacy
organizations to reduce traffic injuries. Safe Communities continue to
work with these existing partners, but also seek to expand the
partnership base to involve actively the medical, acute care and
rehabilitation communities. These groups, which have traditionally been
focused on treating disease, need to be engaged as integral partners in
preventing injuries.
Safe Communities enlist business and employers as full partners in
community injury prevention activities. Employers need to understand
how traffic-related injuries contribute to their overall costs, and how
participation in community-wide injury prevention efforts can help them
reduce their own costs due to motor vehicle injuries. Through
partnerships and collaboration, Safe Communities spread program
ownership and delivery systems throughout the community. Finally, Safe
Communities provide an opportunity for traditional traffic safety
partners--such as law enforcement and schools--to understand better the
linkages among risk-taking behaviors. For example, individuals who
commit traffic offenses may also be involved with other kinds of
problem or illegal behaviors.
Citizen involvement and input are essential to establish community
priorities for identified problems. Town meetings are routinely used to
solicit citizen input and feedback about community injury problems.
Individual citizens are actively involved in identifying, designing and
implementing solutions to their injury problems. Citizens actively
participate in problem identification, assume responsibility and
ownership for shaping solutions, and share in both the successes and
challenges of their program.
An integrated and comprehensive injury control system is used,
incorporating prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation as active and
essential participants in solving community injury problems. This is
the crux of the Safe Communities approach, and often one or more of
these groups have not traditionally been involved in addressing
community traffic injury problems. Involvement of the three component
groups will not happen overnight or in every community, but it is
something to strive for over time.
The ``evolutionary shift'' from current programs to Safe
Communities is summarized in Table 1 (below). Community partners
participate as equals in developing solutions, sharing success,
assuming program risks, planning for self-sufficiency, and building a
community infrastructure and process for continual improvement of
community life through reduction of traffic-related injuries,
fatalities, and costs.

Table 1.--New Thinking About Community Programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current program emphasis Evolving program emphasis
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reducing fatalities.......... Reducing fatal and non-fatal injuries &
health care and social costs.
Traffic safety as the Traffic safety integrated into broader
objective. injury control efforts.
Prevention-based solutions... Systems-based solutions (integration of
prevention, acute care, rehabilitation).
Agency-based delivery system. Community/citizen ownership.
Traditional traffic safety Adds new or expanded health, injury,
partners. business and government partners.
Administrative evaluation.... Impact evaluation/cost benefit analysis.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Objectives

Under this cooperative agreement program, the effectiveness of the
Safe Communities approach for traffic safety initiatives shall be
demonstrated and evaluated to determine the impact on reducing traffic
related injuries and associated costs to the community. Specific
objectives for this cooperative agreement program are as follows:
1. Work with existing community traffic safety and/or injury
control coalitions and apply the defining characteristics to establish
a Safe Communities approach for reducing traffic injuries.
2. Use community and/or state data, as appropriate, to define the
community's traffic injury problem within the context of the
community's overall injury problem. Where possible, population based
data are preferred. Data sources in addition to police crash reports
are to be used for this purpose. Where possible, the costs of traffic
injuries to the community (which may include emergency medical
services, acute care, hospital, medical, rehabilitation, insurance,
lost wages, and workmen's compensation) are to be documented.
3. Actively engage community residents in defining both the
community's traffic injury problem as well as solutions to the problem.
The grantee shall develop strategies for ensuring citizen involvement
throughout the project.
4. In addition to traditional traffic safety partners (e.g., law
enforcement) identify and actively engage health care (both provider
and payer) and business partners in the Safe Communities approach. The
grantee is responsible for ensuring active and committed participation
from these two sectors.
5. Implement a program to reduce traffic-related injuries in the
community. The programs could address any area of traffic safety

[[Page 15158]]
including alcohol-impaired driving, use of occupant restraints,
speeding, emergency medical services, or pedestrian or bicycle safety.
The intervention program should be based on data and citizen input and
should actively engage all sectors of the community, including health
care, business, local government, law enforcement, schools, and media.
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Safe Communities approach in
reducing traffic-related injuries and associated costs. In addition,
evaluate the process of establishing a Safe Communities approach (what
works, what does not work, how to engage partners, how to overcome
barriers, challenges, how to turn challenges into opportunities, etc.).

Availability of Funds and Period of Support

A total of $675,000 is available in Fiscal Year 1996 to fund two
(2) demonstration and evaluation projects for a project of three years.
In each project, $150,000 must be dedicated to evaluation activities.
Given the amount of Federal funds available for this effort, applicants
are strongly encouraged to seek other funding opportunities to
supplement the Federal funds.

