[Federal Register: November 28, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 229)]
[Notices]
[Page 59525-59528]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28no01-100]
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Part II
Department of Education
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Capacity Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Capacity Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education
and Rehabilitative Services proposes priorities under the Capacity
Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations program. The
Assistant Secretary may use these priorities for competitions in fiscal
year (FY) 2002 and in later years. We take this action to focus on
meeting the needs of traditionally underserved populations. We intend
these priorities to enhance and improve the capacity of minority
entities to compete for Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
discretionary grants and to improve services provided to minority
people with disabilities under programs that are authorized under the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (the Act).
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before December 28, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about these proposed priorities to
Ellen Chesley, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 3318, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2649. If you prefer
to send your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
Ellen.Chesley@ed.gov
You must include the term ``Capacity Building for Traditionally
Underserved Populations'' in the subject line of your electronic
message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Chesley. Telephone: (202) 205-
9481 or via Internet: Ellen.Chesley@ed.gov
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the TDD number at (202) 205-8133.
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 these proposed
priorities. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the notice of final priorities, we urge you to identify
clearly the specific proposed priority that each comment addresses.
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 these proposed
priorities. 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 these proposed priorities in room 3414, Switzer
Building, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30
a.m. and 4 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 these proposed priorities. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, you may call (202) 205-
8113 or (202) 260-9895. If you use a TDD, you may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
We will announce the final priorities in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final priorities 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. In any year in
which we choose to use these proposed priorities, we invite
applications through a notice in the Federal Register. When inviting
applications we designate the priorities 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)).
Priorities: Capacity Building for Traditionally Underserved
Populations General
The authority for us to establish priorities under the Capacity
Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations program by reserving
funds to support training, technical assistance, capacity building, and
service improvement activities is in section 21 of the Act (29 U.S.C.
718b). Under this program, we make awards to public agencies and
private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher
education, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. This program is
designed for the support of projects that would provide training,
technical assistance, or related activities in order to improve
services provided under the Act, especially services provided to
individuals from minority backgrounds. Further, section 21 speaks to
enhancing the capacity and increasing the participation of ``minority
entities'' in programs funded under the Act. ``Minority entity'' is
defined under section 21(b)(5) of the Act as a historically Black
college or university, Hispanic-serving institution of higher
education, American Indian tribal college or university, or another
institution of higher education whose minority student enrollment is at
least 50 percent.
Under section 21 of the Act, RSA and the National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) reserve 1 percent of
funds budgeted for titles II, III, VI, and VII of the Act to carry out
activities related to improving services to people with disabilities
from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. Further, section 21
provides that one of the following three types of awards be made to
carry out section 21 activities: (1) Making awards to minority entities
and Indian tribes to carry out activities under the programs authorized
under titles II, III, VI, and VII. (2) Making awards to minority
entities and Indian tribes to conduct research, training, technical
assistance, or a related activity to improve services provided under
the Act, especially services provided to individuals from minority
backgrounds. (3) Making awards to a State or a public or a private
nonprofit agency or organization, such as an institution of higher
education or an Indian tribe, to
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provide outreach and technical assistance to minority entities and
Indian tribes to promote their participation in activities funded under
the Act, including assistance to enhance their capacity to carry out
those activities.
We propose to fund projects that would focus on training, technical
assistance, or related activities that would improve services provided
under the Act, especially services provided to individuals from racial
and ethnic minority backgrounds.
Proposed Priority 1--Train Staff of the Independent Living Services
for Older Individuals Who Are Blind Program
Background: According to internal RSA staff review of narrative
reports by grantees of the Independent Living Services for Older
Individuals Who Are Blind program, statistics show that an increasing
number of minorities, especially African-Americans, will develop
blindness and other significant visual impairments due to other medical
conditions, such as diabetes and glaucoma. Further, in large States
like California and Florida with significant racial and ethnic minority
populations, statistics have shown that these populations are
underserved.
