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Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) for Cooperative Agreements Under the Disability Employment InitiativeAug 09, 2010 (Labor Department Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- Announcement Type: Notice of Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA). Funding Opportunity Number: SGA-DFA-PY-10-01. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number (CFDA): 17.207. Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is September 8, 2010. Applications must be received no later than 4 p.m. Eastern Time. SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), in coordination with DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), announces the availability of approximately $22 million for cooperative agreements to state Workforce Investment Act (WIA) administering entities. The Combined Appropriation Act of 2010, Division D of Public Law 111-117, included $12 million in funds to ETA and $12 million to ODEP to develop and implement a plan for improving effective and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce. This funding is being used to implement the Disability Employment Initiative (DEI), under which the Department intends to make 6 to 10 grant awards that are designed to: (1) Improve educational, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities who are unemployed, underemployed and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits; and (2) help these individuals with disabilities find a path into the middle class through exemplary and model service delivery by the public workforce system. DEI grants will be awarded for a three year period of performance. Grants will be issued as cooperative agreements with the expectation that there will be considerable engagement by ETA and ODEP with states and their local workforce investment areas throughout the life of the Initiative. Extensive technical assistance will be available to grantees and an independent evaluation of the projects will be conducted utilizing quantitative and qualitative data from grantees. The Appropriation Committee Senate Report 111-66 on H.R. 3292 stated that: "these funds * * * will improve the accessibility and accountability of the public workforce development system for individuals with disabilities. The Committee further expects these funds to continue promising practices implemented by disability program navigators, including effective deployment of staff in selected States to: improve coordination and collaboration among employment and training and asset development programs carried out at a State and local level, including the Ticket to Work program and build effective community partnerships that leverage public and private resources to better serve individuals with disabilities and improve employment outcomes." This solicitation provides background information and describes the application submission requirements, outlines the process that eligible entities must use to apply for funds covered by this solicitation, and outlines the evaluation criteria used as a basis for selecting the grantees. ADDRESSES: Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Division of Federal Assistance, Attention: B. Jai Johnson, Grant Officer, Reference SGA-DFA PY 10-01, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-4716, Washington, DC 20210. For complete application and submission information, please refer to Section IV. Background: Previous DOL grants to improve employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities through systems change in the public workforce system include ETA's Work Incentive Grants, the Disability Program Navigator Initiative, and Employment Service Models such as ODEP's Customized Employment, Workforce Action (Olmstead), the START-UP Initiative, and State Intermediary Youth grants. These DOL grants demonstrated a number of promising practices that are incorporated in this SGA. In addition, numerous other successful employment service models have been developed in Federal, State and local systems. Systems Change Models. From PY 2000 through 2010, DOL/ETA funded 65 Work Incentive Grants (WIG) and 51 Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative cooperative agreements to states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands to improve services in the One-Stop Career Center system and improve employment outcomes of persons with disabilities. The WIGs were competitively awarded to state and local workforce areas that addressed systemic issues in the workforce system and resulted in the development of numerous tools and protocols to improve services to job seekers with disabilities. By 2003, DOL had focused all WIG funds on supporting a full-time, dedicated staff person with disability expertise because this strategy has shown promise in expanding the capacity of the One-Stop Career Center system by providing integrated, accessible, and comprehensive services and promoting career and employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities. All WIG funds were subsequently directed to the support of the DPN Initiative. The DPNs or Navigators were located in local workforce investment areas to: (1) Conduct outreach to the disability community; (2) promote meaningful and effective access to the One-Stop Career Center system; (3) establish linkages to employers to increase job opportunities; and (4) create systemic change through ongoing partnerships and comprehensive, wrap around services for job seekers with disabilities, including integrated resource teams to blend, braid, and leverage resources across workforce and disability systems. The DPN Initiative has created innovation and transformation in the public workforce system by: Building relationships with state and local partners; facilitating youth transition services; promoting asset development and financial literacy training; implementing the Ticket to Work Program; building upon Medicaid Infrastructure Grants; and linking to other community providers. Employment Service Models. A number of employment service models are being used in Federal and state service systems, including the traditional Vocational Rehabilitation, Supported Employment, Transitional Employment, Self-Employment, and various forms of self-direction that provide control and choice to the individual job seeker. These models may be effective for job seekers and should be available in the workforce system, and all complement and reinforce the WIG/DPN successful strategies with One-Stop Career Centers. For example, from 2001 through 2006, ODEP funded development and research work on Customized Employment in the One-Stop Career Centers through ODEP initiatives in 26 grants around the country. Overall, these projects were expected to increase the capacity of service-delivery systems to effectively serve people with disabilities and other "hard-to-serve" populations through individualized employment and placement services. Several key findings resulted from this initiative: (1) Partnership and collaboration were essential to systems change; (2) the design of environments, products, and communication practices and the delivery of programs, services, and activities that meet the needs of all customers of the system ("universal design strategies") were fundamental to improving access to the programs and services of the workforce development system; (3) leveraging expertise and resources across both generic and disability-specific systems through integrating funds helped maximize opportunities for individuals and the ultimate outcomes obtained; (4) asset development strategies (e.g., tax incentives, financial education, work incentives) that enhance the economic advantages of employment for people with disabilities; (5) access to flexible dollars supported unique employment-related needs of individual participants; and (6) the customized approach shows promise for improving employment outcomes and wages for individuals with significant disabilities and others with complex barriers to employment. The Workforce Action grants built capacity within the workforce system to provide employment services for individuals transitioning from institutions and other segregated environments. ODEP has also documented the viability of self employment for people with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities who receive SSI or SSDI benefits, through its national self-employment initiative, START-UP. This initiative resulted in the establishment of a range of businesses by individuals with disabilities. Information on all of the employment service models mentioned above is readily available to the public. In 2003, State Intermediary Grants, a promising youth transition model, were awarded to eight states. These grants assisted states, under the leadership of the State WIB, in the design, implementation, and evaluation of systems changes needed to improve transition outcomes for youth with disabilities at the local level. ODEP's State Intermediary grantees focused on closing the substantial gap between education and employment outcomes for youth with disabilities and those of their peers without disabilities. ODEP's research indicates that all youth, including those with disabilities, need exposure to the following five educational and career development interventions, which ODEP has branded as the Guideposts for Success: (1) School-based preparatory experiences; (2) career preparation and work-based learning experiences; (3) youth development and leadership; (4) connecting activities, including knowledge of transportation, health care, and financial planning; and (5) family involvement and support. --This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below-- Citation: "75 FR 47827" Federal Register Page Number: "47827" "Notices" |