[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69622-69626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32112]
[[Page 69621]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part III
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
Community Development Work Study Program, Funding Availability; Fiscal
Year 2000; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 238 / Monday, December 13, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 69622]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-4539-N-01]
Notice of Funding Availability for the Community Development Work
Study Program Fiscal Year 2000
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This NOFA announces the availability of approximately $3.0
million for the Community Development Work Study Program (CDWSP).
Purpose of the Program: To provide assistance to economically
disadvantaged and minority graduate students who participate in
community development work study programs and are enrolled full-time in
a graduate community building academic degree program.
Available Funds: Approximately $3 million from FY 2000
appropriations (plus any additional funds recaptured from prior
appropriations).
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education, area-wide
planning organizations (APOs), and States.
Application Deadline: February 25, 2000.
Matching Requirements: None.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
The information collection requirements contained in this NOFA have
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB
Control Number 2528-0175. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless the collection displays a valid control number.
I. Application Due Date, Application Kits, and Technical
Assistance.
Application Due Date: Your completed application must be received
at the address listed below on February 25, 2000, based on the
following submission requirements.
Application Procedures: Mailed Applications. Your application will
be considered as filed on time if it is postmarked on or before 12:00
midnight on the application due date and received at the designated
address below on or within ten (10) days of the application due date.
Applications Sent by Overnight/Express Mail Delivery. If your
application is sent by overnight or express mail, it will be considered
as filed on time if it is received on or before the application due
date, or if you submit documentary evidence that the application was
placed in transit with the overnight delivery service by no later than
the specified application due date.
Hand Carried Applications. If you hand carry your application on or
before the application due date, it must be brought to the specified
location and room number between the hours of 8:45 am and 5:15 pm,
Eastern Standard Time. If you hand carry your application on the
application due date, it will be accepted in the South Lobby of the HUD
Headquarters Building at the above address from 5:15 pm to the 12:00
midnight, Eastern Standard Time.
Address for Submitting Applications: Your completed applications
(one original and two copies) must be submitted to: Processing and
Control Branch, Office of Community Planning and Development, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW,
Room 7251, Washington, DC 20410. When submitting your application, you
should include your name, mailing address (including zip code) and
telephone number (including area code).
For Application Kits, Further Information, and Technical
Assistance:
For Application Kits: You may obtain an application kit by calling
HUD USER at 1-800-245-2691. If you have a hearing or speech impairment,
you may call the following TTY number: 1-800-483-2209. You may also
access the application kit on the Internet from HUD's web site at
www.hud.gov. When requesting an application, you should refer to CDWSP
and include your name, mailing address (including zip code) and
telephone number (including area code).
For Further Information and Technical Assistance: Jane Karadbil,
Office of University Partnerships at (202) 708-1537, ext. 5918.
Hearing- or speech-impaired individuals may call HUD's TTY number (202)
708-0770, or the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
Other than the ``800'' number, these numbers are not toll-free. Ms.
Karadbil can also be reached via the Internet at:
Jane__R.__Karadbil@hud.gov.
II. Amount Allocated
Up to $3 million, plus any additional funds recaptured from prior
appropriations.
III. Program Description; Eligible Applicants; Eligible Activities
and Costs
(A) Program Description
CDWSP funds two-year grants to institutions of higher education,
area-wide planning organizations, and States to provide assistance to
economically disadvantaged and minority graduate students who
participate in a community development work study program and are
enrolled full-time in a graduate community building academic degree
program. Grants will cover the academic period August 2000 through
August 2002.
(B) Eligible Applicants
You must demonstrate that you are eligible to apply for the
program. You are an eligible applicant if (a) you are an institution of
higher education offering graduate degrees in a community development
academic program, (b) an Area-wide Planning Organization (APO) applying
on behalf of two or more eligible institutions of higher education
located in the same SMSA or non-SMSA as the APO (as a result of a final
rule for the program published at 24 CFR 570.415, institutions of
higher education are permitted to choose whether to apply independently
or through an APO); or (c) a State applying on behalf of two or more
eligible institutions of higher education located in the State. If a
State is approved for funding, institutions of higher education located
in the State are not eligible recipients.
