[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]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P