[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 123 (Friday, June 26, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36736-36743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15754]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter III
[Docket ID ED-2015-OSERS-0070]
Proposed Priority and Definitions--Rehabilitation Training:
Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center-Targeted
Communities
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Proposed priority and definitions.
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[CFDA Number: 84.264F.]
SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) proposes a priority and definitions to
fund a cooperative agreement to develop and support a Vocational
Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Targeted Communities
(VRTAC-TC). We take this action to focus Federal financial assistance
on an identified national need. We intend the VRTAC-TC to improve the
capacity of State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies and their
partners to increase participation levels for individuals with
disabilities from low-income communities and to equip these individuals
with the skills and competencies needed to obtain high-quality
competitive integrated employment.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 27, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies,
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to
submit your comments electronically. Information on using
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents,
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site
under ``Are you new to the site?''
Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed regulations, address
them to Sandy DeRobertis, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW., Room 5094, Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC
20202-2800.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments
received from members of the public available for public viewing in
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to
include in their comments only information that they wish to make
publicly available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy DeRobertis. Telephone: (202)
245-6769 or by email: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this notice. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the notice of final priority and definitions, we urge you to
identify clearly the specific section of the proposed priority or
definition that each comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 and their overall
requirement of reducing regulatory burden that might result from this
proposed priority and these proposed definitions. Please let us know of
any further ways we could 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 notice in Room 5094, 550 12th Street SW., PCP,
Washington, DC 20202-2800, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00
p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except
Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an appropriate
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the
public rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended
[[Page 36737]]
by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (the Rehabilitation
Act), the Rehabilitation Services Administration makes grants to States
and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations (including
institutions of higher education) to support projects that provide
training and technical assistance (TA) services designed to increase
the numbers of, and improve the skills of, qualified personnel
(especially rehabilitation counselors) who are trained to: (1) Provide
vocational, medical, social, and psychological rehabilitation services
to individuals with disabilities; (2) assist individuals with
communication and related disorders; and (3) provide other services
authorized under the Rehabilitation Act.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 772(a)(1).
Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 385.
Proposed Priority
This notice contains one proposed priority.
Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Targeted
Communities.
Background
State VR agencies are authorized to operate statewide
comprehensive, coordinated, effective, efficient, and accountable VR
programs. Each program is an integral part of a statewide workforce
development system and is designed to assess, plan, develop, and
provide VR services for individuals with disabilities, consistent with
their unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities,
capabilities, interests, and informed choice, so that they may prepare
for and engage in competitive integrated employment and achieve
economic self-sufficiency.
Poverty and disability, considered separately, can, and often do,
compound the challenges that workforce development programs and VR
programs need to address when offering employment and training services
(DeNavas-Walt and Proctor, 2014). For example, 2012-2013 data reported
by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicate that
only 62 percent of students with disabilities and 73 percent of low-
income students graduate from high school, as opposed to 81 percent of
students overall. Indeed, regardless of age, individuals who are
economically disadvantaged or disabled lag behind their peers, on
average, on almost every academic and professional measure, and
individuals who are both economically disadvantaged and disabled tend
to lag further behind.
Moreover, the barriers to employment faced by individuals who are
both economically disadvantaged and disabled are compounded when they
reside in communities that have high crime rates, low-performing
schools, insufficient access to public transportation, few employers,
and a paucity of social service programs. Accordingly, State VR
agencies have had limited success when serving economically
disadvantaged individuals with disabilities in these communities.
Research suggests that the substandard participation rates and
types of employment outcomes achieved through the VR system by
economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities may be shaped
more by social and economic circumstances than by their cognitive,
physical, or communication limitations or by their limited occupational
experience, skills, and training. In general, these studies point out
that as economic conditions improve and as unemployment levels decline,
the demand for disability payments and VR services decreases (Fremstad,
2009; RSA, 2015).
Economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities tend to
have greater VR needs and fewer resources than more financially secure
individuals with disabilities. Further, individuals with disabilities
are much more likely to experience material hardships--such as food
insecurity, inability to pay rent, mortgage, and utilities, or
inability to afford needed medical care--than individuals without
disabilities at the same income levels (Fremstad, 2009). Likewise,
individuals with disabilities have greater VR needs because of the all-
too-often debilitating impact upon their workforce development skills
resulting from longstanding inferior access to quality schools and
community support systems. Accordingly, in low-income communities there
tends to be a heightened need for comprehensive wrap-around VR services
for individuals with disabilities, including basic education, remedial
learning, and literacy services.
The VRTAC-TC would seek both to address the persistent opportunity
gaps that exist, regardless of race, between poor neighborhoods and
middle class and wealthier communities and to eliminate barriers that
too often prevent individuals with disabilities from low-income
communities from fully accessing and benefitting from VR services. To
help remedy the support gaps that may exist, the VRTAC-TC would promote
greater availability of an array of comprehensive VR services,
including pre-employment transition services, transition services, and
customized VR services.
The VRTAC-TC would work from the assumption that VR alone cannot
effectively and efficiently address the persistent, pervasive, multi-
layered economic and disability-related barriers to employment specific
to economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities who live in
targeted communities. This priority, therefore, is designed to provide
State VR agencies and their partners with the skills and competencies
needed to effectively and efficiently address these barriers and help
these individuals achieve competitive integrated employment.
The VRTAC-TC would provide intensive technical assistance to State
VR agencies and their partners that is designed to maximize community
support services in targeted communities, complement VR services, and
promote competitive integrated employment consistent with informed
choice for economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities.
These targeted communities, serving as intensive field-based
intervention sites, would also serve as the basis for the VRTAC-TC,
along with an online VR community of practice, to develop effective
practices for serving VR consumers throughout the Nation who are both
disabled and economically disadvantaged.
References
DeNavas-Walt, Carmen and Proctor, Bernadette D., ``Income and
Poverty in the United States: 2013'' (Washington: Bureau of the
Census, 2014), available at www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf.
Fremstad, Shawn, ``Half in Ten: Why Taking Disability into Account
is Essential to Reducing Income Poverty and Expanding Economic
Inclusion'' (Washington: Center for Economic and Policy Research,
2009), available at www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/half-in-ten/.
National Center for Education Statistics: ``2012-2013 Graduation
Rates,'' available at www.nces.ed.gov/.
Rehabilitation Services Administration (2015). RSA-911 Case Service
Report for FY 2013 (non-published).
Proposed Priority
The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services proposes to fund a cooperative agreement to establish a
Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Targeted
Communities (VRTAC-TC) to provide technical assistance (TA) and
training to upgrade
[[Page 36738]]
and increase the competency, skills, and knowledge of vocational
rehabilitation (VR) counselors and other professionals to assist
economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities (as defined in
this notice) to achieve competitive integrated employment outcomes.
The VRTAC-TC will facilitate linkages for the State VR agencies
through substantial outreach to partner agencies within targeted
communities (as defined in this notice) to increase the resources and
key partnerships needed to address the daily living stressors that
often result in unsuccessful VR case closures, including childcare
needs, homelessness, hunger, safety concerns, interpersonal issues, and
lack of transportation, basic or remedial education services, and
literacy services.
