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[Federal Register: July 11, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 133)]
[Notices]
[Page 36313-36328]
From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11jy01-127]
[[Page 36313]]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WIA Disability Technical Assistance
Consortia for Adults and
Youth
AGENCY: Office of Disability
Employment Policy, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of availability
of funds and solicitation for grant
applications (SGA 01-04).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)/or Department/, Office
of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), announces the availability of
up
to a total of $2.65 million to award two (2) competitive grants
\1\.
These grants are designed to fund two (2) related, but
distinct,
activities. The purpose of this Solicitation for Grant
Applications
(SGA) is to invite proposals from eligible candidates
for each of the
initiatives. Eligible candidates may bid on one of
the two initiatives
or may submit separate bids for each initiative.
The Government
reserves the right to award both grants to the same
grantee, based on
the best interests of the Government. Grants will
be awarded for a one-
year period and may be renewed (individually or in
combination) with
additional optional one-year grants for each of up
to four (4) years.
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\1\ The term ``grants'' in this SGA refers to grants/cooperative
agreements.
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Both grants are to provide assistance to states and local area
programs under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) in order to
enable them to better serve people with disabilities.
The first of these
two WIA Disability Technical Assistance grants,
which focuses on
adults with disabilities, is designed to deliver
technical assistance
support to WIA One-Stop Career Centers, State and
Local Workforce
Investment Boards and other key leaders that oversee
and operate
these adult oriented programs, to enable them to increase
employment
outcomes for people with disabilities.
The second WIA Disability Technical
Assistance grant is designed
primarily to deliver technical
assistance to build the capacity of
emerging and existing
WIA-assisted youth programs to provide
comprehensive services to
young people with disabilities. Target
audiences for this technical
assistance will be State and Local Boards,
Youth Councils and WIA
grant recipients. In addition, this youth
technical assistance effort
will help to bridge the gap remaining
between the broader workforce
development system and other disability
specific programs and
services. Another objective of this youth
technical assistance effort
will be to provide program support to
ODEP's High School/High Tech
(HS/HT) program.
In addition, these two technical assistance efforts are
expected to
provide technical assistance services to four other
(DOL/ODEP) grant
programs. Grants for these programs are planned for
release during this
fiscal year. These are:
1. Customized
Employment Grants for One-Stop Career Centers
designed to demonstrate
enhanced services for adults with disabilities;
2. Innovative Grants to WIA
Youth Programs that are designed to
demonstrate enhanced services to
youth with disabilities;
3. High School/High Tech Realignment Grants to
assist existing
programs in entering into WIA partnerships; and
4. High School/High Tech Start-up Grants to assist localities in
starting programs at new locations, in partnership with WIA activities.
DATES: A bidder's conference will be held on July 18, 2001. The
purpose
of this conference is to provide interested parties the
opportunity to
ask questions concerning these grants. Transcripts of
the conference
will be made available. Requests may be sent to (see
For Further
Information Contact) or write to the address below.
One (1) ink-signed original, complete grant application plus three
(3) copies of the Technical Proposal and three (3) copies of the Cost
Proposal shall be submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor,
Procurement Services Center, Attention Grant Officer, Reference SGA 01-
04,
Room N-5416, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210,
not
later than 4:45 p.m. ET, August 10, 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 01-04, 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 concerning this solicitation
may be sent to
Cassandra Willis, at the following Internet address:
willis.cassandra@dol.gov.
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. ET, August 10, 2001, will not be considered
unless it
is received before the award is made and:
3. It was
sent by registered or certifed mail not later than the
fifth calendar
day before August 10, 2001.
4. 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 5:00 p.m. at the
place
of mailing two (2) working days, excluding weekends and
Federal
holidays, prior to August 10, 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:
[[Page 36314]]
I. Authority
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001, Public Law
106-554, 114 STAT
2763A-10, 29 USC 557(b).
II.
Background
This SGA supports the President's New Freedom Initiative
which is
designed to increase the number of people with disabilities,
both youth
and adults, who enter, re-enter, and remain in the
workforce. The New
Freedom Initiative \2\ 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
into community life. This
initiative heightens the importance of
similar DOL initiatives
designed to increase the employment rate of
people with
disabilities.
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\2\ For more information about the New Freedom Initiative, go to
the White House web page at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiatve/freedominitiative.html.
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There are approximately 54 million Americans with disabilities,
30
million of whom are of working age. Only 26% of working age adults
with
disabilities have a job or a business compared to 82% of those
without
disabilities (U.S. Bureau of the Census, Survey of Income and
Program
Participation, 1997). The Department of Labor report,
Futureworks
(2000) points out that while educational attainment made
some
difference in the rate of unemployment for people with
disabilities,
the employment figures for workers with significant
disabilities are in
sharp contrast to those for workers without
disabilities. Among workers
with college degrees, only 52% of those
with severe disabilities
reported labor market activity, compared to
90% of those with no
disability (a gap of 38 percentage points.)
Title IV of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-
220),
which amends the Rehabilitation Act, included several findings
relating to ethnic and racial minorities as traditionally
under-served
populations in the vocational rehabilitation system (29
U.S.C. 718).
Ethnic and racial minorities tend to have disabling
conditions at a
disproportionately high rate. The rate of
work-related disability for
Native Americans is about one and
one-half times that of the general
population. African-Americans are
also one and one-half times more
likely to be disabled than whites
and twice as likely to be
significantly disabled. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau's 1994-1995
data approximately 85.5% of
African-Americans with severe disabilities
and 75.4% of Hispanics
with severe disabilities are not working.