(C) Eligible Activities and Costs
You may request no more than $15,000 per year per student, for a
total of two years. The total is broken down as follows: an
administrative allowance of $1,000 per student per year; a work stipend
of no more than $9,000 per student per year; and tuition, fees, and
additional support of no more than $5,000 per student per year.
IV. Program Requirements
(A) Statutory Requirements
You must comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements
applicable to this program. CDWSP regulations can be found at 24 CFR
part 570.415. Copies of the regulations are available on request from
HUD User.
(B) Eligibility of the Degree Program
An eligible community building academic degree program includes but
is not limited to graduate degree programs in community and economic
development, community planning, community management, public
administration, public policy, urban economics, urban management, and
[[Page 69623]]
urban planning. The term excludes social and humanistic fields such as
law, economics (except for urban economics), education, sociology,
social work, business administration, and history. The term also
excludes joint degree programs except where both joint degree fields
have the purpose and focus of educating students in community building.
You are encouraged to contact Jane Karadbil at the above listed
telephone number if you have any questions about eligibility of a
proposed degree program.
(C) Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing
You are not required to respond to HUD's affirmative fair housing
marketing requirements.
V. Application Selection Process
(A) Two Types of Reviews
Two types of reviews will be conducted--a threshold review to
determine applicant eligibility and a rating based on the selection
criteria for all applications that pass the threshold review.
(B) Threshold Criteria for Funding Consideration
(1) General Threshold Requirements
You must meet the following threshold requirement before an
application can be evaluated, rated, and ranked:
(a) Eligibility. You must be eligible to apply for the program.
(b) Compliance with nondiscrimination requirements. You must comply
with all Fair Housing and civil rights laws, statutes, regulations, and
executive orders as enumerated in 24 CFR 5.105(a). If you: (i) have
been charged with a systemic violation of the Fair Housing Act by the
Secretary alleging ongoing discrimination; (ii) are a defendant in a
Fair Housing lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleging an
ongoing pattern or practice of discrimination; or (iii) have received a
letter of noncompliance findings under Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or section 109 of the
Housing and Community Development Act, you are not eligible to apply
for funding under this NOFA until you have resolved such charge,
lawsuit, or letter of findings to the satisfaction of the Department.
(c) Number of students to be assisted. You may request funding for
as many as five students, and in no case, for no less than three
students, since work plan and other facets of the evaluation are
assessed in the context of the number of students for whom funding is
requested. If your application requests fewer than three or more than
five students per institution, it will be disqualified.
(d) Eligibility of the applicant and its proposed academic degree
program. You must demonstrate that you are eligible to participate in
the program, by demonstrating that you are either an institution of
higher education that offers graduate degrees in at least one eligible
community building academic program or you are an APO or State
submitting an application on behalf of such institutions. Your
application must also demonstrate that each institution participating
in your program has the faculty to carry out its activities under your
program. Each work placement agency must be involved in community
building and must be an agency of a State or unit of local government,
an area-wide planning organization, an Indian tribe, or a private
nonprofit organization.
(e) Graduation rates. You must maintain at least a 50 percent rate
of graduation of students from the FY 1997 funding round, which covered
school years September 1997 to September 1999, in order to be eligible
to participate in the current round of CDWSP funding. If you were
funded under the FY 1997 CDWSP funding round and did not maintain such
a rate, you will be excluded from participating in the FY 2000 funding
round.
(C) Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications
To review and rate applications, the Department may establish
panels including persons not currently employed by HUD to obtain
certain expertise and outside points of view, including views from
other Federal agencies. You will be evaluated competitively and ranked
against all other applicants that have applied for the same funding
program.
(D) General Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rank Applications
The factors for rating and ranking your application, and maximum
points for each factor, are provided below. The maximum number of
points for each program is 100. The rating of your organization and
staff, unless otherwise specified, will include any sub-contractors,
consultants, sub-recipients, and members of consortia that are firmly
committed to your project, to the extent of their participation.
(1) Quality of the Academic Program
(30 points if you have never received a CDWSP grant) (25 points if
you have previously received a CDWSP grant).
HUD will evaluate the quality of the academic program you offer (or
in the case of an application from an APO or State, those offered by
the institutions included in your application) including, without
limitation, the:
(i) Quality of your course offerings in terms of their depth,
sophistication, quality, and emphasis on applied coursework;
(ii) Appropriateness of your course offerings for preparing
students for careers in community building; and
(iii) Qualifications of your faculty and percentage of their time
devoted to teaching and research in community building.