TA and Training Deliverables
The VRTAC-TC must, at a minimum, develop and provide training, TA,
and opportunities for ongoing discussion in each of the following areas
to rehabilitation professionals and staff from both (1) the State VR
agencies and partner agencies who are serving the targeted communities,
and (2) diverse service providers throughout the Nation, including
State VR agency staff, who work with high-leverage groups with national
applicability (as defined in this notice) in other economically
disadvantaged communities similar to the targeted communities that are
the focus of this priority:
(a) Developing and maintaining formal and informal partnerships and
relationships with relevant stakeholders (including, but not limited
to, State and local social service and community development agencies,
correctional facilities, community rehabilitation programs (CRPs),
school systems, and employers) for the following coordinated
activities:
(1) Increasing referrals to the State VR system for economically
disadvantaged individuals with disabilities from at least two high-
leverage groups with national applicability residing in each of the
targeted communities; and
(2) Facilitating the provision of support services by stakeholders
to VR consumers and applicants from at least two high-leverage groups
with national applicability residing in each of the targeted
communities;
(b) Developing and implementing outreach policies and procedures
based on evidence-based and promising practices that ensure that
consumers with disabilities from each of the targeted communities are
located, identified, and evaluated for services; and
(c) Developing and implementing collaborative and coordinated
service strategies designed to increase the number of consumers with
disabilities from targeted communities who are served by the State VR
agencies, receive support services from other stakeholders, and obtain,
maintain, regain, or advance in competitive integrated employment.
Project Activities
To meet the requirements of this priority, the VRTAC-TC must, at a
minimum, conduct the following activities:
Knowledge Development Activities
(a) Within the first year, survey each of the 80 State VR agencies
regarding the action steps, including emerging, promising, and
evidence-based practices utilized, that the VR agencies have previously
used to address substandard participation levels and performance
outcomes achieved by residents of targeted communities within their
States;
(b) Within the first year, conduct a literature review of emerging,
promising, and evidence-based practices relevant to the work of the
VRTAC-TC. The review should include, at a minimum, research on place-
based interventions and the particular needs of economically
disadvantaged individuals with disabilities;
(c) By the end of the first year, post on its Web site the results
of its survey and literature review; and
(d) Categorize, analyze, and provide an opportunity for interactive
commentary by VR professionals about all information posted on its Web
site in order to identify the workforce participation challenges and
resources that underserved individuals with disabilities (as defined in
this notice) from economically disadvantaged communities tend to have
in common and to identify examples of the types of VR services that
have been used to address their employment and training needs. This
interactive process should facilitate both evaluating and adjusting the
ongoing and planned interventions within the targeted communities and
the development of effective practices for the nationwide VR community.
Targeted Community Selection and Development
(a) In the first year, survey each of the 80 State VR agencies to
identify two or more groups of underserved individuals with
disabilities from one or more targeted communities in each of their
respective States. All identified targeted communities in each State
must meet the eligibility requirements for designation as an
Empowerment Zone under either 24 CFR 598.100 or 7 CFR 25.100;
(b) Develop intensive TA (as defined in this notice) proposals for
at least 20 targeted communities to present to the Rehabilitation
Services Administration (RSA). The proposals must:
(1) Include communities that reflect national diversity with
respect to State, region, and culture. Communities must be situated in
at least 12 States and territories located within no fewer than eight
of the nine Census Divisions (State groupings) defined by the U.S.
Census Bureau (For more information on Census Divisions, see
www.census.gov/geo/reference/gtc/gtc_census_divreg.html). No more than
two targeted communities may be located within any one State or
territory, and no more than four may be located within any one Census
Division; and
(2) Include the following information for each targeted community
recommended:
(A) A map that shows the targeted community's boundaries and
relevant demographic characteristics, including poverty concentration;
(B) Documentation that within the targeted community's boundaries:
(i) The median household income is below 200 percent of the Federal
poverty level; and
(ii) The rate of unemployment is at or above the national annual
average rate;
(C) A performance chart of State VR agency data that documents
substandard participation levels and performance outcomes achieved by
VR consumers and applicants from high-leverage groups with national
applicability from the targeted communities in comparison to the
State's overall performance that includes the following for all
relevant groups:
(i) The number of applicants and percentage of the overall
population;
(ii) The number and percentage of individuals determined eligible;
(iii) The number and percentage of individuals receiving VR
services pursuant to an individualized plan for employment;
(iv) The number and percentage of individuals whose service records
were closed without employment; and
(v) The number and percentage of individuals whose service records
were closed after achieving employment;
(D) A brief (one or two pages) overview by the State VR agency
addressing the following for high-leverage groups with national
applicability from the targeted communities:
[[Page 36739]]
(i) The factors that the agency believes have contributed to the
substandard performance outlined in the chart; and
(ii) Action steps that the VR agency has previously taken to
address these performance gaps;
(E) A two- or three-page proposed intensive TA work plan by the
VRTAC-TC that addresses:
(i) The performance gaps summarized in the chart required by
paragraph (b)(2)(C) of this section;
(ii) The barriers to employment described in the State VR agency's
overview statement required by paragraph (b)(2)(D) of this section;
(iii) The strategies being proposed to remediate the identified
barriers in the targeted community;
(iv) The potential replicability of the strategies in the work plan
for targeted communities in other parts of the State; and
(v) The potential to replicate the strategies in the work plan for
targeted communities in other States; and
(F) Letters of support from the State VR agency and partners in the
community (e.g., employers, secondary and post-secondary educational
institutions, and community leaders) stating their intent to work
cooperatively with the VRTAC-TC should the targeted community be chosen
as a recipient of intensive TA.