Individuals with
disabilities who are members of other minority groups
are also
disproportionately represented among the unemployed. Among the
reasons for the disproportionately high rate of unemployment are
disparities in the rehabilitation services provided to minorities
with
disabilities, fewer educational opportunities, poor outreach
to
minority communities, and inadequate transportation and
housing.
As the workforce investment system evolves to become a point
of
streamlined entry to employment, it is critical that this system
have
the capacity to provide meaningful and effective opportunity to
people
with disabilities to secure employment. The system must
develop
critical expertise and linkages with other essential programs
in order
to provide a competent array of programs and services that
create
choices for people with disabilities to successfully become
employed.
In addition, a key to increasing the employment of people
with
disabilities is to ensure that young people with disabilities
are
provided resources and assistance to move from school to work,
as
opposed to becoming dependent on welfare or other benefits
programs.
One way of accomplishing this goal is to increase the
participation of
youths with disabilities in mainstream workforce
investment activities
under WIA.
Youths with disabilities spend a
significant portion of their time
in poverty, dependent upon public
assistance programs and relegated to
the margins of society. They may
encounter unfriendly work preparation
programs that are reluctant to
serve them. The educational and
employment achievements of youth with
disabilities are too low.
According to the U.S. Department of
Education, the national high school
graduation rates (e.g., diplomas,
GED, alternative certificates) for
students with disabilities are
below that of youth without
disabilities. According to the National
Center on Education Statistics
(2001) 88% of students without
disabilities graduate; according to the
Office of Special Education
Programs (2000) 62% of youth with
disabilities graduate.\3\ Students
with disabilities experience a
school drop out rate of 31% compared
to 11% of non-disabled youth.
Youth with emotional disabilities
experience an even higher drop out
rate of 54%. It is estimated that
only one-third of young people with
disabilities who need job
training receive it. Young people with
disabilities also have
significantly lower rates of participation in
post-secondary
education. Finally, the Social Security Administration
has found that
many young people with disabilities who enter the
Supplementary
Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability
Insurance (SSDI)
rolls are likely to remain on the program rolls for
their entire
life.
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\3\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center on Education
Statistics, The Condition of Education 2000 in Brief, Jeanne H.
Nathanson NCES 2001-045, Washington, D.C.; U.S. Government Printing
Office, 2001.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education
and
Rehabilitation Services, Twenty-second Annual Report to Congress
on
the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities
Act,
Washington, D.C.; U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
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One of the most significant reforms under WIA section 129 (c)
[29
U.S.C. 2854(c)], is the consolidation of the year-round youth
program
and the summer youth program into a single formula-based
funding
stream. Under WIA, each local workforce investment area must
have a
year round youth services strategy that incorporates summer
youth
employment opportunities as one of ten required program
elements [WIA
section 129 (c) (2) (C.), 29 U.S.C. 2854 (c)(2). The
ten program
elements reflect successful youth development approaches
and focus on
the following four key themes:
1. Improving
educational achievement (including elements such as
tutoring, study
skills training, and instruction leading to secondary
school
completion; drop out prevention strategies, and alternative
secondary
school offerings);
2. Preparing for and succeeding in employment (including
summer
employment opportunities, paid and unpaid work experience,
and
occupational skills training);
3. Supporting youth (including
supportive services needs, providing
adult mentoring, follow-up
services, and comprehensive guidance and
counseling); and
4.
Offering services intended to develop the potential of young
people
as citizens and leaders (including leadership development
opportunities).
WIA, therefore, provides a variety of workforce investment
programs
that can assist both youth and adults with disabilities in
attaining
their career ambitions. The potential for these programs to
prepare
eligible participants with disabilities for employment is
great.
Moreover, WIA-funded programs must take up their
responsibilities as
vital partners in the broad spectrum of preparing
individuals for the
workforce. These services need to be made
available to people with
disabilities. Traditionally, however, people
with disabilities are not
recruited to participate in these programs.
WIA
[[Page 36315]]
service providers may not be aware of the
need to serve youth and
adults with disabilities in their communities
and may lack the
resources to develop strong partnerships and
equitable referral and
assessment system.
The U.S. Department of
Labor has determined that there is an
appreciable need for a
sustained and coordinated initiative to build
the capacity of
WIA-assisted programs and their workforce partners,
including
providers, employers, people with disabilities, family
members, and
others, to better serve youth and adults with
disabilities. This need
has been highlighted as a critical priority in
the FY 2001 budget
appropriation for the Department through the
Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2001, Public Law 106-554, 114 STAT
2763A-10, 29
U.S.C. 557(b).
Recently, the Office on Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
was
established within DOL (Public Law 106-554) to provide policy
direction
for serving all individuals with disabilities. Key among
ODEP's
responsibilities is to provide technical assistance and
support
designed to assist various DOL programs, and to thereby
increase the
capacity of those programs to serve people with
disabilities.
In order to fulfill its mission, ODEP is implementing a
multiple-
prong approach.
This approach includes:
1. Under this
SGA, the establishment of provider(s) of technical
assistance service
to support the workforce investment system in
building capacity to
increase employment for people with disabilities,
and to provide
critical implementation and analysis to ODEP to assist
in its
responsibilities for providing recommendations for policy
direction;
2. Under a separate SGA, the award of Customized Employment
Grants,
designed to develop models and to demonstrate to all One-Stop
Career
Centers and their partners, strategies for maximizing their
capacity
for serving people with disabilities; and,
3. Under a
separate SGA, the award of Innovative WIA Youth
Demonstration Grants
which are designed to demonstrate to all WIA Youth
programs systems
change strategies for maximizing their capacity to
serve youths with
disabilities.
