[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 79 (Friday, April 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22061-22064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8830]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Administration on Aging

RIN 0938-ZA48


Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant Program

ACTION: Notice.

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Part 1. Overview Information

    Funding Opportunity Title: Aging and Disability Resource Center 
Grant Program.
    Program Announcement Nos.: AoA-03-05 and CMS-2196-N.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) No.: 93.048 (AoA) and 
93.779 (CMS).

DATES: Deadline for Submitting the Signed Cooperative Agreement: Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2004 Qualified Applicants (see ``Definition of Qualified 
Applicants'' in Part 2, section III.1 of this notice) who plan to 
accept a grant award in FY 2004 must submit the signed Cooperative 
Agreement (that was enclosed with their written notification dated 
April 23, 2004) no later than May 24, 2004. FY 2004 Qualified 
Applicants who fail to submit a signed Cooperative Agreement on or 
before May 24, 2004, will not receive funding, and those funds may be 
reallocated to the next highest-ranked Qualified Applicant.
    Because funding for this program appears as part of the 
Administration on Aging (AoA) and CMS' FY 2004 budgets, all awards will 
be made before October 1, 2004. All grantees receiving awards under 
this funding opportunity will have a budget period of 36 months and a 
start date of no later than September 30, 2004.

Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

1. Background
    The Administration on Aging (AoA) and the Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services (CMS) announce the continuation in funding of the 
joint AoA and CMS Aging and Disability Resource Center grants program. 
These discretionary grants to be issued as cooperative agreements will 
fund 12 projects at a Federal share of up to $800,000 over 3 years (11 
grants at approximately $800,000 each, and 1 grant at $200,000). The 
Aging and Disability Resource Center grants are designed to assist 
States in developing citizen-centered, ``one-stop'' entry points into 
the long-term support system and will be based in local communities. 
AoA and CMS plan to continue to process the ranked applications 
submitted in FY 2003, beginning with the highest-ranked applications 
that were not funded in FY 2003. This notice also contains information 
about the manner in which we will continue the award process that 
originated in FY 2003. We will not accept any new applications for 
Aging and Disability Resource Center grants in FY 2004.
    AoA's authority for these grants is under the Older Americans Act, 
(Pub. L. 106-501).
    CMS' legislative authority for these grants is under section 1110 
of the Social Security Act (the Act). Funding and Congressional 
language for the CMS Real Choice Systems Change Grants was provided in 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199). Although 
the Congress appropriated $40 million in funding for Real Choice 
Systems Change activities, the Congress also passed an across-the-board 
rescission of 0.59 percent and a second rescission of 0.6864 percent 
leaving a total appropriation of $39,491,060. Some of these funds will 
be used for FY 2004 Aging and Disability Resource Center grants that 
CMS will fund in collaboration with the AoA. A separate Federal 
Register notice, Medicaid Program; Real Choice Systems Change Grants 
(CMS-2189-N), will be published regarding the remaining Real Choice 
Systems Change Grand funds.
    AoA and CMS are the designated agencies with administrative 
responsibility for their respective portion of funding for this joint 
effort.
    Purpose of Grant Awards: The awards are to be used by States to 
develop Aging and Disability Resource Center programs that will provide 
citizen-centered, ``one-stop'' entry points into the long term support 
system and will be based in local communities accessible to people who 
may require long term support. Aging and Disability Resource Centers 
will serve individuals who need long-term support, their family 
caregivers, and those planning for future long-term support needs. 
These Aging and Disability Resource Center grants, to be awarded by AoA 
and CMS as cooperative agreements, are a part of the President's New 
Freedom Initiative.
    The Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant Program is part of 
AoA's Research and Demonstration efforts under Title IV of the Older 
Americans Act and is one of several demonstration opportunities in 
support of the New Freedom Initiative.
    CMS has restructured its research and demonstration efforts under 
section 1110 of the Act into eight themes. The Aging and Disability 
Resource Center Grants are part of CMS' Research and Demonstration 
efforts under Theme 5; Strengthening Medicaid, State Children's Health 
Insurance Program (SCHIP), and State Programs. This effort includes 
research and demonstrations on ways to improve access to and delivery 
of health care to the persons served by Medicaid. The New Freedom

