[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 67 (Friday, April 9, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18536-18538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07290]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Community Living


Availability of Program Application Instructions for the Title 
VII, Part C of the Act, Centers for Independent Living (CILs) To Expand 
COVID-19 Vaccine Access for People With Disabilities

    Title: Expanding Disabilities Network's (CILs) Access to COVID-19 
Vaccines.
    Announcement Type: Initial.
    Statutory Authority: The statutory authority for grants under this 
program announcement is contained in Section 711 and Section 712 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [Pub. L. 93-112] [As Amended Through Pub. L. 
114-95, Enacted December 10, 2015].
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 93.432.

DATES: The deadline date for the submission of the Expanding 
Disabilities Network's (CILs) Access to COVID-19 Vaccines is 11:59 p.m. 
Eastern Time April 23, 2021.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced a new 
funding opportunity to increase vaccine access for people with 
disabilities. With funding and partnership support from the Centers for 
Disease Control (CDC), ACL is providing grants to disability networks 
to provide critical services to help communities combat COVID-19. A 
leading priority of this joint effort is to

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ensure vaccines are equally accessible to the disability population.
    Approximately 61 million adults living with in the U.S. have a 
disability, representing approximately 26 percent of the adult 
population. Disability alone may not be related to increased risk for 
contracting COVID-19 based on where they live. Some people with 
disabilities live in group settings which places them at higher risk 
for acquiring COVID-19 in comparison to people without disabilities. 
People with disabilities may also require close contact with direct 
service providers, including personal care attendants or other care 
providers, who help with activities of daily living. Moreover, many 
people with disabilities have underlying health conditions (e.g., 
diabetes, heart disease, and obesity) that increases the risk of severe 
illness due to COVID-19. In addition, research also found that people 
with Down Syndrome are significantly more likely to be hospitalized 
from COVID-19 than the general population.
    There are increasing reports of barriers of unequal access in 
communities to vaccinate people with disabilities. For example, some 
people with disabilities may experience difficulties scheduling 
appointments, communicating, obtaining accessible transportation or 
require direct support services to attend vaccination appointments. 
Others living in the community may be isolated or unable to leave their 
home and may require in-home vaccination.
    This funding opportunity is designed to breakdown those barriers to 
expand vaccine access in communities. Examples of activities consistent 
with the purpose of this funding are the following:
     Education about the importance of receiving a vaccine,
     Identifying people unable to independently travel to a 
vaccination site,
     Helping with scheduling a vaccine appointment,
     Arranging or providing accessible transportation,
     Providing companion/personal support,
     Reminding people of their second vaccination appointment 
if needed, and/or,
     Providing technical assistance to local health departments 
or other entities on vaccine accessibility.
    Awards authorized under Title VII, Part C of the Rehabilitation Act 
shall be provided funding under this opportunity. Award recipients will 
be required to submit annual progress reports in the form of a written 
summary on the activities conducted, challenges, successes, and lessons 
learned. In addition, to show impact of the grant awards, the grantee 
will include the number of people served or impacted by the services 
provided, against each of the activities chosen to be implemented. To 
be eligible to receive this grant, the grantee must submit a Letter of 
Assurance to ACL containing all the assurances required, (see below, 
``Section III. Eligibility Criteria and Other Requirements'' and 
``Section IV. Submission Information''). Part C CILs that do not 
complete assurance requirements below, or otherwise indicate no desire 
to receive funds will be excluded from receiving funds.
    ACL may establish ad hoc dates based on the need of the COVID-19 
response, e.g., to meet unanticipated issues related to COVID-19 and/or 
to allow impacted eligible applicants that missed the cut-off date to 
submit an application for consideration. ACL intends to issue initial 
notices of award as applications are received prior to the application 
due date to address urgent COVID-19 response needs. Second notices of 
award are planned after the actual number of applicants is finalized.

II. Award Information

1. Funding Instrument Type

    These awards will be made in the form of formula grants to Part C 
CILs.

2. Anticipated Total Funding per Budget Period

    Awards made under this announcement have an estimated start date of 
April 1, 2021 and an estimated end date of December 31, 2022, for a 20-
month budget and performance period.
    The total available funding for this opportunity is $5,000,000. 
CILs who do not complete assurance requirements below, or otherwise 
indicate no desire to receive funds will be excluded from receiving 
funds. This will have the effect of increasing the amount of funds 
available for eventual recipients.
    ACL has determined that if funding were allocated based on 
previously utilized formulas that a number of grantees would receive 
funding that was not sufficient to provide any substantive work. As a 
result, ACL will be distributing the $5,000,000 evenly to all Part C 
grantees which equates to a minimum award of $14,204 ($5,000,000/352). 
This figure is based on 352 recipients and would rise if some grantees 
refuse or are deemed ineligible.
    Please note that all activities allowable under this funding are 
also allowable under CARES Act award. In order to minimize unused funds 
grantees are encouraged to review their current ability to utilize 
CARES Act funds, remaining balances and future plans when deciding 
whether or not to submit for this additional funding.