In combination, these activities will substantially
contribute to
achieving the goals of the President's New Freedom
Initiative.
There are other programs which relate to, but are not
directly
affected by, the technical assistance activities under this
SGA. Some
examples include DOL's Work Incentive Grants (WIG's) which
are designed
to enhance service delivery to people with disabilities
accessing One-
Stop Centers and their programs, by establishing linkages to
and among
existing state, local and private non-profit entities in
order to
facilitate seamless service access for these
individuals.
In addition, DOL has entered into an interagency agreement
with the
National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation
(NIDRR)
and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to
provide
technical assistance to One-Stop Centers through their
network of
Disability Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTAC's)
and
Rehabilitation Community Education Programs (RCEP's). The
Ticket-to-
Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act provides
increased
opportunities for people with disabilities who are
SSI/SSDI
beneficiaries by addressing some of the major barriers
encountered by
these individuals as they attempt to gain employment.
The Department of
Education's Office of Special Education Programs
recently funded a new
National Center on Secondary Education and
Transition and the National
Youth Leadership Network to increase
opportunities for young people
with disabilities. The Department of
Health and Human Services, through
the Health Resources Services
Administration's Maternal and Child
Health Bureau funds a program to
promote the transition and employment
of youths with special health
care needs called Healthy and Ready to
Work. While these efforts are
distinct from the consortia supported by
this SGA, they are
complementary and should work in close cooperation
with both the WIA
Disability Technical Assistance Consortium for Adults
and the
Consortium for Youth.
III. Purpose
The purpose of this SGA is
to implement two disability technical
assistance efforts (adults and
youth) in order to support the capacity
building for WIA-funded
programs and partners and provide policy
analysis and information to
ODEP about employment and disability.
Technical assistance services
must seek to form strong linkages with
essential programs and
experts, including but not limited to:
1. Disability programs and programs
with a general audience which
can serve adults and youth with
disabilities, such as the workforce
investment system, vocational
rehabilitation, special education,
general, adult and vocational
education, postsecondary education, small
business, health care,
social security, housing, and transportation
programs and
services;
2. Disability and family organizations;
3. Employers in the
workforce investment system; and
4. National program and policy
experts.
These grantees will also develop partnerships with other
researchers, technical assistance providers, dissemination centers,
and
other essential programs, to assist in organizing and
providing
technical assistance and disseminating information.
In
addition, the project(s) funded under these grants must provide
technical assistance to four categories of grantees planned for
funding
during this fiscal year. These are:
1. Customized
Employment Grants for One-Stop Career Centers.
2. Innovative Grants to WIA
Youth Programs.
3. High School/High Tech Realignment Grants.
4. High
School/High Tech Start-up Grants.
These four other grant programs are
required to participate in the
technical assistance efforts sponsored
under this SGA. These grants
will also provide policy implementation
research and analysis to the
Office of Disability Employment
Policy.
Finally, these technical assistance efforts will serve as
a
repository of the materials, approaches, and results of the other
four
grant programs and will be charged with including successful
approaches
in their overall technical assistance work with states and
with local
WIA-funded programs and partners.
IV. Statement
of Work--Option 1; WIA Disability Technical
Assistance Consortium for
Adults
This initiative will fund a WIA Disability Technical
Assistance
Consortium for Adults. The overall purpose of this adult
technical
assistance consortium is to:
1. provide support to
grantees awarded under the ODEP Customized
Employment SGA, including
coordinating strategic planning, technical
assistance and capacity
building efforts for increasing customized
employment and wages of
people with disabilities through One-Stop
Centers;
2. Collect and
analyze employment policy-related information for
ongoing feedback to
the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
and otherwise
support ODEP as requested in its efforts to increase
employment,
choice and wages for persons with
[[Page 36316]]
disabilities
through the workforce investment system, including
conducting policy
analysis and research on policies and practices used
in states as
they develop capacity in this area;
3. Coordinate and provide training and
technical assistance to DOL
regional staff, and State and Local
Boards on employment for people
with disabilities, including
assistance in developing model policies
and guidance; and
4. Act
as a central locus of information and expertise on
employment and
disability for WIA partner systems and agencies and
others involved
in provision of employment and related supports for
people with
disabilities.
The adult technical assistance consortium must form strong
linkages
with:
1. Disability programs and generic programs and
experts which can
serve adults with disabilities, such as the
workforce development
system, vocational rehabilitation, special
education, general, adult
and vocational education, postsecondary
education, small business,
developmental disability, health care,
social security, housing, and
transportation programs and
services;
2. Disability and family organizations;
3. Employers to the
workforce development system; and
4. National program and policy
experts.
This consortium shall develop partnerships with other
researchers,
national experts, technical assistance providers, and
dissemination
centers in organizing and providing technical
assistance and
disseminating information.
