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[Federal Register: July 20, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 140)]
[Notices]
[Page 38001-38014]
From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20jy01-67]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Solicitation for Grant Application (SGA
01-06); Customized
Employment Grants
AGENCY: Office of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Notice of applicability of funds and Solicitation for Grant
Applications (SGA).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or the Department),
Office
of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announces the
availability of
$3.5 million to award up to seven competitive grants
for strategic
planning and implementation activities designed to
improve the
employment and career advancement of people with
disabilities through
enhanced availability and provision of
customized employment services
through the new One-Stop delivery
system established under the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)
(Public Law 105-220, 29 U.S.C.
2801 et seq.).
This
Customized Employment Grant program will provide funds to
selected
Local Workforce Investment Boards (Local Boards), which will
be the
lead entity in a consortium/partnership of public and private
entities, to build the capacity in local One-Stop Centers to provide
customized employment services to those persons with disabilities who
may not now be regularly targeted for services by the One-Stop Center
system. Grants funded under this program will also provide a vehicle
for Local Boards to systemically review their policy and practices in
terms of service to persons with disabilities, and to incorporate new
and innovative practices, as appropriate.
Grants are for a one-year
period and may be renewed for a period of
up to four additional years
at varying funding levels (see Section V)
depending upon the
availability of funds and the efficacy of the
project activities. All
forms necessary to prepare an application are
included in this
SGA.
DATES: One (1) ink-signed original, complete grant application
plus
three (3) copies of the Technical Proposal and three (3) copies
of the
Cost Proposal must be submitted to the U.S. Department of
Labor,
Procurement Services Center, Attention Grant Officer,
Reference SGA 01-
06, Room N-5416, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210,
not later than 4:45 p.m. EST, August 20, 2001.
Hand-delivered
applications must be received by the Procurement
Services Center by
that time.
ADDRESSES: Grant applications
must be hand delivered or mailed to U.S.
Department of Labor,
Procurement Services Center, Attention: Grant
Officer, Reference SGA
01-06, Room N-5416, 200 Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC
20210. Applicants must verify delivery to this
office directly
through their delivery service and as soon as possible.
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION, CONTACT: Applications will not be mailed. The
Federal
Register may be obtained from your nearest government office or
library. Questions about this solicitation may be sent to Cassandra
Willis, at the following Internet address:
willis.cassandra@dol.gov.
[[Page 38002]]
Late Proposals
The grant application
package must be received at the designated
place by the date and time
specified or it will not be considered. Any
application received at
the Procurement Services Center after 4:45 p.m.
EST, August 20, 2001,
will not be considered unless it is received
before the award is made
and:
1. It was sent by registered or certified mail not later than
the
fifth calendar day before August 20, 2001;
2. It is
determined by the Government that the late receipt was due
solely to
mishandling by the Government after receipt at the U.S.
Department of
Labor at the address indicated; or
3. It was sent by U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail Next Day
Service-Post Office to Addressee, not later
than 5 p.m. at the place of
mailing two (2) working days, excluding
weekends and Federal holidays,
before August 20, 2001.
The only
acceptable evidence to establish the date of mailing of a
late
application sent by registered or certified mail is the U.S.
Postal
Service postmark on the envelope or wrapper and on the original
receipt from the U.S. Postal Service. If the postmark is not legible,
an application received after the above closing time and date shall
be
processed as if mailed late. ``Postmark'' means a printed, stamped
or
otherwise place impression (not a postage meter machine
impression)
that is readily identifiable without further action as
having been
applied and affixed by an employee of the U.S. Postal
Service on the
date of mailing. Therefore, applicants should request
the postal clerk
place a legible hand cancellation ``bull's-eye''
postmark on both the
receipt and the envelope or wrapper.
The
only acceptable evidence to establish the date of mailing of a
late
application sent by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail Next Day
Service--Post Office to Addressee is the date entered by the Post
Office receiving clerk on the ``Express Mail Next Day Service--Post
Office to Addressee'' label and the postmark on the envelope or
wrapper
and on the original receipt from the U.S. Postal Service.
``Postmark''
has the same meaning as defined above. Therefore,
applicants should
request that the postal clerk place a legible hand
cancellation
``bull's-eye'' postmark on both the receipt and the
envelope or
wrapper.
The only acceptable evidence to establish
the time of receipt at
the U.S. Department of Labor is the date/time
stamp of the Procurement
Services Center on the application wrapper
or other documentary
evidence or receipt maintained by that office.
Applications sent by
telegram or facsimile (FAX) will not be
accepted.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Authority
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001, Public Law 106-554, 114 STAT
2763A-10, 29 U.S.C. 557(b).