NHTSA Involvement

NHTSA will be involved in all activities undertaken as part of the
cooperative agreement program and will:
1. Provide a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)
to participate in the planning and management of each cooperative
agreement and to coordinate activities between the grantees and NHTSA.
2. Provide information and technical assistance from government
sources within available resources and as determined appropriate by the
COTR.
3. Serve as a liaison between NHTSA Headquarters, Regional Officers
and other (Federal, State and local) interested in the Safe Communities
approach and the activities of the grantee.
4. Stimulate the transfer of information among cooperative
agreement recipients and others engaged in Safe Communities activities.

Eligibility Requirements

Applications may be submitted by public and private, non-profit,
not-for-profit and commercial organizations, and governments and their
agencies or a consortium of the above. Universities, colleges, research
institutions, hospitals, other public and private organizations, and
State and local governments are eligible to apply. Interested
applicants are advised that no fee or profit will be allowed under this
cooperative agreement program. These demonstration projects will
require extensive collaboration among each of these various
organizations in order to achieve the program objectives. It is
envisioned during the pre-application process, these various
organizations will designate one organization to prepare and submit the
formal application.

Application Procedure

Each applicant must submit one original and two copies of the
application package to: NHTSA, Office of Contracts and Procurement
(NAD-30), ATTN: Amy Poling, 400 7th Street, S.W., Room 5301,
Washington, DC 20590. Submission of three additional copies will
expedite processing, but is not required. Applications must be typed on
one side of the page only, and must include a reference to NHTSA
Cooperative Agreement No. DTNH22-96-H-05166. Unnecessarily elaborate
applications beyond what is sufficient to present a complete and
effective response to this invitation are not desired. Only complete
application packages received on or before June 4, 1996 will be
considered.

Application Content

1. The application package must be submitted with OMB standard Form
424 (Rev. 4-88, including 424A and 424B), Application for Federal
Assistance, with the requirement information filled in and certified
assurances signed. While the form 424A deals with budget information,
and Section B identified Budget Categories, the available space does
not permit a level of detail which is sufficient to provide for a
meaningful evaluation of the proposed total costs. A supplemental sheet
shall be provided which presents a detailed breakdown of the proposed
costs, as well as any costs which the applicant indicates will be
contributed locally in support of the demonstration project.
2. The application shall include a program narrative statement
which addresses the following information in separately labeled
sections:
a. A description of the community in which the applicant proposes
to work. For the purposes of this program, a ``community'' includes a
city, town or county, small metropolitan area, or even a large
neighborhood (i.e., it does not have to correspond with a political
jurisdiction). It should be large enough so that the program can have a
demonstrable effect on injuries, while not so large as to lose a sense
of community. The description of the community should include, at a
minimum, community demographics, the community's traffic injury
problem, data sources available, exiting traffic safety or injury
control coalitions, and community resources.
b. A description of the goal of the program and how the applicant
plans to establish a Safe Communities program in the proposed site.
What will the applicant do to ``move'' the site towards the Safe
Communities concept? What will be different from existing community
programs? How will the applicant obtain citizen involvement in setting
program priorities? What health and business partners will be engaged?
How will they be engaged? What will they do?
c. An Implementation Plan that describes the interventions or
activities proposed to achieve the objectives of the Safe Communities
program. If this application is submitted by a community with an
existing traffic safety program that will serve as the starting point
for the Safe Communities program, and has done problem identification,
then the specific interventions or activities proposed should be
described. If this application proposes establishing a new program,
then a description of the types of activities and interventions which
the Safe Communities program will give priority consideration should be
provided. What action will the community undertake to reach its
objectives? How will the intervention be delivered? How will delivery
be monitored? What are the expected results from the intervention?
d. A detailed Evaluation Plan (both quantitative and qualitative)
that describes the kinds of questions to be addressed by the evaluation
design, what the outcome measures are, how they will be measured, the
methodology for collecting the data, how often data will be collected,
and how the data will be analyzed. The plan should indicate how action
undertaken by the community will be linked with outcome measures. It is
important that the area encompassed by the Safe Communities program
coincide with the population covered by the data to be used in the
evaluation, or that the data systems allow the disaggregation of the
relevant population.
e. A description of the full working partnership that has been or
will be established to conduct the Safe Communities program. The
application shall describe all the partners that will participate in
the program (e.g., local government, law enforcement, health care,
injury prevention, insurance, business, education, media, citizens) and
what the role of each partner will