In a recent analysis of this program's grantees' annual reports
conducted by the Mississippi State University Rehabilitation and
Research Training Center, two significant findings suggest that (1) of
those served by this program, less than 10 percent were racial and
ethnic minority consumers, and (2) racial and ethnic minority consumers
are receiving information about techniques of daily living services in
their homes with less frequency than their white counterparts.
These findings by the Mississippi State University Rehabilitation
and Research Training Center further suggest that outreach services and
information about independent living services to older blind
individuals are not being disseminated to African-Americans, Native
Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic-Americans with glaucoma and
diabetic retinopathy who live in urban areas.
Therefore, an awareness about the lack of peer support group
activities within racially and ethnically diverse communities may not
be realized by a significant number of grantees and other private
organizations serving older blind individuals with visual disabilities.
Priority: We propose to fund a project that meets this priority.
The project funded must meet the requirements in section 21(b)(2)(B) of
the Act. A project must provide training that would--
(1) Increase the capacity and skills of staff of federally funded
independent living programs serving older blind minority consumers in
networking towards building trust within racial and ethnic minority
communities;
(2) Increase the ability of staff of federally funded independent
living programs serving older blind racial and ethnic minority
consumers to identify and build partnerships with key or specific
organizations and resources that provide infrastructure supports and
specialized services to racial and ethnic minority consumers and their
families;
(3) Increase the skills and capacity of staff of federally funded
independent living programs serving older blind racial and ethnic
minority consumers to understand family and community values and
traditions of aging racial and ethnic minority consumers that will lead
to improved methods of effective communication and dissemination of
information about independent living services and other related
resources for aging individuals with visual disabilities.
A project must--
(1) Partner or collaborate with other key institutions and agencies
that have expertise in this training, technical assistance, and
networking area;
(2) Develop a regional training and technical assistance activity
that will enhance and improve the knowledge and skills of staff of
federally funded independent living programs (i.e., field professionals
and direct service providers) serving older blind consumers and improve
outreach to racial and ethnic minority consumers and communities to
increase their involvement in the independent living program funded
under the Act;
(3) Provide training and technical assistance based upon a needs
assessment of the region or geographical area being assisted;
(4) Include an evaluation component based upon clear, specific
performance and outcome measures; and
(5) Report the results of the evaluation in its annual performance
report.
Training must focus on the following:
(1) Specific methods on how to integrate and build alliances with
key organizations, institutions, and individuals within a community to
reach older individuals who are blind from racial and ethnic minority
backgrounds.
(2) Specific training on how to identify, develop, and evaluate
appropriate mediums of communication in disseminating critical
information about this program.
(3) Specific training on the definitions of blindness and
disability in the context of racial and ethnic minority cultures and
the attitudes associated with these terms.
(4) Specific training on the implication of health-related
conditions associated with certain racial and ethnic minority groups
(i.e., diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, hypertension, etc.).
(5) Specific training on what are some of the ``promising
practices'' that are currently being used to educate consumers from
racial and ethnic minority groups about these medical conditions and
their relationship to blindness.
Proposed Priority 2--Community Rehabilitation Programs
Background: Section 21 of the Act states that minorities tend to
have a disproportionately high rate of disability and that patterns of
inequitable treatment have been documented in all major junctures of
the vocational rehabilitation process. According to section 21 of the
Act, as compared to white Americans, a larger percentage of African-
American applicants to the vocational rehabilitation (VR) system are
denied acceptance. Of applicants accepted for service, a larger
percentage of African-American cases are closed without being
rehabilitated. Minorities are provided less training than their white
counterparts. Consistently, less money is spent on minorities than on
their white counterparts.
Priority: We propose to fund projects that meet the priority.
Projects funded must meet the requirements in section 21(b)(2)(B) of
the Act.
