[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 7, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13740-13744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5516]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation:
Notice Inviting Abstracts for Policy Research and Studies on Welfare
Reform Outcomes for Fiscal Year 2001
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation,
Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Announcement of the request for abstracts and the availability
of funds for welfare reform policy research and studies.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation (ASPE) invites abstracts for policy research and studies
related to welfare reform.
Closing Date: The closing date for submitting abstracts under this
announcement is April 6, 2001. Only abstracts, not full proposals, will
be accepted under this announcement. Please email Audrey Mirsky-Ashby
at [email protected] by March 27, 2001 to inform the government
of your intent to submit an abstract. Please include the proposed title
of the research project and please put ``intent to submit'' in the
subject line of your email. Providing notice of intent to submit is not
a requirement for submitting an abstract. However, a notice of intent
to submit will help the federal government in the planning for the
review process. Please email Evvie Becker at [email protected]
April 18, 2001 to confirm receipt of any abstracts submitted. Please
include the researcher's name, the name of the organization submitting
the abstract, the amount of federal funds requested, and the title of
the research project. Please put ``confirm receipt'' in the subject
line of your email.
Mailing Address: Abstracts should be submitted to: Adrienne Little,
Grants Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence
Avenue, SW., Room 405F, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, DC
20201, Telephone: (202) 690-8794. Administrative questions will be
accepted and responded to up to ten working days prior to closing date
of receipt of abstracts.
The printed Federal Register notice is the only official program
announcement. Any corrections to this announcement will be published in
the Federal Register as well as published on the ASPE World Wide Web
Pages. The web site is http://aspe.hhs.gov/funding.htm. Although
reasonable efforts are taken to assure that the files on the ASPE World
Wide Web Page containing electronic copies of this Program Announcement
are accurate and complete, they are provided for information only. The
applicant bears sole responsibility to assure that the copy downloaded
and/or printed from any other source is accurate and complete.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administrative questions should be
directed to the Grants Officer at the address or phone number listed
above. Technical questions should be directed to Audrey Mirsky-Ashby,
DHHS, ASPE, telephone, 202-401-6640 or e-mail, [email protected].
Technical questions may also be directed in writing to Evvie Becker,
DHHS, ASPE, at [email protected]. In addition, written technical
questions may be faxed to Audrey Mirsky-Ashby or Evvie Becker at 202-
690-6562 or may be addressed to either Audrey Mirsky-Ashby or Evvie
Becker at the following address, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 200
Independence Avenue, SW., Room 404E, Hubert H. Humphrey Building,
Washington, DC 20201. Please call to confirm receipt. Technical
questions will be accepted and responded to up to ten working days
prior to the closing date of receipt of abstracts.
Part I. Supplementary Information
Legislative Authority
This announcement is authorized by Section 1110 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1310) and awards will be
[[Page 13741]]
made from funds appropriated under the Departments of Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2001, as enacted by section 1000(a)(4) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-554).
Eligible Applicants
Pursuant to section 1110 of the Social Security Act, any public
organization, including state and local governments, and private
nonprofit organizations, including universities and other institutions
of higher education, may apply. Applications may also be submitted by
private for-profit organizations, although no funds may be paid as
profit to grantees or subgrantees.
Available Funds
ASPE is engaging in a two-part process. The first part of the
process will be the submission of six page research abstracts. After
the abstracts are reviewed by an independent review panel, a subset of
the applicants who submitted abstracts will be invited by ASPE to
submit full applications. These will be reviewed competitively.
Financial awards will be made only in the second part of the process;
no awards will be made based on abstracts submitted. An invitation to
submit an application is not a guarantee of funding. The following
information on fund availability is provided for planning purposes for
applicants.
Approximately $1,000,000 is expected to be available from ASPE
funds appropriated for fiscal year 2001. We estimate that this level of
funding will support between 8 and 12 ASPE awards with total budgets
ranging from $75,000 to $150,000 for most of these short-term policy
analyses (to be completed within about 12 months of award). These
figures are provided as guidance but do not constitute minimum or
maximum limits. If additional funding becomes available in fiscal years
2001 or 2002, a greater number of projects may be funded.
No federal funds received as a result of this announcement can be
used to purchase computer equipment and no funds may be paid as profit
to grantees or subgrantees, i.e., any amount in excess of allowable
direct and indirect costs of the recipient (45 CFR 74.81). Our intent
is to sponsor research and analytic work and not to fund the provision
of services. Grant funds awarded in the full-proposal phase of this
initiative may not be used to pay for programs or services.
Grantees must provide at least 5 percent of the total approved cost
of the project. The total approved cost of the project is the sum of
the Federal share and the non-Federal share. The non-Federal share may
be met by cash or in-kind contributions, although applicants are
encouraged to meet their match requirements through cash contributions.
