[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45964-45966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18911]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Notice of Availability of Funds for Outreach to Individuals With 
a Disability To Increase Their Participation in National Service

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (the 
Corporation) announces the availability of approximately five million 
dollars to support outreach activities to increase the participation of 
persons with disabilities in national service. We will use these funds 
to make grants to public or private nonprofit organizations to pay the 
Federal share of: (1) providing information about national service 
programs to individuals with disabilities who desire to perform 
service, (2) assisting in the recruitment of such individuals in 
national service, and (3) assisting national service programs in 
adapting their programs to encourage greater participation by 
individuals with disabilities. We expect to award approximately 20 
grants in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000 for a period of 
up to two years.
    We published a notice of funding availability in the Federal 
Register on Monday, June 26, 2000 (65 FR 39370) specifically to support 
service days or events that include persons with disabilities. This 
current notice of funding availability also allows for that activity 
but enables potential applicants to propose a much broader range of 
activities.

DATES: All proposals must arrive at the Corporation no later than 5:00 
p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on October 4, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit proposals to the Corporation at the following 
address: Corporation for National and Community Service, Attn: Nancy 
Talbot, 1201 New York Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20525. This notice may 
be requested in an alternative format.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and an 
application, visit our website at http://www.nationalservice.org. If 
you wish to obtain a printed application or to speak with someone, 
contact Thea Kachoris at (202) 606-5000, ext. 562, or email her at 
[email protected]. The TDD number is (202) 565-2799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    The Corporation was established in 1993 to engage Americans of all 
ages and backgrounds in service to their communities. The Corporation's 
national service programs provide opportunities for participants to 
serve full-time and part-time, with or without stipend, as individuals 
or as part of a team. AmeriCorps*State, National, VISTA, and National 
Civilian Community Corps programs engage thousands of Americans on a 
full, or part-time basis, at over 1,000 locations to help communities 
meet their toughest challenges. Learn and Serve America integrates 
service into the academic life or experiences of over one million youth 
from kindergarten through higher education in all 50 states. The 
National Senior Service Corps utilizes the skills, talents and 
experience of over 500,000 older Americans to help make communities 
stronger, safer, healthier, and smarter.
    AmeriCorps*State and AmeriCorps*National programs, that involve 
over 40,000 Americans each year in result-driven community service, are 
grant programs managed by: (1) State commissions on national and 
community service that select and oversee programs operated by local 
organizations; (2) national non-profit organizations that act as 
``parent organizations'' for program operating sites across the 
country; (3) Indian tribes; or (4) U.S. Territories. The Corporation 
also supports AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and 
AmeriCorps*NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) programs. More than 
6,000 AmeriCorps*VISTA members develop grassroots programs, mobilize 
resources and build capacity for service across the nation. 
AmeriCorps*NCCC provides the opportunity for approximately 1,000 
individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 to participate each year in 
ten-month residential programs located mainly on inactive military 
bases. Learn and Serve America grants provide service-learning 
opportunities for youth through grants to state education agencies, 
community-based organizations, and higher education institutions and 
organizations, and Indian Tribes and Territories. The National Senior 
Service Corps operates through grants to nearly 1,300 local 
organizations for the Retired and Senior Volunteer (RSVP), Foster 
Grandparent (FGP) and Senior Companion (SCP) programs to provide 
service to their communities. For additional information on the 
national service programs supported by the Corporation, go to http://www.nationalservice.org.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants for this funding are (1) Corporation-approved 
state commissions on national and community service, (2) state 
education agencies, (3) nonprofit organizations with expertise in 
disability issues proposing activities in at least three states, (4) 
tribal or territorial governments, and (5) regional, state-wide, or 
local consortia consisting of public or private nonprofit organizations 
(including state commissions, state education agencies or a consortium 
of projects working together within a region, state or locality). 
Consortia must identify a lead

[[Page 45965]]

agency that will serve as the legal applicant. Examples of state-wide, 
regional or local consortia include but are not limited to:
     Local service agencies, AmeriCorps programs, Learn and 
Serve America projects, and local disability associations that 
collaborate to develop an outreach and recruitment strategy;
     Senior Corps projects within a region, state, or locality 
that propose to fill volunteer vacancies with persons with 
disabilities;
     Collaborations between Corporation-approved state 
commissions;
     Community colleges, colleges, or universities within a 
region, state, or locality.
    The Corporation encourages, and will give priority to, proposals 
that reflect collaborations that include organizations with a 
demonstrated expertise in disability issues (e.g., a group of 
AmeriCorps programs form a partnership with their local Center for 
Independent Living to conduct outreach to the disabled community).
    An organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4), that engages in lobbying 
activities, is not eligible to be a grantee or subgrantee.

