§ 325.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use?

The Secretary uses the following criteria to evaluate the quality of an application submitted under this part:

(a) Extent of need and expected impact (20 points). The Secretary reviews each application to determine the justification for the proposed activities in the State based on the State need for and expected impact from the activities to develop, implement, and improve systems to provide transition services for youth with disabilities from age 14 through the age they exit school. The Secretary looks for information that provides—

(1) A description of the current availability, access, and quality of transition services for eligible youth and a description of how, over five years, the State will improve and expand the availability, access, and quality of transition services for youth with disabilities and their families as those youth prepare for and enter adult life;

(2) A description of how the State will improve and increase the ability of professionals, parents, advocates, and youth to promote the understanding of and the capability to successfully make the transition from student to adult;

(3) A description of how the State will improve and increase working relationships among education personnel, both within LEAs and in postsecondary training programs, relevant State agencies, the private sector (especially employers), rehabilitation personnel, local and State employment agencies, local Private Industry Councils authorized by the Job Training Partnership Act, students with disabilities, their families, and their advocates to identify and achieve consensus on the general nature and specific application or transition services to meet the needs of youth with disabilities:

(4) A description of how the State will use grant funds as an incentive for accessing and using the expertise and resources of programs, projects, and activities related to transition funded under this program and with other sources; and

(5) A description of how the State will address the unique needs of youth with disabilities from minority backgrounds.

(b) Technical soundness (25 points). The Secretary reviews each application to determine the technical soundness of the project and whether the applicant has the capacity to achieve lasting statewide change, including a description of how the State will—

(1) Target resources to school settings, such as providing access to rehabilitation counselors for students with disabilities who are in school settings;

(2) Target a substantial amount of grant funds, received under this program, to program evaluation and documentation of, and dissemination of information about, transition services as well as to improve the capacity for case management;

(3) Provide incentives for interagency and private sector resource pooling and otherwise investing in transition services, especially in the form of cooperative agreements, particularly with Private Industry Councils authorized by the Job Training Partnership Act and local branches of State employment agencies;

(4) Provide for early, ongoing information and training for those involved with or who could be involved with transition services—professionals, parents, youth with disabilities, including self-advocacy training for those youth, and advocates for those youth as well as Private Industry Councils authorized by the Job Training Partnership Act and local branches of State employment agencies;

(5) Provide for the early and direct involvement of all relevant parties, including Private Industry Councils authorized by the Job Training Partnership Act and local branches of State employment agencies, in operating and planning improvements in transition services, and the early and direct involvement of all relevant parties in planning and implementing transition services for individual youth;

(6) Provide access to training for eligible youth that matches labor market needs in their communities;

(7) Integrate transition services with relevant opportunities in communities, including those sponsored by Private Industry Councils authorized by the Job Training Partnership Act and local employment agencies;

(8) Clearly define the services and service delivery system that will result from the project. The State must have analyzed in detail how these will differ from the current services and current delivery system;

(9) Identify all relevant barriers to implementing the proposed statewide changes and identify and propose appropriate strategies for eliminating those barriers;

(10) Use an evaluation plan for transition services that is outcome oriented, that focuses on individual youth-focused benefits, and that is based on standard sources of information such as the individualized education programs required by the IDEA;

(11) Disseminate annually information about project activities and procedures and information from project evaluation activities, including information regarding effective strategies and obstacles to achieving project goals, to the organizations described in § 325.30, and to other interested organizations within the State; and

(12) Ensure that, if appropriate and no later than age 22, eligible youth who participate in transition services under this program would be served as appropriate in the State section 110 program, the title VI, part C program, or the title VII, part A program, authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

(c) Plan of operation (20 points). The Secretary reviews each application for information that shows the quality of the plan of operation for the project, including—

(1) An effective plan of management delineating the roles of both participating agencies and ensures proper and efficient administration of the project;

(2) A clear description of how the objectives of the project relate to the purpose of the program;

(3) The way the joint applicants plan to use their resources and personnel to achieve each objective;

(4) A description of how all State and other agencies whose cooperation and participation are necessary for statewide implementation are actively collaborating in project management;

(5) A description of how the joint applicants will provide for the direct participation of youth with disabilities and parents in the planning, development, and implementation of the project;

(6) A description of the procedures to be used to ensure that youth and their families who are potentially eligible for the disability programs of the Social Security Administration are provided information, training, and referral services;

(7) A description of how the first year will be used to plan, if necessary, how to implement transition services, the second through fourth years to develop and implement transition services, and the fifth year to evaluate statewide services;

(8) Whether the budget is adequate to support the project and costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives of the project; and

(9) The extent to which grant funds will be used during the planning period and phased out during the evaluation period to ensure the continuation of transition services.

(d) Quality of key personnel (25 points, distributed as indicated). (1) The Secretary reviews each application for information that shows the qualifications of key personnel the applicant plans to use on the project, including information that shows—

(i) The qualifications of the project director (8 points); and

(ii) The qualifications of each of the other key personnel to be used in the project, including experience and training in fields related to the objectives of the project (7 points).

(2) In determining the qualifications of each person referred to in paragraphs (d)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section the Secretary also considers—

(i) The time that each person will commit to the project;

(ii) Experience and training in conducting, documenting, and applying the types of activities to be conducted; and

(iii) Knowledge of the results and findings of relevant projects and potential for application of this information in addressing the need for transitional services to youth with disabilities.

(3) Recruitment of underrepresented populations (10 points). The Secretary reviews each application for information that shows effective efforts are being made to recruit members of underrepresented populations as project staff, including—

(i) Strategies to recruit employees who are members of underrepresented populations, including members of racial or ethnic minority groups and individuals with disabilities; and

(ii) Procedures to provide training and other necessary support to retain and advance qualified personnel from underrepresented populations.

(e) Evaluation (10 points). The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the plan for evaluating the project throughout the entire grant, leading to the required fifth year evaluation. The Secretary reviews factors including—

(1) The adequacy of the applicant's plan to determine the effectiveness of the project in achieving measurable changes in State policy, programs, and services that improve systems providing transition services for youth with disabilities.

(2) The adequacy of the applicant's plan to determine the effectiveness and timeliness in completion of the managerial procedures and objectives of the project's plan of operation; and

(3) The procedures for recording, reviewing, analyzing, and interpreting for relevant audiences, data generated through conducting project activities.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1820-0028)