(2) Quality of the Work Placement Assignments (15 Points)
HUD will evaluate the extent to which participating students will
receive a sufficient number and variety of work placement assignments,
the assignments will provide practical and useful experience to
students participating in your program, and the assignments will
further the participating students' preparation for professional
careers in community building. In applying this factor, HUD will
consider the quality in terms of relevance to community building and
variety of work placement agencies and the quality and variety of
projects/experiences at each agency and overall. You must have a plan
for rotating students among work placement agencies. Students engaging
in community building projects through an institution of higher
education may do so only through a community outreach center, which
will in that instance be considered a work placement agency even if the
community building projects are undertaken with or through a separate
organization or entity. Accordingly, students engaging in community
building through an institution of higher education's outreach center
should do so during only part of their academic program and should
rotate to other work placement agency responsibilities identified in
the CDWSP regulations.
(3) Effectiveness of Program Administration (18 Points)
HUD will evaluate the degree to which you will be able to
coordinate and administer your program. HUD will allocate the maximum
points available under this criterion equally among the following three
considerations, except that the maximum points available under this
criterion will be allocated equally only between (i) and (ii), where
you have not previously administered a CDWSP-funded program.
(i) The strength and clarity of your plan for placing CDWSP
students on rotating work placement assignments
[[Page 69624]]
and for monitoring CDWSP students' progress both academically and in
their work placement assignments;
(ii) The degree to which the individual who will coordinate and
administer your program has clear responsibility, ample available time,
and sufficient authority to do so;
(iii) The effectiveness of your prior coordination and
administration of a CDWSP-funded program, where applicable (including
the timeliness and completeness of your compliance with CDWSP reporting
requirements). In addressing the timeliness of reports, you should
review your prior CDWSP grant agreements and reports and compare when
reports were due with when the reports actually were submitted. You
should also describe your timeliness in drawing down grant funds.
(4) Demonstrated Commitment of the Applicant to Meeting the Needs of
Economically Disadvantaged and Minority Students (10 Points)
HUD will evaluate your commitment to meeting the needs of
economically disadvantaged and minority students as demonstrated by
your policies and plans, and past efforts and successes in, recruiting,
enrolling and financially assisting economically disadvantaged and
minority students, including the provision of reasonable accommodations
for students with disabilities. If you are an APO or State, HUD will
consider the demonstrated commitment of each institution of higher
education on whose behalf you are applying; HUD will also consider your
demonstrated commitment to recruit and hire economically disadvantaged
and minority students.
(5) Rates of Graduation (7 Points)
HUD will evaluate the rates of students previously enrolled in a
community building academic degree program, specifically (where
applicable) graduation rates from any previously funded CDWSP academic
programs or similar programs. This factor measures the rate of
graduation for all applicable years and awards points based on the
extent to which the applicant exceeds a 50% graduation rate each
applicable year.
(6) Extent of Financial Commitment (10 Points)
HUD will evaluate your commitment and ability to assure that CDWSP
students will receive sufficient financial assistance above and beyond
the CDWSP funding to complete their academic program in a timely manner
and without working in excess of 20 hours a week during the school
year. When addressing this issue, you should, among other responsive
information, delineate the full costs budgeted annually for a student,
explain the basis for your budget and explain how the financial
assistance package you will offer to each CDWSP student will meet that
budget. You should have an adequate means of addressing reasonable
variations in budget needs among students and for addressing emergency
financial needs of students.
(7) Likelihood of Fostering Students' Permanent Employment in Community
Building (10 Points if You Have Never Received a CDWSP Grant) (15
Points if You Have Previously Received a CDWSP Grant)
HUD will evaluate the extent to which your proposed program will
lead participating students directly and immediately to permanent
employment in community building, as indicated by:
(i) Your past success in placing your graduates (particularly
CDWSP-funded and similar program graduates, where applicable) in
permanent employment in community building; and
(ii) The amount of faculty/staff time and resources you devote to
assisting students (particularly students in CDWSP-funded and similar
programs, where applicable) in finding permanent employment in
community building.