Targeted Community Timeline
(a) By the end of the first year, provide RSA with, at minimum, 10
proposals (as described in paragraph (b) of the ``Targeted Community
Selection and Development'' section of this priority) from which RSA
will select six to receive intensive TA from the VRTAC-TC;
(b) By no later than the third quarter of the second year provide
RSA with, at minimum, 10 proposals (as described in paragraph (b) of
the ``Targeted Community Selection and Development'' section of this
priority) in addition to the proposals described in paragraph (a) of
this section, from which RSA will select six to receive intensive TA
from the VRTAC-TC;
(c) By no later than the first quarter of the second year, begin
providing intensive TA to VR staff, CRPs, employers, education and
training entities, and community leaders, as appropriate, in at least
three of the targeted communities approved by RSA in the first year;
(d) By no later than the third quarter of the second year, be
providing intensive TA to VR staff, CRPs, employers, education and
training entities, and community leaders, as appropriate, in all
targeted communities approved by RSA in the first year;
(e) By no later than the first quarter of the third year, begin
providing intensive TA to VR staff, CRPs, employers, education and
training entities, and community leaders, as appropriate, in at least
three of the targeted communities approved by RSA in the second year;
and
(f) By no later than the third quarter of the third year, be
providing intensive TA to VR staff, CRPs, employers, education and
training entities, and community leaders, as appropriate, to all
targeted communities approved by RSA in the second year.
Technical Assistance Activities
(a) At a minimum, provide intensive TA that is aligned with the
proposals described in paragraph (b) of the Targeted Community
Selection and Development section of this priority to the VR agency
within each of the targeted communities on the following topic areas,
as appropriate:
(1) Using labor market data and occupational information to provide
individuals with disabilities from high-leverage groups with national
applicability who reside in targeted communities with information about
job demand, skills matching, supports, education, training, and career
options;
(2) Providing disability-related consultation and services to
employers about competitive integrated employment of economically
disadvantaged individuals with disabilities from high-leverage groups
with national applicability;
(3) Building and maintaining relationships in targeted communities
with industry leaders, employer associations, and prospective employers
of economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities from high-
leverage groups with national applicability;
(4) Building and maintaining relationships with secondary and post-
secondary institutions and CRPs that serve to support transition
activities and leverage programs and providers of basic education,
remedial learning, and literacy services to the targeted communities
and are committed to providing individualized wrap-around VR services
that are attuned to the remedial and ongoing support services needed by
economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities;
(5) Building and maintaining alliances with schools, community
organizations, and business leaders with a heightened understanding of
the acculturation and assimilation issues within the targeted
communities regarding culture, religion, language, dialect, and
socioeconomic status that might be impeding full participation of the
economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities from high-
leverage groups with national applicability; and
(6) Developing services for providers of customized training and
other types of training that are directly responsive to employer needs
and hiring requirements for economically disadvantaged individuals with
disabilities from high-leverage groups with national applicability;
(b) By the end of the first year, post on its Web site State agency
overview statements specific to high-leverage groups with national
applicability along with related VR research studies identified by the
VRTAC-TC;
