[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14263-14266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5590]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--
Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--
Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTCs)

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority for a RRTC on Vocational 
Rehabilitation.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services proposes a priority on vocational 
rehabilitation under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research 
Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute

[[Page 14264]]

on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant 
Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 
2007 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention 
on areas of national need. We intend this priority to improve 
rehabilitation services and outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before April 26, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Donna 
Nangle, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 
6030, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20204-2700. If you prefer to 
send your comments through the Internet, use the following address: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Nangle. Telephone: (202) 245-
7462.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    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.

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 on this notice of proposed priority in room 6030, 550 12th 
Street, SW., Potomac Center Plaza, 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 notice of proposed priority. If you want to 
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    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 using 
additional priorities or selection criteria, 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 in the Federal Register. When inviting 
applications we designate the 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 competitive priority (34 
CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an application that meets the 
competitive 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 
invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over 
other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice of proposed priority is in 
concert with President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative (NFI) 
and NIDRR's Final Long-Range Plan for FY 2005-2009 (Plan). The NFI can 
be accessed on the Internet at the following site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom.
    The Plan, which was published in the Federal Register on February 
15, 2006 (71 FR 8165), can be accessed on the Internet at the following 
site: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/policy.html.
    Through the implementation of the NFI and the Plan, NIDRR seeks 
to--(1) Improve the quality and utility of disability and 
rehabilitation research; (2) Foster an exchange of expertise, 
information, and training to facilitate the advancement of knowledge 
and understanding of the unique needs of traditionally underserved 
populations; (3) Determine best strategies and programs to improve 
rehabilitation outcomes for underserved populations; (4) Identify 
research gaps; (5) Identify mechanisms of integrating research and 
practice; and (6) Disseminate findings.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTCs)

    RRTCs conduct coordinated and integrated advanced programs of 
research targeted toward the production of new knowledge to improve 
rehabilitation methodology and service delivery systems, alleviate or 
stabilize disability conditions, or promote maximum social and economic 
independence for persons with disabilities. Additional information on 
the RRTC program can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/res-program.html#RRTC.

General Requirements of RRTCs

    RRTCs must--
     Carry out coordinated advanced programs of rehabilitation 
research;
     Provide training, including graduate, pre-service, and in-
service training, to help rehabilitation personnel more effectively 
provide rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities;
     Provide technical assistance to individuals with 
disabilities, their representatives, providers, and other interested 
parties;
     Demonstrate in their applications how they will address, 
in whole or in part, the needs of individuals with disabilities from 
minority backgrounds;
     Disseminate informational materials to individuals with 
disabilities, their representatives, providers, and other interested 
parties; and
     Serve as centers of national excellence in rehabilitation 
research for individuals with disabilities, their representatives, 
providers, and other interested parties.

Priority

Background

    Approximately 56 percent of working-age individuals with 
disabilities are employed, including 42 percent of those with severe 
disabilities, compared to the 88 percent of working-age individuals who 
do not have a disability who are employed (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). 
The rate of employment among individuals with disabilities varies by 
type of disabling condition and severity of disability (U.S. Census 
Bureau, 2002).
    As authorized under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 
amended, the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, which is 
administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), has 
been providing employment services to individuals with disabilities