II. Background
The President's
New Freedom Initiative is designed to increase the
number of people
with disabilities who enter, reenter, and remain in
the workforce. It
is dedicated to increasing investment in and access
to assistive
technologies, a quality education, and increasing the
integration of
Americans with disabilities into the workforce and
community
life.
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) provides the
infrastructure for streamlining services and securing employment
through the One-Stop delivery system. WIA requires multiple programs
and agencies (including state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies) to:
(a) Form partnerships in this effort; (b) share expertise and
coordinate resources; and, provide services to assist people in
gaining
and retaining employment. The One-Stop Career Centers which
comprise
this system are in a position to expand employment
opportunities for
people with disabilities, thus ensuring that the
intent of the New
Freedom Initiative is accomplished.
Under WIA,
collaboration with multiple required partners \1\ is
intended to
create a coordinated and streamlined system for the
customer seeking
employment. It is essential to involve additional
states or local
programs as partners with the One-Stop Center to enable
many people
with disabilities to have an increased opportunity for and
choice in
employment. These additional programs include, but are not
limited
to, state programs for Mental Retardation, Medicaid, Mental
Health
and Transportation; State Councils for Developmental
Disabilities;
state assistive technology programs, Small Business
Development
Centers and secondary education programs. While not
required partners
under WIA, these programs have expertise and/or
resources that can
contribute to expanding the employment and business
opportunities for
people with disabilities. In addition, community
colleges, University
Centers for Excellence in Developmental
Disabilities, business
incubators, lending institutions, foundations,
faith-based
organizations, and other state or local programs may also
be critical
partners. These agencies and programs may not be informed
about the
potential for coordinating resources and expertise with Local
Boards
and One-Stop Centers in order to increase employment, choice and
wages for people with disabilities.
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\1\ Some of the required partners are adult education and
literacy activities under Title II of WIA; post-secondary vocational
education activities under the Carl Perkins Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et
seq.); vocational rehabilitation programs authorized under title V
of
the Workforce Investment Act; welfare-to-work programs; veterans
employment and training activities, community services block grant
employment and training activities; U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development employment and training activities, and activities
authorized under Title V of the Older Americans Act (WIA sec.
121(b),
29 USCA 2841(b), 20 CFR 662.200).
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In addition, One-Stop Centers may elect to become employment
networks under the Ticket-to-Work Program (42 U.S.C. 1320b-19), thus
making it more likely that they will require expertise in customized
employment strategies in order to successfully facilitate employment
for people with disabilities who are recipients of Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Ticket-to-Work is providing increased employment opportunities for
people with disabilities who receive SSI and/or SSDI benefits by
addressing some of the major barriers encountered by these
individuals
as they attempt to gain or regain employment.
Approximately eight
million people with disabilities receive SSI
and/or SSDI benefits.
According to the U.S. General Accounting
Office, less than one percent
of these individuals leave the rolls
each year as a result of paid
employment. Of those who do leave,
about one-third return within three
years. The Ticket-to-Work program
provides a variety of work
incentives, including, greater choices of
needed employment services,
the continuation of Medicare eligibility
for SSDI recipients and, at
state option, health coverage under the
Medicaid program to certain
workers with disabilities, either by
permitting them to purchase
Medicaid coverage or by extending
Medicaid eligibility to them without
charge. As a result, there is
unprecedented opportunity for these
individuals to enter, or return
to the workforce. Increasing numbers of
individuals with disabilities
will be approaching their local One-Stop
Centers for assistance.
Many strategies exist for securing integrated, competitive
employment
for people with disabilities, including people who
previously might
have been considered ``nonfeasible'' for employment,
and people who
have been segregated in institutions, nursing homes, and
day activity
programs. Many
[[Page 38003]]
exemplary practices and
promising strategies have emerged through
decades of research and
demonstration projects, and through other
public and private
activities promoting increased choice and self-
determination for people
with disabilities. These include approaches
such as supported
employment; supported entrepreneurship;
individualized job
development; job carving and restructuring; use of
personal agents
(including individuals with disabilities and family
members);
development of micro-boards, micro-enterprises, cooperatives
and
small businesses; and use of personal budgets and other forms of
individualized funding that provide choice and control to the person
and promote self-determination. These and other innovations hold the
promise of dramatically increasing both employment and wages for
people
with disabilities, in part by increasing their choices for
integrated,
competitive employment, business ownership,
micro-enterprise
development, entrepreneurship, and other employment
options that were
previously seldom available.