C. Statutory Authority

    Section 129(d)(5)(C) of the National and Community Service Act 
authorizes the Corporation to make grants to pay for the Federal share 
of (1) providing information about national service activities to 
persons with disabilities and (2) enabling such persons to participate.

D. Purpose of Grants

    The National and Community Service Act of 1990, as amended, 
encourages citizens, regardless of age, income, or disability, to 
engage in full-time or part-time national service. Section 129(d)(5)(C) 
of the Act sets aside funds to ensure that people with disabilities are 
made aware of national service opportunities and are able to serve. We 
are committed to increasing the participation of persons with 
disabilities in all areas of national service. Many national service 
programs need assistance in understanding how to focus their outreach 
and recruitment efforts to ensure increased participation by people 
with disabilities. We recently sponsored a national conference that 
brought together disability organizations and national service programs 
to better understand opportunities and avenues for collaboration. We 
wish to continue and expand the efforts begun at this conference by 
making grants available to support outreach to persons with 
disabilities to increase their participation in national service.

E. Matching Funds Requirement

    The Federal share of the cost of carrying out activities under 
these grants may not exceed 75 percent. A grantee may comply with this 
requirement through cash or in-kind resources. Cash match may be in the 
form of State funds, local funds, or Federal funds (other than funds 
made available under national service laws.)

F. Scope of Activities To Be Supported by Outreach Grants

    This is a nationwide effort to encourage individuals with a 
disability to participate in national service programs (programs that 
are assisted under national service laws or otherwise act in 
conjunction with programs assisted under the national service laws). 
Our goal is to increase the number of persons with disabilities who 
participate in service. We will use these funds to make grants to 
eligible applicants to pay the Federal share of: (1) Providing 
information about national service programs to individuals with 
disabilities who desire to perform service, (2) assisting in the 
recruitment of such individuals in national service, and (3) assisting 
national service programs in adapting their programs to encourage 
greater participation by individuals with disabilities.
    The following are sample activities aimed at increasing the number 
of persons with disabilities in national service:
     Develop and conduct activities geared toward national 
service program directors to increase their awareness of disability 
issues and their ability to undertake successful outreach and 
recruitment of people with disabilities.
     Develop and conduct targeted mailings and outreach 
sessions to engage students with disabilities in service-learning, 
including Federal Work Study students, in service projects.
     Organize and conduct information sessions for disability 
organizations to learn more about national service or to add service to 
the community as part of their organizations' mission.
     Sponsor part-time recruitment coordinators with the 
specific goal of meeting recruitment goals established for individuals 
with disabilities to participate in service projects.
     Train teachers in methods to include persons with 
disabilities as service providers in school-based service projects.
     Develop and fund local radio and television public service 
announcements that include images of persons of all ages with 
disabilities in service to others.
     Conduct targeted advertising and recruitment, e.g., 
attending job fairs for persons with disabilities, outreach to schools 
for students with disabilities.
     Develop marketing materials that target persons with 
disabilities and are shared with the larger national service network.
    The above are examples only. Proposals should reflect strategies 
applicable to local programs, or state-wide or regional efforts. State 
commissions and state education agencies may develop strategies that 
are state-wide or target particular localities in year one and expand 
to new localities in year two. National non-profit organizations must 
plan to provide outreach activities in at least three states across the 
country or within a particular region of the country. You may consider 
subgranting to local affiliates in collaboration with local national 
service programs or develop state-wide or regional activities.
    Federal law (the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) requires recipients of 
federal financial assistance to fulfill a level of basic accessibility 
prior to receiving financial assistance. While the national service 
legislation provides separately for funds to pay for reasonable 
accommodations or auxiliary aids to assist specific categories of 
national service programs in placing individuals with a disability in 
national service positions, these outreach funds are not available for 
reasonable accommodations or auxiliary aids related to placement. 
However, outreach funds are not restricted to a particular category of 
national service program and may be used to make outreach events and 
materials accessible to individuals with a disability.
    We are currently seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval for the narrative portion of the application requirements. You 
may use the description of these requirements (below) to plan your 
activities. We expect the OMB-approved application requirements to be 
available on our website no later than September 8, 2000.

G. Duration of Grant

    The duration of each grant is up to two years, with the entire 
amount awarded at one time. Applications must include a proposed budget 
and proposed activities for the entire award period.

