Developmental Disabilities; Request for Public Comments on Proposed Developmental Disabilities Funding Priorities for Projects of National Significance for Fiscal Year 1994

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[Program Announcement No. 93631-93-03]

Developmental Disabilities; Request for Public Comments on

Proposed Developmental Disabilities Funding Priorities for Projects of

National Significance for Fiscal Year 1994

AGENCY: Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD),

Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments on developmental

disabilities funding priorities for Projects of National Significance

for Fiscal Year 1994.

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SUMMARY: The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD),

Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces that public

comments are being requested on funding priorities for Fiscal Year 1994

Projects of National Significance.

We welcome specific comments and suggestions on these proposed

funding priorities as well as recommendations for additional priority

areas which will assist in bringing about the increased independence,

productivity, and integration into the community of people with

developmental disabilities.

DATES: Closing date for receipt of public comments is April 25, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Bob Williams, Commissioner,

Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for

Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, room

329-D, HHH Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC

20201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vern Evans, Program Development

Division, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, (202) 690-5980.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Part I. Background

A. Goals of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) is located

within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department

of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Although different from the other

ACF program administrations in the specific constituency it serves, ADD

shares a common set of goals that promote the economic and social well-

being of families, children, individuals and communities. Through

national leadership we see:

Families and individuals empowered to increase their own

economic independence and productivity;

Strong, healthy, supportive communities having a positive

impact on the quality of life and the development of children;

Partnerships with individuals, front-line service

providers, communities, states and Congress that enable solutions which

transcend traditional agency boundaries;

Services planned and integrated to improve client access;

A strong commitment to working with Native Americans,

persons with developmental disabilities, refugees and migrants to

address their needs, strengths and abilities.

Emphasis on these goals and progress towards them will help more

people with developmental disabilities to live productive and

independent lives integrated into their communities. The Projects of

National Significance program is one means through which ADD promotes

the achievement of these goals.

Two issues are of particular concern with these projects. First,

there is a pressing need for networking and cooperation among

specialized and categorical programs, particularly at the service

delivery level, to ensure continuation of coordinated services to

people with developmental disabilities. Second, project findings and

successful innovative models of projects need to be made available

nationally to policy makers as well as to direct service providers.

B. Purpose of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) is the lead

agency within ACF and DHHS responsible for planning and administering

programs which promote the self-sufficiency and protect the rights of

people with developmental disabilities.

The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act

(42 U.S.C. 6000 et seq.) (the Act) supports and provides assistance to

States and public and private nonprofit agencies and organizations to

assure that all people with developmental disabilities receive the

services, assistance and opportunities necessary to enable them to

achieve their maximum potential through increased independence,

productivity and integration into the community.

The Act stresses that individuals with developmental disabilities

typically:

Experience significant functional limitations due to

physical or mental, or a combination of physical and mental,

impairments; and is manifested before the person attains age 22 (as

described in the Act, section 102(5)).

Possess significant abilities of which employers are

generally unaware;

Have wants and needs;

Remain unserved or underserved;

The Act further finds that:

The family and community can play a central role in

enhancing their lives when properly supported; and

It is in the nation's interest for people with

developmental disabilities to be employed, and to live conventional and

independent lives as a part of families and communities.

Towards these ends, ADD seeks to enhance the capabilities of

families in assisting people with developmental disabilities to achieve

their maximum potential to support the increasing ability of people

with developmental disabilities to exercise greater choice and self-

determination; to engage in leadership activities in their communities;

as well as to ensure the protection of their legal and human rights.

Programs funded under the Act are:

Basic State formula grants;

State system for the protection and advocacy of individual

rights;

Grants to University Affiliated Programs for

interdisciplinary training, exemplary services, technical assistance,

and information dissemination; and

Grants for Projects of National Significance.