(c) Establish no fewer than two communities of practice with the
following areas of focus:
(1) One community of practice should be designed to specifically
support State VR agency and related agency staff and management serving
targeted communities; and
(2) One community of practice should be designed to be open to all
staff and management serving economically disadvantaged communities
nationwide and to address the employment needs of individuals with
disabilities in those communities;
(d) Ensure that the communities of practice described in paragraph
(c) of this section focus on partnerships across service systems
designed to develop, implement, adjust, support, and evaluate VR
processes and strategies for promoting competitive integrated
employment for high-leverage groups with national applicability from
targeted communities; and
(e) Develop and make available to State VR agencies and their
associated rehabilitation professionals and service providers a range
of targeted TA and general TA products and services designed to
increase VR participation levels and outcomes achieved by individuals
with disabilities from targeted communities. This TA must include, at a
minimum, the following activities:
(1) Developing and maintaining a state-of-the-art information
technology (IT) platform sufficient to support Webinars,
teleconferences, video conferences, and other virtual methods of
dissemination of information and TA; and Note: All products produced by
the VRTAC-TC must meet government and industry-recognized standards for
accessibility, including section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. In
meeting these requirements, the VRTAC-TC may either develop a new
platform or
[[Page 36740]]
system, or modify existing platforms or systems, so long as the
requirements of the priority are met.
(2) Ensuring that all TA products are sent to the National Center
for Rehabilitation Training Materials, including course curricula,
audiovisual materials, Webinars, and examples of emerging and best
practices related to this priority;
(f) During the fourth quarter of both the second year and the
fourth year, develop and implement year-end national State VR agency
forums dedicated to discussing the progress and lessons learned from
the targeted communities; and
(g) During the fourth quarter of the fifth year, present a national
results meeting to State VR agencies to review the data collected, best
practices developed, and lessons learned from the intensive
intervention sites served within the 12 targeted communities, as well
as the communities of practice described in paragraph (c) of this
section.
Coordination Activities
(a) Facilitate communication and coordination on an ongoing basis
with other Federal agencies, State agencies, and local government
workforce development partners, as well as private and nonprofit social
service agencies and other VR TA centers funded by RSA, in order to:
(1) Maximize existing individual and community assets to
effectively address socioeconomic issues that impact employment and
overall well-being;
(2) Create a mechanism for partner organizations and community
members to participate in the VR program planning process, including
brainstorming and vetting new ideas and approaches to VR service
provision;
(3) Create an active online community of practice that addresses
the needs of participants;
(4) Organize the online community of practice to address both
general barriers to employment faced by individuals with disabilities
from targeted communities, and barriers to employment faced by
individuals with disabilities from diverse high-leverage groups with
national applicability including, but not limited to, adjudicated
adults and youth, persons with multiple disabilities, and high school
dropouts; and
(5) Provide greater access for targeted communities to culturally
relevant VR services provided by State VR agency personnel with the
support of VRTAC-TC staff and community partners;
(b) Communicate and coordinate, on an ongoing basis, with the
communities of practice described in paragraph (c) of the Technical
Assistance Activities section of this notice; and
(c) Maintain ongoing communications with the RSA project officer.