[[Page 15159]]
be. A complete set of letters of commitment from major partners,
organizations, groups, and individuals proposed for involvement in this
project shall detail what each partner is willing to do over the course
of the project period. For partners serving as data sources, the letter
shall also indicate the data which will be provided, or for which
access is authorized, and any limitations on the use of the data by the
Safe Communities program, or by the NHTSA.
f. A description of how the project will be managed, both at the
applicant-level and at the community level. The application shall
identify the proposed project manager and any personnel considered
critical to the successful accomplishment of this project, including a
brief description of their qualifications and respective organizational
responsibilities. The roles and responsibilities of the applicant, the
community and any others included in the application package shall be
specified. The proposed level of effort in performing the various
activities shall also be identified. A staffing plan and resume for all
key project personnel shall be included in the application.
g. A separately-labeled section with information demonstrating that
the applicant meets all of the following special competencies:
(1) Knowledge and familiarity with data sources such as police
crash and crime reports, EMS files, emergency department data, hospital
discharge data, and injury cost data (i.e. cost of injuries to the
community), and injury surveillance systems (including analyzing and
linking such data files). Availability of and accessibility to relevant
data in their community for use by the Safe Communities Team and
includes at least the police crash reports and one or two injury data
sources.
(2) Capable of:
i. Designing comprehensive program evaluations;
ii. Collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative
data;
iii. Synthesizing, summarizing and reporting evaluation results
which are usable and decision-oriented.
(3) Experience in working in partnership with others, especially
business, health care systems (providers and payers) and government
organizations, media and with local citizens in implementing solutions
to community problems.
(4) Experience in implementing injury control programs (prevention,
acute care, rehabilitation) at the community level.
h. A Dissemination Plan that describes how the results of this
demonstration and evaluation project will be shared with interested
parties. The Dissemination Plan should include preparation of a final
report and process manual (see reporting requirements), a briefing at
the NHTSA headquarters, presentation at one or more national meetings
(e.g., APHA, Lifesavers * * * ), and if appropriate, preparation and
submission of a paper for publication in a professional journal.

Application Review Process and Evaluation Factors

Each application package will initially be reviewed to confirm that
the applicant is an eligible recipient and that the application
contains all of the items specified in the Application Contents section
of this announcement. Each complete application from an eligible
recipient will then be evaluated by an Evaluation Committee. The
applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
1. Understanding of the Community (10%). The extent to which the
applicant has demonstrated an understanding of the proposed community,
including the community's demographics, traffic safety problem,
resources (including data), and political structure. The extent to
which the applicant is knowledgeable about community data sources, is
able to use the data sources to define the community traffic injury
problem, and has demonstrated the community's need for a Safe
Communities approach to controlling traffic injuries and the
community's willingness to commit and participate in the program. The
extent to which the applicant has access to the community and potential
target populations in the community.
2. Goals, Objectives and Implementation Plan (20%). The extent to
which the applicant's goals are clearly articulated and the objectives
are time-phased, specific, measurable, and achievable. The extent to
which the Implementation Plan will achieve an outcome-oriented result
that will reduce traffic-related injuries and costs to the community.
The Implementation Plan should address what the applicant proposes to
implement in the proposed community and how this will be accomplished.
The Implementation Plan will be evaluated with respect to its
feasibility, realism, and ability to achieve the desired outcomes.
3. Collaboration (20%). The extent to which the applicant has
demonstrated that a full working partnership for data acquisition and
analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of the program has
been established among the applicant and critical components in the
community. Has the applicant specified who will be involved in the
program and what the role of each partner will be? The extent to which
the applicant has demonstrated access to partners deemed critical to
this effort, such as health care, business, and local government. Has
the applicant shown that potential partners are committed to working
with the program? In what way will potential partners participate? The
extent to which the applicant describes how citizens will be actively
engaged in the Safe Communities program.
4. Evaluation Plan (25%). How well the applicant describes the
proposed evaluation design and the methods for measuring the processes
and outcomes of the proposed interventions (countermeasures). How well
will the Evaluation Plan be able to measure the effectiveness of the
Safe Communities approach? Does the applicant provide sufficient
evidence that the proposed community partnership is committed to
evaluation? Are there sufficient data sources and is there sufficient
capacity to collaborate with appropriate community program partners to
ensure access to data; identify/create and test appropriate
instruments; and collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data
for measuring the effectiveness of the Safe Communities approach? How
well does the applicant ensure the availability of staff and facilities
to carry out the submitted Evaluation Plan?
5. Special Competencies (15%). The extent to which the applicant
has demonstrated knowledge and experience accessing and using relevant
data sources, designing and implementing comprehensive program
evaluations (using both qualitative and quantitative data),
implementing injury control programs, and working in partnership with
others on community programs.
6. Project Management and Staffing (10%). The applicant provides a
reasonable plan for accomplishing the objectives of the project within
the time frame set out in this announcement. The extent to which the
proposed staff, including management and program staff and community
partners, are clearly described, appropriately assigned, and have
adequate skills and experiences. The extent to which the applicant has
the capacity and facilities to design, implement, and evaluate a
complex and comprehensive community program. The extent to which the
applicant provides details regarding the level of effort and allocation
of time for each staff position. Did the applicant submit an

