[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4338-4340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01205]
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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION
Notice of Availability of Calendar Year 2024 Competitive Grant
Funds for the Technology Initiative Grant Program
AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) issues this Notice
describing the conditions for submitting a pre-application for 2024
Technology Initiative Grants (TIGs), and for
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applying under TIG categories that do not require pre-applications.
DATES:
General: The deadline to submit a Pre-Application is Monday, March
11, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The deadline to submit full applications is
June 3, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Technology Improvement Projects: The deadline to submit full
applications is May 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Adoption, Expansion, and Enhancement: The deadline to submit full
applications is June 3, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
ADDRESSES: Pre-Applications and full applications must be submitted
electronically via LSC's unified grants management system, GrantEase.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Rawdon, Senior Program Counsel
for Technology, Office of Program Performance, Legal Services
Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295-1552 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
Since 2000, Congress has provided an annual appropriation to LSC to
award special funding for client self-help and information technology
projects. LSC's TIG program funds technology tools that help achieve
LSC's goal of increasing the quantity and quality of legal services
available to eligible persons. Projects funded under the TIG program
develop, test, and replicate innovative technologies that can enable
grant recipients and state justice communities to improve low-income
persons' access to high-quality legal assistance through an integrated
and well-managed technology system. The TIG program also supports
effective technology planning and management at LSC-funded
organizations through the use of targeted assessment grants focused on
improvements to technology systems and information security.
II. Funding Opportunity Information
A. Eligible Applicants
To be eligible for Technology Initiative Grants, applicants must be
current grantees of LSC Basic Field-General, Basic Field-Migrant, or
Basic Field-Native American grants. In addition, applicants must
receive basic field funding of at least a one-year term, be up to date
on reporting on any existing TIG-funded projects, and not have had a
previous TIG terminated in the past three years for reporting or other
performance issues.
B. Technology Initiative Grant Purpose and Key Goals
Since LSC's TIG program was established in 2000, LSC has made over
859 grants totaling over $81 million. This grant program encourages
organizations to use technology in innovative ways to:
1. Effectively and efficiently provide high-quality legal
assistance to low-income persons and to promote access to the judicial
system through legal information, advice, and representation.
2. Improve service delivery, quality of legal work, and management
and administration of grantees.
3. Develop, test, and replicate innovative strategies that can
enable grantees and state justice communities to improve clients'
access to high-quality legal assistance.
C. Funding Categories
1. General Technology Initiative Grants
Projects in this category (1) implement new or innovative
approaches for using technology in legal services delivery; (2) enhance
the effectiveness and efficiency of existing technologies so that they
may be better used to increase the quality and quantity of services to
clients; or (3) replicate, adapt, or provide added value to the work of
prior technology projects. This includes, but is not limited to, the
implementation and improvement of tested methodologies and technologies
from previous TIG projects. We also encourage replication of proven
technologies from non-LSC funded legal aid organizations as well as
sectors outside the legal aid community. Applicants seeking
continuation funding for their own existing TIG initiatives may wish to
apply under the Adoption, Expansion and Enhancement Grants category
discussed below.
LSC recommends a minimum amount for funding requests in this
category of $40,000, but projects with lower budgets will be
considered. There is no maximum amount for TIG funding requests that
are within the total appropriation for TIG. All applicants in this
category must submit a pre-application according to the process and
requirements outlined in this notice.
2. Technology Improvement Projects
LSC recognizes that grantees need sufficient technology
infrastructure in place before they can take on a more innovative TIG
project, and this grant category is for applicants that need to improve
their basic technology infrastructure or their information security
posture. The maximum funding amount for this category is $35,000.
Technology Improvement Projects do not require a pre-application.
3. Adoption, Expansion, and Enhancement Grants
In 2023, LSC piloted a new category, called Adoption, Expansion,
and Enhancement Grants, to provide continuation funding for those TIG
projects that have moved beyond the proof-of-concept phase and
demonstrated excellent results. This category is continuing in 2024.
This funding allows successful TIG grantees to further build upon a
specific project and its technologies, ensure that their TIG-funded
work is effectively integrated into the service delivery system, and
complete the project activities necessary to ensure the initiative's
long-term success.
Adoption, Expansion, and Enhancement Grants are available to
current TIG recipients and to recipients of recently completed TIG
projects. Applicants seeking to enhance a non-TIG initiative or
replicate another organization's project should apply under the General
category. There is no pre-application for these proposals, but LSC
encourages all prospective applicants to meet with their regional TIG
program manager to discuss whether an Adoption, Expansion, and
Enhancement grant may be a good fit. Applicants should be able to
clearly demonstrate that their project was successful and that they
have a reasonable plan for building on that success.
LSC recommends a minimum amount for funding requests in this
category of $40,000, but projects with lower budgets will be
considered. There is no maximum amount for TIG funding requests that
are within the total appropriation for TIG. Adoption, Expansion, and
Enhancement Grants do not require a pre-application.
D. Available Funds for 2024 Grants
A total of $5 million is available for 2024 TIG awards. LSC will
not designate fixed or estimated amounts for the three different
funding categories and will make grant awards for the three categories
within the total amount of funding available.
E. Grant Terms
Applicants to the TIG program may propose grant terms between 12
and 36 months for general category projects and between 12 and 18
months for Technology Improvement Projects. For the new Adoption,
Expansion, and Enhancement category, the grant term is set at 24
months. The grant term for all
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TIGs is expected to commence on November 1, 2024.
III. Grant Application Process
A. Technology Initiative Grant Application Process
The TIG application process will be administered in LSC's unified
grants management system, GrantEase. Applicants in the General TIG
category must first submit a pre-application to LSC in GrantEase by
March 11, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET, to be considered for a grant. After
review by LSC staff, LSC's president decides which applicants will be
asked to submit a full application. Applicants will be notified of
approval to submit a full application by late April 2024. Full
applications are due to LSC in the GrantEase system on June 3, 2024, at
11:59 p.m. ET. Once received, full applications will undergo a rigorous
review by LSC staff. LSC's president makes the final decisions on
funding for the Technology Initiative Grant program.
As noted above, applicants applying for Technology Improvement
Project funding or in the Adoption, Expansion, and Enhancement category
are not required to submit pre-applications. LSC will launch the online
application system for Technology Improvement Projects by April 1,
2024, and set a submission deadline of May 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
LSC will launch the online application system for Adoption, Expansion,
and Enhancement grants in late April 2024 and applications will be due
to LSC in GrantEase on June 3, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. LSC follows a
similar review process for applications in these categories, which
includes LSC staff conducting a rigorous review of all proposals and
the LSC president making final funding decisions.
B. Late or Incomplete Applications
LSC may consider a request to submit a pre-application after the
deadline, but only if the applicant has submitted an email to
[email protected] explaining the circumstances that caused the delay
prior to the pre-application deadline. Communication with LSC staff,
including assigned program liaisons, is not a substitute for sending a
formal request and explanation to [email protected]. At its
discretion, LSC may consider incomplete applications. LSC will
determine whether it will consider late or incomplete applications on a
case-by-case basis.
C. Multiple Pre-Applications
Applicants may submit multiple pre-applications. If applying for
multiple grants that require pre-applications, applicants should submit
separate pre-applications for each funding request.
D. Additional Information and Guidelines
Additional guidance and instructions on the pre-application and
application processes for Technology Initiative Grants will be
available and regularly updated at https://www.lsc.gov/grants/technology-initiative-grant-program.
(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2996g(e).)
Dated: January 17, 2024.
Stefanie Davis,
Deputy General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-01205 Filed 1-22-24; 8:45 am]
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