Application Requirements
To be funded under this priority, applicants must meet the
following application requirements. RSA encourages innovative
approaches to meet these requirements, which are:
(a) Demonstrate, in the narrative section of the application, under
``Significance of the Project,'' how the proposed project will--
(1) Recruit State VR agencies to identify targeted communities with
intensive TA needs to take part in the services supported by this
priority, including a detailed description of the primary factors and
processes proposed to facilitate the identification and selection of
these communities;
(2) Address State VR agencies' capacity to meet the employment and
training needs of individuals with disabilities from high-leverage
groups with national applicability from targeted communities. To meet
this requirement, the applicant must:
(i) Demonstrate knowledge of emerging and best practices in
conducting outreach and providing VR services to applicants and
consumers from economically disadvantaged communities; and
(ii) Demonstrate knowledge of emerging and best practices in
conducting outreach and providing VR services to high-leverage groups
with national applicability that are frequently reported as underserved
or achieving substandard employment outcomes in statewide comprehensive
needs assessments, VR-related research studies, or monitoring reports
prepared by RSA pursuant to periodic onsite monitoring visits; and
(3) Result in increases both in the number of individuals with
disabilities from high-leverage groups with national applicability
receiving services from State VR agencies within targeted communities
and the number and quality of employment outcomes in competitive
integrated employment achieved by these individuals;
(b) Demonstrate, in the narrative section of the application, under
``Quality of Project Services,'' how the proposed project will--
(1) Achieve its goals, objectives, and intended outcomes. To meet
this requirement, the applicant must provide--
(i) Measurable intended project outcomes;
(ii) A plan for how the proposed project will achieve its intended
outcomes; and
(iii) A plan for communicating and coordinating with key staff in
State VR agencies, State and local partner programs, RSA partners such
as the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
(CSAVR) and the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind
(NCSAB), and other TA Centers and relevant programs within the
Departments of Education, Labor, and Commerce;
(2) Use a conceptual framework to develop project plans and
activities, describing any underlying concepts, assumptions,
expectations, beliefs, or theories, as well as the presumed
relationships or linkages among these variables, and any empirical
support for this framework;
(3) Be based on current research and make use of evidence-based and
promising practices;
(4) Develop products and provide services that are of high quality
and sufficient intensity and duration to achieve the intended outcomes
of the proposed project;
(5) Develop products and implement services to maximize the
project's efficiency. To address this requirement, the applicant must
describe--
(i) How the proposed project will use technology to achieve the
intended project outcomes; and
(ii) With whom the proposed project will collaborate and the
intended outcomes of this collaboration;
(c) Demonstrate, in the narrative section of the application under
``Quality of the Evaluation Plan,'' how the proposed project will--
(1) Measure and track the effectiveness of the TA provided. To meet
this requirement, the applicant must describe its proposed approach
to--
(i) Collecting data on the effectiveness of the TA activity from
State VR agencies, partners, or other sources, as appropriate; and
(ii) Analyzing data and determining the effectiveness of the TA
provided for at least two high-leverage groups with national
applicability residing in each of the 12 targeted communities. This
process includes evaluation of the effectiveness of current practices
within the selected targeted communities throughout the project period,
with a goal of demonstrating substantial progress towards achieving
outcome parity for the high-leverage groups and other targeted groups
with the State VR agency's overall performance with respect to number
of applications received and processed, eligibility
[[Page 36741]]
assessments completed, and both the number and quality of employment
outcomes achieved;
(2) Conduct an evaluation of progress made by all of the targeted
communities on an annual basis. At the end of the final year of the
project, the VRTAC-TC will submit a final report on the project
performance to detail the outcomes of individuals with disabilities in
the targeted communities. The evaluation will utilize multiple data
points as evidence of progress as compared to the baseline established
at the beginning of the project, including State VR agency reported
data, changes in State policies and procedures, customer surveys, and
State personnel input, as well as any other relevant stakeholder input;
and
(3) Collect and analyze preliminary quantitative and qualitative
data of VR services facilitated and the outcomes achieved by
economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities in at least
one other part of the State in which a targeted community is located.