The Presidential
Task Force on Employment of Adults with
Disabilities, which includes
membership from eighteen Federal agencies,
has conducted multiple
activities relating to increasing employment for
people with
disabilities, including people who are SSI and/or SSDI
beneficiaries,
people who are in nursing homes, institutions, facility-
based employment,
day activity programs and other segregated settings
where they are
either not working or are earning less than minimum
wage. A major
result of these activities was the identification of the
need for a
sustained and coordinated initiative to build professional
competency
within One-Stop Centers and their partners, including
providers and
employers, about the use of customized employment
strategies. Other
findings include the need to: (1) Effectively expand
the availability
of personal agents, job development expertise, and
other strategies
for achieving customized employment for people with
disabilities; (2)
increase the number of eligible training providers
who can provide
customized employment assistance; (3) provide
information, technical
assistance, training and strategic planning that
focuses on
integrating customized employment strategies into the
workforce
investment system; (4) coordinate all necessary employment
and
related supports from WIA partners and other essential programs
that
are not required partners under WIA; and, (5) research and
demonstrate alternative methods of determining effective performance
by
the workforce investment system in terms of service to people
with
disabilities.
In response to these findings ODEP will pursue
a two-pronged
approach:
1. Awarding these strategic planning and
implementation grants for
customized employment to develop and/or
expand the capacity of local
workforce systems to provide meaningful
and effective opportunity
through One-Stops for all persons with
disabilities; and
2. Establishing a national technical assistance and
training
initiative to help increase the capacity of the workforce
investment
system to serve people with disabilities.
The
combination of these activities will substantially contribute
to
achieving the goals of the President's New Freedom Initiative.
This SGA is
designed to address the first of these activities.
Establishing the
supporting national technical assistance initiative is
being
implemented under a separate solicitation, and is expected to be
in
operation in time to assist the planning and implementation
activities of grants funded under this solicitation.
The U.S. Department of
Labor also offers Work Incentive Grants
designed to enhance service
delivery throughout the National One-Stop
delivery system for people
with disabilities. Recognizing that the One-
Stop system generally has
limited capacity to serve people with
disabilities in the
comprehensive nature envisioned under the WIA, the
Work Incentive
Grant program has multiple goals which include but are
not limited
to:
1. Establishing the capacity for coordinated, seamless
service
delivery to this client group for the many programs and
services which
typically impact their entry or retention in the
workforce;
2. Increasing the availability of assistive technology in
One-Stop
Centers;
3. Ensuring the availability of trained One-Stop
staff to serve
people with disabilities;
4. Assuring outreach and
marketing of One-Stop services to the
disability community; and
5. Establishing or expanding linkages with public and private
providers of this client group.
Twenty-three Work Incentive Grants were
awarded in FY 2000 and
another Solicitation for Grant Applications
will be announced in the
summer of 2001 as a continuing and on-going
process of building the
One-Stop infrastructure to most effectively
meet the needs of customers
with disabilities. The Work Incentive
Grants are complementary yet
distinct from the Customized Employment
demonstration grants offered in
this SGA. The Work Incentive Grants
support systemic change through
capacity building of the One-Stop
infrastructure, whereas these
Customized Employment Grants will serve
as models of comprehensive
service delivery which extends beyond WIA
programs and services for
individuals with disabilities who are the
most disenfranchised under
current service delivery systems.
This
SGA is designed to develop comprehensive models of direct
service
delivery in the context of a One-Stop setting for individuals
with
disabilities with the greatest barriers to employment, many of
whom
have never been employed, are limited to subsidized employment, or
may be considered unable to be employed. The CustomizedEmployment
grants will involve cutting edge approaches such as use of customized
employment strategies and active involvement of essential programs of
both mandated and non-mandated partners of the workforce system.
III.
Purpose
The purpose of this initiative is to maximize the capacity of,
and
outcomes from, One-Stop Centers and their partners to effectively
serve
people with disabilities through customized employment
strategies, and
to integrate those strategies into the policy and
practice of the One-
Stop and its partners in order to increase employment,
choice and wages
for people with disabilities.
For purposes of
this solicitation the Department has chosen to
specifically target
the development and provision of customized
employment to those
people with disabilities identified in this
section. However, the
Department expects that once capacity for using
customized employment
strategies is developed or enhanced, the One-Stop
Centers and their
partners can expand use of these strategies to other
groups of people
with (and without) disabilities.
For purposes of this solicitation, the
target groups are people
with disabilities who are either unemployed
or under-employed and are:
1. Receiving Supplementary Security Income (SSI)
and/or Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI); or
2.
Participating in day programs (such as day habilitation, day
activity
or day health programs) or participating in facility-based or
community employment and earning less than minimum wage; or
[[Page
38004]]
3. Participating in segregated employment and choosing to move
to
integrated, competitive employment; or
4. Awaiting employment
services and supports following a move from
a residential facility,
or as part of a plan to move into a community
under the Supreme Court
decision in Olmstead v. L.C. by Zimring, 527
U.S. 581(1999); or
5. Transitioning from, or preparing to transition from, secondary
school under a transition plan under part B of the Individuals with
Disabilities EducationAct, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), and
who, without access to customized employment strategies, would likely
be referred to one of the environments identified in (2), (3)or (4)
above, but who prefers integrated, competitive employment or self-
employment.
