§ 693.22 - How does the Secretary allot funds to States on a competitive basis?

(a) The Secretary allots funds to States under this program on a competitive basis if the program appropriation for a fiscal year is less than $50,000,000.

(b) The Secretary conducts a grant competition for the States by means of a notice published in the Federal Register that contains the information needed by a State to apply for funds under a discretionary NEISP Program competition. The Secretary evaluates a State's application for funds under a discretionary NEISP Program competition on the basis of the extent to which the State fulfills the requirements listed in §§ 693.10, 693.11, 693.12, and 693.13, and the selection criteria in this section.

(c)(1) The Secretary uses the selection criteria in paragraph (d) of this section to evaluate applications for grants under this program.

(2) The maximum score, not including prior grant recipient priority points in paragraph (d)(12) of this section, for all of these criteria is 140 points.

(3) The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses in paragraph (d) of this section.

(4) In the final selection of similarly rated applications, the Secretary considers the extent to which a State provides—

(i) A comprehensive State-wide early intervention and postsecondary educational scholarship program;

(ii) Eligible students with comprehensive long-term mentoring and advising; and

(iii) Eligible students with State grant funds for their postsecondary education as compared to the other States who apply for grant funds.

(d)(1) Need for the program. (20 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows the need for the State-wide early intervention component and the methods for targeting its early intervention component activities on eligible students including consideration of—

(i) The number and percentage of students who are eligible to be served by the State's early intervention component, including students who are priority students and students who are disadvantaged;

(ii) The extent to which the State documents its need for the services and activities that the State proposes to provide under its early intervention component;

(iii) The ratio of secondary school counselors to all students and to early intervention eligible students, if the data is available;

(iv) For each of the three preceding years, if available, the estimated dropout rates for the State, including the dropout rate for all students and for students eligible for the early intervention component as proposed by the State; and

(v) For each of the three preceding years, if available, the estimated number and percentage of students in the State who enrolled in postsecondary institutions for—

(A) All students who were eligible to enroll; and

(B) Students who would have been eligible for the State's proposed early intervention component; and

(vi) Describes the procedures the State will use to award postsecondary education scholarships to eligible students in the event that the State receives reduced or no Federal funding under the NEISP Program during any fiscal year.

(2) Plan of operation. (30 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows the quality of the operating plan of the State-wide early intervention component, including—

(i) (3 points) The quality of the design of the component;

(ii) (3 points) An effective plan of management that ensures proper and efficient administration of the component;

(iii) (3 points) A clear description of how the State's proposed early intervention component relates to the purpose of the program;

(iv) (3 points) The way that the State plans to use its resources and personnel to achieve the objectives of the component;

(v) (3 points) A clear description of the methods that the State will use to target early intervention services to priority students. The State must base the proposed methods on the latest available State data. The State may target services on priority students by—

(A) Elementary and secondary schools with high concentrations of priority students within the State;

(B) Appropriate identifiable geographic areas such as counties or school districts (including both public and private schools) with high concentrations of priority students within the State; or

(C) Other methods proposed by a State and approved by the Secretary;

(vi) (7 points) A clear description of the comprehensive long-term mentoring and advising that the State plans to provide to eligible students; and

(vii) (8 points) The extent to which other State grant funds are available to eligible NEISP students for their postsecondary education if the Federal scholarship component of the program is unfunded or reduced.

(3) Quality of key personnel. (10 points) (i) The Secretary reviews each State application for information that shows the qualifications of the key personnel the State plans to use to administer its State-wide early intervention component including—

(A) The qualifications of the director of the early intervention component;

(B) The qualifications of each of the other key personnel to be used in the component; and

(C) The amount of time each person referred to in paragraphs (d)(3)(i) (A) and (B) of this section will spend working in the activities under this component.

(ii) To determine the qualifications of the key personnel, the Secretary considers evidence of past experience and training in fields related to the objectives of the early intervention component as well as other information the State provides.

(4) Budget and cost effectiveness. (5 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows that the early intervention component has an adequate budget and is cost-effective including—

(i) The budget for the project is adequate to support the early intervention component activities; and

(ii) Costs are reasonable in relation to the activities under the component.

(5) Adequacy of resources. (5 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows that the State plans to devote adequate resources to its early intervention component including—

(i) The facilities that the State plans to use are adequate; and

(ii) The equipment and supplies that the State plans to use are adequate.

