[Federal Register: March 31, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 61)]
[Notices]
[Page 16489-16492]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr05-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services; Overview
Information; Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs (RCEP)--
Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Projects (RRCEP); Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.264A and
B.
Dates:
Application Available: March 31, 2005.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 16, 2005.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 14, 2005.
Eligible Applicants: States and public or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher
education.
Note: We are inviting applications for two competitions--CFDA
number 84.264A for Department of Education Region V only and CFDA
number 84.264B for Department of Education Regions I, III, VI, and
VIII only.
Estimated Available Funds: $2,551,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $450,000-$551,000.
Estimated Average Size of Award: $500,000.
Maximum Level of Awards:
CFDA number 84.264A: $551,000.
CFDA number 84.264B: $500,000.
Estimated Number of Awards:
CFDA number 84.264A: 1.
CFDA number 84.264B: 4.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
[[Page 16490]]
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: To support training centers that serve either a
Federal region or another geographical area and provide for a broad,
integrated sequence of training activities that focus on meeting
recurrent and common training needs of employed rehabilitation
personnel throughout a multi-State geographical area.
Priorities: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(ii), these
priorities are from the regulations for this program (34 CFR 389.10).
Absolute Priorities: For FY 2005 these priorities are absolute
priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications
that meet one or more of these priorities.
These priorities are:
Absolute Priority 1 (CFDA Number 84.264A)
Projects must--
(a) Train newly employed State agency staff at the administrative,
supervisory, professional, subprofessional, or clerical levels in order
to develop needs skills for effective agency performance; and
(b) Provide training opportunities for experienced State agency
personnel at all levels of State agency practice to upgrade their
skills and to develop mastery of new program developments dealing with
significant issues, priorities and legislative thrusts of the State/
Federal vocational rehabilitation program.
Absolute Priority 2 (CFDA Number 84.264B)
Projects must develop and conduct training programs for staff of--
(a) Private rehabilitation agencies and facilities which cooperate
with State vocational rehabilitation units in providing vocational
rehabilitation and other rehabilitation services; and
(b) Centers for independent living.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 772.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 84, 85, 86, and 99. (b) The regulations for this program in 34
CFR parts 385 and 389.
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.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Cooperative agreements.
Estimated Available Funds: $2,551,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $450,000-$551,000.
Estimated Average Size of Award: $500,000.
Maximum Level of Awards:
CFDA 84.264A: $551,000.
CFDA 84.264B: $500,000.
Estimated Number of Awards:
CFDA number 84.264A: 1.
CFDA number 84.264B: 4.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: States and public or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, including Indian tribes and institutions of higher
education.
Note: We are inviting applications for two competitions--CFDA
number 84.264A for Department of Education Region V only and CFDA
number 84.264B for Department of Education Regions I, III, VI, and
VIII only.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: The Secretary has determined that a
grantee must provide a match of at least 10 percent of the total cost
of the project (34 CFR 389.40).
Note: Under 34 CFR 75.562(c), an indirect cost reimbursement on
a training grant is limited to the recipient's actual indirect
costs, as determined by its negotiated indirect cost rate agreement,
or eight percent of a modified total direct cost base, whichever
amount is less. Indirect costs in excess of the eight percent limit
may not be charged directly, used to satisfy matching or cost-
sharing requirements, or charged to another Federal award.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address To Request Application Package: 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 at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
or your may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.264A or CFDA number
84.264B.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 5075, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone:
(202) 245-7363. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for these competitions.
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. You must limit Part III to
the equivalent of no more than 45 pages, using the following standards:
A page is 8.5'' by 11'' , on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
We will reject your application if--
You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times: March 31, 2005.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 16, 2005.
Applications for grants under these competitions may be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov), or in
paper format by mail or hand delivery. For information (including dates
and times) about how to submit your application electronically, or by
mail or hand delivery, please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 14, 2005.