For purposes of this solicitation, customized employment
means
individualizing the employment relationship between employees
and
employers in ways that meet the needs of both. It is based on
an
individualized determination of the strengths, needs, and
interests of
the person with a disability, and is also designed to
meet the specific
needs of the employer. It may include employment
developed through job
carving, self-employment or entrepreneurial
initiatives, or other job
development or restructuring strategies
that result in job
responsibilities being customized and individually
negotiated to fit
the needs of individuals with a disability.
Customized employment
assumes the provision of reasonable
accommodations and supports
necessary for the individual to perform
the functions of a job that is
individually negotiated and
developed.
IV. Statement of Work
Eligible applicants for
these grants are Local Workforce Investment
Boards (LocalBoards)
under the Workforce Investment Act. The Local
Board may enter into
numerous partnerships with other public and
private entities,
consistent with the proposed activities of the grant.
Grantees must
implement training and staff development activities
and demonstration
projects designed to develop organizational capacity
to serve people
with disabilities in One-Stop Centers. These projects
must develop
professional competency in customized employment
strategies and serve
targeted people with disabilities. Workforce
investment system
partners and other non-required but essential
programs must be
included in this effort. Grantees must integrate
customized
employment strategies with the existing services available
through
the One-Stop Center and its partners, including through
demonstrating
alternative methods of measuring performance within the
Once-Stop
environment. The result of these efforts will be an increase
in
employment, choice and wages for people with disabilities through
the
use of customized employment, and the systemic evaluation and
modification, as appropriate, of policies and practices to ensure
that
customized employment strategies are systemically included in
the
services available through the One-Stop Center.
Grantees must
demonstrate collaborative activities across relevant
stakeholder
groups, including both required and non-required One-Stop
partners,
persons with disabilities, their parents and other family
members,
advocates, employers, community rehabilitation agencies, and
others
as appropriate.\2\ Grantees must:
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\2\ These partners may become a subgroup or an advisory group of
the Local Board. They may be specifically charged with coordinating
funding, resources and expertise in order to increase customized
employment for people with disabilities in the community.
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1. Develop professional competency and capacity for implementing
a
variety of innovative and promising practices through
customized
employment;
2. Mobilize needed services and
supports;
3. Implement systems change demonstrations; and,
4. Implement
other initiatives to ensure that these innovations and
promising
practices become part of the menu of services available
through the
workforce investment system.
Grantees must develop employment opportunities
in a variety of jobs
or industries and at a variety of levels,
including self-employment and
entrepreneurship, based on the
strengths, needs and desires of the
individual with a disability.
They must organize services and supports
in ways that provide
informed choice and promote self-determination. In
addition, grantees
must establish employer involvement; track and
respond to customer
service and satisfaction for both persons with
disabilities and
employers; and provide services, including follow-up
services to
ensure job retention and career development.
It is expected that each
grantee will become a ``model'' for both
the state and the Nation in
terms of demonstrating effective linkages
and strategies through the
One-StopCenter system. These models will
demonstrate successful
strategies for customized employment for people
with disabilities
which result in increased employment and wages. Each
grantee must
also review policy and practice as it relates to people
with
disabilities, including researching alternative methods for
performance accountability that are relevant to the characteristics
of
this population.
Grantees must pursue the following
objectives:
1. Develop and implement strategic planning and
implementation
activities across the One-Stop required partner
programs as identified
in the Workforce Investment Act, (WIA sec.
121(b), 29 USCA,
2841(b)(such as Vocational Rehabilitation and others
as appropriate) as
well as other essential programs (such as
Medicaid, Medicare, Mental
Health,Transportation, Small Business
Development Centers, State
Councils on Developmental Disabilities,
community colleges, benefits
counseling and assistance programs,
lending and financial
institutions), whose expertise, services,
and/or funds could contribute
to employment services and supports
needed by people with disabilities
in order to secure customized
employment.
2. Develop local and statewide policy initiatives to ensure
that
customized employment and multiple innovative strategies and
promising
practices become part of the menu of services available to
people with
disabilities including investigating alternative methods
for
performance accountability that consider the characteristics of
the
population.
3. Develop and document the increased capacity of
the One-Stop
system, including WIA required partners, community
providers of
employment services, and other essential programs, to
provide
customized employment for persons with disabilities. Such
capacity
includes enhancing collaboration between required WIA
partners and
building new collaborative initiatives with other
essential programs.
4. Develop and document the capacity of the One-Stop
system to
increase the wages of people with disabilities who are
currently
working at less than minimum wage through the use of
customized
employment strategies.