(6) Likelihood for success. (20 points) The Secretary reviews each State application for information that shows the extent to which the State's early intervention component is likely to—

(i) Enable the participants to develop academic skills, such as reading, writing, mathematics, and study skills, that are essential for postsecondary education;

(ii) Improve academic skills and motivate the participants to complete a secondary educational program and subsequently gain admission to postsecondary education institutions;

(iii) Increase the secondary and postsecondary readmission rates of those participants who have not completed secondary or postsecondary education;

(iv) Identify and select eligible participants;

(v) Diagnose each participant's need for academic support in order to successfully pursue a program of postsecondary education; and

(vi) Develop a plan of program support to improve each participant's skills.

(7) Public and private support. (15 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows how the State will put in place a partnership of public and private organizations within the State to administer the early intervention component of the program including—

(i) The extent to which the State has received and has included in its plan written commitments by organizations that will provide early intervention services; and

(ii) The existence of a plan to inform the residents of the State of the NEISP Program services and eligibility criteria.

(8) Coordination with other early intervention activities. (15 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application for information that shows how the State will coordinate its early intervention component with existing early intervention activities within the State including—

(i) The extent to which the State has investigated early intervention program activity and included in its plan the number and types of currently operating public and private early intervention programs within the State;

(ii) The extent to which the State's proposed plan will supplement existing Federal, State, local, and private early intervention programs within the State, such as the Federal Head Start, Chapter 1 Program in Local Educational Agencies, and TRIO programs; and

(iii) The written plans and commitments submitted to the State by other early intervention program providers that the State plans to use as either early intervention service providers or as support organizations for those service providers.

(9) Willingness to overmatch. (10 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application to determine whether the State is willing to contribute more than one-half the cost of the program and the extent to which the State will overmatch its Federal allotment.

(10) Evaluation report plan. (10 points) The Secretary reviews each State's application to evaluate the quality of the proposed biennial evaluation report of the early intervention component of the program including—

(i) The quality of the design of the component;

(ii) The extent that the methods of evaluation are appropriate for the program and the extent they are objective and produce useful data that are quantifiable; and

(iii) The State's commitment to design an evaluation report to measure objectively performance against, at a minimum, the following standards:

(A) The effectiveness of the State's program in meeting the purposes of the program.

(B) The effect of the program on the student recipients being served by the program.

(C) The barriers to the effectiveness of the program and recommendations for changes or improvements to the program.

(D) The cost-effectiveness of the program.

(E) The extent to which the student recipients comply with the requirements of the program; and

(iv) Any other pertinent program measurements concerning the early intervention component that the State believes would be useful to the Secretary, which may be displayed through analytical charts, tables, and graphs.

(11) Prior experience. (20 points) In any award year subsequent to the 1994-95 award year, the initial year for which Federal funds were appropriated for this program, the Secretary gives priority to each State applicant that has conducted a NEISP Program within the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year for which the State applicant is applying in accordance with the following procedures:

(i) To determine the number of priority points to be awarded each eligible State applicant, the Secretary considers the State's prior experience of program participation in accordance with paragraphs (d)(11) (ii) and (iii) of this section.

(ii) The Secretary may add from one to twenty points to the point score obtained on the basis of the selection criteria, based on the State applicant's success in meeting the administrative requirements and programmatic objectives of paragraph (d)(11)(iii) of this section.

(iii) The Secretary—based on information contained in one or more of the following: Performance reports, audit reports, site visit reports, program evaluation reports, the previously funded application, the negotiated program plan or plans, previous State matching funds, and the application under consideration—considers information that shows—

(A) (5 points) The extent to which the State's program has served the number of student participants it was funded to serve;

(B) (5 points) The extent to which the State's program has achieved the goals and objectives as stated in the previously funded application or negotiated program plan;

(C) (5 points) The extent to which the State has met the administrative requirements—including recordkeeping, reporting, and financial accountability—under the terms of the previously funded award; and

(D) (5 points) The extent to which the State has provided funds to match its Federal allotment.

(e) The Secretary disburses to each State selected in the competition conducted under paragraph (b) of this section an amount equal to not more than one-half of the total amount of funds from all sources the State projects that it will expend on its NEISP Program for a fiscal year as reported on its annual application under § 693.13(a)(1).

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1840-0677)