[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61141-61142]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24659]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Notice of Award of Non-Competitive Grant

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), ACF, 
DHHS.

ACTION: Notice, opportunity to comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that ACYF is considering awarding 
discretionary research grant funds without competition to the 
University of Washington, Evans School of Public Affairs, Human 
Services Policy Center, for up to $216,227 of Child Care and 
Development Block Grants funds in FY 2002. The project period would 
begin on September 30, 2002, and end on September 29, 203. This award 
will be made to the University of Washington to provide Federal support 
for a research project that will generate State-level estimates of the 
child care workforce.
    The proposed research project addresses many questions of relevance 
to the child care field, to ACF, and to the Child Care Bureau. The 
project will provide the methodology and tools to measure the 
distribution and characteristics of the child care workforce, thereby 
contributing crucial information to public policy discussions and 
ultimately to improvement of services, leading to better outcomes for 
children and families. Child care workforce estimates are critical for 
determining the need for additional workers based on current demands as 
well as States' projections in terms of economic development, welfare 
reform, the education and training of child care providers, and 
alternative approaches to child care finance. The project is highly 
relevant to efforts by ACF, the Child Care Bureau and States to improve 
the quality of early learning opportunities in child care environments.
    The project builds on a new workforce estimation model developed by 
the University of Washington's Human Services Policy Center in 
collaboration with the Center for the Child Care Work Force. This 
important and innovative work has generated extensive interest in the 
child care

[[Page 61142]]

policy research filed. In this new study, the investigators will apply 
and validate their model of the child care workforce by applying the 
methodology to selected States. Once the efficacy of the model has been 
validated, it can be used to produce workforce estimates for each of 
the 50 States and potentially, for sub-state regions.
    The methodology will also provide an inexpensive way for States to 
continually update estimates of their child care workforce. State-
estimates are important for several reasons. Major decisions concerning 
child care financing and quality-improvement are made by States; 
knowing the size of the current workforce will assist Stats in planing 
such initiatives. State-level workforce estimates can also be useful in 
validating national demand-based workforce, inconsistencies in type and 
availability of data preclude aggregating their estimates into national 
profiles. More uniformity and validity of State data will allow for 
aggregation across States to provide a better national picture of the 
U.S. child care workforce than is currently available. such estimates 
are needed to describe national trends, identify emerging needs, and 
guide future policy formulations.
    Communities, using the tools developed through this project, will 
also be able to measure their own child are workforce characteristics, 
articulate the needs of their communities, and identify alternative 
policy and programmatic responses. Groups of communities with similar 
characteristics (such as rural areas or inner cities) will be able to 
ascertain workforce characteristics and needs that may be unique to 
these types of settings.
    The University of Washington is in a unique position to carry out 
this work with highly qualified personnel, university facilities and 
in-kind resources. The Human Services Policy Center in the Evans School 
of Public Affairs is the original developer of this model and has 
completed the groundwork and planning for this next phase of validation 
and dissemination of the model to States and communities for their own 
use. The school has good capability for carrying out the work to a high 
degree of quality, for analyzing national and state-level trends, and 
for disseminating the model to the field.
    The study has a strong research design and methodology, builds on a 
solid understanding of the current state of research in the child care 
field, and is lead by an exceptionally experienced team of 
investigators. The data collected through this study will provide 
information urgently needed by policymakers as we enter the next phase 
of early education and welfare reform.
    The study answers a call for needed research on economic models of 
child care expressed by researchers and policymakers in the most recent 
meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium held in 
Washington, DC, on April 17-19, 2002, and the Annual Meeting of State 
Child Care Administrators held in Washington, DC on July 31-August 2, 
2002.
    The Agency is providing members of the public, including qualified 
organizations that would be interested in competing for the funding, if 
a competition were held, and opportunity to comment on the planned 
action.

    Statutory Authority: This award will be made pursuant to the 
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 as amended (CCDBG 
Act); section 418 of the Social Security Act; Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Pub. L. 106-554). The Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance is 93.647.

DATES: In order to be considered, comments on this planned action must 
be received on or before October 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties, including qualified organizations that 
would be interested in competing for the funding, if a competition were 
held, should write to: Karen Tvedt, Child Care Bureau, Administration 
on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Administration for Children and 
Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services, 330 C Street 
SW., Room 2046, Washington, DC 20447; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Tvedt, Child Care Bureau, at 
(202) 401-5130.

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 93.647, 
Child Care Research Discretionary Grants.

    Dated: September 23, 2002.
Joan E. Ohl,
Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
[FR Doc. 02-24659 Filed 9-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M