5. Develop an increased
understanding by One-Stop Centers' staff
about health care, work
incentives, benefits planning, ``tickets'' and
other provisions under
the Ticket-to-Work and Work Incentives
ImprovementAct of 1999 (42 USC
1320b-19 et seq.); and document
increased use of these programs by
the One-Stop Center and its partner
programs to secure customized
employment for recipients of SSI and/or
SSDI who are entering the
workforce or returning to work.
[[Page 38005]]
6. Demonstrate
and document the increasing use of resources from a
number of system
partners and other essential programs, including
providing individual
budgets (e.g., individual training accounts/
contractual services; tickets;
vouchers; and other sources of
individualized funding or personal
funding accounts) for persons with
disabilities to obtain customized
employment.
7. Develop and leverage linkages with other state and
local
initiatives that provide services and supports for people
with
disabilities (including, but not limited to, state systems
change
efforts which promote systems improvement and
comprehensive
coordination; initiatives involving health care;
benefits planning and
assistance; housing; transportation; education;
supported employment;
small business development; technology-related
assistance; initiatives
of private foundations; and faith-based
programs and others as
appropriate).
8. Educate relevant
stakeholders, including state and local
policymakers and systems
personnel, about needed changes in policy and
practice in order to
increase customized employment and wages for
people with
disabilities. Organize education activities to enable
customized
employment and personalized supports to become available and
used in
local communities, including (as appropriate) activities
necessary to
secure adoption of the Medicaid buy-in in the state.
9. Collaborate with
the national technical assistance cooperative
agreement funded by the
ODEP to provide assistance and training on
increasing employment for
adults with disabilities.
10. Identify and pursue other activities, as
appropriate, to
achieving the goals of these grants.
Funds must
be used in a flexible manner, as determined appropriate
by input from
stakeholders and identified needs, so long as
requirements for
outcome and evaluation data and other requirements of
Federal
statutes, regulations, administrative requirements and OMB
circulars
and the requirements delineated in this SGA are met.
Activities may
include, the following possibilities:
1. Necessary staffing across agencies
to implement grantee
activities and otherwise demonstrate effective
partnerships and
interactions necessary to effectively leverage
resources and expertise
from partnering systems and programs.
2.
Outreach to relevant stakeholders.
3. Strategic planning.
4.
Demonstration activities which provide methods to increase the
employment of people with disabilities that are designed for systemic
inclusion (including but not limited to demonstrating the use of
individual training accounts or contractual services, tickets, and
individual budgeting initiatives; economic stimulus activities
including low-interest loans for person-centered micro-boards focused
on increasing economic prosperity for specific individuals with
disabilities; entrepreneurial employment initiatives that are consumer-
owned or operated; demonstrations of innovation and cutting-edge
strategies providing personal control, choice and customized
assistance
resulting in employment, including business ownership,
micro-enterprise
development or development of cooperatives for
persons with
disabilities; and other supports needed by specific
individuals with
disabilities to increase choice and wages in
employment).
5. Other activities necessary to address needs and achieve
goals
identified through strategic planning and implementation,
including
collection of necessary data and evaluation.
6.
Collaboration with the education system, parents and families to
ensure transition of young people with disabilities from school to
customized employment or training, and documentation of the outcomes
of
such efforts.
7. Training and education activities (including
training regarding
Medicaid buy-in provisions and other policy
implications for increasing
employment through state activities)
designed to further the goal of
increasing customized employment for
persons with disabilities. These
training activities include the
education of One-Stop and partner
personnel; state systems personnel
and policymakers; developing and
disseminating educational
information and materials; and otherwise
promoting policy and
practice to increase the wide spread community-
based use of customized
employment strategies and personalized
supports.
8. Researching
and demonstrating alternative methods of measuring
WIA performance
outcomes that consider the various characteristics of
people with
disabilities and developing demonstrations of performance
measures
that document new methods for measuring program effectiveness;
and
coordinating the availability of and access to assistive technology
9.
Establishing connections to and collaborating with other
entities,
including employers, lending and financial institutions,
foundations,
faith-based organizations, institutions of higher
education, consumer
and family organizations, small business
development centers and
others, as appropriate, to further customized
employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities in local
communities.
10. Educating the media and the general public about successful
strategies for and the benefits of securing employment for people
with
disabilities. This will assist in obtaining long-term support
for
continuation of grantee activities following completion of
funding.
11. Increasing the availability of personal agents and
job
development personnel offering customized services through
customer-
controlled approaches that result in customized employment
(including
demonstrating effectiveness of paying family members
and/or other
individuals with disabilities to serve as personal
agents when selected
by the individual with a disability to assist in
negotiating and
implementing employment plans and services.)
12.
Assisting community providers of segregated employment services
to
develop integrated, competitive options for individuals with
disabilities, including implementation of conversion and other
organizational change initiatives conducted with segregated provider
programs that wish to change their services to integrated employment.
