[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32051-32057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15128]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Notice Inverting Applications for New Award for Fiscal Year 1999 
Grants To Determine Trends in Demand for Emergency Services

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, The Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), HHS.

ACTION: Announcement of the availability of funds and request for 
applications from State, local, non-profit or for-profit (provided that 
grant funds may not be paid as profit) research institutions to 
determine the trends in and status of demand for emergency assistance 
services during the period of falling welfare caseloads since 1993 and 
any impact on that demand from implementation of Temporary Assistance 
to Needy Families (TANF).

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation (ASPE) announces the availability of funds and invites 
applications for research to determine the trends in and status of 
demand for emergency assistance services (e.g., emergency and 
transitional shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries) during the period 
of falling

[[Page 32052]]

welfare caseloads and TANF implementation. Grant applicants are 
expected to conduct empirical analyses using existing provider-level 
data sources (e.g., homeless and other emergency provider management 
information systems) in conjunction with socio-economic (e.g., average 
income, unemployment rates) and caseload data (e.g., number of TANF 
recipients, number of Food Stamp recipients) to explore trends and 
relationships in the data associated with the demand for emergency 
assistance services. Applicants are expected to provide local 
descriptive data (e.g., labor markets, housing availability) to provide 
a context for their analyses. Applicants also may propose additional 
methods for supplementary studies, including surveys, qualitative 
analyses, or other methods as appropriate to explore particular trends 
identified in historical data. The funds could either support a newly 
designed project or could be used to add new data sources and analyses 
to an existing project.

CLOSING DATE: The deadline for submission of applications under this 
announcement is July 30, 1999.

MAILING ADDRESS: Application instructions and forms should be requested 
from and submitted to: Adrienne Little, Grants Officer, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health 
and Human Services, Room 405F, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201. Telephone: (202) 690-
8794. Requests for forms and administrative questions will be accepted 
and responded to up to ten (10) working days prior to the closing date.
    Copies of this program announcement and many of the required forms 
may also be obtained electronically at the ASPE World Wide Web Page: 
hppt://aspe.hhs.gov (see section on available grants and contracts.) 
You may fax your request to the attention of the Grants Officer at 
(202) 690-6518. Application submissions may not be faxed or submitted 
electronically.
    The printed Federal Register notice is the only official program 
announcement. Although reasonable efforts are taken to assure that the 
file 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 Davy Norris or Mary 
Ellen O'Connell, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, Room 404E, Hubert 
H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 
20201. Telephone: 202-401-6643 (Davy) or 202-260-0391 (Mary Ellen). 
Questions may be faxed to 202-690-6562 or e-mailed to 
[email protected] and [email protected].

Supplementary Information:

Legislative Authority

    This grant is authorized by section 1110 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1310) and awards will be made from funds appropriated under 
Pub. L. 105-277, Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations 
Act, 1999.

Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants include state or local units of local 
government, and public or private nonprofit organizations, including 
universities and other institutions of higher education Private for-
profit organizations may apply, with the recognition that grant funds 
may not be paid as profit (any amount in excess of allowable direct or 
indirect costs of the recipient) to any recipient of a grant or 
subgrant.

Available Funds

    Approimately $310,000 is available from ASPE, in funds appropriate 
for fiscal year 1999. ASPE anticipate providing two to four grant 
awards. If additional funding becomes available in fiscal years 1999 or 
2000, further projects may be funded. Applications for funding under 
this announcement should projects that can be completely carried to 
with fifteen months of funding at the above anticipated level. No 
federal funds received as a result of this announcement can be used to 
purchase computer equipment.