[[Page 22062]]

Initiative calls for the removal of barriers to community living for 
people with disabilities. CMS is the designated Department of Health 
and Human Services agency with administrative responsibility for the 
Real Choice Systems Change Grant program.
2. Fiscal Year 2003 Aging and Disability Resource Center Grants
    On May 29, 2003, AoA and CMS jointly published a Notice of Funding 
Availability for the Aging and Disability Resource Center Grants in the 
Federal Register (68 FR 32053). Under this notice, AoA and CMS invited 
proposals from States, in partnership with their disability and aging 
communities, to design and implement effective and enduring 
improvements in community long term support systems. Grant applications 
were due on July 28, 2003. To view a copy of the Federal Register 
notice and Program Announcement from FY 2003, please visit the 
respective AoA and CMS Web sites at: http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aging_dis.asp and http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/resctrannappinst.pdf.
    The response of States to this grant opportunity revealed a strong 
interest on the part of States and their citizens to improve their 
community-based systems, and a vital role for Federal technical and 
resource assistance. We received 37 applications: 36 applications were 
from States and 1 application was from a Territory.
    On September 22, 2003, we announced the award of 12 FY 2003 Aging 
and Disability Resource Center Grants to States totaling $9.3 million 
(see section VIII of this notice for a list of FY 2003 grantees). For 
further information regarding the FY 2003 grantees, please visit the 
respective AoA and CMS Web sites at: http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aging_dis.asp or http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom.
    Since we received far more applications in FY 2003 than we were 
able to fund, we will not accept any new applications in FY 2004. 
Instead, we have used the independent review panel scores from FY 2003 
to determine the ranking of all applications and will continue to 
process the ranked applications submitted in FY 2003, beginning with 
the highest-ranked applications that were not funded in FY 2003 (for a 
listing of FY 2004 Qualified Applicants, see Table 2). In this way, we 
will attempt to provide funding for applications where funding was 
previously unavailable. On the day of publication of this Federal 
Register notice, we will contact the 12 FY 2004 Qualified Applicants by 
phone to advise them of the grant award. In addition, we will send to 
the FY 2004 Qualified Applicants a notice of the grant award, terms and 
conditions of award, and a Cooperative Agreement.
    We note that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
(CNMI) is one of 12 awardees of the 2004 Aging and Disability Resource 
Center grants. Due to CNMI's smaller, less complicated State government 
service structure, and a considerably smaller grant target population, 
the goals of the Aging and Disability Resource Center grant can be 
achieved with less funding. To illustrate, the total CNMI population is 
69,221, of which 1,047 are elderly (65 years and older), and 66 persons 
are 85 years and older. Of the total population, approximately 1,928 
are individuals with a known disability (data source: 2000 Census). 
Therefore, the recommended funding level for CNMI is $200,000 of the 
requested $756,114.
    We reserve the right to ensure reasonable balance in awarding 
grants in FY 2004, in terms of key factors (such as geographic 
distribution and broad target group representation), as noted in the FY 
2003 Program Announcement (see section I.2 of this notice for the Web 
site address). We reserve the right to reallocate those funds to the 
next highest-ranked FY 2004 Qualified Applicant(s), if a FY 2004 
Qualified Applicant is subsequently determined not to have met all of 
the requirements of our FY 2003 Notice of Funding Availability for the 
Aging and Disability Resource Center Grants (68 FR 32053), the grant 
terms and conditions, or otherwise fail to submit a signed Cooperative 
Agreement to us by the date indicated above in the DATES section of 
this notice.

