[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20988-20991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-9748]


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

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[Program Announcement No. 93631-00-02]


Developmental Disabilities: Request for Public Comments on 
Proposed Developmental Disabilities Funding Priorities for Projects of 
National Significance for Fiscal Year 2000

AGENCY: Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD), ACF, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments on developmental 
disabilities tentative funding priorities for Projects of National 
Significance for Fiscal Year 2000.

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

SUMMARY: The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) 
announced that public comments are being requested on tentative funding 
priorities for Fiscal Year 2000 Projects of National Significance prior 
to being announced in its final form.
    We welcome comments and suggestions on this proposed announcement 
and funding priorities that will assist in bringing about the increased 
independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion into the 
community of individuals with developmental disabilities.]

DATES: The closing date for submission of comments is June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Sue Swenson, Commissioner, 
Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for 
Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Room 300F, Washington, DC 20447.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), Pat Laird, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Room 300F, 
Washington, DC, 20447, 202/690-7447.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This announcement consists of two parts:

Part I

Background

A. Goals of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities
    The Administration on Developmental Disabilities is located within 
the Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and 
Human Services (DHHS). Although different from the other ACF program 
administrators in the specific constituency it serves, ADD shares a 
common set of goals that promote the economic and social well being of 
families, children, individuals and communities. Through national 
leadership, we see:
     Families and individuals empowered to increase their own 
economic independence and productivity;
     Strong, health, supportive communities having a positive 
impact on the quality of life and the development of children;
     Partnerships with individuals, front-line service 
providers, communities, States and Congress that enable solutions which 
transcend traditional agency boundaries;
     Services planned and integrated to improve client access; 
and
     A strong commitment to work with Native Americans, 
individuals with developmental disabilities, refugees and migrants to 
address their needs, strengths and abilities.
    Emphasis on these goals and progress toward them will help more 
individuals, including those with developmental disabilities, to live 
productive and independent lives integrated into their communities. The 
Projects of National Significance Program is one means through which 
ADD promotes the achievement to these goals.
    Two issues are of particular concern with these projects. First, 
there is a pressing need for networking and cooperation among 
specialized and categorical programs, particularly at the service 
delivery level, to ensure continuation of coordinated services to 
people with development disabilities. Second, project findings and 
successful innovative models of projects need to be made available 
nationally to policy makers as well as to direct service providers.
B. Purpose of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities
    The Administration on Developmental Disabilities is the lead agency 
within ACF and DHHS responsible for planning and administering programs 
that promote the self-sufficiency and protect the rights of individuals 
with developmental disabilities.
    The 1996 Amendment (Public Law 104-183) to the Developmental 
Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 6000 et seq.) 
(the Act) supports and provides assistance to States and public and 
private nonprofit agencies and organizations to assure that individuals 
with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the 
design of and have access to culturally competent services, supports, 
and other assistance and opportunities that promote independence, 
productivity and integration and inclusion into the community.
    The Act points out that:
     Disability is a natural part of the human experience that 
does not diminish the right of individuals with developmental 
disabilities to enjoy the opportunity for independence, productivity 
and inclusion into the community;
     Individuals whose disabilities occur during their 
development period frequently have severe disabilities that are likely 
to continue indefinitely;
     Individual with developmental disabilities often require 
lifelong specialized services and assistance, provided in a coordinated 
and culturally competent manner by many

[[Page 20989]]

agencies, professionals, advocates, community representatives, and 
others to eliminate barriers and to meet the needs of such individuals 
and their families;
    The Act further finds that:
     Individual with developmental disabilities, including 
those with the most several developmental disabilities, are capable of 
achieving independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion 
into the community, and often require the provision of services, 
supports and other assistance to achieve such;
     Individual with developmental disabilities have 
competencies, capabilities and personal goals that should be 
recognized, supported, and encouraged, and any assistance to such 
individuals should be provided in an individualized manner, consistent 
with the unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, 
and capabilities of the individual;
     Individuals with developmental disabilities and their 
families are the primary decision makers regarding the services and 
supports such individuals and their families receive; and play decision 
making roles in policies and program that affect the lives of such 
individuals and their families; and
     It is the nation's interest for individuals with 
developmental disabilities to be employed, and to live conventional and 
independent lives as a part of families and communities.
     Toward these ends, ADD seeks to enhance the capabilities 
of families in assisting individuals with developmental disabilities to 
achieve their maximum potential, to support the increasing ability of 
individuals with developmental disabilities to exercise greater choice 
and self-determination, to engage in leadership activities in their 
communities, as well as to ensure the protection of their legal and 
human rights.
     Programs funded under the Act are:
     Federal assistance to State developmental disabilities 
councils;
     State system for the protection and advocacy of 
individual's rights;
     Grants to university affiliated programs for 
interdisciplinary training, exemplary services, technical assistance, 
and information dissemination; and
     Grants for Projects of National Significance.
C. Description of Projects of National Significance
    Under Part E of the Act, demonstration grants and contracts are 
awarded for projects of national significance that support the 
development of national and State policy to enhance the independence, 
productivity, and integration and inclusion of individuals with 
developmental disabilities through:
     Data collection and analysis;
     Technical assistance to enhance the quality of State 
developmental disabilities councils, protection and advocacy systems, 
and university affiliated programs; and
     Other projects of sufficient size and scope that hold 
promise to expand or improve opportunities for individuals with 
developmental disabilities, including:

--technical assistance for the development of information and referral 
systems;
--educating policy makers;
--Federal interagency initiatives;
--the enhancement of participation of racial and ethnic minorities in 
public and private sector initiatives in developmental disabilities;
--transition of youth with developmental disabilities from school to 
adult life.

    Section 162(d) of the Act requires that ADD publish in the Federal 
Register proposed priorities for grants and contracts to carry out 
Projects of National Significance. The Act also requires a period of 60 
days for public comment concerning such proposed priorities. After 
analyzing and considering such comments, ADD must publish in the 
Federal Register final priorities for such grants and contracts, and 
solicit applications for funding based on the final priorities 
selected.
    The following section presents the proposed priority areas for 
Fiscal Year 2000 Projects of National Significance. We welcome specific 
comments and suggestions. We would also like to receive suggestions on 
topics which are timely and relate to specific needs in the 
developmental disabilities field.
    Please be aware that the development of the final funding priority 
is based on the public comment response to this notice, current agency 
and Departmental priorities, needs in the field of developmental 
disabilities and the developmental disabilities network, etc., as well 
as the availability of funds for this fiscal year.

Part II

Fiscal Year 2000 Proposed Priority Areas for Projects of National 
Significance

    ADD is interested in all comments and recommendations which address 
areas of existing or evolving national significance related to the 
field of developmental disabilities.
    ADD also solicits recommendations for project activities which will 
advocate for public policy change and community acceptance of all 
individuals with developmental disabilities and families so that such 
individuals receive the culturally competent services, supports, and 
other assistance and opportunities necessary to enable them to achieve 
their maximum potential through increased independence, productivity, 
and integration into the community.
    ADD is also interested in activities which promote the inclusion of 
all individuals with development disabilities, including individuals 
with the most severe disabilities, in community life; which promote the 
interdependent activity of people with developmental disabilities and 
people without disabilities; and which recognize the contributions of 
these people (whether they have a disability or not), who share their 
talents at home, school, and work, and in recreation and leisure time.
    No proposals, concept papers or other forms of applications should 
be submitted at this time. Any such submission will be discarded.
    ADD will not respond to individual comment letters. However, all 
comments will be considered in preparing the final funding solicitation 
announcement and will be acknowledged and addressed in that 
announcement.
    Please be reminded that, because of possible funding limitations, 
the proposed priority areas listed below may not be published in a 
final funding solicitation for this fiscal year.
    Comments should be addressed to: Sue Swenson, Commissioner, 
Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for 
Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, 370 
L'Enfant Promenade, SW, Room 300F, Washington, DC 20447.

Proposed Fiscal Year 2000 Priority Area 1: Mobilizing for Change/Rapid 
Deployment of Good Ideas

    In March of 1993, President Clinton unveiled his new initiative to 
reinvent the federal government. He proposed a leaner, more efficient 
government that viewed the American people as its customers. The 
President discussed how all of us to some extent count on the 
government to do certain things such as, ``protect the environment, to 
provide education and health care and other basic needs.'' However, he 
pointed out that a ``democracy can become quickly an empty phrase, if 
those who are elected to serve cannot meet the needs

[[Page 20990]]