The WIA Technical
Assistance Consortium for Adults must provide
technical assistance
services and materials which include the
following:
1. Provide
and coordinate strategic planning, technical assistance
and capacity
building efforts for increasing customized employment and
wages of
people with disabilities through One-Stops Centers, including
information on policies and practices used in states as they develop
capacity, including the following:
a. Provide technical assistance,
training and information
assistance to each of the grantees under the
Customized Employment
Grants funded by ODEP, including providing
consultation, training,
materials development, dissemination,
linkages to experts and exemplary
practices; and otherwise connect
stakeholder groups with successful
practices in their respective
areas in order to increase their
capabilities and performance in
securing customized employment for
people with disabilities.
b.
Develop linkages and collaborate with other national federal
initiatives providing services and supports for people with targeted
disabilities (including but not limited to systems change efforts
promoting enduring systems improvement and comprehensive
coordination;
health care; housing; transportation; education;
supported employment;
benefits planning and assistance; small
business development;
technology related assistance; etc.), and other
national initiatives as
appropriate.
c. Provide technical
assistance, training, and information that
integrates validated best
practices and promising practices for
improving choice in employment
and increasing wages for people with
disabilities into the workforce
investment system, including
implementation activities to ensure that
people with disabilities have
access to appropriate supports for
employment, including
transportation, personal assistance, assistive
technology and housing.
2. Provide training and technical assistance to DOL
regional staff,
and State and Local Boards, and others at the request
of ODEP, on
employment for people with disabilities, in order to
increase
professional expertise and provide assistance in developing
model
policies and guidance, including the following:
a. Provide
training and technical assistance to the national and
regional staff
of DOL's Wage and Hour Division, and others involved in
implementation of section 14-(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29
U.S.C. 214 (c.), including providers, to increase their knowledge and
capacity about increasing wages for people with disabilities through
customized employment.
b. Develop, implement and maintain an assessment of
the needs of
individual State Boards and ODEP grantees to determine
the array, type,
and intensity of technical assistance, training, and
information to be
provided.
c. Coordinate and conduct technical
assistance and capacity
building activities based on an assessment of
needs as well as requests
for assistance from DOL regional staff and
State and Local Boards.
d. Provide technical assistance, training, and
information to
increase understanding by systems of disability
related employment
issues such as health care, transportation, work
incentive provisions,
benefits planning, housing, etc.
3. Act as
a central locus of information and expertise on
employment and
disability for WIA partner systems and agencies and
others involved
in providing employment and related supports for people
with
disabilities, including the following:
a. Provide coordination and
information sharing among multiple DOL
grantees and initiatives of
other agencies related to people with
disabilities (such as projects
of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration (RSA), Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP),
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), Health Care Finance
Administration (HCFA), Social
Security Administration (SSA), Small
Business Administration (SBA),
National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR),
including coordinating with other
national initiatives.)
b.
Provide national linkages to information, experts and activities
on
exemplary and promising practices in a range of areas related to
disability.
c. Provide information and conduct initiatives to
educate
employers, and the general public about the abilities of
people with
disabilities to work in a wide variety of occupations and
contribute to
the workforce.
d. Provide information to educate
state and local policymakers,
systems personnel, and people with
disabilities and their families,
providers, including educators, and
other leaders as appropriate, about
changes in policy and practice
that facilitate an increase in
employment and wages for people with
disabilities.
e. Develop and disseminate materials to supplement
technical
assistance and training. All materials must be made
available through
an accessible internet web site.
f. Serve as a
repository and dissemination center for the
information and materials
of ODEP grantees and include successful
approaches from the grantees
in the overall technical assistance,
training, and information
services approach.
4. Conduct policy studies and otherwise collect and
analyze
employment policy-related information for ongoing feedback to
the
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and otherwise
support
ODEP, as requested, in its efforts to increase employment,
choice and
wages for persons with disabilities through the workforce
investment
system, including the following.
a. Research, collect
and disseminate information from States about
effective and
meaningful participation of people with disabilities in
One-Stop
Centers
[[Page 36317]]
and the workforce investment system.
Work with ODEP in identifying
areas for policy research, and provide
ongoing feedback using new
research and research from aggregated
experiences of Customized
Employment grantees (funded by ODEP under
separate solicitation.)
Collaborate with other federal technical
assistance projects that
provide information and/or technical
assistance about increasing
employment and needed supports for people
with disabilities in
conducting policy studies, as appropriate.
b. Conduct studies and analysis about employment characteristics
and
conditions of people with disabilities currently in segregated
settings such as institutions, nursing homes and facility-based
settings, and collaborate with ODEP in developing a range of
strategies
to respond to identified needs.
c. Conduct studies and
otherwise respond to requests for
information, analysis and other
assistance from ODEP on national
employment policy as it impacts
people with disabilities and the
workforce investment system.
Other Requirements
All applicants for the WIA Disability
Technical Assistance
Consortium for Adults must submit a Management
Plan. The Plan will
identify the overall organizational design
including its functional
structure. The Plan must identify key staff
members of the Technical
Assistance Consortium (including
subcontractors) and indicate time
commitments for each. Consultants
should be identified and resumes
included in the Appendix. The
Management Plan should also include a
system that provides for
evaluation and feedback. This system should
include the methodology
by which information will be gathered and
continuous improvements
achieved. The Management Plan should also
document any ``ramping-up''
of project activities over the project
implementation period and
provide planned time lines for project
activities.
DOL will
arrange for an independent evaluation of outcomes,
impacts, and
benefits of the grants. Grantees must make records
available to
evaluation personnel, as specified by the Department.
Grantees funded
under this SGA must make positive efforts to employ and
advance in
employment qualified individuals with disabilities within
project
activities.