Background

    Welfare caseload have declined precipitously in recent years. Since 
January 1993, the number of people receiving federally funded 
assistance under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act has fallen from 
14.1 million to just under 8 million recipients, a reduction of 44 
percent. This decline has occurred partly in response to the strong 
economy, the Administration's grants of Federal waivers to 43 States, 
and the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-193). In response to the demand 
from the public and policymakers, many studies have been and are 
currently being carried out to study the circumstances of the large 
numbers of people who have left welfare. However, significantly fewer 
projects are underways to investigate the impact that declining 
caseloads and welfare reform may have on the demand for and utilization 
of services from the perspective of community-level emergency 
assistance providers, and reasons for any changes in the composition of 
clients using such services. Clients served by these programs are those 
most likely to be missed by studies which track current or former TANF 
recipients. This grant announcement contributes to a triangulation 
approach to the Department's portfolio of welfare research. ASPE-
sponsored data-linkage or research efforts in this area include 
projects involving linking of administrative data, research on state 
diversion programs, and two rounds of grants to States and large 
counties to study the outcomes of welfare reform.
    Homeless shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries are among the 
most prevalent emergency assistance providers. Administrators of these 
programs, local and national coalitions whose members include these 
providers, and to a lesser extent, researchers, have reported that 
provisions of the TANF program, and other recent changes to welfare 
programs, have led to an increase in the number of people requesting 
services from emergency assistance providers, an increase in the number 
of people requesting services who report recent loss of benefits, and 
related signs of hardship. In other cases, providers have identified 
changes in the case-mix of their clients and have attributed it to 
changes in TANF policies. For example, Milwaukee has witnessed an 
increased in the number of women requesting emergency shelter at 
shelters for single adults. They attribute this increase to loss of 
benefits and women either having their children taken away or being 
forced to place them with family or friends. Limited systematic 
analyses have been conducted, however, to test these hypotheses.

Purpose and Responsibilities

Purpose

    The purpose of this announcement is to support the efforts of state 
or local

[[Page 32053]]