For example, a researcher with a project with a total budget (both
direct and indirect costs) of $150,000 may request up to $142,500 in
federal funds under the announcement.
If a proposed project activity has approved funding support from
other funding sources, the amount, duration, purpose, and source of the
funds should be indicated in materials submitted under this
announcement. If completion of the proposed project activity is
contingent upon approval of funding from other sources, the
relationship between the funds being sought elsewhere and from ASPE
should be discussed in the budget information submitted as a part of
the abstract. In both cases, the contribution that ASPE funds will make
to the project should be clearly presented.
Background
``The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996'' (PRWORA), a comprehensive bipartisan welfare reform plan
that dramatically changed the nation's welfare system into one that
requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance, was signed into
law in August 1996. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
program was created to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS)
programs, ending the federal entitlement to assistance and providing
funds to states to operate time-limited, work-oriented welfare
programs. PRWORA also effected changes in child support enforcement,
child care, food stamps, disability benefits for children, and
immigrant eligibility for federal, state, and local benefits.
The purpose of TANF, as articulated in the law, is to increase the
flexibility of states in operating a program that is designed to (1)
provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for
in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; (2) end the dependence
of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation,
work, and marriage; (3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-
wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing
and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and (4) encourage the
formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
Given the sweeping changes in the welfare system and the dramatic
caseload declines since PRWORA was enacted, for the past three years
the Department has received policy research funds targeted by
Congressional appropriators to support studies of the outcomes of
welfare reform. Additional funds were also included in the FY 2001
appropriation. The Department has used these funds to help create an
integrated picture of the low-income population by complementing other
public and private efforts to assess the outcome of welfare reform,
with a particular focus on low-income families with children. Projects
funded in fiscal years 1998, 1999, and 2000 include studies that
measure outcomes for a broad population of low-income families, examine
diversion practices, and measure family hardship and well-being,
including the utilization of other support programs. Projects are in
place to assess the outcomes of welfare reform on current, former and
potential welfare recipients and other special populations affected by
TANF policies. ASPE is also studying the workings of the low-wage labor
markets, where current and former welfare recipients are most likely to
be employed. A large portion of the welfare outcome funds have been
spent on competitive grants to states and large counties to study
families leaving welfare, as well as those who have been diverted
(formally or informally) from welfare receipt. These projects have
provided, and continue to provide, valuable data on welfare outcomes
from a variety of perspectives. New data are becoming available to
analyze the issues above and there is still more we need to learn about
how low-income, disadvantaged children and families are faring under
PRWORA. We are interested in the areas of economic outcomes for poor
families (e.g., family hardship and well-being); child outcomes
(including the children of teen parents); youth outcomes (including
teen parents and teen children); the formation of families (e.g.,
marriage, fatherhood, child support, medical child support); and
special populations (e.g., cases that involve domestic violence, mental
health or substance abuse problems, homeless TANF families,
incarcerated parents, cultural or language barriers, learning
disabilities, low educational skills, chronic health problems).
Part II. Purpose
ASPE is again interested in soliciting ideas for studies on various
aspects of welfare reform outcomes from the research community. ASPE is
announcing this funding opportunity as
[[Page 13742]]
part of our strategy to encourage field-initiated research on the
outcomes of welfare reform and the impacts of policy changes on low-
income children and families. These studies should focus on outcomes
for the broad population of welfare recipients, former recipients,
potential recipients, and other special populations affected by TANF
policies. We will support short-term research and data analyses
designed to be completed within 12 months. This funding is intended for
research and analytical work, not for the provision of services. Thus,
grant funds awarded under this initiative may not be used to pay for
programs or services.
ASPE is interested in analyses of the economic conditions, health
and well-being, socio-demographic characteristics, and social service
needs of low-income individuals, families and children affected by TANF
policies. We want to cover a wide spectrum of policy interests related
to welfare reform outcomes, focusing on poverty; working poor families;
supports for low-income populations; special populations, including
those with barriers to full participation in the work force or those
who were made ineligible for federal TANF assistance (such as recent
legal immigrants); and programs and policies related to low-income
children and youth. Data from a variety of sources can be used,
including state and county administrative records or survey data or
data from a research project already underway. We also encourage the
use of national surveys (e.g., the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, the
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-79, National Longitudinal Survey
of Youth-97, the Survey of Income and Participation Dynamics, the
Survey of Program Dynamics, the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health, and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) and
comprehensive state level administrative and survey databases which
allow for detailed analytic work on a variety of outcomes of welfare
reform and the broader policy and economic environment. For example, we
are interested in determining relationships between welfare policies
and successful versus unsuccessful transitions to work. (Note: Despite
the positive aspects of using national surveys, researchers must
acknowledge and address the limitation that such data may represent
periods that precede passage of welfare reform legislation or
implementation of its major provisions.) We also welcome
multidisciplinary approaches to research questions.