Applicants and grant recipients funded under this SGA must
involve
members of four specific groups in implementation of the
grant(s):
1. Youth and adults with disabilities;
2. relevant experts in
the field of disability (such as disability
organizations,
researchers, family members and organizations,
independent living
centers, or service providers and national experts
in relevant
areas);
3. employers; and,
4. experts in disability policy.
Throughout the course of the project, grantees must collaborate
with
other research institutes, centers, and studies and evaluations,
that
are supported by DOL and other relevant Federal agencies.
Applicant
(and all consortia partners) shall document their
organization's
commitment to the objectives of the project.
V. Statement of
Work--Option 2; WIA Disability Technical Assistance
Consortium for
Youth
A. WIA-Assisted Youth Programs
This initiative will
fund a WIA Disability Technical Assistance
Consortium for Youth. The
primary purpose of this grant is to enhance
the capacity of
WIA-assisted youth programs to increase participation
and improve
results for youth with disabilities. Under WIA, DOL has
established a
``Vision for Youth'' that states that all youth,
particularly
out-of-school youth, will acquire the necessary skills and
work
experience to successfully transition into adulthood, careers and
further education and training. There are four themes for the youth
services delivery system developed under WIA:
1. Improvement in educational
achievement;
2. Preparation for and success in employment;
3. Supports
for youth; and
4. Services to help youth develop as citizens and
leaders.
WIA also establishes requirements for the youth activities
for
providing year round services; follow-up services, summer
employment
activities, and services to out-of-school youth.
A
significant aspect to the WIA-assisted youth programs is the
establishment of Youth Councils, as a subgroup of the Local Board.
With
the approval of the Local Board each Council could develop
a
coordinated youth policy; strengthen linkages between existing
local
youth services; draw upon expertise of all related
community/employer
groups; and bring a youth perspective to the WIA
programs. Eligible
participants targeted for WIA youth programs
include both in-and out-
of-school youth, with a large share of resources
going towards out-of-
school youth; and youth ages 14 to 21. Currently, DOL
is investing $2.5
billion across seven WIA and other youth programs:
formula-funded youth
programs; Job Corps; Apprenticeships; Indian
Youth Programs; Migrant
Youth Programs; School-to-Work; and the Youth
Opportunity Grants
Program.
WIA-assisted youth programs hold a
tremendous potential to assist
youths with disabilities in meeting
their employment, postsecondary,
and independent living goals. This
technical assistance effort is
designed to help establish acceptance
within the WIA-funded youth
programs that both during and after the
mandatory secondary school
years, WIA-assisted youth services can
represent a key pathway to
employment for youths with disabilities
and should be considered a
vital possibility alongside vocational
rehabilitation, and
postsecondary education. The goal of this
technical assistance effort
is to deliver the knowledge and
understanding needed to enable State
and Local Boards, Youth
Councils, and WIA-assisted youth program
operators to confidently and
aggressively recruit, admit, and
successfully serve young people with
disabilities. The overall purposes
of this grant are to:
1.
Strategically leverage and build the capacity of WIA-funded
youth
programs and ensure increasing levels of participation by youths
with
disabilities;
2. Aid and assist the implementation of ODEP funded
Innovative
Demonstration Grants to Workforce Investment Act Youth
Programs; and
3. Generally support the ODEP leadership in its efforts to
advance
employment policy for youths with disabilities.
The youth
technical assistance consortium shall form strong
linkages with:
1. Disability programs and programs with a general audience which
can
serve youth with disabilities, such as the workforce development
system, vocational rehabilitation, special education, general, adult
and vocational education, postsecondary education, developmental
disability, health care, social security, housing, and transportation
programs and services;
2. Disability and family organizations; and
3.
Employers to the workforce development system.
This consortium shall
develop partnerships and tap into the
expertise of other researchers,
technical assistance providers, and
dissemination centers in
organizing and providing technical assistance
and disseminating
information.
[[Page 36318]]
The Technical Assistance
Consortium for Young People with
Disabilities must perform all of the
following:
1. Provide technical assistance, training, and information
to
assist State and Local Boards, Youth Councils, and WIA-assisted
youth
programs in the areas of governance, service delivery,
performance
assessment, technology accessibility, and reasonable
accommodations
that will result in an increase in the number of
youths with
disabilities who receive youth services.
2. Provide
technical assistance, training, and information to
increase
understanding by WIA-assisted youth service providers about
disability related employment issues such as health care,
transportation, work incentive provisions, benefits planning,
housing,
etc.
3. Provide information to educate relevant
stakeholders, including
state and local policymakers and systems
personnel, including
educators, as well as families, and youth about
needed changes in
policy and practice in order to increase employment
and wages for young
people with disabilities.
4. Provide
information to educate employers and the general public
about the
abilities of youths with disabilities to work in a wide
variety of
occupations.
5. Provide technical assistance, training, and information
that
integrates validated best practices for improving transition
results
for young people with disabilities into the WIA-assisted
youth program
elements, including:
a. Promote effective
structures, policies, and practices to improve
results for youths
with disabilities in WIA-assisted programs in core
youth program
themes and elements;
b. Promote effective service interventions and
approaches that help
young people with disabilities to overcome
barriers to positive
education and employment outcomes;
c.
Promote the link between academic and occupational skill
standards;
and on the integration of academic and applied learning in
real work
settings;
d. Promote youth-centered planning and development
(e.g.,
assessment, choice, rights and responsibilities, life skills,
etc.);
e. Promote physical and mental health resources and the link
to
positive educational and employment outcomes; and
f. Promote
strategies for increased business, labor, family, and
community
involvement.