[[Page 45966]]

H. Application Requirements

    All applicants must complete the Application for Federal Assistance 
(SF 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (SF 424A), and 
Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (SF 424B). Copies of these forms 
can be obtained at the Corporation's website: http://www.nationalservice.org. For a printed copy of any of these materials, 
please contact Thea Kachoris at (202) 606-5000, ext.562 or send an 
email to [email protected]. (Note: There must be one legal applicant 
for each proposal, including a consortium or joint proposal.) 
Applicants must submit one unbound, original proposal and two copies. 
We will not accept any proposals submitted by facsimile. All applicants 
are encouraged to submit voluntarily an additional four copies of the 
application to expedite the review process.
    Attached to the SF 424, please include the following:
    1. Outreach and Recruitment Plan: The plan should be specific and 
cover each of the categories listed below. The plan may be no more than 
20 double-spaced, single-sided, typed pages in no smaller than 12-point 
font. It may include single-spaced bulleted sections.
     Proposed Strategy--Your proposed strategy and rationale 
for providing outreach to persons with disabilities and to increase 
participation of individuals with disabilities in national service 
programs.
     Description of Activities--A detailed description of your 
proposed activities to increase the number of individuals with 
disabilities as participants in national service programs and projected 
outcomes.
     Work Plan--A detailed work plan and timeline for 
conducting outreach and recruitment.
     Evaluation Plan--A plan for regularly evaluating and 
assessing your strategy to increase participation of persons with 
disabilities as participants in national service programs and the 
outcomes.
    2. Description of Organizational/Consortium Capacity.
     A description of the organizational capacity of the entity 
proposing the grant including experience your organization has with 
outreach and recruitment, experience in or ability to administer a 
federal grant, and key staff position(s) who will be responsible for 
the project. If more than one organization will be involved in carrying 
out the activities, describe the capacity of the legal applicant to 
provide a coordinating role in the collaboration and the capacity of 
the other partners to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.
     Organizational Chart--If more than one organization will 
be involved in conducting the outreach activities, provide an 
organizational chart showing the lines of authority and areas of 
responsibility of each organization.
    3. Budget/Budget Narrative: All applicants must complete Standard 
Form 424A (Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs) for the 
length of the project. Copies of this form can be obtained at the 
Corporation's website: http://www.nationalservice.org. If applying for 
a two year grant, indicate projected second year budget on page two of 
the form. The funds that the Corporation provides may not exceed 75% of 
the cost of carrying out activities under the grant. You may provide 
for the remaining share through a payment in cash or in-kind, fairly 
evaluated, including facilities, equipment, or services. You may use 
State sources, local sources, or Federal sources (if allowed by the 
granting agency) other than funds made available under the national 
service laws. Complete a budget narrative using the guidelines in the 
application instructions.
    4. Letters of Commitment: If more than one organization will be 
involved in carrying out the outreach activities, the application 
should include letters of commitment from all partners.

I. Selection Criteria

    In awarding these grants, we will consider program design, 
organizational capacity, and budget and cost effectiveness. Applicants 
must propose clearly-defined and specific activities to increase the 
number of persons with disabilities in national service. We will give 
priority consideration to applicants that demonstrate a collaboration 
with disability organizations with expertise in disability issues and 
to applicants who are themselves disability organizations that have 
expertise in a range of disability areas.
    After evaluating the overall quality of proposals and their 
responsiveness to the criteria noted above, we will seek to ensure that 
applications we select represent a portfolio that is: (1) 
Geographically diverse, including projects throughout the five 
geographical clusters as designated by the Corporation; (2) 
representative of the range of disabilities; and (3) representative of 
a range of models and approaches to involving individuals with 
disabilities in national service. The Corporation will make all final 
decisions concerning awards and may require revisions to the original 
grant proposal in order to achieve the objectives under this Notice.

J. Notice of Intent To Submit

    If you intend to submit an application, please send us a notice of 
intent to submit by August 31st addressed to Nancy Talbot, Corporation 
for National Service, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20525 
or email your intent to [email protected]. The notice should include the 
name of your organization, address, contact person and phone number and 
should state that you plan to submit an application for outreach to 
individuals with a disability for the October 4th deadline.
    If you do not send a notice of intent to submit, you may still 
submit an application. Conversely, if you send a notice of intent to 
submit, you are not obligated to submit an application. The notice of 
intent to submit simply helps us to plan more efficiently for our 
review.

K. Technical Assistance Calls

    The Corporation is scheduling technical assistance calls on:

July 31, 2000 4-5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
August 9, 2000 3-4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
August 15, 2000 3:30-4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

    If you wish to register for the call, please contact Theresa Dean 
at 202-606-5000 ext. 207. We expect to make selections by November 15, 
2000, and award grants by the end of December. Grantees should plan to 
begin their activities in January or February 2001. Funding for these 
activities is contingent upon the availability of appropriations. The 
Corporation is not bound by any of the estimates in this Notice.

(CFDA #94.007)

    Dated: July 21, 2000.
Gary Kowalczyk,
Coordinator, National Service Programs, Corporation for National and 
Community Service.
[FR Doc. 00-18911 Filed 7-25-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-P