research organizations to examine the question of whether declining 
welfare caseloads and TANF implementation have led to a shift in the 
demand and/or utilization of emergency assistance programs, and to 
explore some of the reasons this may be occurring. ASPE anticipates 
that applicants will use an analysis of provider data (# e.g., of 
service requests, # of people served, demographics of people served) in 
conjunction with socio-economic (e.g., employment rates, housing data) 
and caseload (e.g., # of TANF recipients, # of food stamp recipients) 
data over time to describe and analyze trends in demand for and use of 
emergency assistance providers. ASPE also expects to support state or 
local efforts to explore reasons for these trends.
    Each Grantee will be expected to use data from multiple emergency 
assistance programs over time. A proposed study should include data 
from as many emergency assistance providers in the community as 
possible. Preference will be given to those applicants who propose to 
include service request and/or utilization data from a comprehensive 
number of emergency assistance providers, relative to their local 
community. However, applications which propose to analyze data from a 
single type of provider will also be considered. Applications which 
propose analyzes of a single provider will not be considered. 
Applicants may propose analyses of data from a single community or 
multiple communities. Applications which include multiple communities 
will receive a single rating.
    In addition to changes in the TANF program, shifts in the 
utilization of emergency assistance providers may be explained by 
numerous factors, such as changes in the local economy or job market, 
the local housing market, or availability of emergency assistance or 
other services. Applicants will be expected to analyze socio-economic 
and caseload data in conjunction with provider data to enrich 
interpretation of data trends and relationships. Socio-economic data 
might include: employment rates, wage rates, housing costs, and housing 
availability. The comprehensiveness of the proposed community-level 
socio-economic data and its relevance to the proposed analysis will be 
an important criterion under which proposals are evaluated. Applicants 
also will be expected to provide other descriptive information such as 
local demographics, local industry and occupational make-up and 
characteristics of the TANF system to provide a context for and to 
enhance the analysis.
    Applicants are expected to utilize historical provider, socio-
economic and caseload data to establish a baseline for the analysis and 
to propose meaningful and sufficiently frequent intervals (e.g., 
quarterly) to analyze trends. In addition, applicants are expected to 
analyze data at these same intervals for one year from the date of 
grant award.
    Applicants for the ASPE grants may propose to supplement their 
administrative provider, socio-economic and caseload data with client 
survey data or other data sources to explore reasons for identified 
trends, or impact on clients. For example, surveys of clients 
requesting services can provide insights into the reasons they are 
requesting emergency assistance.
    To enable applicants to include up to a year of new data, 
applicants may submit proposals for studies lasting up to fifteen 
months from the date the grant is awarded.
    ASPE understands that there is substantial variation in the 
distribution of emergency assistance providers within States and 
localities, and in the amount and type of data available. Topical areas 
that applicants may wish to address, with examples of potential policy 
questions, are listed below. Again, comprehensiveness of data is 
strongly encouraged and will be an important criterion under which 
proposals are evaluated. It is not expected that all applicants will 
propose supplementary studies on the impacts on clients.
1. Trends in Demand for Emergency Assistance Services
    Has there been a shift in demand for emergency assistance services 
during the recent period of welfare caseload decline and TANF 
implementation? Has there been a shift toward a particular type of 
emergency assistance? How does the shift relate to changes in the TANF 
program or state waivers? Has there been an increase in the number of 
people requesting services who can not be served? Are services provided 
by emergency assistance providers more or less costly than public 
benefits? Is there a shift in the demographics of clients requesting or 
receiving services?
2. Community Socioeconomic Considerations
    What local factors are related to shifts in demand for emergency 
assistance (e.g., changes in the local economy, wage rates, housing 
availability)? Are TANF caseloads changing in a pattern consistent with 
changes in demand for or utilization of emergency assistance? Is there 
a relationship between utilization of emergency assistance and the 
availability of these or other services?
3. Impacts on Clients (Supplementary Analyses)
    What factors explain shifts in clients demographics? What reasons 
do first-time users of emergency assistance give for needing this 
service?
Grantee Responsibilities
    1. No later than thirty (30) days after the award, the Grantee 
shall submit a final work plan, including a proposed analysis strategy 
and dissemination plan. The final work plan will update the work plan 
submitted in the original application to incorporate suggestions from 
the ASPE project officers.
    2. No later than ninety (90) days after the date of award, the 
Grantee shall submit an initial progress report. Subsequent progress 
reports shall be submitted on a quarterly basis.
    3. After completing the analysis, the Grantee shall prepare a final 
report describing the results of the study, including the procedures 
and methodology used to conduct the analysis, the research questions 
answered, the knowledge and information gained from the project, and 
any barriers encountered in completing the project. A draft of this 
report shall be delivered to the Federal Project Officer no later than 
thirty (30) days before the completion of the project. After receiving 
comments on the draft report from the Federal Project Officer, the 
Grantee shall deliver at least three (3) copies of a final report to 
the Grants Officer before the completion of the project. One of these 
copies must be unbound, suitable for photocopying; if only one is the 
original (has the original signature, is attached to a cover letter, 
etc.), it should not be this copy. The report also must be submitted on 
a 3\1/2\''disk.
    4. The Grantee should budget for one meeting in Washington, DC 
during the grant period to meet with ASPE project officers.
ASPE Responsibilities
    1. ASPE shall provide consultation and professional advice in the 
planning and operation of grant activities, including providing 
comments on the data analysis plan and other components of the work 
plan, progress reports, and draft report.
    2. ASPE shall assist in information exchange and the dissemination 
of reports to appropriate Federal, State, and local entities.
    3. ASPE shall plan and organize a grantee meeting.

[[Page 32054]]