6. Develop and leverage linkages with other state and
local
initiatives providing services and supports for young people
with
disabilities (including but not limited to systems change
efforts
promoting enduring systems improvement and comprehensive
coordination;
health care; housing; transportation; education;
supported employment;
small business development; technology related
assistance; private
foundations; faith-based initiatives).
7.
Provide technical assistance, training, and information
(including
program evaluation technical assistance) to the ODEP-
assisted Innovative
Demonstration Grants to Workforce Investment Act
Youth Programs.
8. Serve as a repository and dissemination center for the materials
developed by ODEP grantees and include successful approaches from the
grantees in the overall technical assistance, training, and
information
services approach.
9. Collaborate with other Federal
technical assistance projects
that provide information about
transition, postsecondary education,
employment, and independent
living issues for young people with
disabilities.
10. Implement
and maintain an assessment of the needs of individual
State and Local
Boards, Youth Councils, WIA-funded youth programs, and
ODEP grantees
of the overall needs of these audiences to determine the
array, type,
and intensity of technical assistance, training, and
information to
be provided.
11. Develop and disseminate materials to supplement
technical
assistance and training. All materials must be made
available through
an accessible Internet web site.
B. High
School/High Tech/Program Support
Additionally, the WIA Disability
Technical Assistance Consortium
for Youth grant must provide
technical assistance support to ODEP's
High School/High Tech program.
ODEP's High School/High Tech (HS/HT)
program is designed to provide
young people with disabilities with an
opportunity to explore their
interest in pursuing further education
leading to a technology
related career.\4\ It serves either in-school
or out-of-school youths
with disabilities in a year long program of
corporate site visits,
mentoring, job shadowing, guest speakers, after
school activities and
paid summer internships. The HS/HT program
responds to all four of
WIA's youth programming themes (employment
preparation, educational
achievement, support, and leadership). It
includes eight of the ten
WIA required youth programming elements:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ For more information on the
High
School/High Tech Program Manual
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Summer employment opportunities;
2. Work experience;
3.
Occupational skills training;
4. Tutoring;
5. Support services;
6.
Adult mentoring;
7. Comprehensive guidance; and
8. Leadership
development.
Currently, 60 High School/High Tech (HS/HT) programs are
in
operation in 18 states. These HS/HT programs began under the
national
leadership of the former President's Committee on Employment
of People
with Disabilities (PCEPD). With the beginning of the
current federal
fiscal year (FY '01), the PCEPD ceased to exist. All
its assets,
projects and staff were transferred into a newly created
Office of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the U.S. Department
of Labor.
The High School/High Tech Program Support component of this
grant
will provide the following:
1. Conduct research for all
manner of appropriate funding
resources/possibilities (e.g.,
businesses, foundations, local, state,
and federal government
sources, especially WIA-assisted programs);
maintain a data base on
the results of this research; and disseminate
information to current
and prospective HS/HT program sites (e.g.,
periodic fact sheets, web
based listings).
2. Review current HS/HT programs for successful funding
strategies
and document and disseminate them; work with a minimum of
25-30 HS/HT
sites during the grant year to identify potential grant
funding
services that are appropriate to each programs circumstances,
with an
emphasis on WIA funding possibilities; and develop 10-12
profiles of
successful HS/HT fund raising activities;
3. Deliver
technical assistance support on the HS/HT program to
current and
prospective sites and sponsors, including information on
the
program's goals, core values, start-up strategies, program
components, materials, etc. These sites will be identified to the
grantee by the HS/HT program manager;
4. Deliver technical assistance which
helps create a partnership
between HS/HT program sites and with local
WIA programs;
5. Prepare and maintain existing annual monitoring and
reporting of
the HS/HT programs nationwide; and,
6. Advise HS/HT
grantees on the type of project data they need to
collect in order to
assess the effectiveness of their project.
[[Page 36319]]
Other Requirements
All applicants for the WIA Disability Technical
Assistance
Consortium for Youth are required to submit a Management
Plan. The Plan
must identify the overall organizational design
including its
functional structure. The Plan must identify key staff
members of the
Technical Assistance Consortium (including
subcontractors) and indicate
time commitments for each. Consultants
must be identified and resumes
included in the Appendix. The
Management Plan shall also include a
system that provides for
evaluation and feedback. This system shall
include the methodology by
which information will be gathered and
continuous improvements
achieved. The Management Plan must also
document any ``ramping-up''
of project activities over the project
implementation period and
provide planned time lines for project
activities.
DOL will
arrange for an independent evaluation of outcomes,
impacts, and
benefits of the grants. Grantees must make records
available to
evaluation personnel, as specified by the Department.
Grantees funded
under this SGA must make positive efforts to employ and
advance in
employment qualified individuals with disabilities within
project
activities.
Applicants and grant recipients funded under this SGA shall
involve
members of four specific groups in implementation of the
grant(s):
1. Youth and adults with disabilities;
2. Relevant experts in
the field of disability (such as disability
organizations,
researchers, family members and organizations,
independent living
centers, or service providers);
3. Employers; and
4. Policymakers.
Throughout the course of the project, grantees must collaborate
with
other research institutes, centers, and studies and evaluations,
that
are supported by DOL and other relevant Federal agencies.
Applicant
(and all consortia partners) shall document their
organization's
commitment to the objectives of the project.