[[Page 16491]]
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for these competitions.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements. Applications for grants under
these competitions may be submitted electronically or in paper format
by mail or hand delivery.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
We have been accepting applications electronically through the
Department's E-Application system since FY 2000. In order to expand on
those efforts and comply with the President's Management Agenda, we are
continuing to participate as a partner in the new governmentwide
Grants.gov Apply site in FY 2005. Rehabilitation Continuing Education
Programs (RCEP)--Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Projects
(RRCEP)--CFDA Number 84.264A and CFDA Number 84.264B is one of the
programs including in this project.
If you choose to submit your application electronically, you must
use the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). Through this site, you will
be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it
offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not e-
mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. We request your
participation in Grants.gov.
You may access the electronic grant application for Rehabilitation
Continuing Education Programs--Regional Rehabilitation Continuing
Education Projects at: http://www.grants.gov. You must search for the
downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA number.
Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search.
Please note the following:
Your participation in Grants.gov is voluntary.
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted with a
date/time received by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. We will not
consider your application if it was received by the Grants.gov system
later than 4:30 p.m. on the application deadline date. When we retrieve
your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it was submitted after 4:30 p.m. on
the application deadline date.
If you experience technical difficulties on the
application deadline date and are unable to meet the 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, deadline, print out your application and follow
the instructions in this notice for the submission of paper
applications by mail or hand delivery.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the application process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for these competitions to ensure
that your application is submitted timely to the Grants.gov system.
To use Grants.gov, you, as the applicant, must have D-U-N-
S Number and register in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). You
should allow a minimum of five business days to complete the CCR
registration.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you submit your application in paper format.
You may submit all documents electronically, including all
information typically included on the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED
524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. Any narrative
sections of your application should be attached as files in a .DOC
(document), .RTF (rich text) or .PDF (Portable Document) format.
Your electronic application must comply with any page
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgment from Grants.gov that contains a
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-
mail that will include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying
number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you submit your application in paper format by mail (through the
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), you must mail the
original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.264A
or CFDA Number 84.264B), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20202-4260.
or
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center,--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA
Number 84.264A or CFDA Number 84.264B), 7100 Old Landover Road,
Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark,
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service,
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you submit your application in paper format by hand delivery,
you (or a courier service) must deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of
Education,
[[Page 16492]]
Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.264A or CFDA
Number, 84.264B), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail
or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the
Department--in Item 4 of the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if any--of the
competition under which you are submitting your application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for these
competitions are from 34 CFR parts 385 and 389 of the program
regulations and 34 CFR part 75.210 of EDGAR and are in the application
package.
2. Review and Selection Process: Additional factors we consider in
selecting an application for an award are in 34 CFR parts 385 and
389.30.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If our application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporated your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in
34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: The Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) of 1993 directs Federal departments and agencies to improve the
effectiveness of their programs by engaging in strategic planning,
setting outcome-related goals for programs, and measuring program
results against those goals.
The goal of the RRCEP is to upgrade the skills of personnel
currently employed in the public vocational rehabilitation (VR) system,
centers for independent living, and private rehabilitation agencies and
facilities (CRPs) that cooperate with State vocational rehabilitation
units in providing vocational rehabilitation and other rehabilitation
services and to develop their mastery of new program developments
dealing with significant issues, priorities, and legislative thrusts of
the public VR program.
In order to measure the success of RRCEPs in meeting this goal,
each RRCEP grantee is required to conduct an evaluation of RRCEP
training activities. In annual performance reports, RRCEPs are required
to provide specific information on the number of training activities,
the topics of each training program, the number of participants served,
the target groups represented by participants, and summary data from
participant evaluations. This information allows the RRCEP to measure
results against the regional needs assessment conducted by the RRCEP
and against the goal of upgrading the skills of personnel currently
employed in the public VR system, centers of independent living, or
CRPs that cooperate with State vocational rehabilitation units in
providing vocational rehabilitation and other rehabilitation services
and their mastery of new program developments, priorities, and
legislative thrusts. The Rehabilitation Services Administration is in
the process of developing a uniform data collection instrument for
future use to collect these data directly from the grantee.
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact: Christine Marschall, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5053, Potomac
Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2800. Telephone: (202) 245-7429.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this
section.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
Dated: March 28, 2005.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 05-6393 Filed 3-30-05; 8:45 am]
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