Upon
the award of a grant, grantees must begin a strategic planning
and
implementation process that will address multiple components of
needed change. Planning, implementation and ongoing evaluation for
continuous improvement are expected to be implemented from year one
in
recognition that dynamic planning will occur and evolve over time.
By
the end of year five, it is expected that a more long-term
strategic
plan will be in place for expanding the availability and
provision of
customized employment, and for systemically revising
policy and
practices consistent with this goal. All grantees must
provide a
detailed management plan for project goals, objectives and
activities.
All grantees must collect and provide to the DOL information on
the
individuals with disabilities served under this grant and who
secure
employment through use of customized strategies (including
information
on types of jobs, wages and benefits secured by specific
individuals
with disabilities, and other areas addressed
[[Page 38006]]
through the linkages and networks facilitated by grant
activities).
All grantees must agree to cooperate with an independent
evaluation
to be conducted by the Department of Labor. DOL will
arrange for and
conduct this independent evaluation of the outcomes,
impacts, and
accomplishments of each funded grant. Grantees must
agree to make
available records on all parts of grant activity,
including participant
employment and wage data, and to provide access
to personnel, as
specified by the evaluator(s), under the direction
of the Department.
This independent evaluation is separate from the
ongoing evaluation for
continuous improvement required of the grantee
for grant
implementation.
V. Funding Availability
The Department of Labor anticipates awarding up to seven grants
with
a range of between $400,000 and $750,000 each. These awards will
be
for a one-year period and may be renewed annually for up to four
additional years for a total of five years depending upon the
availability of funds and the efficacy of the grant activities,
established through independent reviews conducted by the Department
of
Labor or its designee. Proposals must include budgetary
information for
a five-year period. The funding for Years Four and
Five will be at
successively lower levels, with funding during Year
Four at 80 percent
of third-year funds and during Year Five at 60
percent. Grantees are
expected to use this grant as seed money to
develop other public and
private resources in order to ensure
sustainability of grant activities
following completion of the
funding period.
Funds must not be used for modifying buildings or equipment
for
physical or communication accessibility, although the
strategic
planning should address how resources will be leveraged for
such
purposes from other sources, as appropriate.
VI.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for these grants are
restricted to Local
Workforce InvestmentBoards (Local Boards) as
established under the
Workforce Investment Act (WIA sec.117,29 USCA
2832.) The Local Board
may coordinate numerous partnerships with
other public and private
entities, consistent with proposed
activities of the grant and
applicable administrative
requirements.
The U.S. Department of Labor encourages Local Boards to join
with
otherState/local entities and public/private non-profit
organizations.
Such entities and organizations could include state
programs for
Vocational Rehabilitation, Mental Health,Medicaid,
Mental Retardation,
Housing and/or Transportation; State Councils on
Developmental
Disabilities; Protection and Advocacy Programs;
University Centers for
Excellence in Developmental Disabilities;
institutions of higher
education; Centers for Independent Living
(CIL's); disability advocacy
and provider organizations;
organizations of parents; federally-funded
disability grant entities;
Small Business Development Centers;
cooperatives and
micro-enterprises; lending and financial institutions;
training
programs; media and marketing agencies; employers;
foundations;
community and faith-based programs; and other
organizations or
programs which provide or support services and/or
advocacy for people
with disabilities. Letters of support and
commitment from these
programs must be included in the Appendix of the
proposal.
Indian
and Native American Tribal entities, or consortia of Tribes,
may
apply for these grants. These grants could involve coordination of
services and enhancement to a One-Stop system approach for people
with
disabilities in a specific Indian community or covering multiple
Tribal
entities which may cut across multiple States and/or
workforce
investment areas. Grants to Indian and Native American
tribal grantees
are treated differently because of sovereignty and
self-governance
established under the Indian Self-Determination and
Education
Assistance Act allowing for the government to government
relationship
between the Federal and Tribal Governments.
Please
Note That Eligible Applicants Must Not be Classified Under
the
Internal Revenue Code as 501 (c)(4) Entity. See 26 U.S.C.506(c)(4).
According to Section 18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, an
organization, as described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal
Revenue
Code of 1986, that engages in lobbying activities will not be
eligible
for the receipt of federal funds constituting an award,
grant, or loan.
VII. Application Contents
There are three
required Parts and an Appendix of the application.
Requirements for
each Part are provided in this application package, as
are all
required forms.
Part I--Project Financial Plan (Budget).
Part
II--Executive Summary.
Part III--Project Narrative.
Appendices--Letters
of Commitment/Support, Resumes, etc.
General Requirements--Three copies and
an original of the proposal
must be submitted, one of which must
contain an original signature.
Proposals must be submitted by the
applicant only. Page limits do not
apply to the Project Financial
Plan or the Appendices (assurances,
resumes, bibliography or
references as appropriate, and letters of
support.) A font size of at
least twelve (12) point is required
throughout.