VI. Funding
Availability
The initial period of performance will be 12 months from
the date
of execution by the Government. Based on availability of
funds, project
performance, and needs, the Department may elect to
exercise its option
to extend these grants for up to four additional
option years for a
total not to exceed 60 months. With the agreement
of the grantee, the
Department also may elect to change, modify
and/or supplement these
grants during this period based on
Department's needs. The funding for
these grants is as follows:
Technical Assistance Consortium for Adults with Disabilities: up
to
$1,200,000
Technical Assistance Consortium for Youth with
Disabilities: up to
$1,450,000
with $450,000 of the total
Youth funding allocated for High School/High
Tech Program Management
Support outlined above.
VII. Eligible Applicants
Eligible
applicants may be a public/private non-profit or for-
profit organization
or consortia, including faith-based organizations
with demonstrated
appropriate experience and expertise. If the proposal
includes
multiple consortia members, there must be a prime or lead
member who
is the responsible fiscal agent.
All applications must clearly identify the
lead grant recipient and
fiscal agent, as well as all other members
of the Consortium applying
for the grant. In addition, the
application must identify the
relationship between all of the members
of the consortia. The
application must identify who the grant/lead
recipient (and/or fiscal
agent) is and both identify and describe its
capacity to administer
this project.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ELIGIBLE
GRANT/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT APPLICANTS
MUST NOT BE CLASSIFIED UNDER
THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE AS A 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.
VIII. Application Contents
There are
four required sections of the application. Requirements
for each
section are provided in this application package. Applicants
must
submit a signed original and three copies of the application. Be
sure
to indicate on the title page whether your organization is
applying
for the WIA Disability Technical Assistance Consortium for
Adults
(Section IV, Option 1, above); or, the WIA Disability Technical
Assistance Consortium for Youth (Section V, Option 2, above).
1.
Project Narrative
Applicants shall include a narrative that addresses
the evaluation
criteria in Section IX that will be used by the
Technical Evaluation
Committee in evaluating individual
proposals.
The Project Narrative must be double-space (no more than
three
lines per vertical inch) all text in the application
narrative,
including titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, and
captions, as
well as all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs
is limited to
no more than 70 pages. A page is 8.5" x 11" (on one
side only) with
one-inch margins (top, bottom, and sides). If using a
proportional
computer font, use no smaller than a 12-point font, and
an average
character density no greater than 18 characters per inch.
If using a
non-proportional font or a typewriter, do not use more
than 12
characters per inch.
2. Executive Summary
The Executive summary should be no more than 2 single spaced pages
in
length giving a clear summary of the project narrative.
3. Management
Plan
The Management Plan should be no more than 10 double spaced
pages
in length and formatted as required in the Project
Narrative.
4. Project Financial Plan
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. The Financial Proposal must contain the SF-
424, Application for
Federal Assistance, (Appendix A) and Budget
Information Sheet SF-424A
(Appendix B).
In addition, the 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 the responsible
financial and
administrative entity for a grant should that
application result in an
award.
IX. Evaluation
Criteria/Selection
A. Evaluation Criteria
The Project
Narrative and the Management Plan in Part VIII must
address the
following evaluation criteria.
[[Page 36320]]
1. Significance
of the Proposed Project (15 Points)
In evaluating the significance of the
proposed project, the
Department will consider the following
factors:
a. The national significance of the proposed project;
b. The
proposed project's potential contribution of to increase
knowledge or
understanding of problems, issues, or effective strategies
for WIA
programs in serving the target population, including
identification
of various policy strategies for furthering employment
of people with
disabilities through the workforce investment system;
c. The extent to
which the proposed project is likely to yield
findings that may be
used by other appropriate agencies and
organizations;
d. The
extent to which the proposed project involves the
development or
demonstration of promising new strategies that build on,
or are
alternatives to, existing strategies;
e. The likely utility of the
information, materials, processes, or
techniques that will result
from the proposed project, including the
potential for their
effective use in a variety of other settings;
f. The extent to which the
results of the proposed project are to
be disseminated in ways that
will enable others to use the information
or strategies; and
g.
The importance or magnitude of the results or outcomes likely to
be
attained by the proposed project.
2. Quality of the Project Design (25
Points)
In evaluating the quality of the proposed project design,
the
Department will consider the following factors:
a. The extent
to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be
achieved by the
proposed project are clearly specified and measurable;
b. The extent to
which the design of the proposed project includes
a high-quality
review of the relevant literature, a high-quality plan
for project
implementation, and the use of appropriate methodological
tools to
ensure successful achievement of project objectives;
c. The extent to which
the design of the proposed project reflects
up-to-date policy and
program knowledge from research and effective
practice for technical
assistance, training, policy analysis, and
information;
d. The
extent to which the proposed project will be coordinated
with similar
or related Federal technical assistance, research,
training, and
information efforts;
e. The extent to which the proposed project encourages
involvement
of people with disabilities, relevant experts, and
organizations; and
f. The extent to which performance feedback and
continuous
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed
project.
3. Quality of Project Personnel (20 Points)
In evaluating the
quality of project personnel, the Department will
consider the
applicants plan to encourage 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.
In addition, the Department will consider the following
factors:
a. The qualifications, including relevant training and
experience,
of key project personnel; and,
b. The qualifications,
including relevant training and experience,
of project consultants or
subcontractors.