State VR personnel from the targeted communities approved by RSA within
the first year will serve as trainers for colleagues in other parts of
the State by applying or modifying the strategies learned from the
VRTAC-TC;
(d) Demonstrate, in the narrative section of the application under
``Adequacy of Project Resources,'' how--
(1) The proposed key project personnel, consultants, and
subcontractors have the qualifications and experience to provide TA to
State VR agencies and their partners for each of the activities in this
priority and to achieve the project's intended outcomes;
(2) The applicant and any key partners have adequate resources to
carry out the proposed activities; and
(3) The proposed costs are reasonable in relation to the
anticipated results and benefits;
(e) Demonstrate, in the narrative section of the application under
``Quality of the Management Plan,'' how--
(1) The proposed management plan will ensure that the project's
intended outcomes will be achieved on time and within budget. To
address this requirement, the applicant must describe--
(i) Clearly defined responsibilities for key project personnel,
consultants, and subcontractors, as applicable; and
(ii) Timelines and milestones for accomplishing the project tasks;
(2) Key project personnel and any consultants and subcontractors
will be allocated to the project and how these allocations are
appropriate and adequate to achieve the project's intended outcomes,
including an assurance that such personnel will have adequate
availability to ensure timely communications with stakeholders and RSA;
(3) The proposed management plan will ensure that the products and
services provided are of high quality; and
(4) The proposed project will benefit from a diversity of
perspectives, including those of State and local personnel, TA
providers, researchers, and policy makers, among others, in its
development and operation.
Types of Priorities
When inviting applications for a competition using one or more
priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute,
competitive preference, or invitational through a notice in the Federal
Register. 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 (1)
awarding additional points, depending on 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 priority.
However, we do not give an application that meets the priority a
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Proposed Definitions
Background
We propose the following definitions to help ensure that applicants
clearly understand how we use these terms in the priority. We base
these definitions on definitions that the Department uses or relies on
in other contexts.
Proposed Definitions
The Assistant Secretary proposes the following definitions for this
program. We may apply one or more of these definitions in any year in
which this program is in effect.
Economically disadvantaged individuals with disabilities means
individuals with disabilities who are from a household with a median
household income below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level;
individuals receiving Federal financial assistance through Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Social Security Disability
Insurance (SSDI), or Supplemental Security Income (SSI); or individuals
residing in public housing or receiving assistance under the Section 8
housing-choice voucher program.
General technical assistance (TA) means TA and information provided
to independent users through their own initiative, resulting in minimal
interaction with TA center staff and including one-time, invited or
offered conference presentations by TA center staff. This category of
TA also includes information or products, such as newsletters,
guidebooks, or research syntheses, downloaded from the TA center's Web
site by independent users. Brief communications by TA center staff with
recipients, either by telephone or email, are also considered
universal, general TA.
High-leverage groups with national applicability means groups of
individuals with disabilities who are frequently identified by State VR
agencies throughout the Nation in their statewide comprehensive needs
assessments as groups comprised of individuals that are either
underserved or who have achieved substandard performance. Examples of
these groups include, but are not limited to, the following
populations:
(A) Residents of rural and remote communities;
(B) Adjudicated adults and youth;
(C) Youth with disabilities in foster care;
(D) Individuals with disabilities receiving Federal financial
assistance through TANF;
(E) Culturally diverse populations, e.g., African Americans, Native
Americans, and non-English speaking populations;
(F) High school dropouts and functionally illiterate consumers;
(G) Persons with multiple disabilities, e.g., deaf-blindness, HIV/
AIDS-substance abuse; and
(H) SSI and SSDI recipients, including subminimum-wage employees.
Intensive technical assistance (TA) means TA services often
provided on-site and requiring a stable, ongoing relationship between
the VRTAC-TC staff and the TA recipient. Intensive TA should result in
changes to policy, programs, practices, or operations that support
increased recipient capacity or improved outcomes at one or more
systems levels.
Targeted community means any economically disadvantaged community
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that qualifies as an Empowerment Zone under either 24 CFR 598.100 or 7
CFR 25.100, and in which (a) the median household income is below 200
percent of the Federal poverty level; (b) the unemployment rate is at
or above the national average; and (c) as a group, individuals with
disabilities have historically sought, been determined eligible for, or
received VR services from a State VR agency at less than 65 percent of
the average rate for the State VR agency, or who have achieved
competitive integrated employment outcomes subsequent to receiving VR
services at 65 percent or less of the State VR agency's overall
employment outcome level.