With this announcement, we are seeking abstracts that propose
studies of welfare reform outcomes, including:
1. Researcher-nominated projects: Topics that are identified by the
researcher as most important for our understanding of welfare reform
outcomes, but that do not fall into one of the topic categories listed
below.
2. Economic Support for Poor Families: We are interested in (1)
understanding the characteristics and needs of working poor families
and the low-wage labor market, including supports for families
transitioning from welfare such as child care, food stamps, Medicaid,
and EITC, and how these affect their transition from welfare to self-
sufficiency; (2) understanding how the emphasis on work for welfare
families is affecting adults and their children, and how they are
faring; (3) identifying state-specific policies for welfare-to-work,
such as state flexibility in the use of TANF funds for non-traditional
service providers, and understanding how this is related to successful
outcomes for families; (4) more fully understanding the economic status
of low-income families (e.g., credit and debt, recent trends in poverty
and employment, trends in income mobility); and; (5) understanding the
interaction between welfare reform and housing; in particular, the
effect of housing subsidies on the outcomes of welfare reform policies.
(Note that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has helped
researchers identify the recipients of housing subsidies in the past).
3. Children and Youth: We are interested in adolescents affected by
welfare reform, teen parents on welfare and the children of these teen
parents, youth who reside in low-income families transitioning from
welfare, or sub-populations of youth affected by TANF policies. We
would like to improve our understanding of the impact of welfare reform
policies and of state TANF/Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funding on (1)
policies and outcomes for low-income pregnant women and families with
infants and toddlers; (2) child care and early childhood education for
low-income populations, including child care for children with
disabilities; (3) youth development programs for high-risk youth; (4)
the prevention of teen risk behaviors; (5) the child protection and
child welfare service systems and their caseloads (for example, is
there an increasing overlap between child protective caseloads and TANF
participants, divertees, and leavers, which may influence welfare
outcomes?).
4. Family Formation: We are interested in projects that will
increase our knowledge of the effect of TANF policies on family
structure and functioning, including family composition, poverty,
health insurance status, how resources are shared in cohabiting
households before or after leaving welfare, and fertility issues, such
as teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births. We are also interested in
understanding the impact of welfare reform on marriage and on the
living arrangements of children, and in examining how parents are
fulfilling their economic and emotional responsibilities to their
children. Issues of fatherhood, fragile families and cohabiting
households, medical child support and other health care coverage for
child support-eligible children, and how children are parented are also
included in this topical area. There may also be issues related to how
families with immigrant parents and citizen children are faring.
5. Special Populations: We are interested in (1) examining the
welfare-eligible populations with serious barriers to succeeding in
employment, including substance abuse, mental health problems, domestic
violence, low educational skills, and those with multiple problems; (2)
examining services for adults and children, including substance abuse
and mental health treatment, domestic violence services, and programs
for incarcerated adults and their families; (3) identifying supportive
services and work strategies, as well as barriers of location, culture,
language, and eligibility issues for specific low-income groups, such
as immigrants and Native Americans; (4) understanding how the use of
outcome-based performance systems, including incentives and penalties,
affect these populations; (5) examining whether welfare caseloads have
become more disadvantaged over time; and (6) understanding how newly
ineligible populations, such as recent legal immigrants and their
children and family members, have been affected.
6. Cross-Cutting Topics. We are interested in cross-generational
issues affecting the low-income population, such as kinship networks,
cohabitation, housing, intergenerational transmission of poverty, and
the impact of welfare reform on teen parents and their children (e.g.,
living arrangements, prenatal and other medical care), child care,
child outcomes, and the child-only caseload. We are interested in
understanding the impact of local service delivery issues, such as
privatization of services, integrated service delivery, performance-
based
[[Page 13743]]
contracting, and faith- and community-based service delivery. We are
also interested in issues of place (e.g., rural, inner-city).
Part III. Abstract Application Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria
As noted previously, ASPE is engaging in a two-part process.
Applicants must first submit an abstract as described in the
application section below. Please read this section carefully.
Abstracts must comply with the application guidelines. Abstracts that
do not comply with the application guidelines will not be considered.
Abstracts must be received in the following format: 12 point font
size; Single spaced; 1 inch top, bottom, left, and right margins.
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is April 6, 2001. An abstract
will be considered as having met the deadline if it is either received
at, or hand-delivered to, the mailing address on or before April 6,
2001, or postmarked before midnight three days prior to April 6, 2001
and received in time to be considered during the competitive review
process (within two weeks of the deadline).