Application Preparation and Evaluation Criteria

    This section contains information on the preparation of 
applications for submission under this announcement, the forms 
necessary for submission, and the evaluation criteria under which the 
applications will be reviewed. Potential grant applications should read 
this section carefully in conjunction with the information provided 
above. The application must contain the required Federal forms, title 
page, table of contents, and sections listed below. All pages of the 
narrative should be numbered.
    The application should include the following elements:
    1. Abstract: A one page summary of the proposed project.
    2. Goals and Objectives of the Project: An overview that describes 
(1) the project; (2) the specific research questions to be investigated 
and data sources to be used; and (3) knowledge and information to be 
gained from the project by the applicant, Federal, State and/or local 
government, and the research community. The proposed project should 
demonstrate an understanding of the range of variables that may affect 
trends in the utilization of emergency assistance services. If the 
proposal builds on any current project, the application should describe 
how funding under this announcement will enhance, not substitute for, 
current efforts.
    3. Methodology and Design: Provide a description and justification 
of how the proposed research project will be implemented, including 
methodologies, chosen approach, specification of emergency assistance 
providers included, description of provider and socio-economic data, 
data sources, and a research plan that is consistent with the available 
data. The proposed research plan should:
    (a) Describe the components of the emergency assistance system to 
be included in the study, the criteria for selection, and provide data 
to be utilized. Applicants should include one or more of the following: 
Homeless shelters (emergency and/or transitional) soup kitchens, food 
pantries, utility and/or rent assistance programs, and clothing banks. 
Applications should describe the emergency assistance system within the 
state or locality to be studied, the proportion of that system covered 
by available data, and any changes in the size or configuration of this 
system during the period of the study. This will provide reviewers an 
understanding of the emergency system generally and the 
comprehensiveness of the study. Applicants should also describe the 
format and method by which the data is to be obtained and specify 
whether permission has already been obtained from providers to utilize 
the data.
    (b) Describe in detail the socio-economic and caseload data to be 
used as part of the analysis, the criteria for selection, and how the 
data will be obtained. In this description, identify important issues 
for which data currently are not available, and strategies for dealing 
with this lack of data when it pertains to the research questions in 
the proposal.
    (c) Describe the time period to be used as a baseline and the 
reason this time period was chosen. Specify the data intervals to be 
used for the analysis.
    (d) Describe the descriptive data to be used to frame the analysis 
and why it is relevant to the proposed analysis.
    (e) If survey data collection is planned, identify and describe the 
methodology used to gather survey data. In particular, identify the 
sampling plan and the survey mode (e.g., telephone, in-person, mail), 
provide a description of the questions to be asked (as an alternative, 
applicants may provide a draft of their proposed survey instrument as a 
supplement to the application) and the steps that will be taken to 
address any biases inherent in each. These should include steps planned 
to ensure a high response rate, such as a mixed mode design, multiple 
attempts to contact sample members, or incentive payments to 
respondents, and steps taken to analyze differences between respondents 
and non-respondents. Because of the importance of a high response rate 
in ensuring reliability, these procedures will be an important part of 
the evaluation of proposals. Grant applicants must assure that the 
collected data will only be used for research purposes, and that all 
identifying information will be kept completely confidential, and 
should present the methods that will be used to ensure confidentiality 
of client-level information.
    (f) If qualitative research such as focus groups or a qualitative 
description of emergency assistance clients' experiences are planned, 
the application should include a complete plan for data collection 
procedures and analysis. This plan should include an approach for 
reviewing written documents, identification of key informants, the 
composition of any proposed focus groups, planned discussion topics, a 
plan for summarizing and organizing the results, and the value that 
this part of the project will add to the final report. The application 
should demonstrate a familiarity with the difficulties and potential 
biases of qualitative research, and include plans to avoid or resolve 
them.
    (g) Identify methodology the Grantee will use to analyze the data 
and organize the final report. Complex data analysis is not expected. 
Simple tabular analysis and descriptive statistics are appropriate. The 
description should include frequency of data periods, report 
organization and proposed tabulations, including table shells 
illustrating how the results will be presented. The application should 
explain how proposed supplementary analyses will be combined with and 
enhance analyses of provider data.
    4. Experience, capacity, qualifications, and use of staff: Briefly 
describe the grant applicant's organization and research capabilities, 
and experience in conducting pertinent research projects. The 
description should document the applicant's ability to conduct 
unbiased, methodologically sound research and detail the applicant's 
experience utilizing the proposed or similar data sources. If the 
proposal involves survey work, the proposal should describe the 
applicant's experience in conducting relevant surveys. Similarly, if 
the proposal involves qualitative data collection or analysis, the 
applicant's experience with this type of research and with these 
populations must be described in detail. If the applicant proposes to 
utilize subcontractors, the experience of the subcontractor in relation 
to the work to be performed by the subcontractor much be fully 
described. If the grant applicant plans to contract for any of the work 
(e.g., survey design or administration, qualitative analysis), and the 
contractors have not been retained, the applicant should describe the 
process by which they will be selected. Identify the key staff who are 
expected to carry out the project and provide a resume or curriculum 
vitae for each person. Provide a discussion of how key staff will 
contribute to the success of the project, including the percentage of 
each staff member's time that will be devoted to the project. Finally, 
applicants should demonstrate access to computer hardware and software 
for storing and analyzing the data necessary to complete this project.
    5. Work plan: A work plan should be included which lists the start 
and end dates of the project, a time line which indicates the sequence 
of tasks necessary for the completion of the project, and the 
responsibilities of each of the key staff. The plan should identify the 
time commitments of key staff members in both absolute and

