[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 146 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39337-39350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18940]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Innovative Demonstration Grants for Youth With Disabilities
AGENCY: Office of Disability Employment Policy, Labor.
[[Page 39338]]
ACTION: Notice of availability of funds and solicitation for grant
applications (SGA 01-07).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or Department), Office of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announces the availability of $3.5
million to award competitive grants to fund model demonstration
programs designed to enhance the capacity of youth programs to serve
youth with disabilities. Up to nine competitive grants will be awarded
in the range of $350,000 to $500,000. These awards are for a two-year
period of performance. All youth service applicants, other than
501(c)(4) entities, will be eligible.
Each grant must involve members of two specific groups in strategic
planning and implementation activities: youth with disabilities and
relevant experts in the field of young people with disabilities (such
as disability organizations, researchers, policy makers, employers,
family members and/or family organizations, independent living centers,
or service providers). Each grant must also include a management and
evaluation component. All forms necessary to prepare an application are
included in this Solicitation for Grant Application (SGA.)
DATES: One (1) ink-signed original, complete grant application plus
three (3) copies of the Technical Proposal and three (3) copies of the
Cost Proposal must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor,
Procurement Services Center, Attention Grant Officer, Reference SGA 01-
07, Room N-5416, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210, not
later than 4:45 p.m. EST, August 29, 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 01-07, 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: [email protected].
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.
EST, August 29, 2001, will not be considered unless it is received
before the award is made and:
1. It was sent by registered or certified mail not later than the
fifth calendar day before August 29, 2001;
2. 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 p.m. at the place of
mailing two (2) working days, excluding weekends and Federal holidays,
prior to August 29, 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:
I. Authority
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001, Public Law 106-554,114 STAT
2763A-10, 29 USC 557(b).
II. Background
The President's ``New Freedom Initiative'' is designed to increase
the number of people with disabilities who enter, re-enter, and remain
in the workforce. This initiative is dedicated to increasing investment
in, and access to, assistive technologies; expanding educational
opportunities; in order to increase the ability of individuals with
disabilities to integrate into the workforce; and promoting increased
access into the community.\1\
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\1\ For more information about the New Freedom Initiative, go to
the White House web page at www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiative.
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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 is to increase the participation of youth with
disabilities into mainstream workforce development activities under
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA).
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.\2\ 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,
[[Page 39339]]
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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\2\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center on Education
Statistics, The Condition of Education 2000 in Brief, Jeanne H.
Nathanson NCES 2001-045, Washington, DC; 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, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
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The federal/state vocational rehabilitation system is neither large
enough to, nor solely responsible for, serving all youth with
disabilities who depart the school system. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, each year approximately 500,000 young people
with disabilities leave our nation's schools. Vocational rehabilitation
programs are able to serve less than 40,000 of these young people with
disabilities. A large portion of the remaining 460,000 youth with
disabilities are potentially eligible for youth programs financially
assisted under WIA. 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 such elements 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 provides a variety of work preparation programs that can assist
youth with disabilities with their career ambitions. The potential is
great for these programs to prepare eligible youth participants with
disabilities for employment. Moreover, WIA-assisted youth programs must
take up their responsibilities as vital partners in the broad spectrum
of programs which prepare individuals for the workforce. These services
need to be made available to young people with disabilities.
Traditionally, however, they are not recruited to participate in these
programs. WIA youth service providers may not be aware of the need to
serve youth with disabilities in their communities and may lack the
resources to develop strong partnerships and an equitable referral and
assessment system.
In addition, Vocational Rehabilitation agencies, Special Education
agencies, and other agencies serving youth with disabilities may not be
informed about the potential for coordinating resources with WIA-based
programs, or for creating mechanisms for such programs to cooperate and
support young people with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Labor has determined that youth programs
need to be strengthened to better serve young people 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
USCA 557(b). Recently, the Office on Disability Employment Policy
(ODEP) was established within DOL (Pub. L. 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 youth programs, including WIA-assisted youth
programs, and thereby increase the capacity of those programs to serve
people with disabilities.
In order to accomplish this goal, a two-pronged approach will be
used. This approach includes:
1. Awarding these grants which are designed to demonstrate and
further develop the capacity of various youth programs to serve youth
with disabilities; and,
2. Establishment of a technical assistance program to support
capacity building for various youth programs.
In combination, these activities will substantially contribute to
achieving the goals of the President's New Freedom Initiative.
This SGA is designed to initiate the first of these activities.
Establishment of the supporting national technical assistance program
is being implemented simultaneously, under a separate SGA. The
technical assistance program is expected to be in operation in time to
help with the implementation of these demonstration grants.