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for more than eight decades. With agencies in every State and 
Territory, the VR program annually achieves more than 200,000 
employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities, as the term 
employment outcome is defined in 34 CFR 361.5(b)(16).
    The VR program exists within a complex and dynamic network of 
Federal and State policies and programs that provide employment 
services to individuals with disabilities with the purpose of obtaining 
employment outcomes and increasing earnings from employment. At the 
Federal level, these efforts include, but are not limited to, the 
Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work Program and other 
related work incentive and benefits planning initiatives, and the 
Department of Labor's ``one-stop'' career center program, which is part 
of the array of programs authorized under the Workforce Investment Act. 
At the State level, programs that provide employment services to 
individuals with disabilities include State developmental disability 
agencies and State mental health agencies. These and other State level 
agencies often use funds provided by the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services (CMS) through Medicaid waiver programs and Medicaid 
infrastructure grants, and may benefit from CMS Medicaid buy in 
provisions. Services to individuals are either delivered directly by 
State and local government agencies or by community non-governmental 
organizations (community NGOs). The differing arrangements and funding 
of State programs and the interaction of State, Federal and other 
programs and funding sources create a variety of complex employment 
service delivery structures for individuals with disabilities.
    A strategic partnership between RSA and NIDRR, both of which are 
located in the Department's Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services, provides an opportunity to develop systematic 
knowledge of the variations in these complex and dynamic State-level 
structures, and the VR program's role and position within them. This 
new knowledge will provide the VR program with an empirical context in 
which services and service delivery systems and mechanisms can be 
designed to optimize VR outcomes and the employment of individuals with 
disabilities.
    New knowledge about the VR program and how it relates to other 
employment policies and programs for individuals with disabilities will 
also provide an empirical context within which high-quality research on 
the employment status of individuals with disabilities can be 
conducted. NIDRR aims to sponsor research that will increase the number 
of validated interventions to enhance employment outcomes among 
individuals with disabilities (NIDRR Long Range Plan, 2005-2009). 
Without adequate knowledge of the complex and dynamic environment of 
policies and programs in which employment interventions are delivered 
to individuals with disabilities, research on those interventions is 
likely to lack validity and real-world applicability.
    In addition to detailed information about the structure of 
disability employment services, service providers and researchers also 
require information about successful practices for prioritizing and 
providing services to individuals with the most significant 
disabilities. Section 101(a)(5) of the Rehabilitation Act requires that 
individuals with the most significant disabilities be selected first 
for VR services. Interpretation and implementation of this statutory 
requirement varies widely across the States. Research is needed to 
identify best practices for prioritizing the delivery of VR services to 
individuals with the most significant disabilities.
    New knowledge about successful practices for serving individuals 
with the most significant disabilities is also needed. Individuals with 
developmental disabilities and mental illness have been identified as 
subpopulations that have particularly low rates of employment (U.S. 
Census Bureau, 2002). Identification of best practices for serving and 
placing individuals with these conditions will inform service delivery 
practice, and create intervention-related hypotheses that can be 
evaluated through rigorous research.

References

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (2005). 
NIDRR Long-Range Plan: 2005-2009. See http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/policy.html.
U.S. Census Bureau (2002). Survey of Income and Program 
Participation. Table 5: Disability Status, Employment, and Annual 
Earnings: Individuals 21 to 64 Years Old: 2002. See http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/sipp/disable02.html.

Proposed Priority

    The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services proposes a priority for the funding of a Rehabilitation 
Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) 
Services. The RRTC must conduct research on the complex employment 
service delivery structures for individuals with disabilities, 
investigate ``best VR practices'' in certain critical areas, and 
provide training and technical assistance in order to improve VR 
services and employment outcomes among individuals with disabilities. 
Under this priority, the RRTC must contribute to the following 
outcomes:
    (a) A foundation of available knowledge about the VR program's 
characteristics and outcomes. The RRTC must contribute to this outcome 
by conducting a literature review and creating a synthesis of previous 
research on the system-level characteristics of the VR program, and 
outcomes associated with those characteristics. This review and 
synthesis will inform the subsequent research, training, and evaluation 
efforts of the RRTC.
    (b) Increased knowledge about the broad constellation of Federal 
and State policies and programs through which employment services are 
delivered to individuals with disabilities, and the characteristics of 
individuals with disabilities who are receiving those services. The 
RRTC must contribute to this outcome by researching and providing a 
detailed State-by-State description of the larger employment services 
network and the role of the VR program within it. This research must 
identify and describe key characteristics of Federal, State and local 
government entities and community non-governmental organizations that 
either directly deliver or directly purchase employment services for 
individuals with disabilities.
    (c) Increased knowledge of the structure and operations of VR 
service delivery practices at the State level. The RRTC must contribute 
to this outcome by researching and providing a detailed description of 
the key characteristics of each State's VR system. These 
characteristics should include, but not be limited to, VR service 
delivery structure and practices, patterns of resource allocation, 
patterns of internal and external provision of services, the extent to 
which the VR agency uses cooperative agreements with other agencies to 
deliver services, operational definitions of ``individuals with the 
most significant disabilities,'' characteristics of clients, employment 
outcomes and settings, the level of integration of work settings, the 
extent of use of home-based employment, and means of addressing 
transportation barriers. This research must describe elements internal 
to each State's VR agency or agencies, and provide a base upon which 
future researchers can analyze the operational consequences