C. Description of Projects of National Significance

Under Part E of the Act, grants and contracts are awarded for

Projects of National Significance to increase and support the

independence, productivity and integration into the community of people

with developmental disabilities, and to support the development of

national and state policy which enhances the independence, productivity

and integration of these individuals. These projects may include, but

are not limited to:

Projects to conduct data collection and analysis;

Projects to provide technical assistance to program

components;

Projects to provide technical assistance for the

development of information and referral systems;

Projects which improve supportive living and quality of

life opportunities which enhance recreation, leisure and fitness;

Projects to educate policymakers;

Projects to pursue Federal interagency initiatives;

Projects that support the enhancement of minority

participation in public and private sector initiatives in developmental

disabilities; and

Other projects of sufficient size and scope, and which

hold promise of expanding or otherwise improving opportunities for

people with developmental disabilities (especially those who have

multiple disabilities or are disadvantaged, including cultural and

ethnic minority groups, (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic

Americans, Latino Americans, American Indian and Native Americans,

Native Alaskan and Hawaiian) and other underserved groups.

In addition, funds may be awarded for technical assistance and

demonstration projects (including research, training, and evaluation in

connection with such projects) which expand or improve the advocacy

functions performed by University Affiliated Programs, State

Developmental Disabilities Planning Councils, and the Protection and

Advocacy System.

Section 162(c) of the Act requires that ADD publish in the Federal

Register its proposed priorities for grants and contracts to carry out

Projects of National Significance for the fiscal year. The Act also

requires a period of 60 days for public comments and suggestions

concerning such proposed priorities. After analyzing and considering

such comments, ADD must publish in the Federal Register final

priorities for such grants and contracts, and solicit applications for

funding based on the final priorities selected.

The following section presents the proposed priority areas for

Fiscal Year 1994 Projects of National Significance. We welcome specific

comments and suggestions as well as suggestions for additional priority

areas. We would also like to receive suggestions on topics which are

timely and relate to specific needs in the developmental disabilities

field.

Topics of particular interest to ADD for Fiscal Year 1994 include

self-advocacy and empowerment of consumers and/or their families,

specifically members of diverse cultural/ethnic minority

constituencies. ADD is seeking disability and other grassroots

organizations, minority coalitions, civil rights and other private non-

profit organizations experienced in working with culturally diverse

communities to develop successful collaborative models for supporting

the ability of minorities with developmental disabilities to exercise

greater choice and self-determination by engaging in leadership

activities in their communities. Such leadership activities at a

minimum should provide them the needed knowledge, skills and confidence

to access services and other supports available to them.

Part II. Fiscal Year 1994 Proposed Priority Areas for Projects of

National Significance

ADD is interested in all comments and recommendations which address

areas of existing or evolving national significance related to the

field of developmental disabilities.

We also solicit recommendations for project activities which will

advocate for public policy change and community acceptance of all

people with developmental disabilities and families so that such

persons receive the services, supports, and other assistance and

opportunities necessary to enable them to achieve their maximum

potential through increased independence, productivity, and integration

into the community.

ADD is also interested in activities which promote the inclusion of

all people with developmental disabilities including persons with the

most severe disabilities, in community life; which promote the

interdependency of all people with developmental disabilities with all

others; and which recognize the contributions of these individuals, as

such individuals share their talents at home, school, and work, and in

recreation and leisure time.

No proposals, concept papers or other forms of applications should

be submitted at this time. Any such submission will be discarded.

ADD will not respond to individual comment letters. However, all

comments will be considered in preparing the final funding solicitation

announcement and will be acknowledged and addressed in that

announcement.