III. Purpose
This SGA supports model demonstration projects that develop,
implement, evaluate, and disseminate new or improved approaches that
generate knowledge, and promote best practices to the various youth
programs, in order to increase participation and improve results in
those programs for young people with disabilities.
For the purposes of this SGA, a ``youth with disabilities'' is
defined as a youth aged 14 to 21 years old to whom one or more of the
following applies:
a. Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits
one or more of his or her major life activities;
b. Has a record of such an impairment; or,
c. Is regarded as having such an impairment.\3\
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\3\ This definition is consistent with the definition of
``disability'' that applies under four Federal laws barring
discrimination on the basis of disability, including section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 705(9) and
705(20)); title I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (ADA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 12102(2)); and section 101(17) of
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801(17)), as well
as the regulations implementing these laws.
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The purpose of these demonstration projects is to help various
youth programs develop their staff's capacity to serve youth with
disabilities. This capacity building will allow these programs to
develop and further demonstrate strategies and techniques to increase
the participation of youth with disabilities; these strategies and
techniques can, in turn, serve as models for similar various youth
programs. These projects will target youth both in-and out-of-school.
As a result of these demonstrations, and associated technical
assistance efforts, ODEP anticipates that all various youth programs
will learn from and follow these examples, resulting in a system wide
increase in the successful participation of youth with disabilities in
all various youth programs.
Included in the objectives of these model demonstration projects is
a goal of building upon and enhancing the integrated youth development
approach envisioned under WIA, by incorporating knowledge of best
practices developed through 15 years of research from the fields of
rehabilitation, special education, maternal and child health, school-
to-work, and youth development as discussed in Section IV of this SGA.
Projects are required to collaborate with the technical assistance
program (described above in the Background section.
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IV. Statement of Work
Grantees must implement demonstration projects designed to develop
their youth program's capacity to increase its services to youth with
disabilities. This capacity building will allow these programs to
develop and further demonstrate strategies and techniques to increase
both the participation of and results for youth with disabilities.
These grant funds are designed to enable various youth programs to
support those needed efforts to achieve a greater level and quality of
service to youth with disabilities in their existing programs. These
grant funds are not intended as direct service payments for youth with
disabilities. Rather, these funds are intended to be used in ways which
create systems change or overall program improvements to enable various
youth programs to be better able to successfully serve youth with
disabilities.
Under this grant, grantees must serve at least 40 youth with
disabilities each year or, if the program has fewer than 200
participants, at least 20% of them must be participants with
disabilities.
Grantees must develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate new or
improved approaches to the youth programs that generate knowledge, and
promote best practices, in order to increase participation and improve
results in those programs for young people with disabilities. In
addition, grantees must participate in technical assistance efforts
designed to disseminate to other programs their successful strategies
and techniques for serving greater numbers of youth with disabilities.
All grantees must operate demonstration projects that integrate the
four key themes discussed above with one or more of the following best
practice features:
1. Demonstrations focused on promoting effective structures,
policies, and practices to improve results for youth with disabilities
in WIA programs, in areas such as admission, enrollment, assessment,
staff development, interagency coordination, etc.;
2. Demonstrations of effective service interventions and approaches
that help young people with disabilities to overcome barriers to
positive education and employment outcomes;
3. Demonstrations that focus on the link between academic and
occupational skill standards; and on the integration of academic and
applied learning in real work settings;
4. Demonstrations that focus on supporting and accommodating young
people with disabilities in integrated, inclusive work, and work-
preparation environments at all times, especially if their educational
program has been delivered even partially in a segregated setting;
5. Demonstrations that focus on youth-centered planning and
development (e.g., assessment, choice, rights and responsibilities,
life skills, drop out prevention strategies, paid and unpaid work
experiences, leadership development, adult mentoring);
6. Demonstrations that focus on promoting physical and mental
health, and the link between health and positive educational and
employment outcomes;
7. Demonstrations that focus on increasing the type of involvement
by business, labor, family, and community, that creates effective
connections to intermediaries with strong links to the job market and
to local and regional employers;
8. Demonstrations which develop and leverage linkages with other
state and local initiatives that provide services and supports for
young people with significant disabilities (such initiatives may
include, but are 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); and
9. Demonstrations that research alternative methods of measuring
WIA performance outcomes that consider the various characteristics of
people with disabilities.