[[Page 32055]]

percentage terms, including other projects and teaching or managerial 
responsibilities. Due to the desirability of including a full year of 
prospective data, work plans with time lines of up to fifteen months 
will be accepted. The work plan also should include plans for 
dissemination of the results of the study (e.g., articles in journals, 
presentations to state or local officials and at conferences).
    6. Budget: Grant applicants must submit a request for federal funds 
using Standard Form 424A and include a detailed breakdown of all 
Federal line items. A narrative explanation of the budget should be 
included that states clearly how the funds associated with this 
announcement will be used and describes the extent to which funds will 
be used for purposes that would not otherwise be incorporated within 
the project. Cost sharing-matching is a mandatory requirement under 
this award. Applicants must demonstrate the amount and details of the 
cost sharing-matching arrangements. The applicant should also document 
the level of funding from other sources and describe how these funds 
will be expended.

Review Process and Funding Information

    A Federal review panel will review and score all applications 
submitted by the deadline date that meet the screening criteria (all 
information and documents as required by this announcement.)
    The panel will use the evaluation criteria listed below to score 
each application. The panel results will be the primary element used by 
the ASPE when making funding decisions. The Department reserves the 
option to discuss applications 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 making an award 
decision.
    As a result of this competition, between two and four grants are 
expected to be made from funds appropriated for fiscal year 1999. 
Additional awards may be made depending on the policy relevance of 
proposals received and the available funding, including funds that may 
become available in fiscal years 1999 or 2000.

Reports

    As noted in the Grantee Responsibilities, two substantive reports 
are required under the grant: a final work plan (due no later than 
thirty (30) days after the date of award), and a final report 
containing all results and analysis (draft version due no later than 
thirty (30) days before the end of the project and final version due at 
the conclusion of the project). A digital copy of the final report may 
be submitted on a 3\1/2\'' disk formatted in the DOS (FAT 16) format to 
allow APSE to make the report available via the Internet, in addition 
to the conventional written format.
    In addition, Grantees shall provide concise quarterly progress 
reports. The specific format and content of these reports will be 
provided in the notification of grant award.

State Single Point of Contact (E.O. No. 12372)

    DHHS has determined that this program is not subject to Executive 
Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.'' 
Applicants are not required to seek intergovernmental review of their 
applications within the constraints of E.O. 12372.

Deadline for Submission of Applications

    The closing date for submission of applications under this 
announcement is July 30, 1999. 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 application will be considered as having met the deadline if it 
is either received at, or hand-delivered to, the mailing address on or 
before July 30, 1999 or postmarked before midnight three days prior to 
July 30, 1999 and received in time to be considered during the 
competitive review process (within one week of the deadline).
    When mailing applications, applicants are strongly advised to 
obtain a legibly dated receipt from the U.S. Postal Service or from a 
commercial carrier (such as UPS, Federal Express, etc.) as proof of 
mailing by the deadline date. If there is a question as to when an 
application was mailed, applicants will be asked to provide proof of 
mailing by the deadline date. If proof cannot be provided, the 
application will not be considered for funding. Private metered 
postmarks will not be accepted as proof of timely mailing. Applications 
which do not meet the deadline will be considered late applications and 
will not be considered or reviewed in the current competition. DHHS 
will send a letter to this effect to each late applicant.
    DHHS reserves the right to extend the deadline for all proposals 
due to: (1) Natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, or 
earthquakes; (2) a widespread disruption of the mail; or, (3) if DHHS 
determines a deadline extension to be in the best interest of the 
Federal government. The Department will not waive or extend the 
deadline for any applicant unless the deadline is waived or extended 
for all applicants.