of the people except with Government that costs too much or is too slow 
or too arrogant or too unresponsive.'' Federal workers were empowered 
to reinvent their agencies in ways that would put customers first, cut 
red tape, get results, and get back to basics.
    At ADD, our agency efforts resulted in a document called ``The 
Roadmap to the Future,'' which was developed together with the programs 
it funds, establishes a course of action for ADD and for its programs. 
The Roadmap defines the mission and vision of ADD, of the State 
Developmental Disabilities Councils (DDCs), of the Protection and 
Advocacy Systems (P&As), of the Universities Affiliated Programs 
(UAPs), and of the Projects of National Significance (PNS), and it 
identifies goals created to increase the independence, productivity, 
and integration and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities 
and their families. Program activities will be directed toward 
achieving the Roadmap goals.
    The Projects of National Significant (PNS) Program is one of the 
activities of ADD. Every year since 1975 there have been model 
demonstration projects funded to increase the independence, 
productivity, and integration and inclusion of people with 
developmental disabilities. These projects have generated inventive 
approaches, strategies, and methodologies in addressing pervasive 
problems or needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and 
their families. Over the years, PNS projects have contributed to the 
knowledge base of the developmental disabilities field and the larger 
disability field as well. In the past decade, the leadership capacity 
of individuals with developmental disabilities, especially self-
advocates, has been nourished and strengthened by the funding of PNS 
projects.
    Although dissemination of information from these projects has been 
a requirement of funding, it is a concern of ADD's that the rich volume 
of knowledge and information produced by these projects has not reached 
a broader of people who either could directly benefit form it or are in 
a position to replicate it. More important, depending on the target 
audience, we have not been successful in influencing permanent 
behavioral changes. The explosion of communications arts and technology 
offer new possibilities for reaching a broader audience. A major 
challenge lies in connecting with those segments of our population who 
do not have easy access to a computer or English is not their primary 
language or there are cultural differences. New design models of 
transferring knowledge and fostering utilization must be explored if we 
are to meet the needs of Americans with disabilities and their 
families. ADD is extremely interested in supporting this ``reinvention 
'' of new models under this priority area.
    These models must surpass our standard methods of communication 
best practices and practical solutions to those we serve and those who 
serve them. Projects must be outcome driven--demonstrating 
effectiveness and behavioral changes of the targeted population. 
Content area is open to any proven, positive results-based practice, 
methodology or processing the field of developmental or other 
disabilities or directly related field such as universal design. It can 
be an expansive as systems change cr a new paradigm. These new models 
should consider creative partnering implementing the project. A few 
examples of this by the Federal government are the JedI project under 
the U.S. Geological Survey and The Knowledge Loom under the U.S. 
Department of Education/Office of Educational Research and Improvement. 
The former, which stands for joint education initiative, utilized CD-
ROM technology containing different types of data and in conjunction 
with teachers developed educational materials that could be used in the 
classroom. The latter is a recent project funded to create an 
electronic interactive workspace for anyone interested in the education 
environment.
    In the last century we were the beneficiaries of extraordinary 
human developments that would have been considered inconceivable by 
many; it has raised our level of expectation for this new century. This 
is no less true for people with developmental disabilities and their 
families who, in this age of the Internet, the PC, and satellite 
downlinks, expect there will be new models available to everyone who 
needs them. ADD views this priority area as an unprecedented 
opportunity to take what we have learned through federally funded 
projects and find enterprising, inventive, and imaginative ways of 
using the knowledge so that all will benefit--people with developmental 
disabilities and other disabilities, professionals who serve them, 
their families, and the communities in which they live.

Proposed Fiscal Year 2000 Priority Area 2: Bridging the Digital Divide: 
Building Content

    In a White House speech on February 2, 2000, President Clinton 
stated: ``Access to computers and the Internet and the ability to 
effectively use this technology are becoming increasingly important for 
full participation in America's economic, political and social life. 
People are using the Internet to find lower prices for goods and 
services, work from home or start their own business, acquire new 
skills using distance learning, and make better informed decisions 
about their healthcare needs.''
    The President expressed his concern over the widening gap of 
access: ``Access to computers and the Internet has exploded during the 
Clinton-Gore Administration. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence of 
a `digital divide'--a gap between those individuals and communities 
that have access to these Information Age tools and those who don't. In 
some instances, this divide is actually widening.'' The President has 
proposed three basic approaches to narrowing the digital divide: (1) 
Provide hardware and connections to people who do not yet have them; 
(2) provide training in the use of computers and the internet; and (3) 
build relevant content on the Internet, to attract new users. ADD 
continues to encourage its grantees and partners in all three of these 
strategies, but realizes that a national approach is necessary to the 
third strategy of building relevant content.
    A person with a developmental disability is legislatively defined 
as someone whose disability occurred before age 22; is severe and 
lifelong; and is likely to result in an ongoing, long-term need for 
services and supports. In other words, people with developmental 
disabilities are likely to need to rely on multiple systems of supports 
in order simply to live their lives. And yet, information that could be 
used to improve decision-making is not easily accessible to people with 
developmental disabilities, their families, their advocates, their 
providers of services and supports, or even to the policymakers who 
design and fund systems. For people with developmental disabilities, 
Internet access to relevant information is limited.
    For the majority of people with developmental disabilities and 
their families, Medicaid is the most relevant system; it is their 
lifeline. Yet it is a very complex system whose possibilities change 
almost constantly, and quite rapidly. As States submit new ideas to the 
Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA) in Home and Community-Based 
Services (HCBS) waiver plans, and as these state-generated plans are 
approved, possibilities for all other States and all other citizens 
shift. In addition, the Medicaid program is complex due to the 
``patchwork quilt of incremental statutory amendments and