Some examples of suggested resources for information about various
youth program components and these best practice features can be
located on the following web sites:
1. Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Office of Youth
Services web site: www.doleta.gov/youth_services
2. National Transition Alliance for Youth with Disabilities:
www.dssc.org/nta
3. The Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child
Health, ``Healthy and Ready to Work'' website: www.mchbhrtw.org
4. National Youth Employment Coalition, Program and Effective
Practices Network (PEPNET) website: www.nyec.org
5. National Center on Secondary Education and Transition website:
www.ici.edu
In addition, a model demonstration project must:
1. Provide a detailed management plan for project goals,
objectives, and activities;
2. Use rigorous quantitative or qualitative evaluation methods and
data;
3. Evaluate the model by using multiple measures of results to
determine the effectiveness of the model and its components or
strategies for continuos program improvements;
4. Produce detailed procedures and materials that would enable
others to replicate the model;
5. Communicate with appropriate audiences through means such as
technical assistance providers and disseminators, publications,
conference presentations, and/or a web site. (If the project maintains
a web site, it must include relevant information and documents in an
accessible form); and
6. Collaborate with appropriate Federal and state agencies and
programs, such as Maternal and Child Health/Children with Special
Health Care Needs Program, Social Security Administration, Health Care
Financing Administration, Department of Education, Vocational
Rehabilitation, Developmental Disabilities.
The Department will arrange for an independent evaluation of
outcomes, impacts, and benefits of the demonstration projects. Grantees
must make records available to evaluation personnel, as specified by
the evaluator(s) under the direction of the Department.
V. Funding Availability
The period of performance will be 24 months from the date of
execution by the Government. Up to nine (9) competitive grants will be
awarded in the range of $350,000 to $500,000. It is expected that the
funds used for this SGA will support the costs associated with the
development, implementation, and evaluation of a model demonstration
project for a youth program to significantly increase the numbers of
young people with disabilities participating and benefitting from
program activities. Projects can use the available funds to conduct a
variety of activities to support these models, such as outreach,
recruitment, staff training, strategic planning, assessment,
curriculum/materials development, career development, student-focused
planning, program alignment, partnership building, reasonable
accommodations, etc., youth programs are required to use existing
funding to provide direct services to young people with disabilities.
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VI. Eligible Applicants
All youth service applicants, other than Section 501 (c)(4)
entities, are eligible. Each grantee must involve members of two
specific groups in strategic planning and implementation activities:
Youth with disabilities, and relevant experts in the field of young
people with disabilities (such as disability organizations,
researchers, policy makers, employers, family members and/or family
organizations, independent living centers, or service providers.)
Please note that Eligible Grant 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.
VII. Application Contents
General Requirements--Three copies and an original of the proposal
must be submitted, one of which must contain an original signature.
Proposals must be submitted by the applicant only. There are three
required sections of the application. Requirements for each section are
provided in this application package.
Part I--Executive Summary
The Executive Summary should be no more than 2 single-spaced pages
in length giving a clear summary of the project narrative.
Part II--Project Narrative--(Appendices--Letters of Commitment/Support,
Resumes, etc.)
Applicants must include a narrative that addresses the Statement of
Work in Part IV of the notice and the selection criteria that are used
by reviewers in evaluating the application. You must limit Part II to
the equivalent of no more than fifty (50) pages using the following
standard. This page limit does not apply to Part I the Executive
Summary; Part III the Project Financial Plan (Budget); and, the
Appendices (the assurances and certifications, resumes, a bibliography
or references, and the letters of support.) A page is 8.5" x 11" (on
one side only) with one-inch margins (top, bottom, and sides). All text
in the application narrative, including titles, headings, footnotes,
quotations, and captions, as well as all text in charts, tables,
figures, and graphs double-spaced (no more than three lines per
vertical inch); and, 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.)
Applicants must include in Part II of the proposal a narrative that
addresses all of the Evaluation Criteria (section VIII below) that will
be used by reviewers in evaluating individual proposals.
Grantees must collaborate with other research institutes, centers,
and studies and evaluations, that are supported by DOL and other
relevant Federal agencies.
Part III--Project Financial Plan (Budget)
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 Plan must contain the SF 424, Application
for Federal Assistance, (Appendix A) and a 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 and be able to legally bind the
responsible financial and administrative entity for a grant should that
application result in an award. The applicant must also include the
Assurances and Certifications Signature Page (Appendix C).
VIII. Evaluation Criteria/Selection
A. Evaluation Criteria
The application must include appropriate information of the type
described below.