Part
I--Project Financial Plan (Budget)
To be considered, applications must
include a detailed financial
plan which identifies by line item the
budget plan designed to achieve
the goals of this grant. TheProject
Financial Plan must contain the SF-
424, Application for Federal
Assistance,(Appendix A) and an SF-424A
Budget Information Sheet
(Appendix B).
The Project Financial Plan (Budget) must include on a
separate page
a detailed cost analysis of each line item.
Justification for
administrative costs must be provided.Approval of a
budget by DOL is
not the same as the approval of actual costs. The
individual signing
the SF-424 on behalf of the applicant must
represent and be able to
bind the responsible financial and
administrative entity for a grant
should that application result in
an award.
Part II--Executive Summary
The application must
contain an Executive Summary limited to no
more than two (2)
single-spaced, single-sided pages. Each application
must provide a
grant synopsis which identifies the following:
1. The applicant;
2. The
consortium partners; the organizations or systems they
represent; and
their role in grant implementation;
3 . Data on people with disabilities in
the area, including, to the
extent it is available, information about
the target group for this
solicitation and other data relevant to the
proposed grant;
4. The geographic service area of the Local Board;
5.
The planned period of performance (projected annually through a
five
year cycle, assuming grant renewals awards);
6. The actions already taken
by the One-Stop system in the local
area to address the needs of
people with disabilities, including
activities related to increasing
availability of customized employment
and leveraging resources and
expertise across non-required partners of
the One-Stop Centers;
7. A brief statement of the goals of the proposal and how they will
be achieved; and,
[[Page 38007]]
8. Assurances of commitment
in support of this proposal from the
fiscal agent and all partner
agencies.
Part III--Project Narrative
The Grant Narrative
should provide complete information on how the
applicant will address
the requirements of this SGA and is limited to
no more than 75
double-spaced, single-sided, numbered pages (not
including
Appendices).
Each application must provide, in response to the objectives
of
this SGA, a comprehensive strategy and implementation plan
for
developing capacity and providing customized employment through
the One
Stop system.
Appendix--Letters of Support and/or
Commitment, Resumes
VIII. Evaluation Criteria/Selection
A.
Evaluation Criteria
The Project Narrative should address the following
evaluation
element:
1. Statement of Need (10 Points)
Applicants must include in their proposed plan the following items.
a. The
current employment circumstances facing people with
disabilities in
the area to be served, including barriers,
facilitators, and
resources, systems and activities that could be
leveraged to address
needed changes.
b. The number of persons with disabilities in the area who
fit the
other requirements of the defined target group of persons
with
disabilities who may be served under this grant.
c. Related
issues that need to be addressed in order to develop
and/or enhance
capacity of the One-Stop system to use customized
employment
strategies to increase employment, choice and wages for
persons with
disabilities, including the contribution the proposed
grant will make
to influence systemic changes in the local workforce
system.
2.
Comprehensive Strategy for Strategic Planning and Implementation to
Build Capacity for Customized Employment (25 points)
Applicants must
include in their proposed plan the following items:
a. The technical plan
to implement the purpose and objectives of
thisSGA to enhance the
capacity of the workforce investment system to
increase employment,
choice and wages for persons with disabilities
through the use of
customized employment strategies and to ensure that
such strategies
are systemically included in the policy and practice of
the One-Stop
Center(s);
b. The provision of necessary programmatic and physical
access,
including assistive technology, and compliance with section
508 of the
Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794(d), [as amended by the
FY 2001
appropriation for military construction, Pub. L. No.
106-246(July 13,
2000)] in order to ensure access to persons with
disabilities;
c. The plan for developing, implementing and expanding
the
availability and use of customized employment strategies
throughout the
WIA system of required partners and non-required
programs;
d. The plan for how the expertise of the State
Vocational
Rehabilitation program will be used;
e. The plan to
involve appropriate private entities, including but
not limited to
community-based organizations and faith-based
organizations, as
appropriate;
f. The plan for reaching people with disabilities and
their
families, including their involvement in grant design
and
implementation;
g. The plan for gaining support and
assistance of area employers;
h. The plan for meeting the needs of
individuals with disabilities
from diverse cultures and/or ethnic
groups;
i. The plan for expanding the use of customized
employment
strategies over time to:
1. All groups of persons with
disabilities targeted under this
solicitation; and
2. Other
groups of individuals with disabilities (such as
individuals who are
receiving TANF benefits) following completion of
the grant;
j.
The plan for leveraging resources over time in order to ensure
grant
sustainability upon completion of funding, including the plan for
implementing grant activities during years four and five at 80% and
60%
funding, respectively; and
k. The plan for responding to the
measures by which program success
will be evaluated.
3.
