[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37652-37653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13401]



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Part VIII





Department of Education





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National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 103 / Wednesday, May 29, 2002 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services proposes a priority on Mental Health Service 
Delivery to Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind Individuals from 
Diverse Racial, Ethnic, and Linguistic Backgrounds under the Disability 
and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program of the National 
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The 
Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal 
year (FY) 2002. We take this action to focus research attention on an 
identified national need. We intend this priority to improve 
rehabilitation service and outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 28, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Donna 
Nangle, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
3412, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2645. If you prefer to 
send your comments through the Internet, use the following address: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Nangle. Telephone: (202) 205-
5880 or via the Internet: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the TDD number at (202) 205-4475.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed priority.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of 
reducing regulatory burden that might result from this proposed 
priority. Please let us know of any further opportunities we should 
take to reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits while 
preserving the effective and efficient administration of the program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this priority in room 3412, Switzer Building, 330 C 
Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal 
holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed priority. If you want to schedule 
an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program

    The purpose of the DRRP Program is to plan and conduct research, 
demonstration projects, training, and related activities that help (1) 
to maximize the full inclusion and integration of individuals with 
disabilities into society, and (2) to improve the effectiveness of 
services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 
(the Act).
    This priority reflects issues discussed in the New Freedom 
Initiative (NFI) and NIDRR's Long-Range Plan (the Plan). The NFI can be 
accessed on the Internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiative/freedominiative.html.
    The Plan can be accessed on the Internet at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/NIDRR/Products.
    We will announce the final priority in a notice in the Federal 
Register. We will determine the final priority after considering 
responses to this notice and other information available to the 
Department. This notice does not preclude us from proposing or funding 
additional priorities, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking 
requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which we choose to use this proposed priority, we invite 
applications through a notice published in the Federal Register. 
When inviting applications we designate each priority as absolute, 
competitive preference, or invitational. The effect of each type of 
priority follows:

Absolute Priority

    Under an absolute priority, we consider only applications that meet 
the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).

Competitive Preference Priority

    Under a competitive preference priority, we give competitive 
preference to an application by either (1) awarding additional points, 
depending on how well or the extent to which the application meets the 
priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an application that 
meets the priority over an application of comparable merit that does 
not meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).

Invitational Priority

    Under an invitational priority, we are particularly interested in 
applications that meet the invitational priority. However, we do not 
give an application that meets the priority a competitive or absolute 
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).

Priority

Background

    In the field of mental health, help is based largely on the 
relationship between the provider and recipient of services. This 
relationship, in turn, is based primarily on communication. For 
individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind, spoken 
English often is an ineffective means of communication. The question is 
how methods used to augment communication, such as the use of sign 
language interpreters and assistive listening devices, affect results 
in the delivery of mental health services for these individuals.
    The Surgeon General noted in a report that individuals from racial, 
cultural, and linguistic minorities in the United States face serious 
barriers to competent mental health care, suffer a greater loss of 
overall health and productivity, and bear a greater burden from unmet 
mental health needs. Further, the Surgeon General recommended that 
future studies identify effective services for minority subpopulations, 
including persons with both mental and physical health conditions 
(Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, a Supplement to Mental 
Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service, 
2001). Deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind members from diverse 
racial and ethnic populations are an important example of this type of 
subpopulation.
    Even assuming that these individuals seek and receive treatment 
from providers familiar with their cultural,

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communicative, and linguistic backgrounds, psychological test measures 
often are inadequate (Vernon M., An Historical Perspective on 
Psychology and Deafness, Journal of the American Deafness and 
Rehabilitation Association, Vol. 29(2), pg. 11, 1995). Few 
psychological tests and assessment instruments have been developed for 
the deaf population in general, and none have been developed for the 
Asian-American deaf population (Wu C.L. and Grant N.C., Asian-American 
and Deaf, in Irene Leigh (Ed.), Psychotherapy with Deaf Clients from 
Diverse Backgrounds, Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press; pg. 
212, 1999).
    You may obtain additional information about the background of this 
priority by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Proposed Priority--Mental Health Service Delivery to Deaf, Hard of 
Hearing, and Deaf-Blind Individuals From Diverse Racial, Ethnic, and 
Linguistic Backgrounds

    This proposed priority is intended to enhance the quality of the 
delivery of mental health services for deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-
blind individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic 
backgrounds. For purposes of this proposed priority, ``individuals from 
diverse linguistic backgrounds'' includes not only individuals who are 
fluent in languages other than English, but also individuals with 
minimal language skills who are not fluent in any language.
    To be funded under this priority, a project would be required to 
choose at least one, but, no more than four of the following research 
activities:
    (1) Investigate, compare, and evaluate the effectiveness of mental 
health services provided by mental health providers using qualified 
sign language interpreters as opposed to services provided by mental 
health providers fluent in sign language. The research project must 
consider the educational, clinical, and professional credentials of 
each provider.
    (2) Investigate, evaluate, and develop, as needed, model 
psychological testing instruments and mental health outcome measures 
for deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind individuals from diverse 
racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.
    (3) Identify, evaluate, and develop, as needed for use in mental 
health settings, model communication strategies for individuals with 
minimal language skills who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind.
    (4) Identify and evaluate factors that assist or hinder entrance 
into the delivery system of mental health services for deaf, hard-of-
hearing, or deaf-blind individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and 
linguistic backgrounds.
    (5) Identify and evaluate factors that have an impact on the 
effectiveness of the delivery of mental health services to deaf, hard-
of-hearing, or deaf-blind individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and 
linguistic backgrounds.
    In addition, each project would have to:
    [sbull] Involve in all phases of research individuals with 
disabilities, including deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind 
individuals and individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic 
backgrounds; and
    [sbull] As directed by the NIDRR Project Officer for these 
programs, collaborate with other NIDRR projects and the National Center 
for the Dissemination of Disability Research.

Applicable Program Regulations

    34 CFR part 350.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may review this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: 
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133A, Disability 
Rehabilitation Research Project)
    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b).

    Dated: May 15, 2002.
Loretta L. Petty,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and, Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 02-13401 Filed 5-28-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P