[Federal Register: August 28, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 167)]
[Notices]               
[Page 55268-55269]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28au02-116]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

 
Notice of Award of Non-Competitive Grant

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), ACF, 
DHHS.

ACTION: Notice; Opportunity to Comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that ACYF is considering awarding 
discretionary research grant funds without competition to The Urban 
Institute at 2100 M St. NW., Washington, DC, for up to $375,000 of 
Child Care and Development Block Grant funds in FY 2002. And, pending 
the availability of Federal funds, and the continuing non-Federal 
support of the project from other sources, ACYF will award up to 
$375,000 of Child Care and Development Block Grant funds for one 
additional fiscal year. The two-year project period would begin on 
September 30, 2002 and end on September 29, 2004. This award will be 
made to The Urban Institute to provide Federal support for a research 
project that will examine the interaction of child care providers and 
child care subsidy policies and practice.
    The Urban Institute's research project addresses many questions of 
relevance to the child care field, to ACF, and to the Child Care Bureau 
in particular. It will fill a gap in the information currently 
available about the characteristics of subsidized and unsubsidized 
providers, and how implementation of subsidy policies affects the 
experiences of those providers. In addition, the study will explore the 
rate of participation of faith-based organizations in the child care 
subsidy system, addressing one of the Administration's priorities. It 
will also explore the occurrence of activities supporting children's 
early learning and literacy in diverse child care settings, as well as 
providers' characteristics that may be related to the likelihood of 
those activities being present in child care settings. The study 
answers a call for needed research on providers as expressed by 
researchers and policymakers in the most recent meeting of the Child 
Care Research Consortium held in Washington, DC on April 17-19, 2002.
    The proposed project has a strong research design and methodology, 
builds on a solid understanding of the current state of research in the 
child

[[Page 55269]]

care field, and is lead by a very experienced team of researchers in 
child care policy research. The data collected through this study will 
provide information urgently needed by policymakers in the current 
environment of the next phase of welfare reform.
    The Urban Institute is in a unique position to conduct this much-
needed research because:
     They have developed a network of State and local 
connections and knowledge base while conducting their work on the 
Assessing the New Federalism Project, as well as a previous project on 
the experiences of families with the subsidy system, funded by ACF; and
     They have started the planning phase and ground work for 
the proposed project with funding secured through a foundation.
    The Agency is providing members of the public, including qualified 
organizations which would be interested in competing for the funding if 
a competition were held, an opportunity to comment on the planned 
action.
    Statutory Authority: This award will be made pursuant to the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 as amended (CCDBG Act); 
section 418 of the Social Security Act; Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2001 (Pub. L. 106-554). The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
is 93.647.

DATES: In order to be considered, comments on this planned action must 
be received on or before September 9, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties, including qualified organizations which 
would be interested in competing for the funding if a competition were 
held, should write to: Karen Tvedt, Child Care Bureau, Administration 
on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C Street 
SW., Room 2046, Washington, DC 20447.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Tvedt, Child Care Bureau, at 
(202) 401-5130.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 93.647, Child 
Care Research Discretionary Grants


    Dated: July 29, 2002.
Joan E. Ohl,
Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
[FR Doc. 02-21980 Filed 8-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M