[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 150 (Thursday, August 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47240-47241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19823]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Disability Employment Policy


``Add Us In'' Initiative

AGENCY: Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor.

    Announcement Type: New Notice of Availability of Funds and 
Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) for Cooperative Agreements. 
The full announcement is posted on http://www.grants.gov.

[[Page 47241]]

    Funding Opportunity Number: SGA 11-02.

DATES: Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications is 
September 6, 2011 via http://www.grants.gov.

Funding Opportunity Description

    The U.S. Department of Labor (``DOL'' or ``Department''), Office of 
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announces the availability of 
approximately $1.65 million to be awarded to consortia to fund three 
cooperative agreements ranging from $500,000 to $550,000. The goal of 
the Add Us In initiative is to identify and develop strategies to 
increase the capacity of small businesses and communities, including 
underrepresented and historically excluded communities, to employ youth 
and adults with disabilities. Add Us In aims to achieve these goals 
through: (1) The development and evaluation of replicable models, 
strategies and policies \1\ that would ensure that youth and adults 
with disabilities from communities that include underrepresented and 
historically excluded communities have access to a broader range of 
employment and mentoring opportunities; (2) the development of active 
and sustainable partnerships between targeted businesses, diversity-
serving organizations, youth-serving organizations and disability-
serving organizations; and (3) the building of a national and local 
network of experts skilled in meeting the employment needs of 
individuals with disabilities and the hiring needs of targeted business 
owners. The goal of Add Us In will be accomplished through the 
competitive funding of consortia tasked to design, implement and 
evaluate innovative systems models that support competitive employment 
opportunities for people with disabilities within targeted businesses.
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    \1\ Replicable models, strategies and policies are methods of 
connecting people with disabilities to employment and might include, 
but are not limited to, mentoring, entrepreneurial activities, 
internships, training and leadership opportunities.
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    For the purpose of this solicitation, the inclusion of 
underrepresented and historically excluded communities, defined below, 
is a specific focus. The make-up of these communities may vary in 
different regions, and can include: ethnic and racial minorities 
including African American, Asian American (including Asian Americans 
of West Asian decent, e.g., India, and Asian Americans of East Asian 
decent, e.g., Japan and Korea); Latino or Hispanic American; Federally 
recognized Tribes and Native American communities (including American 
Indians; Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Native Pacific 
Islanders (including American Samoan Natives)); Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, 
Transgender (LGBT) individuals; women; veterans; and other similar 
groups.
    Historically excluded communities are areas or groups that face 
some or all of the following economic challenges: blight, 
underinvestment, low per capita income, high poverty, high 
unemployment, discrimination in housing, credit or the labor market, 
environmental or natural resource degradation, and mass layoffs. A 
targeted business is a small for-profit enterprise such as a sole 
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or joint venture of any kind, 
physically located in the United States or its trust territories that 
is at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled on a daily basis 
by a United States citizen (or citizens) who are members of 
underrepresented and historically excluded communities.\2\
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    \2\ For the purposes of this solicitation, the definition of a 
``small'' (with regard to the size of the business) is as determined 
by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations 
addressing business size standards (13 CFR part 121).
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    The full Solicitation for Grant Applications is posted on http://www.grants.gov under U.S. Department of Labor/ODEP. Applications 
submitted through http://www.grants.gov or hard copy will be accepted. 
If you need to speak to a person concerning these grants, you may 
telephone Cassandra Mitchell at 202-693-4570 (not a toll-free number). 
If you have issues regarding access to the http://www.grants.gov Web 
site, you may telephone the Contact Center Phone at 1-800-518-4726.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 1st day of August 2011.
Cassandra R. Mitchell,
Grant Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-19823 Filed 8-3-11; 8:45 am]
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