4. Quality of the Project Evaluation (20 Points)
In
evaluating the quality of project evaluation, the Department
considers the following factors:
a. The extent to which the methods of
evaluation are thorough,
feasible, and appropriate to the goals,
objectives, and outcomes of the
proposed project;
b. The extent
to which the methods of evaluation are appropriate to
the context
within which the project operates;
c. The extent to which the methods of
evaluation provide for
examining the effectiveness of project
implementation strategies;
d. 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 project and will produce
quantitative and qualitative
data to the extent possible;
e. The
extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about
effective
strategies suitable for replication or testing in other
settings;
and
f. Methods for measuring, in both quantitative and
qualitative
terms, program results and satisfaction of recipients of
technical
assistance, training, information, or program management
support
services.
5. Quality of the Management Plan (10
Points)
In determining the quality of the management plan for the
proposed
project, the Department will consider the following
factors:
a. The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives
of
the SGA, including clearly defined responsibilities for
accomplishing
project tasks and time lines;
b. The adequacy of
procedures for ensuring feedback and continuous
improvement in the
operation of the proposed project;
c. The adequacy of mechanisms for
ensuring high-quality materials
and services from the proposed
project;
d. The extent to which the time commitments of the project
director
and other key project personnel are appropriate and adequate
to meet
the objectives of the proposed project; and
e. The method
by which the applicant will ensure that a diversity
of perspectives
are brought to bear in the operation of the proposed
project,
including those of adults and/or youths with disabilities,
families,
workforce development professionals, the business community,
a
variety of academic and professional fields, recipients or
beneficiaries of services, or others, as appropriate.
6. Adequacy of
Resources (10 Points)
In evaluating the adequacy of resources for the
proposed project,
the Department will consider the following
factors:
a. The adequacy of support, including facilities,
equipment,
supplies, and other resources, from the applicant
organization or the
lead applicant organization;
b. The relevance
and demonstrated commitment of the lead
applicant's organization (and
all consortia partners) to the
implementation and success of the
project;
c. The extent to which the budget is adequate to support
the
proposed project; and,
d. The extent to which the costs are
reasonable in relation to the
objectives, design, and potential
significance of the proposed project.
B. Selection Criteria
Except as specifically provided, DOL/ODEP 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 and OMB Circulars. For example, the OMB
circulars require, and an entity's procurement procedures must
require
that all procurement transaction shall 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
[[Page 36321]]
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 Grant Officer 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. Any efficiencies or economies of scale caused
by awarding both
the adult and the youth grants to one bidder or
consortia;
2. Findings of the grant technical evaluation panel;
3.
Geographic distribution of the competitive applications; and,
4. The
Project's Financial Plan.
X. Reporting
The grantee must
furnish a typed technical report to ODEP on a
quarterly basis by
March 30, June 30, September 30, and December 31. It
is estimated
that the quarterly technical report will take 24 hours to
complete.
The grantee must also furnish a separate financial report to
ODEP on
the quarterly basis mentioned above. The format for the
technical
progress report must contain the following information on
program
activities:
1. Technical assistance, training, and information efforts to
One-
Stop Centers and others including grant programs.
2. Policy
studies and analysis.
3. Information/expertise gathered and documented.
4. Linkages developed, partnerships formed, with other
organizations
and groups.
5. Customer satisfaction feedback on services provided.
6.
HS/HT support provided (youth grant only).
XI. Administration
Provisions
A. Administrative Standards and Provisions
Grantees are strongly encouraged to read these regulations before
submitting a proposal. The grant awarded under this SGA shall be
subject to the following:
29 CFR Part 95--Uniform Administrative
Requirements for Grants and
Cooperative Agreements with Institutions
of Higher Education, etc.
29 CFR Part 96--Federal Standards for Audit of
Federally Funded
Grants, Contracts, and Agreements.
29 CFR Part
97--Uniform Administrative Requirement for Grants and
Cooperative
Agreements to State and Local Governments.
B. Allowable Cost
Determinations of allowable costs shall be made in accordance with
the following applicable Federal cost principles:
State and Local
Government--OMB Circular A-87
Nonprofit Organizations--OMB Circular
A-122
Profit-making Commercial Firms--48 CFR Part 31
Profit will not be
considered an allowable cost in any case.
C. Grant Assurances
The applicant must include the attached assurances and
certifications.
D. OMB Clearances
Offerers awarded a
grant/cooperative agreement under this
solicitation will be required
to provide the supporting documentation
needed to clear data
collection instruments within the U.S. Department
of Labor and the
Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork
Reduction Act, as
amended, if data collection activities under the
grant/cooperative
agreement require response from ten (10) or more
members of the
public. In this regard, the narrative for all projects
should
indicate the scope of planned data collection activity.
Signed at
Washington, DC this 6th day of July, 2001.
Lawrence J. Kuss,
Grant
Officer.
BILLING CODE 4510-23-P
[[Page 36322]]
Appendix A.
Application for Federal Assistance, Form SF 424
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
TN11JY01.015
[[Page 36323]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN11JY01.016
[[Page 36324]]
Appendix B. Budget Information Sheet, Form SF 424A
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN11JY01.017
[[Page 36325]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF
OMITTED] TN11JY01.018
[[Page 36326]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]
TN11JY01.019
[[Page 36327]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN11JY01.020
[[Page 36328]]
Appendix C. Assurances and Certifications Signature Page
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN11JY01.021
[FR Doc. 01-17410 Filed 7-10-01; 8:45
am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-C
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