[[Page 15160]]
organizational chart and resume for each proposed staff member?

Special Award Selection Factors

While not a requirement, applicants are strongly urged to seek
funds from other Federal, State, local and private sources to augment
those available under this announcement. For those applications that
are evaluated as meritorious for consideration of award, preference may
be given to those that have proposed cost-sharing strategies and/or
have other proposed funding sources in addition to those in this
announcement.

Terms and Conditions of Award

1. Prior to award, each grantee must comply with the certification
requirements of 49 CFR Part 20, Department of Transportation New
Restrictions on Lobbying, and 49 CFR Part 29, Department of
Transportation Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non-
procurement) and Government-wide Requirements for Drug Free Workplace
(Grants).
2. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables:
a. Quarterly Progress Reports should include a summary of the
previous quarter's activities and accomplishments, as well as the
proposed activities for the upcoming quarter. Any decisions and actions
required in the upcoming quarter should be included in the report. The
grantee shall supply the progress report to the Contracting Officer's
Technical Representative (COTR) every ninety (90) days, following date
of award.
b. Program Implementation and Evaluation Review. The grantee shall
submit a revised program Implementation and Evaluation Plan no more
than 12 months after award of the cooperative agreement, or as soon as
the Safe Communities program has completed the problem identification
activity, has determined what traffic safety problem or problems will
be addressed, and determined what program or programs will be
implemented to reduce the traffic-related injuries. The NHTSA COTR will
review and comment on this revised plan. The plan should describe the
problem identification effort (data sources used, how analyzed, and the
results including costs of traffic injuries to the community), how the
community's traffic injury problems and proposed solutions were
determined, how input was obtained from citizens, and how the program
will be evaluated. This final Evaluation Plan should describe how the
effectiveness of the Safe Communities program will be determined and
how the process issues involved in establishing and implementing a Safe
Communities program will be determined.
c. Draft Final Report and Draft Process Manual. The grantee shall
prepare a Draft Final Report that includes a description of the
community (including the traffic safety problem and data sources to
support the problem), partners, intervention strategies, program
implementation, evaluation methodology and findings from the program
evaluation. The grantee shall also prepare a Draft Process Manual
describing what happened in the community in establishing a Safe
Communities approach to traffic injury. In terms of technology
transfer, it is important to know what worked and did not work, under
what circumstances, and what can be done to avoid potential problems in
implementing community programs. This Process Manual shall contain the
``lessons learned'' in establishing a safe community. The grantee shall
submit the Draft Final Report and Draft Process Manual to the COTR 90
days prior to the end of the performance period. The COTR will review
each draft document and provide comments to the grantee within 30 days
of receipt of the documents.
d. Final Report and Process Manual. The grantee shall revise the
Draft Final Report and Draft Process Manual to reflect the COTR's
comments. The revised documents shall be delivered to the COTR on or
before the end of the performance period. The grantee shall supply the
COTR one camera-ready copy, one computer disk copy in WordPerfect
format, and four additional hard copies of each revised document.
3. Meetings and Briefings. The grantee shall plan for at least one
meeting per year in Washington, D.C. with the NHTSA COTR and other
interested parties, as well as an interim briefing approximately midway
through the Project Period, and a final briefing at the end of the
project period. In addition, a presentation at one or more national
meetings (e.g., APHA, Lifesavers * * *) should be considered as part of
the Dissemination Plan.
4. During the effective performance period of cooperative
agreements awarded as a result of this announcement, the agreement, as
applicable to the grantee, shall be subject to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration's General Provisions for Assistance
Agreements.

Issued on March 29, 1996.
James Hedlund,
Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-8312 Filed 4-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-8312. Public record. Not legal advice.