Comments should be addressed to: Bob Williams, Commissioner,

Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for

Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, room

329-D HHH Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

Proposed Fiscal Year 1994 Priority Area 1: Leadership Education and

Development of Individuals With Disabilities and Their Families From

Culturally Diverse Backgrounds

In recent years, individuals with developmental and other

disabilities have benefitted from new approaches to providing services

that dramatically changed the lives of many of those who were

previously unserved or underserved. However, many individuals and

families, particularly those of culturally diverse backgrounds, remain

on the outside looking in. Many such individuals may seem to have been

invisible in the developmental disabilities community. Due to a long

history of cultural stereotyping of such individuals, open discussions

about disabilities remain a very sensitive and emotionally charged

topic in some communities. Although minority individuals and families

are affected by developmental and other disabilities (as the population

at large), many often cannot gain access to the service system let

alone fully participate in or benefit from it. In many instances, these

individuals and families may be poor, may live in isolated areas; may

be homeless or lack general knowledge about the services available to

them or how the system works.

Therefore, ADD is proposing to fund Projects of National

Significance (PNS) that target individuals with developmental

disabilities and their families from culturally diverse backgrounds in

an effort to enable them to impact service delivery and fully access

the services they need. These projects would strengthen the ability of

individuals with developmental disabilities and their families from

culturally diverse backgrounds to serve as leaders and advocates on

critical issues in the developmental disabilities field, particularly

in their own communities. These projects would assist individuals with

developmental disabilities from culturally diverse backgrounds and

their families in the development and implementation of effective

methods of communication and systems change to increase public

awareness, inform individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds with

disabilities of issues and services, and to develop and to implement

networking strategies that improve access to community resources.

Furthermore, these projects would institutionalize action strategies

that promote policies and practices which are family-centered and

community-based.

ADD is particularly interested in grassroots organizations with a

record of planning and implementing programs with individuals from

culturally diverse backgrounds, such as major civil rights

organizations, minority coalitions, and other private non-profits that

would be able to establish ongoing working relationships with State

Developmental Disabilities Planning Councils, University Affiliated

Programs, Protection and Advocacy Systems and other relevant community

resources.

It is essential to identify local linkages to establish

collaborative agreements/arrangements on critical issues in the

developmental disabilities field that would strengthen the capacity of

individuals to serve as leaders/ advocates on behalf of themselves and

their families.

Every effort will be made to coordinate the activities under this

priority areas with the Department of Education and other Federal

agencies.

Proposed Fiscal Year 1994 Priority Area 2: Expanding the Scope of

Developmental Disabilities Planning Councils

Individuals with significant disabilities other than developmental

disabilities can and have benefitted from the systems change, capacity

building and advocacy activities of the Developmental Disabilities

Planning Councils (DDPCs) authorized by Part B of the Act. In response

to concerns of some advocates in the States, ADD proposes to award

funds to study the expansion of the scope of DDPCs to include concerns

of a broad range of citizens with disabilities other than developmental

disabilities. Because this issue is complex and little information is

available regarding the implications of such an expansion, ADD is

interested in funding three types of projects to explore the effects of

such an expansion:

A short-term (not to exceed six months) study of DDPCs

that are currently authorized under State law to focus on individuals

with disabilities other than developmental disabilities as well as

persons with developmental disabilities.

Pilot studies in up to five (5) additional states by

DDPCs, in conjunction with and with support from Protection and

Advocacy systems and University Affiliated Programs, to explore the

implications of expanding the current scope of Council activity. Pilots

are expected to be completed within 15 months.

A national study of the process, outcomes, and

implications of the five (5) pilot studies. Completion of this study is

expected five months following the pilots.

Under separate contractual solicitations, ADD proposes to award

funds to provide technical assistance to improve the functions of the

DD Council, Protection and Advocacy System, and the University

Affiliated Program; and to develop information and referral systems.

ADD also proposes to fund projects through demonstrations as well

as procurements that would ensure the integration and active

participation of racial and ethnic minorities into the ``mainstream''

of the service delivery system.

(Federal Catalog Domestic Assistance Number 13.631 Developmental

Disabilities--Projects of National Significance)

Dated: Janaury 14, 1994.

Bob Williams,

Commissioner, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

[FR Doc. 94-4103 Filed 2-23-94; 8:45 am]

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