Application Forms

    Application instructions and forms should be requested from and 
submitted to: Adrienne Little, Grants Officer, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human 
Services, Room 405F, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence 
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201. Telephone: (202) 690-8794. Requests 
for forms and questions (administrative and technical) will be accepted 
and responded to up to ten (10) working days prior to closing date of 
receipt of applications.
    Copies of this program announcement and many of the required forms 
may also be obtained electronically at the ASPE World Wide Web Page: 
http://aspec.hhs.gov (see section on available grants and contracts.) 
You may fax your request to the attention of the Grants Officer at 
(202) 690-6518. Application submissions may not be faxed or submitted 
electronically.
    The printed Federal Register notice is the only official program 
announcement. 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. This notice was printed in the Federal Register 
on July 30, 1999.
    Also see section entitled ``Components of a Complete Application.'' 
All of this documents must accompany the application package.

Length of Application

    In no case shall an application for the ASPE grant (excluding the 
resumes, appendices and other appropriate attachments) be longer than 
thirty (30) double-spaced pages. Applications should not be unduly 
elaborate, but should fully communicate the applicant's proposal to the 
reviewers.

[[Page 32056]]

Only relevant attachments should be included, for example, resumes of 
key personnel. Videotapes, brochures, and other promotional material, 
will be discarded and not reviewed. Project narratives should be 
formatted with 1-inch margins, double-spaced lines, and 12 point type, 
with consecutively numbered pages.

Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria

    Selection of successful applicants will be based on the technical 
and financial criteria described in this announcement. Reviewers will 
determine the strengths and weaknesses of each application in terms of 
the evaluation criteria listed below, provide comments, and assign 
numerical scores. The review pane will prepare a summary of all 
applicant scores, strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations and 
submit it to the ASPE for final decisions on the award.
    The point value following each criterion heading indicates the 
maximum numerical weigh that each section will be given in the review 
process. An unacceptable rating on any individual criterion may render 
the application unacceptable. Consequently, grant applicants should 
take care to ensure that all criteria are fully addressed in the 
applications. Grant applications will be reviewed as follows:
    1. Goals, Objectives, and Potential Usefulness of the Analysis (20 
points). The potential usefulness of the objectives and how the 
anticipated results of the proposed project will advance policy 
knowledge and development. If the proposed project builds on previous 
work, the application should explain how. Applications will be judged 
on the quality and policy relevance of the proposed projects.
    2. Quality and Soundness of Methodology and Design (25 points). The 
appropriateness, soundness, and cost-effectiveness of the methodology, 
including the research design, selection of existing data sets, data 
gathering procedures, statistical techniques, and analytical 
strategies,
    Other design considerations include the level of access the 
applicant currently has to the data to be included (e.g. already 
authorized to use the data, already collected the data), plans to 
obtain data not already collected, and how confidentiality of the 
records and information will be ensured. If applicants are unable to 
ensure the privacy and confidentiality of information included in the 
project, then it is highly unlikely that they will receive funding.
    If surveys are planned, reviewers will also evaluate the 
methodology proposed to gather survey data. In particular, reviewers 
will evaluate the sampling plan, the survey mode (e.g., telephone, in-
person, mail), and the steps that will be taken to address any biases 
inherent in each. This will include evaluating steps planned to ensure 
a high response rate, such as a mixed mode design, multiple attempts to 
contact sample members, or respondent payments, and steps planned to 
analyze differences between respondents and non-respondents, such as 
comparison of linked administrative data. Because of the important of a 
high response rate in ensuring reliability, these procedures will be an 
important part of the evaluation of proposals containing surveys. If 
qualitative research such as focus groups or a qualitative description 
of the TANF application, enrollment and closure policies and procedures 
are planned, reviewers will evaluate the plan for data collection 
procedures and analysis, including the planned approach for reviewing 
written documents, identification of key informants, the composition of 
any proposed focus groups, planned discussion topics, a plan for 
summarizing and organizing the results, and the value that this part of 
the project is expected to add to the final report. The extent to which 
the application demonstrates a familiarity with the difficulties and 
potential biases of this approach, and plans to avoid or resolve them, 
will also be a scoring factor.
    Reviewers also will evaluate the proposed data analysis, including 
the proposed tabulations and table shells, the planned organization of 
the final report, and the proposal's discussion of how different data 
sources (e.g., data from administrative source, survey data collection, 
other research) will be synthesized to enhance the proposed analyses.
    3. Comprehensiveness of Data (15 points). The comprehensiveness of 
the proposed emergency assistance provider data in relation to the 
local emergency assistance system. The comprehensiveness of socio-
economic and caseload data in relation to the proposed project. 
Reviewers will also consider the ability of the applicant to provide 
historical data to establish a reasonable baseline and the rationale 
for the proposed time period to be used as a baseline.
    4. Qualifications of Personnel and Organizational Capability. (20 
points). The qualifications of the project personnel for conducting the 
proposed research as evidenced by professional training and experience, 
and the capacity of the organization to provide the infrastructure and 
support necessary to support the project and conduct an unbiased 
analysis. Reviewers will evaluate the principal investigator and staff 
on research experience and demonstrated research skills, relative to 
the work proposed. If the applicant plans to contract for any of the 
work (e.g., survey design or administration, qualitative analysis), and 
the contractors have not been retained, reviewers will consider the 
process by which they will be selected.
    Reviewers may consider references for work completed on prior 
research projects. Principal investigator and staff time commitments 
also will be a factor in the evaluation. Reviewers will rate the 
applicant's pledge and ability to work in collaboration with other 
scholars or organizations in search of similar goals
    5. Ability of the Work Plan and Budget to Successfully Achieve the 
Project's Objectives. (20 points). Reviewers will examine if the work 
plan and budget are reasonable and sufficient to ensure timely 
implementation and completion of the study and whether the application 
demonstrates an adequate level of understanding by the applicant of the 
practical problems of conducting such a project. Adherence to the work 
plan is necessary in order to produce results in the time frame 
desired; demonstration of an applicant's ability to meet the schedule 
will therefore be an important part of this criterion. Reviewers will 
also examine the use of any additional funding and the role that funds 
provided under this announcement will play in the overall project. The 
proposal should also discuss in detail how results will disseminate to 
state and local officials, researchers, and other interested parties.

