[Federal Register: May 14, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 93)]
[Notices]
[Page 24352-24353]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my01-41]
[[Page 24352]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.235M]
Special Demonstration Programs--Model Demonstration Projects
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001
Purpose of Program: To provide funding for model demonstration
projects with innovative methods of promoting achievement of high-
quality employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. These
projects will expand and improve the provision of rehabilitation
services, as defined in 34 CFR part 373, for individuals with
disabilities.
Eligible Applicants: State vocational rehabilitation agencies;
community rehabilitation programs; Indian tribes or tribal
organizations; and public or nonprofit agencies or organizations,
including institutions of higher education.
Supplementary Information: Funds under this competition will be
used to support projects in FY 2001. In FY 2002, the Assistant
Secretary may consider funding high-quality applications submitted in
FY 2001.
Applications Available: May 18, 2001.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 18, 2001.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 17, 2001.
Available Funds: $1,600,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $225,000 to $300,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 6.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application)
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. It is suggested that you
limit Part III to 35 pages.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, 86, 97, and 99; and (b) The regulations for this program in
34 CFR part 373.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants
except federally recognized Indian tribes.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Priorities
Background
The unemployment rate for working-age adults with disabilities has
hovered at 70 percent for over a decade. Model demonstration projects
that promote high-quality employment outcomes will provide
opportunities for individuals with disabilities to be placed in jobs at
which they will--(1) receive the minimum wage or higher, with benefits;
(2) have opportunities for advancement; (3) work on a full-time basis,
or as close to full-time as appropriate; (4) work in an integrated
setting, if appropriate; and (5) obtain employment that is consistent
with the strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,
capabilities, interests, and informed choice of the individual with
disabilities.
Absolute Priority
This competition focuses on projects designed to meet a priority
that we have chosen from allowable activities specified in the program
statute (see 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v) and section 303(b)(4)(B) and
(5)(B)(ix) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (29 U.S.C.
773(b)). For FY 2001 this priority is an absolute priority. Under 34
CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that meet the priority.
The projects must be model demonstrations with innovative service
methods for promoting achievement of high-quality employment outcomes
for individuals with disabilities. To meet the absolute priority
requirements for model demonstration projects of rehabilitation service
delivery, the application must--
(1) Demonstrate a model of rehabilitation service delivery that is
innovative for the applicant and in the local service area and is
expected to lead to high-quality employment outcomes for individuals
with disabilities;
(2) Certify that the project includes activities that have not been
funded previously, for that applicant or in that service area, under an
award from the Special Demonstration Programs; and
(3) Include a plan to widely disseminate the results of the
project, including any rehabilitation service delivery model proven to
be effective, so the model may be adapted, replicated, or integrated
into fee-for-service arrangements by State vocational rehabilitation
agencies and other disability organizations.
Competitive Preference Priority
Within the absolute priority for this competition for FY 2001, this
competition focuses on projects designed to meet the competitive
preference priority in the notice of final competitive preference for
this program, published in the Federal Register on November 22, 2000
(65 FR 70408). Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an
additional 10 points to an application that is otherwise eligible for
funding under this program, depending on the extent to which the
application meets the competitive preference priority.
Invitational Priorities
Within the absolute priority for this competition for FY 2001, we
are particularly interested in applications that meet one or more of
the following invitational priorities. However, under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(1), we do not give an application that meets one or more of
these invitational priorities a competitive or absolute preference over
other applications.
Invitational Priority 1--Model Demonstrations To Increase Employment
Outcomes, Especially Self-employment, Telecommuting, or Business
Ownership, for American Indians With Disabilities Who Reside on or Near
Reservations or in Urban Settings
We are interested in projects that would increase employment
opportunities by providing vocational rehabilitation services to
American Indians with disabilities. These projects, which would provide
services to American Indians and may provide training and instruction
to other nonprofit agencies to provide these services, would lead to
vocational outcomes related to self-employment, telecommuting, or
business ownership. Services may include, but are not limited to,
technical assistance and other consultation services to conduct market
analyses, develop business plans, and obtain loans, occupational
licenses, tools, equipment, initial stocks, and supplies for eligible
individuals. These projects would work closely with the National
Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities and
vocational outcomes for Native Americans with disabilities.
Invitational Priority 2--Programs That Demonstrate Methods That Lead to
Employment Opportunities With Career Advancement for Individuals With
Disabilities Who Are Homeless or Reside in Supportive or Subsidized
Housing
We are interested in projects that would demonstrate service
delivery models that would further high-quality employment outcomes for
individuals with disabilites who are homeless or reside in supportive
or subsidized housing. Projects would focus on developing systems to
link the supportive or the subsidized housing industry with the public
vocational rehabilitation system. Projects
[[Page 24353]]
supported under this invitational priority may include, but are not
limited to, maintaining and replicating successful approaches to link
the supportive or the subsidized housing industry with the vocational
rehabilitation (VR) system; developing methodologies to expedite entry
into the VR system for those individuals with disabilities who are
homeless or residing in supportive or subsidized housing who need and
may benefit from VR services; developing appropriate mechanisms to
build on existing supportive or subsidized housing systems to provide
VR services to increase employment outcomes including long-term job
placements in competitive work, in a cost effective and efficient
manner; and developing linkages with the Department of Labor's One-Stop
service delivery system and focusing on individuals with disabilities
in the Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing programs,
including the Shelter Care Plus and the Section 8 programs. The goal
would be to not only increase employment rates but to encourage new
local collaboration between employment and housing providers. Projects
would provide services that may include, but are not limited to,
training, education, counseling, placement, and follow-up activities
that would allow the individuals with disabilites to possess the
knowledge and skills necessary to compete for jobs with the potential
for career advancement and higher wages and benefits. Projects may also
provide services to improve career advancement opportunities for
individuals with disabilities who are employed.
Invitational Priority 3--Programs That Demonstrate Methods of Providing
Affordable Transportation Services to Individuals With Disabilities
We are interested in projects that would demonstrate methods of
providing affordable transportation services to individuals who are
employed, seeking employment, or receiving vocational rehabilitation
services from public or private organizations and who reside in
geographic areas in which public transportation or paratransit service
is not available or, if available, does not adequately meet the needs
of the consumers (e.g., need for 24-hour service).
Selection Criteria: In evaluating an application for a new grant
under this competition, we use selection criteria chosen from the
general selection criteria in 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR. The selection
criteria to be used for this competition will be provided in the
application package for this competition.
For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs),
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-
7827. Fax: (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs via its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/
pubs/edpubs.html or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: ed
pubs@inet.ed.gov
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.235M.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone:
(202) 205-8351. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), you may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
For Further Information Contact: Alfreda Reeves, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3314, Switzer Building,
Washington, DC. 20202-2650. Telephone: (202) 205-9361. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this notice in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
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
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
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
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 773(b).
Dated: May 8, 2001.
Francis V. Corrigan,
Deputy Director, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research.
[FR Doc. 01-11996 Filed 5-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U