II. Award Information

1. Funding Available
    Using FY 2004 funds, AoA and CMS will fund 12 Aging and Disability 
Resource Center Grants that total approximately $8.97 million (11 
grants at approximately $800,000 each and 1 grant at $200,000).
2. Description of Grant Opportunities
    As previously mentioned, this notice contains information about the 
manner in which we will continue the award process that originally 
started in FY 2003. We will not accept any new applications for Aging 
and Disability Resource Center grants in FY 2004. As previously stated, 
to view a copy of the Federal Register notice and Program Announcement 
from FY 2003, please visit the respective AoA and CMS Web sites at: 
http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aging_dis.asp and http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/resctrannappinst.pdf.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Definition of Qualified Applicants
    We will not accept any new applications in FY 2004, due to the 
number of quality, unfunded applications received in FY 2003. Instead, 
we will continue to process the ranked applications submitted in FY 
2003, beginning with the highest-ranked applications that were not 
funded in FY 2003. We will offer funding to those FY 2004 Qualified 
Applicants on the day that this notice is published in the Federal 
Register.
    FY 2004 Qualified Applicants are those Applicants who (1) submitted 
an application in FY 2003; and (2) received from us written 
notification dated November 18, 2003 that advised the applicant that 
his or her application received a score from the review panel in a 
range that would permit us to make an award ``subject to the 
availability of funding in FY 2004.'' Through our technical assistance 
efforts, we will continue to work with all States and Territories to 
improve community-integrated long-term services and supports.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
    As stated in the FY 2003 Program Announcement, ``Grantees are 
required to provide at least 5 percent of the project's total cost with 
non-Federal cash or a non-financial recipient contribution (match) in 
order to be considered for the award'' (see 68 FR 32054). A full 
description of the cost sharing or matching requirements for the Aging 
and Disability Resource Center Grants is included in the FY 2003 
Program Announcement (see ``Eligibility for grant awards and other 
requirements'' at 68 FR 32054.)
3. Eligibility Threshold Criteria
    See ``Qualified Applicants'' in part 2, section III.1 of this 
notice.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    As previously noted, we will not accept new applications for 
funding in FY 2004, as we will continue to process the ranked 
applications submitted in FY 2003, beginning with the highest-ranked 
applications that were not funded in FY 2003.
1. Address to Request Application Package
    N/A.

[[Page 22063]]

2. Content and Form of Application Submission
    N/A.
3. Submission Dates and Times
    Cooperative Agreement: The addresses for submitting signed 
Cooperative Agreements are listed in order by our preferred means of 
receipt; they are as follows: (1) Facsimile to Margaret Tolson at (202) 
357-3466; or (2) mail to Margaret Tolson, U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services, Administration on Aging, Office of Grants Management, 
Washington, DC 20201. Signed Cooperative Agreements mailed through the 
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial delivery service will be considered 
``on time'' if received by close of business on the closing date, or 
postmarked (first class mail) by the date specified and received within 
5 business days. If express, certified, or registered mail is used, the 
FY 2004 Qualified Applicant should obtain a legible dated mailing 
receipt from the U.S. Postal Service. Private metered postmarks are not 
acceptable as proof of timely mailings. Cooperative Agreements that do 
not meet the above criteria will be considered late.
    FY 2004 Qualified Applicants who would like to obtain an electronic 
copy of the Cooperative Agreement or have questions regarding the 
Cooperative Agreement, please contact Greg Case at (202) 357-3442 or e-
mail at [email protected].
4. Funding Restrictions
    Reimbursement of indirect costs under this notice is governed by 
the provisions of OMB Circular A-87 and the regulations of the U. S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (45 CFR 92--States), 
Grants Policy Directive (GPD) Part 3.01: Post-Award--Indirect Costs and 
Other Cost Policies. A copy of OMB Circular A-87 is available online 
at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a087/a087.html. Additional 
information regarding the Department's internal policies for indirect 
rates is available online at: http://www.hhs.gov/grantsnet/adminis/gpd/gpd301.htm.
5. Other Submission Requirements
    N/A.

V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria
    N/A.
2. Review and Selection Process
    N/A.

VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices
    Successful applicants will receive two Notices of Grant Award 
(NGA). One will be signed and dated by the AoA Grants Management 
Officer, and one will be signed and dated by the CMS Grants Management 
Officer. The NGA is the document that authorizes the grant award, and 
it will be sent through the U.S. Postal Service to the applicant 
organization. Any communication between either AoA or CMS and 
applicants before the issuance of the NGA is not an authorization to 
begin performance of a project. The notices of grant award will be 
concurrently issued with the publication of the Federal Register 
notice.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
    A full description of the administrative and national policy 
requirements for Aging and Disability Resource Center Grants are 
described in the May 29, 2003, Federal Register (68 FR 32053) and the 
FY 2003 Program Announcement.
    This funding opportunity will lead to awards with AoA's and CMS' 
standard terms and conditions and may lead to awards with additional 
``special'' terms and conditions. FY 2004 Qualified Applicants should 
be aware that special requirements could apply to particular awards 
based on the particular circumstances of the effort to be supported 
and/or deficiencies identified in the application by AoA and CMS (for 
example, failure to supply an acceptable work plan or detailed 36-month 
budget).
3. Reporting
    Grantees must agree to cooperate with any Federal evaluation of the 
program and provide semi-annual and final reports in a form prescribed 
by AoA and CMS (including the SF-269a, ``Financial Status Report''). 
These reports will describe how grant funds were used, program 
progress, any barriers to project implementation, and measurable 
outcomes. AoA and CMS will provide a format for reporting and technical 
assistance necessary to complete required report forms. Grantees must 
also agree to respond to requests that are necessary for the evaluation 
of the national Real Choice Systems Change Grants efforts and provide 
data on key elements of their Real Choice Systems Change Grant 
activities.

VII. Agency Contacts

    To obtain additional information about the Aging and Disability 
Resource Center Grants, please visit our respective Web sites at: 
http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aging_dis/aging_dis.as or http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/default.asp. To obtain additional 
information regarding the Real Choice Systems Change Grants Program, 
please visit the CMS Web site at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/default.asp.
    Programmatic questions concerning the Aging and Disability Resource 
Center Grants may be directed to: Greg Case, U.S. Department of Health 
and Human Services, Administration on Aging, Center for Planning and 
Policy Development, Washington, DC 20201, telephone: (202) 357-3442 or 
e-mail: [email protected]. Questions about the Real Choice Systems 
Change Grant Program and this notice may be directed to: Mary Guy, U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, DEHPG/
DCSI, Mail Stop: S2-14-26, 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21244-
1850, (410) 786-2772, or e-mail: [email protected].
    Administrative questions about the Aging and Disability Resource 
Center Grants may be directed to: Margaret Tolson, U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, Office of Grants 
Management, Washington, DC 20201, 202-357-3440 (voice), 202-357-3466 
(facsimile) or by e-mail by at [email protected] or Judith L. 
Norris, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, OICS/Acquisition and 
Grants Group, Mail Stop C2-21-15, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 
MD 21244-1850, 410-786-5130 (voice), 410-786-9088 (fax), or by e-mail 
at [email protected].

VIII. Other Information

[[Page 22064]]