1. Significance of the Proposed Project (15 points)
In determining the significance of the proposed project, the
Department considers the following factors:
a. The potential contribution of the proposed project to increase
knowledge or understanding of problems, issues, or effective strategies
for youth programs in serving young people with disabilities;
b. The extent to which the proposed project is likely to yield
findings that may be used by other appropriate agencies and
organizations;
c. 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;
d. The likely utility of the products (such as information,
materials, processes, or techniques) that will result from the proposed
project, including the potential for the products' being used
effectively in a variety of other settings;
e. The extent to which the promising practices of the proposed
project are to be disseminated in ways that will enable others to use
the information or strategies;
f. The potential replicability (national significance) of the
proposed project or strategies, including, as appropriate, the
potential for implementation in a variety of settings; and
g. The importance or magnitude of the results which are 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 considers 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 is
appropriate to, and will successfully address the needs of the target
population and other identified needs;
c. The extent to which the design of the proposed project can
measure methods for recruiting and serving youth with disabilities each
year;
d. The extent to which the proposal demonstration incorporates the
four key themes identified in Part IV, Statement of Work;
e. The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of this
grant;
f. The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects
a review of disability related literature, up-to-date knowledge from
research and effective practice of youth-centered planning and youth
development principles and approaches, and the use of appropriate
methodological tools to ensure successful achievement of project
objectives;
g. The extent to which the proposed project will be coordinated
with similar or related efforts, and with other appropriate community,
State, and Federal resources;
h. The extent to which the applicant encourages involvement of
young people with disabilities, relevant experts, and organizations in
project activities; and,
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g. The extent to which performance feedback and continuous
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project.
3. Quality of Project Personnel (15 Points)
The Project Narrative must describe the proposed staffing of the
project and must identify and summarize the qualifications of the
personnel who will carry it out. In evaluating the quality of project
personnel, the Department considers the extent to which the applicant
encourages applications for employment from persons who are members of
groups that have traditionally been under represented based on race,
color, national origin, gender, age, and disability.
The projects funded under this notice must make positive efforts to
employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in project activities. In addition, the Department
considers the qualifications, including relevant education, training
and experience of key project personnel as well as the qualifications,
including relevant training and experience of project consultants or
subcontractors. Resumes must be included in the Appendices.
4. Adequacy of Resources (15 Points)
In evaluating the adequacy of resources for the proposed project,
the Department considers 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 each partner in the
proposed project to the implementation and success of the project; and,
c.The extent to which the budget is adequate to support the
proposed project;
d. The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project;
and
e. The extent to which the applicant proposes to leverage other
resources and funds, or to use these funds to leverage other funds.
The applicant may include letters of commitment from proposed
partners in the Appendix.
5. Quality of the Management Plan (15 Points)
In evaluating the quality of the management plan for the proposed
project, the Department considers the following factors:
a. The extent to which a high-quality management plan for project
implementation is provided to achieve the objectives of the proposed
project on time and within budget, including clearly defined staff
responsibilities, and time allocated to project activities, time lines,
milestones for accomplishing project tasks and project deliverables;
b. The adequacy of mechanisms for ensuring high-quality products
and services from the proposed project; and
c. The extent to which the time commitments of the project director
and principal investigator and other key project personnel are
appropriate and adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed
project.
6. Quality of the Project Evaluation (15 Points)
In evaluating the quality of the project's evaluation design, the
Department considers the following factors:
a. The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough,
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, context and
outcomes of the proposed project the extent to which the methods of
evaluation provide for examining the effectiveness of project
implementation strategies;
b. 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;
c. The extent to which the evaluation will provide information to
other youth programs about effective strategies suitable for
replication or testing in other settings; and
d. The extent to which the methods of evaluation measure in both
quantitative and qualitative terms, program results and satisfaction of
youth with disabilities.
B. Selection Criteria
Acceptance of a proposal and an award of federal funds to sponsor
any program(s) is not 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
award does 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. Findings of the grant technical evaluation panel;
2. Geographic distribution of the competitive applications;
3. Assuring a variety of different program designs; and,
4. The availability of funds.
IX. Reporting
Grantees must submit on a quarterly basis by March 30, June 30,
September 30, and December 31 financial and participation reports under
this program as prescribe by OMB Circulars A-102 and A-110. It is
estimated that the quarterly program report will take five (5) hours to
complete.
1. Financial Reports
2. Quarterly and Final Program Results and Reports on the Satisfaction
of Youth with Disabilities
3. Other Reporting (to Technical Assistance Service Providers, etc.),
as prescribed by DOL
X. 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 as applicable:
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:
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State and Local Government--OMB Circular A-87
Nonprofit Organizations--OMB Circular A-122
Profit-making Commercial Firms--48 CFR Part 31
C. Grant Assurances
The applicant must include the attached assurances and
certifications.
Profit will not be considered an allowable cost in any case.
BILLING CODE 4510-23-P
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Signed at Washington, D.C. this 25th day of July, 2001
Lawrence J. Kuss,
Grant Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-18940 Filed 7-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-C