Disposition of Application

    1. Approval, disapproval, or deferral. On the basis of the review 
of the application, the Assistant Secretary will either (a) approve the 
application as a whole or in part; (b) disapprove the application; or 
(c) defer action on the application for such reasons as lack of funds 
or a need for further review.
    2. Notification of disposition. The Assistant Secretary for 
Planning and Evaluation will notify the applicants of the disposition 
of their applications. If approved, a signed notification of the award 
will be sent to the business office named in the ASPE checklist.
    3. The Assistant Secretary's Discretion. Nothing in this 
announcement should be construed as to obligate the Assistant Secretary 
for

[[Page 32057]]

Planning and Evaluation to make any awards whatsoever. Awards and the 
distribution of awards among the priority areas are contingent on the 
needs of the Department at any point in time and the quality of the 
applications that are received.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 93-239

Components of a Complete Application

    A complete application consists of the following items in this 
order:
1. Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424);
2. Budget Information--Non-construction Programs (Standard Form 424A);
3. Assurances--Non-construction Programs (Standard Form 424B);
4. Table of Contents;
5. Budget Justification for Section B Budget Categories;
6. Proof of Non-profit Status, if appropriate;
7. Copy of the applicant's Approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, if 
necessary;
8. Project Narrative Statement, organized in five sections, addressing 
the following topics (limited to thirty (30) double-spaced pages):
    1. Abstract,
    2. Goals, Objectives and Usefulness of the Project,
    3. Methodology and design,
    4. Background of the Personnel and Organizational Capabilities and
    5. Work plan (timetable);
9. Any appendices of attachments;
10. Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace;
11. Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, or other 
Responsibility Matters;
12. Certification and, if necessary, Disclosure Regarding Lobbying;
13. Supplement to Section II--Key Personnel;
14. Application for Federal Assistance Checklist.

    Dated: June 8, 1999.
Margaret A. Hamburg,
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 99-15128 Filed 6-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4151-04-M