Collaboration and Coordination (15 Points)
Applicants must include in their
proposed plan the following items:
a. Demonstrations of support and
commitment from key organizations
and individuals who advocate
through or on behalf of persons with
disabilities to participate in
this effort;
b. Demonstrations of support and commitment from One-Stop
partners
and non-required but essential programs;
c.
Demonstrations of support from area employers and employer
organizations and evidence of their interest in participating in this
effort.
d. Demonstrations of support from persons with disabilities
and
their families for implementation of the proposed activities;
and,
e. A commitment to cooperate with ODEP's planned technical
assistance initiative in a joint effort to develop capacity and
disseminate promising practices so that the national workforce system
can profit from this experience.
4. Quality of Grant Personnel (15
Points)
Applicants must include in their proposed plan the following
items:
a. The names and qualifications of staff and related
technical
experts and consultants to support the objectives of this
project for
grantee and key sub-contractors and consultants. A resume
of key staff
and consultants must be included in the Appendix and
must clearly
indicate qualifications of each individual for
designated role in
project implementation.
b. The extent to which
the applicant encourages applications for
employment from persons who
are members of groups that have
traditionally been under-represented
based on race, color, national
origin, gender, age or disability.
5. Management Plan (10 Points)
Applicants must include in their proposed
plan the following items:
a. The adequacy of the management plan to achieve
the objectives of
the proposed grant on time and within budget,
including clearly defined
responsibilities, time lines, and
milestones for accomplishing grant
activities;
b. The adequacy of
procedures for ensuring feedback and continuous
improvement in the
operation of the proposed grant;
c. The extent to which the time
commitments of key grant personnel
are appropriate and adequate to
meet the objectives of the proposed
grant;
d. How the applicant
will insure that customized employment
strategies become a part of
the menu of services available in the local
community.
6.
Evaluation and Continuous Improvement (15 Points)
Applicants must include
in their proposed plan the following items:
a. All grantees must agree to
participate in the independent
evaluation outlined in Section IV of
this SGA.
b. In addition, all grantees must implement ongoing evaluation
of
grant activities in order to determine
[[Page 38008]]
effectiveness of implementation efforts for continuous improvement
of
the grant. In determining the quality of the evaluation for
continuous
improvement, the Department considers the following:
1. The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough,
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives and outcomes of
the
proposed grant;
2. The extent to which the methods of
evaluation and continuous
improvement are appropriate to the context
within which the grant
operates;
3. The extent to which the
methods of evaluation include the use of
objective performance
measures that are clearly related to the intended
outcomes of the
grant and will produce quantitative and qualitative
data to the
extent possible (including data on wages, wage changes,
benefits,
types of jobs, customer satisfaction, resources leveraged
from
partner programs, systemic changes implemented to sustain grant
over
time); and
4. The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance
about
effective strategies suitable for replication in other
settings.
7. Adequacy of Resources and Budget (10 Points)
Applicants
must include in their proposed plan the following items:
a. The adequacy of
support for grant implementation, including
facilities, equipment,
supplies, and other resources;
b. The extent to which the budget is
adequate to support the
proposed grant.
B. Selection
Criteria
Acceptance of a proposal and an award of federal funds to
sponsor
any program(s) does not provide a waiver of any grant
requirement and/
or procedures. Grantees must comply with all applicable
Federal
statutes, regulations, administrative requirements andOMB
Circulars.
For example, the OMB circulars require, and an entity's
procurement
procedures must require that all procurement transactions
must be
conducted, as practical, to provide open and free
competition. If a
proposal identifies a specific entity to provide
the services, the DOL/
ODEP's award does not provide the justification or
basis to sole-source
the procurement, i.e., avoid competition.
A
panel will objectively rate each complete application against the
criteria described in this SGA. The panel recommendations to the
Grant
Officer are advisory in nature. The Grant Officer may elect to
award
grants either with or without discussion with the applicant.
In
situations where no discussion occurs, an award will be based on
the
signed SF 424 form (see Appendix A), which constitutes a binding
offer.
The GrantOfficer may consider the availability of funds and
any
information that is available and will make final award decisions
based
on what is most advantageous to the Government, considering
factors
such as:
1. Findings of the grant technical evaluation
panel;
2. Geographic distribution of the competitive applications; and,
3. The Project's Financial Plan.
IX. Reporting
The Department
of Labor is responsible for ensuring the effective
implementation of
each competitive grant project in accordance with the
provisions of
this announcement, the grant agreement and other
applicable
administrative requirements. Applicants should assume that
Department
staff or their designees will conduct at least one on-site
project
review. In addition, all grantees will be expected to provide
information on individuals with disabilities securing employment
through use of customized strategies (including information on types
of
jobs, wages and benefits secured by specific individuals
with
disabilities, and other areas addressed through the linkages
and
networks facilitated by project activities).
Grantees will be
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