Targeted technical assistance (TA) means TA services based on needs
common to multiple recipients and not extensively individualized. A
relationship is established between the TA recipient and one or more TA
center staff. This category of TA includes one-time, labor-intensive
events, such as facilitating strategic planning or hosting regional or
national conferences. It can also include episodic, less labor-
intensive events that extend over a period of time, such as
facilitating a series of conference calls on single or multiple topics
that are designed around the needs of the recipients. Facilitating
communities of practice can also be considered targeted, specialized
TA.
Underserved individuals with disabilities means individuals with
disabilities who, because of disability, place of residence, geographic
location, age, race, gender, or socioeconomic status, have not
historically sought, been determined eligible for, or received VR
services at a rate of 65 percent or more of the State's overall service
level groups. Underserved individuals include, but are not limited to,
subminimum wage employees; adjudicated youth and adults; culturally
diverse populations such as African Americans, Native Americans, and
non-English speaking persons; individuals living in rural areas; and
persons with multiple disabilities such as deaf-blindness.
Final Priority and Definitions: We will announce the final priority
and definitions in a notice in the Federal Register. We will determine
the final priority and definitions after considering responses to this
notice and other information available to the Department. This notice
does not preclude us from proposing additional priorities,
requirements, definitions, 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 priority, we invite applications through
a notice in the Federal Register.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether
this regulatory action is ``significant'' and, therefore, subject to
the requirements of the Executive order and subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order
12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely
to result in a rule that may--
(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more,
or adversely affect a sector of the economy, productivity, competition,
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or
tribal governments or communities in a material way (also referred to
as an ``economically significant'' rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants,
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the
Executive order.
This proposed regulatory action is not a significant regulatory
action subject to review by OMB under section 3(f) of Executive Order
12866.
We have also reviewed this proposed regulatory action under
Executive Order 13563, which supplements and explicitly reaffirms the
principles, structures, and definitions governing regulatory review
established in Executive Order 12866. To the extent permitted by law,
Executive Order 13563 requires that an agency--
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only on a reasoned determination
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits
and costs are difficult to quantify);
(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society,
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives and taking into
account--among other things and to the extent practicable--the costs of
cumulative regulations;
(3) In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select
those approaches that would maximize net benefits (including potential
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other
advantages; distributive impacts; and equity);
(4) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather
than the behavior or manner of compliance a regulated entity must
adopt; and
(5) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct
regulation, including economic incentives--such as user fees or
marketable permits--to encourage the desired behavior, or provide
information that enables the public to make choices.
Executive Order 13563 also requires an agency ``to use the best
available techniques to quantify anticipated present and future
benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' The Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB has emphasized that these
techniques may include ``identifying changing future compliance costs
that might result from technological innovation or anticipated
behavioral changes.''
We are issuing the proposed priority and definitions only on a
reasoned determination that their benefits would justify their costs.
In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, we selected those
approaches that maximize net benefits. Based on the analysis that
follows, the Department believes that this regulatory action is
consistent with the principles in Executive Order 13563.
We also have determined that this regulatory action would not
unduly interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the
exercise of their governmental functions.
In accordance with both Executive orders, the Department has
assessed the potential costs and benefits, both quantitative and
qualitative, of this regulatory action. The potential costs are those
resulting from statutory requirements and those we have determined as
necessary for administering the Department's programs and activities.
The benefits of the Rehabilitation Training program have been well
established over the years through the successful completion of similar
projects. The proposed priority and definitions would better prepare
State VR agency personnel to assist individuals with disabilities
living in targeted communities to achieve competitive integrated
employment in today's challenging labor market.
Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the
objectives of the Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental
partnership and a strengthened federalism. The Executive order relies
on processes developed by State and local governments for
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coordination and review of proposed Federal financial assistance.
This document provides early notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: June 23, 2015.
Michael K. Yudin,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2015-15754 Filed 6-25-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P