[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18548-18549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9261]



[[Page 18547]]

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Part VII





Department of Education





_______________________________________________________________________



Special Education--Training and Information for Parents of Children 
with Disabilities; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year 1999; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 14, 1999 /  
Notices  

[[Page 18548]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Special Education--Training and Information for Parents of 
Children with Disabilities; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards 
for Fiscal Year 1999

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year 
1999.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice provides closing dates and other information 
regarding the transmittal of applications for fiscal year 1999 
competitions under one program authorized by the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended: Special Education--
Training and Information for Parents of Children with Disabilities (one 
priority).
    This notice supports the National Education Goals by helping to 
improve results for children with disabilities.

Waiver of Rulemaking

    It is generally the practice of the Secretary to offer interested 
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However, 
section 661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553) inapplicable to the priority in this notice.

General Requirements

    (a) Projects funded under this notice must make positive efforts to 
employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with 
disabilities in project activities (see Section 606 of IDEA);
    (b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must 
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with 
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects 
(see Section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA); and
    (c) Projects funded under this priority must budget for a two-day 
Project Directors' meeting in Washington, D.C. during each year of the 
project.
    Information collection resulting from this notice has been 
submitted to OMB for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act and has 
been approved under control number 1820-0028, expiration date July 31, 
2000.
    Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to ensure that 
parents of children with disabilities receive training and information 
help them to improve results for their children with disabilities.
    Eligible Applicants: Local parent organizations must meet the 
criteria in section 682(g) of the Act, and also must meet one of the 
following criteria--
    (a) Have a board of directors the majority of whom are from the 
community to be served; or
    (b) Have as part of its mission, serving the interests of 
individuals with disabilities from such community; and have a special 
governing committee to administer the project, a majority of the 
members of which are individuals from such community; examples of 
administrative responsibilities include controlling the use of the 
project funds, and hiring and managing project personnel.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, and 85; and (b) The selection criteria for this priority are 
drawn from the EDGAR general selection criteria menu. The specific 
selection criteria for this priority are included in the funding 
application packet for this competition.

Priority

    Under sections 661(e)(2) and 683 of the Act, and 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute preference to 
applications that meet the following priority. The Secretary funds 
under this competition only those applications that meet this absolute 
priority:

Absolute Priority--Community Parent Resource Centers (84.328C)

    The purpose of this statutory priority is to support local parent 
training and information centers that will help ensure that underserved 
parents of children with disabilities, including low-income parents, 
parents of children with limited English proficiency, and parents with 
disabilities, have the training and information they need to enable 
them to participate effectively in helping their children with 
disabilities to--
    (a) Meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, 
those challenging standards that have been established for all 
children; and
    (b) Be prepared to lead productive independent adult lives, to the 
maximum extent possible.
    Each community parent training and information center supported 
under this priority must--
    (a) Provide training and information that meets the training and 
information needs of parents of children with disabilities proposed to 
be served by the project;
    (b) Assist parents to understand the availability of, and how to 
effectively use, procedural safeguards under Section 615 of IDEA, 
including encouraging the use, and explaining the benefits, of 
alternative methods of dispute resolution, such as the mediation 
process described in IDEA;
    (c) Serve the parents of infants, toddlers, and children with the 
full range of disabilities by assisting parents to--
    (1) Better understand the nature of their children's disabilities 
and their educational and developmental needs;
    (2) Communicate effectively with personnel responsible for 
providing special education, early intervention, and related services;
    (3) Participate in decision making processes and the development of 
individualized education programs and individualized family service 
plans;
    (4) Obtain appropriate information about the range of options, 
programs, services, and resources available to assist children with 
disabilities and their families;
    (5) Understand the provisions of IDEA for the education of, and the 
provision of early intervention services to, children with 
disabilities; and
    (6) Participate in school reform activities;
    (d) Contract with the State education agencies, if the State elects 
to contract with the community parent resource center, for the purpose 
of meeting with parents who choose not to use the mediation process, to 
encourage the use and explain the benefits of mediation, consistent 
with Sections 615(e)(2)(B) and (D) of IDEA;
    (e) In order to serve parents and families of children with the 
full range of disabilities, network with appropriate clearinghouses, 
including organizations conducting national dissemination activities 
under section 685(d) of IDEA, and with other national, State, and local 
organizations and agencies, such as protection and advocacy agencies;
    (f) Establish cooperative partnerships with the parent training and 
information centers funded under Section 682 of IDEA;
    (g) Be designed to meet the specific needs of families who 
experience significant isolation from available sources of information 
and support; and
    (h) Annually report to the Secretary on--
    (1) The number of parents to whom it provided information and 
training in the most recently concluded fiscal year; and
    (2) The effectiveness of strategies used to reach and serve 
parents, including underserved parents of children with disabilities.
    The Secretary intends to fund a maximum of three awards. 
Competitive Priorities: Within this Absolute Priority, the Secretary, 
under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), gives preference to

[[Page 18549]]

applications that meet one or both of the following competitive 
priorities:
    The Secretary awards 20 points to an application submitted by a 
local parent organization that has a board of directors, the majority 
of whom are parents of children with disabilities, from the community 
to be served. These points are in addition to any points the 
application earns under the selection criteria for the program.
    The Secretary awards 10 points to an application that provides 
parent training and information in one or more Empowerment Zones or 
Enterprise Communities in a manner that meets the competitive priority 
relating to Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities published in 
the Federal Register on November 7, 1994 (59 FR 55534). A list of areas 
that have been selected as Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities 
is included in the application package. These points are in addition to 
any points the application earns under the selection criteria for the 
program.
    Project Period: Up to 36 months.
    Project Award: Projects will not be funded in excess of $100,000 
for any single budget period of 12 months.
    For Applications and General Information Contact: Requests for 
applications and general information should be addressed to the Grants 
and Contracts Services Team, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, room 3317, 
Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2641. The preferred method for 
requesting information is to FAX your request to: (202) 205-8717. 
Telephone: (202) 260-9182.
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the TDD number: (202) 205-8953.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice or 
the application packages referred to in this notice in an alternate 
format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by 
contacting the Department as listed above. However, the Department is 
not able to reproduce in an alternate format the standard forms 
included in the application package.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order 
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the 
Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a 
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and 
local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide 
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for 
those programs.

                                  Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Application Notice for Fiscal Year 1999
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                                                Application     Deadline for      Maximum                                                     Estimated
        CFDA No. and name          Application    deadline   intergovernmental  award  (per           Project period           Page limit     number of
                                    available       date           review         year)\1\                                                     awards
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84.328C  Community Parent              4/20/99      6/01/99         8/02/99        $100,000  Up to 36 mos.                          (\2\)            3
 Resource Centers.
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\1\ The Secretary rejects and does not consider an application that proposes a budget exceeding the amount listed for the priority for any single budget
  period of 12 months.
\2\ As noted above, there is no page limit for this priority.
Note: The Department of Education is not bound by any estimates in this notice.

Electronic Access to This Document

    Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or 
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

    To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing 
Office at (202) 512-1530 or, toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
    Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an 
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511 
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option 
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.

    Note: The official version of a document is the document 
published in the Federal Register.

    Dated: April 8, 1999.
Curtis L. Richards,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 99-9261 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P