    Table 1.--Existing Awards--Below Are the Grantees That Accepted Awards in FY 2003 as Described in Part 2,
                                           Section I.2 of This Notice
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                  State                                            Agency                           Total award
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                   Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant Program Fiscal Year 2003 Awards
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Louisiana................................  Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs.................        $799,998
Maine....................................  DHS Bureau of Elder and Adult Services...............         767,205
Maryland.................................  Department of Aging..................................         800,000
Massachusetts............................  Executive Office of Elder Affairs....................         750,000
Minnesota................................  Board on Aging.......................................         739,136
Montana..................................  DPHHS Senior and Long-Term Care Division.............         699,284
New Hampshire............................  University of New Hampshire..........................         800,000
New Jersey...............................  Department of Health & Senior Services...............         798,041
Pennsylvania.............................  Department of Aging..................................         764,000
Rhode Island.............................  Department of Elderly Affairs........................         749,000
South Carolina...........................  DHHS Bureau of Senior Services.......................         800,000
West Virginia............................  Bureau of Senior Services............................         798,975
                                                                                                 ---------------
    Total................................  .....................................................       9,265,639
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Table 2.--New Awards--Below Are the Qualified Applicants That Were Offered New Awards in FY 2004 as Described in
                                       Part 2, Section I.2 of This Notice.
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                                                 Agency                        Address             Award amount
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            Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant Program Fiscal Year 2004 Qualified Applicants
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Arkansas...........................  Arkansas Department of Human   P.O. Box 1437, Slot S530,           $793,262
                                      Services, Division of Aging    Little Rock, AR 72203-1437.
                                      and Adult Services.
CNMI...............................  Commonwealth of the Northern   Caller Box 10007, Saipan, MP         200,000
                                      Mariana Islands, Department    96950.
                                      of Community & Cultural
                                      Affairs.
Iowa...............................  State of Iowa, Department of   Clemens Building, 3rd Floor,         799,950
                                      Elder Affairs.                 200 10th Street, Des
                                                                     Moines, IA 50309-3609.
North Carolina.....................  North Carolina Department of   2101 Mail Services Center,           800,000
                                      Health & Human Services,       Raleigh, NC 27699-2101.
                                      Office of Long Term Care.
Georgia............................  Georgia Department of Human    Two Peachtree St., NW.,              799,998
                                      Resources, Division of Aging   Suite 9.398, Atlanta, GA
                                      Services.                      30303-3142.
Illinois...........................  Illinois Department on Aging,  421 East Capitol Avenue,             800,000
                                      Division of Older American     100, Springfield,
                                      Services.                      IL 62701-1789.
New Mexico.........................  New Mexico Aging and Long-     228 East Palace Ave., Santa          798,900
                                      Term Care Dept., Consumer      Fe, NM 87501.
                                      and Elder Rights Division.
Wisconsin..........................  State of Wisconsin,            1 West Wilson Street, P.O.           799,999
                                      Department of Health and       Box 7850, Madison, WI 53707-
                                      Family Services.               7850.
Alaska.............................  Alaska Housing Finance         P.O. Box 101020, Anchorage,          799,581
                                      Corporation.                   AK 99510-1020.
Indiana............................  Indiana Division of            P.O. Box 7083, Indianapolis,         778,810
                                      Disability, Aging &            IN 46207-7083.
                                      Rehabilitative Services,
                                      Bureau of Aging and In-Home
                                      Services.
California.........................  State of California            1600 K Street Sacramento, CA         799,998
                                      Department of Aging,           95814.
                                      Director's Office.
Florida............................  Florida Department of Elder    4040 Esplanade Way,                  799,945
                                      Affairs Planning and           Tallahassee, FL 32399-7000.
                                      Evaluation Unit.
    Total..........................  .............................  ............................       8,970,443
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IX. Information Collection Requirements

    In summary, this notice informs applicants of the ``AoA and CMS 
Aging and Disability Resource Center Grants Program'' that CMS will not 
accept any new applications but plans to continue to process the ranked 
applications submitted in FY 2003, beginning with the highest-ranked 
applications that were not funded in FY 2003. This notice also informs 
grantees that they must agree to cooperate with any Federal evaluation 
of the program, provide semi-annual and final reports in a form 
prescribed by AoA and CMS, and respond to requests that are necessary 
for the evaluation of the national Real Choice Systems Change Grants 
efforts.
    These information collection requirements are subject to the PRA; 
however, the burden associated with these requirements are currently 
approved under OMB control number 0938-0903 entitled ``AoA Grant 
Solicitation'' with a current expiration date of 2/28/2007.

    Dated: April 2, 2004.
Josefina G. Carbonell,
Assistant Secretary for Aging.

    Dated: March 19, 2004.
Dennis G. Smith,
Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
[FR Doc. 04-8830 Filed 4-16-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P