[[Page 20991]]

administrative policy changes spread over several decades.'' (GAO, 
1996)
    Nevertheless, many (though not all) of the Medicaid questions to 
which people need answers are repetitive and sometimes simple. Clear, 
honest, user-friendly answers to frequently asked questions are often a 
feature of Web sites on any topic and may be one of the best uses of 
the Internet.
    ADD is proposing to fund one project to build an Internet site that 
will provide relevant content and attractive information on what is 
possible under the Medicaid program. The site should be user-friendly 
and useful to a broad range of users, including people with 
developmental and other related disabilities, their families, their 
advocates, DD network members, state policymakers, regional HCFA staff, 
and other interested persons. The site should be responsive to the 
needs and wants of its users, and should collect and measure user 
satisfaction. It should post frequently asked questions (FAQs) about 
Medicaid with their answers, and should encourage frank and open 
``human'' interchanges between users. The site must be accessible to 
people with a broad range of disabilities. Proposing organizations must 
show that they (1) are credible sources of information to people with 
developmental disabilities and (2) that they intend to comply with 
accessibility standards and go beyond compliance to improve access as 
much as possible. Special care should be taken to make the site useful 
and attractive to young persons with developmental and other 
disabilities.

Proposed Fiscal Year 2000 Priority Area 3: Managing Our Program 
Knowledge Through Web Improvement

    The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 
(DD Act) provides authorization for three State Programs and a national 
program that seek to increase the independence, productivity, and 
inclusion of persons with developmental disabilities.
    A Developmental Disabilities Council (DD Council) in each State 
promotes, through systemic change, capacity building, and advocacy 
activities, the development of a comprehensive consumer-centered system 
of coordinated and culturally competent services, supports, and other 
assistance. The priority areas addressed by DD Councils include 
employment, community living, child development, and system 
coordination and community education.
    The Protection and Advocacy (P&A) System provides for the 
protection and advocacy of legal and human rights. The P&A System 
advocate on behalf of, and provide advocacy services to persons with 
developmental disabilities in issue areas related to their 
disabilities, including: education, abuse and neglect, institutional 
and habitation services, guardianship issues, and housing issues.
    The University Affiliated Program (UAPs) are public and private 
non-profit agencies in the States and territories, each affiliated with 
a university. Each UAP receives annual discretionary funding for 
operational and administrative support, which provides a platform for 
interdisciplinary training, clinical and community-based service 
activities, technical assistance to community services personnel, and 
information/dissemination activities.
    In addition to State-based programs, ADD funds research and 
demonstration grants in an effort to address and increase our 
understanding of issues of national scope. The Projects of National 
Significance (PNS) program focuses on the most pressing issues 
affecting people with developmental disabilities and their families. 
Project issues transcend the borders of States and territories, while 
project designs are oriented to permit local implementation of 
practical solutions.
    Each of these programs has a uniqueness and breadth of knowledge 
that if managed through modern technology would result in a knowledge 
resource warehouse. The nation cannot afford a digital divide between 
these programs and between these programs and those they serve. With 
these programs in mind, ADD is interested in funding a project for the 
development or enhancement of a model website whose design features are 
easily employable by each program; its approach on the cutting edge. It 
should be seen as the beginning of a new form of cyber architecture 
with a focus on continuous improvement that will enable those programs 
to improve their use of the web and their ability to hyperlink to 
others.
    This new model website would enhance the ability of ADD's programs 
to exchange information and build upon ongoing diverse enterprises 
throughout the developmental disabilities community. At the same time, 
the contributions and achievements of these programs towards the 
quality of life of persons with disabilities and their families should 
be easily disseminated and accessible. It should support the 
development of strategies, technologies, and media channels for the 
management of knowledge generated/produced by these programs. This site 
should operate as an information center as well as a networking tool 
for the programs and others. This website is not about outcomes 
exclusively but content and access to content that affects the lives of 
people with developmental disabilities and their families. ADD 
envisions that the first year would begin with the UAPs and the PNS 
projects with the understanding the model website be inclusive of the 
other programs over the duration of the project. It is expected that 
the site would be open to everyone; including the average citizen, 
people working in each program, and people working in related programs. 
Also, it should be accessible to people with a broad range of 
disabilities utilizing the most current accessibility standards. ADD 
would be supportive of applicants that represent a consortia of UAPSs 
and DD Councils.

(Federal Catalog of Domestic Assistance Number 93.631--Developmental 
Disabilities--Projects of National Significance)
    Dated: April 7, 2000.
Sue Swenson,
Commissioner, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.
[FR Doc. 00-9748 Filed 4-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M