Projects must--
(1) Focus on referring more minorities currently served by
community rehabilitation programs having service agreements, as well as
those not having service agreements, to the vocational rehabilitation
system;
(2) Target community rehabilitation programs serving large numbers
of minorities with disabilities;
(3) Involve partnerships with community rehabilitation programs
that serve significant numbers of minorities with disabilities;
(4) Provide training on diversity;
(5) Develop and conduct a survey that looks at why clients and
consumers from minority backgrounds are reluctant to enter, remain in,
or successfully exit the vocational rehabilitation program;
(6) Design and implement strategies that address the findings of
the survey to increase the numbers of clients and consumers from
minority backgrounds who successfully navigate through the vocational
rehabilitation system;
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(7) Identify effective practice models for service provision to
unserved and underserved populations;
(8) Disseminate those models across the United States to community
rehabilitation program sites used by minority persons with
disabilities;
(9) Disseminate information about the vocational rehabilitation
program and its potential benefits to minorities and other appropriate
community agencies and organizations involved in community outreach
activities;
(10) Enhance the capacity of clinics and outreach personnel to
detect and respond to potential clients and consumers who are reluctant
to enter the vocational rehabilitation system;
(11) Employ public relations and marketing strategies to highlight
the vocational rehabilitation program in minority communities;
(12) Include an evaluation component based upon clear, specific
performance and outcome measures; and
(13) Report the results of the evaluation in its annual performance
report.
Proposed Priority 3--Establishing New Rehabilitation Training
Programs
Background: Section 21(a)(4) addresses the need for recruitment
efforts within vocational rehabilitation at the level of preservice
training, continuing education, and in-service training to focus on
bringing larger numbers of minorities into the vocational
rehabilitation profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner
knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address the clearly
changing demography of vocational rehabilitation. This recruitment
effort clearly can be addressed by increasing the number of
rehabilitation training programs at minority institutions of higher
education, particularly at the associate degree, undergraduate degree,
and graduate degree levels.
Priority: We propose to fund projects that meet the following
priority. Projects funded must meet the requirements in section
21(b)(2)(B) of the Act.
Projects must--
(1) Enhance and increase the capacity of minority institutions of
higher education to prepare more individuals for careers in the public
vocational rehabilitation program, including individuals from minority
backgrounds;
(2) Be located at minority institutions of higher education,
including community colleges whose minority student enrollment is at
least 50 percent, that are interested in establishing new first-time
rehabilitation training programs at the associate degree, undergraduate
degree, and graduate degree levels;
(3) Include an evaluation component based upon clear, specific
performance and outcome measures; and
(4) Report the results of the evaluation in its annual performance
report.
Proposed Priority 4--Capacity Building for Minority Entities
Priority: We propose to fund projects that meet the priority.
Projects funded must meet the requirements in section 21(b)(2)(C) of
the Act.
Projects must--
(1) Provide outreach, capacity building, and technical assistance
to minority entities and Indian tribes to promote their participation
in activities funded under the Act, including assistance to carry out
those activities;
(2) Provide a variety of training and technical assistance
activities, including grant writing workshops that focus on RSA and
NIDRR discretionary grant programs, the peer review process, selection
criteria, training on disability legislation (i.e. Americans with
Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, etc.), and technical assistance
to minority entities that are first-time recipients of grants funded
under the Act in order to increase their ability to carry out their
grants;
(3) Include an evaluation component based upon clear, specific
performance and outcome measures; and
(4) Report the results of the evaluation in its annual performance
report.
National Education Goals
The eight National Education Goals focus the Nation's education
reform efforts and provide a framework for improving teaching and
learning.
These proposed priorities would address the National Education Goal
that every adult American will be literate and will possess the
knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and
exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
This document provides early notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister
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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 84.315, Capacity
Building for Traditionally Underserved Populations)
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 718b.
Dated: November 21, 2001.
Andrew J. Pepin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 01-29509 Filed 11-27-01; 8:45 am]
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