Hand-delivered applications will be accepted Monday through Friday,
excluding Federal holidays, during the working hours of 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. in the lobby of the Hubert H. Humphrey building, located at 200
Independence Avenue, SW in Washington, DC. When hand-delivering an
application, call (202) 690-8794 from the lobby for pick up. A staff
person will be available to receive applications.
An original and two copies are required, but applicants are
encouraged to send an additional 4 copies to ease processing, although
applicants will not be penalized if these extra copies are not
included. The original and copies of the abstract must be mailed to:
Adrienne Little, Grants Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 200
Independence Avenue, SW, Room 405F, Hubert H. Humphrey Building,
Washington, DC 20201, Telephone: (202) 690-8794.
Abstracts must include the material indicated below and in the
order indicated. The information provided in items 1 through 4 must not
exceed 6 pages. The title page MUST be the first page in any
submission. Do not include a transmittal memo.
1. Title page. This page should include a reference to this program
announcement: Policy Research and Studies on Welfare Reform Outcomes;
proposed project title; name of researcher(s); organizational
affiliation; and the address, telephone number, and e-mail address of
the lead investigator. (This will be the mailing address and the email
address used by ASPE to request full proposals from selected
applicants.) The title page must include an indication of the research
question(s) being addressed. A description of the proposed data set to
be used must also be included. The title page must include the total
number of months needed for completion of the project and the project's
proposed start and end date. This should be the ONLY information on
page one.
2. Statement of research question. The statement should briefly
discuss the relevance of the proposed work to the purposes of this
announcement. The statement will be reviewed for policy relevance and
the importance of the research question. Please indicate clearly which
research question(s) you are addressing.
3. Statement of proposed methods. This section should describe the
conceptual model, the data source and the analytic methods. This
description should explicitly relate data sources and analytic methods
to the research issues to be addressed. This section must also contain
information regarding the researcher's ability to obtain the data and
information on when data will be available, if they are not already.
Note that in the final proposal the researcher will have to provide
assurances that the data are available. If the use of pre-TANF data is
proposed, the limitation that such data may represent periods that
precede passage of welfare reform legislation or implementation of its
major provisions must be addressed.
4. Experience. The principal investigator's relevant research
experience must be described. Other key staff must be identified with a
brief description of their relevant experience and an indication of the
tasks or activities for which they will be primarily responsible.
5. Estimated budget. This section must include an estimate of staff
time and other direct costs. Information about other funding sources
and the contribution that the ASPE funds will make must be discussed.
Only a total project budget need be submitted at this time. Funding
from other sources (non-federal) should also be identified and briefly
described.
Part IV. The Review Process
An independent review panel will review and score all abstracts
that are submitted by the deadline date and which meet the screening
criteria (all information and in formats required by this
announcement). The panel will review the abstracts using the evaluation
criteria listed below to score each abstract. The panel review results
will be the primary elements, along with the goal of funding research
on a variety of topics, that will be used by the Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation in making decisions regarding full
application submission. The Department also reserves the option to
discuss abstracts with other Federal or State staff, specialists,
experts, and the general public. Comments from these sources, along
with those of the reviewers, will be kept from inappropriate disclosure
and may be considered in determining which applicants will be requested
to submit a competitive application for review.
1. Research Question(s): The research must address important
unanswered questions of local or national policy significance. The
proposed research must contribute significantly to understanding the
outcomes of welfare reform. ( 8 points)
2. Methodology/Merits of the Research Design: The research design
must identify the study population, indicate data sources and
demonstrate the availability and reliability of proposed data sources
and the appropriateness and reliability of data collection instruments
or observational techniques, as well as the validity of analytic
methods proposed for addressing the research questions and hypotheses.
The conceptual model and the analysis plan must be clearly explained.
It is important to explain the time frame for the proposed work and
that explanation must be clear and reasonable. If the use of pre-TANF
data is proposed, the limitation that such data may represent periods
that precede passage of welfare reform legislation or implementation of
its major provisions must be addressed. (4 points)
3. Experience. The abstract must provide information on the
principal investigator's relevant research experience and demonstrate
capability to use the proposed data and methods. The relevant
experience and proposed roles of other key staff must be presented. (6
points)
4. Budget. Applicants must provide an estimate of the total
proposed budget, including information about other funding sources. The
contribution of ASPE funding must be presented. The budget must be
reasonable for the proposed scope of work. (2 points)
Estimate of Schedule
ASPE anticipates that abstracts will be reviewed and selected
applicants notified to submit full proposals approximately 30 days
following the
[[Page 13744]]
deadline for submission of abstracts. We expect that full proposals
will be required to be submitted within 45 days of the date of the
notification letter.
The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers is 93.239.
Dated: March 1, 2001.
William F. Raub,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 01-5516 Filed 3-6-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4151-04-P