National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research: Notice of proposed priority [OSERS]
[Federal Register: May 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 103)]
[Notices]
[Page 37655-37657]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29my02-128]
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Part IX
Department of Education
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National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priority.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services proposes a priority for Health Services
Research projects under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Projects (DRRP) Program of the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this
priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2002. We take this action
to focus research attention on an identified national need. We intend
this priority to improve rehabilitation services and outcomes for
individuals with disabilities.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 28, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Donna
Nangle, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3412, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2645. If you prefer to
send your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
donna.nangle@ed.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Nangle. Telephone: (202) 205-
5880 or via the Internet: donna.nangle@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the TDD number at (202) 205-4475.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment
We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed priority.
We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of
reducing regulatory burden that might result from this proposed
priority. Please let us know of any further opportunities we should
take to reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits while
preserving the effective and efficient administration of the program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this priority in room 3412, Switzer Building, 330 C
Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking
Record
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public
rulemaking record for this proposed priority. If you want to schedule
an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program
The purpose of the DRRP Program is to plan and conduct research,
demonstration projects, training, and related activities that help (1)
to maximize the full inclusion and integration of individuals with
disabilities into society, and (2) to improve the effectiveness of
services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended
(the Act).
This priority reflects issues discussed in the New Freedom
Initiative (NFI) and NIDRR's Long-Range Plan (the Plan). The NFI can be
accessed on the Internet at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiative/freedominiative.html.
The Plan can be accessed on the Internet at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/NIDRR/Products.
We will announce the final priority in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final priority after considering
responses to this notice and other information available to the
Department. This notice does not preclude us from proposing or funding
additional priorities, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking
requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. If we choose to
use this proposed priority, we invite applications through a notice
in the Federal Register. When inviting applications we designate the
priority as absolute, competitive preference, or invitational. The
effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute Priority
Under an absolute priority, we consider only applications that meet
the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive Preference Priority
Under a competitive preference priority, we give competitive
preference to an application by either (1) awarding additional points,
depending on how well or the extent to which the application meets the
priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an application that
meets the priority over an application of comparable merit that does
not meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational Priority
Under an invitational priority, we are particularly interested in
applications that meet the invitational priority. However, we do not
give an application that meets the priority a competitive or absolute
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Priority
Background
Access to high quality health care, including preventive, acute,
and long-term care, is critical to the quality of life and independent
living of individuals with disabilities. Research on the organization,
delivery, and financing of health services has not traditionally
focused on the needs of individuals with disabilities. With this
proposed priority, NIDRR intends to examine emerging issues that have
an impact on access to health services by individuals with
disabilities. We have identified the following issues as the focus of
needed research: access to community-based health services; the impact
of prospective payment on access to medical rehabilitation services;
and ways in which using quality indicators in assessments of services
may affect delivery of health services to individuals with
disabilities.
You may obtain additional information about the background of this
priority by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Proposed Priority--Health Services Research Projects
This proposed priority is intended to improve delivery of health
services to individuals with disabilities. We encourage applicants to
propose research projects under one of the following specific topic
areas:
(1) Availability and Access to Community-Based Health Services. To
be funded under the priority, a project would be required to:
(a) Investigate the availability and accessibility of community-
based health services for individuals with disabilities who move from
institutional care to
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community living or who are at risk for institutional care;
(b) Document the extent to which access to appropriate health
services, including home-health, is a component of State task force
recommendations regarding transitioning of individuals from
institutional to community settings; and
(c) Evaluate the role of accessible community-based mental health
services in the successful integration of individuals with long-term
mental illness into community settings.
(2) Impact of the Prospective Payment System for Medical
Rehabilitation. To be funded under the priority, a project would be
required to:
(a) Evaluate the impact of the prospective payment system for
medical rehabilitation on access to medical rehabilitation services by
individuals with disabilities, examining the impact on settings,
services, and length of stay; and
(b) Identify the impact of multiple, health-related conditions,
commonly called co-morbidities, on classification and reimbursement in
the medical rehabilitation prospective payment system.
(3) Analysis of Quality Indicators for Assessing Health Services
Provided to Individuals with Disabilities. To be funded under the
priority, a project would be required to:
(a) Conduct an assessment of the use of quality indicators in both
the private and public sectors to determine the extent to which the
needs of individuals with disabilities are reflected in these
indicators;
(b) Examine the relationship of function and disability in defining
the population of individuals with disabilities to whom the indicators
are applied; and
(c) Determine how individuals with disabilities, payers, and
providers use information from quality assessment of medical
rehabilitation services.
In addition, each project would be required to:
[sbull] Consult with the NIDRR-funded National Center for the
Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR) to develop and implement,
in the first year of the grant, a plan to disseminate the DRRP's
research results to: disability organizations, individuals with
disabilities or their family members or both, researchers, providers,
and policymakers; and
[sbull] Ensure the participation of individuals with disabilities
in all phases of the research and dissemination activities.
Applicable Program Regulations
34 CFR part 350.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may review this document, as well as all other Department of
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To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
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Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133A, Disability
Rehabilitation Research Project)
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b).
Dated: May 15, 2002.
Loretta L. Petty,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 02-13402 Filed 5-28-02; 8:45 am]
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