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and outcomes of different internal arrangements and agency decisions.
    (d) Increased knowledge of ``best VR practices'' for prioritizing 
and providing services to individuals with the most significant 
disabilities. The RRTC must contribute to this outcome by conducting 
research on the extent to which individuals with the most significant 
disabilities are given priority for services from their respective 
State VR programs, and identifying best practices among the State VR 
programs in ensuring that individuals with the most significant 
disabilities receive services on a priority basis. Collection and 
analysis of data for this research must be coordinated with and 
informed by research on the disability employment service and VR 
structures described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this priority. This 
coordination will allow ``best practices'' findings to be properly 
contextualized, and therefore more likely to be successfully applied in 
other States or agencies.
    (e) Increased knowledge of ``best VR practices'' for individuals 
with developmental disabilities (DD) and individuals with mental 
illness (MI). The RRTC must contribute to this outcome by conducting 
research on best practices for placing or retaining individuals with DD 
and individuals with MI in jobs. Collection and analysis of data for 
this best practices research must be coordinated with and informed by 
research on the disability employment service and VR structures 
described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this priority. This coordination 
will allow ``best practices'' findings to be properly contextualized, 
and therefore more likely to be successfully applied in other States or 
agencies.
    (f) Enhancement of the knowledge base of State and Federal 
administrators of the VR program and other employment programs for 
individuals with disabilities, through disseminating research results 
and providing training and technical assistance based on the new 
knowledge about the disability employment service structures described 
in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this priority, and ``best practices'' 
knowledge described in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this priority.
    In addition, this RRTC must:
     Collaborate with RSA's technical assistance mechanisms to 
effectively disseminate best practices materials developed in the 
research component of this RRTC.
     Coordinate its research, dissemination, training, and 
technical assistance efforts with grantees in NIDRR's Employment 
domain, as appropriate.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice of proposed priority has been reviewed in accordance 
with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, we have 
assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory action.
    The potential costs associated with the notice of proposed priority 
are those resulting from statutory requirements and those we have 
determined as necessary for administering these programs effectively 
and efficiently.
    In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative 
and qualitative--of this notice of proposed priority, we have 
determined that the benefits of the proposed priority justify the 
costs.
    Summary of potential costs and benefits: The potential costs 
associated with this proposed priority are minimal while the benefits 
are significant.
    The benefits of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers 
have been well established over the years in that similar projects have 
been completed successfully. This proposed priority will generate new 
knowledge and technologies through research, development, 
dissemination, utilization, and technical assistance projects.
    Another benefit of this proposed priority is that the establishment 
of a new RRTC conducting research projects will support the President's 
NFI and will improve the lives of persons with disabilities. This RRTC 
will generate, disseminate, and promote the use of new information that 
will improve the options for individuals with disabilities to perform 
regular activities in the community.
    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view 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: 
http://www.ed.gov/news/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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133B, 
Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers Program.)

    Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b)(2).

    Dated: March 22, 2007.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
 [FR Doc. E7-5590 Filed 3-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P