III. Eligibility Criteria and Other Requirements

1. Eligible Entities

    The eligible entity for these awards is designated by ACL as a Part 
C CIL.

2. Other Requirements

A. Letter of Assurance
    A Letter of Assurance is required to be submitted by the eligible 
entity in order to receive an award. The Letter of Assurance must 
include the following:
    1. Assurance that the award recipient is an entity designated as a 
Part C funded CIL.
    2. Assurance that funds will supplement and not supplant existing 
Part C funding.
    3. Assurance that funds will be spent in ways consistent with the 
purpose of the funding in carrying out one or more of the following 
activities:
     Education about the importance of receiving a vaccine,
     Identifying people unable to independently travel to a 
site,
     Helping with scheduling a vaccine appointment,
     Arranging or providing accessible transportation,
     Providing companion/personal support,
     Reminding people of their second vaccination appointment 
if needed, and/or,
     Providing technical assistance to local health departments 
or other entities on vaccine accessibility.
    4. Assurance that the award recipient will do outreach to Aging and 
Disability Resource Centers, University Centers for Excellence in 
Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service and State 
Councils on Developmental Disabilities, to maximize state coordination 
wherever possible.
    5. Assurance to provide semi-annual federal financial reports and 
annual program reports that describes activities conducted, challenges, 
successes, and lessons learned. The written summary will also include 
number of people served or impacted by the services provided.
B. DUNS Number
    All grant applicants must obtain and keep current a D-U-N-S number 
from Dun and Bradstreet. It is a nine-digit identification number, 
which provides unique identifiers of single business entities. The D-U-
N-S number can be

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obtained from: https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm.
C. Intergovernmental Review
    Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs, is not applicable to these grant applications.

IV. Submission Information

1. Letter of Assurance

    To receive funding, eligible entities must provide a Letter of 
Assurance containing all the information outlined in Section III above.
    Letters of Assurance should be addressed to: Alison Barkoff, Acting 
Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging, Administration for 
Community Living, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201.
    Letters of Assurance should be submitted electronically via email 
to your ACL program officer. The following table identifies the 
designated program officer against each of the 10 ACL regions:

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                                      ACL regions         Email/phone
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Peter Nye--Program Officer......  Region II           [email protected].
                                   NY, NJ,     gov; 202-795-
                                   PR, VI.             7606.
                                  Region V
                                   IL, IN,
                                   MI, MN, OH, WI.
                                  Region X
                                   AK, ID,
                                   OR, WA.
Veronica Hogan..................  Region I            veronica.hogan@acl
                                   CT, MA,     .hhs.gov; 202-795-
                                   ME, NH, RI, VT.     7365.
                                  Region III
                                   DC, DE,
                                   MD, PA, VA, WV.
                                  Region VII
                                   IA, KS,
                                   MO, NE.
Jennifer Martin.................  Region IV           jennifer.martin@ac
                                   AL, FL,     l.hhs.gov; 202-
                                   GA, KY, MS, NC,     795-7399.
                                   SC, TN.
                                  Region VI
                                   AR, LA,
                                   OK, NM, TX.
Kimball Gray....................  Region VIII         [email protected]
                                   CO, MT,     hs.gov; 202-795-
                                   UT, WY, ND, SD.     7353.
                                  Region IX
                                   CA, NV,
                                   AZ, HI, GU, CNMI,
                                   AS.
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2. Submission Dates and Times

    To receive consideration, Letters of Assurance must be submitted by 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 23, 2021. Letters of Assurance should 
be submitted electronically via email and have an electronic time stamp 
indicating the date/time submitted.

VII. Agency Contacts

1. Programmatic and Submission Issues

    Direct programmatic inquiries to Program Officer found in the table 
in ``Section IV. Submission Information.''

2. Submission Issues

    Direct inquiries regarding submission of the Letters of Assurance 
to Program Officer found in the table in ``Section IV. Submission 
Information.''

    Dated: April 5, 2021.
Alison Barkoff,
Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2021-07290 Filed 4-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P