VI. Application Submission Requirements
(A) Content of Application
Your application should include an original and two copies of the
items listed below. In order to be able to recycle paper, you should
not submit applications in bound form; binder clips or loose leaf
binders are acceptable. Also, please do not use colored paper.
(1) Transmittal Letter, which must be signed by your Chief
Executive Officer, or his or her designee. If a designee signs, your
application must contain a copy of the official delegation of signatory
authority. The letter must contain an assurance that you were not
awarded a CDWSP grant in Fiscal Year 1997 (which was to cover the
school years August 1997 to August 1999) or were awarded a Fiscal Year
1997 grant and had a 50 percent or higher rate of graduation of CDWSP
students funded through the grant.
(2) Designation of your degree program(s) under which students will
be educated.
(3) Executive Summary.
(4) Narrative statement addressing the Factors for Award in Section
V. No attachments are permitted.
(5) Management/Work Plan.
(6) Recipient/Student Binding Agreement. HUD does not provide a
model or sample format for this document.
(7) Recipient/Work Placement Agreement. HUD does not provide a
model or sample format for this document.
(8) Budget. Using the forms provided for the August 2000 through
August 2002 funding period.
(9) Application for Federal Assistance(HUD-424).
(10) Standard Form for Assurances--Non-Construction Programs (SF-
424B).
(11) Drug-Free Workplace Certification (HUD-50070).
(12) Certification of Payments to Influence Transactions (Form HUD-
50071).
(13) Applicant/Recipient Disclosure Update Report (HUD-2880).
(14) Assurance regarding the applicant's financial management
systems.
(B) Final selection
If your application passes the threshold requirements, it will be
rated and then ranked based on its total score on the selection
factors. Your application will be considered for selection based on its
rank order. HUD may make awards out of rank order to achieve geographic
diversity, and may provide assistance to support a number of students
that is less than the number requested under your application or a
lower funding level per student, in order to provide assistance to as
many highly ranked applications as possible.
If there is a tie in the point scores of two applications, the rank
order will be determined by the scores on the selection factor entitled
``Quality of the Academic Program.'' The application with the most
points on this factor will be given the higher rank. If there is still
a tie, the rank order will be determined by the applicants' scores on
the selection factor entitled ``Effectiveness of program
administration.'' The application with the most points for this
selection factor will be given the higher rank.
If there are insufficient funds to fund an application, even if the
request is reduced to the minimum number of students which could be
funded (i.e., three students per institution of higher education), HUD
may select the next ranked application which would not exceed the
funding left available and still fund the minimum number of students
allowed.
HUD reserves the right to make selections out of rank order to
provide for geographic distribution of funded CDWSPs. If HUD decides to
use this
[[Page 69625]]
option, it will do so only if two adjacent HUD regions do not yield at
least one fundable CDWSP on the basis of rank order. If this occurs,
HUD will fund the highest ranking applicant within the two regions.
HUD reserves the right to reduce your amount of funding in order to
fund as many highly ranked applications as possible. Additionally, if
funds remain after funding the highest ranked application, HUD may fund
part of the next highest ranking application (as long as it would
provide assistance to the minimum number of students required to be
served) in a given program area. If you turn down the award offer, HUD
will make the same determination for the next highest-ranking
application. If funds remain after all selections have been made, the
remaining will be carried over to the next funding cycle's competition.
(C) Negotiations
After selections have been made, HUD may require winners to
participate in negotiations to determine the Grant Budget. In cases
where HUD cannot successfully conclude negotiations, or you fail to
provide HUD with requested information, an award will not be made. In
such instances, HUD may elect to offer an award to the next highest
ranking applicant, and proceed with negotiations with the next highest
applicant.
VII. Corrections to Deficient Applications
After the application due date, HUD may not, consistent with 24 CFR
part 4, subpart B, consider unsolicited information from you. HUD may
contact you, however, to clarify an item in the application or to
correct technical deficiencies. You should note, however, that HUD may
not seek a clarification of items or responses that improve the
substantive quality of your response to any eligibility or selection
criterion. Examples of curable (correctable) technical deficiencies
include failure to submit the proper certifications or failure to
submit your application containing an original signature by an
authorized official. In each case, HUD will notify you in writing by
describing the clarification or technical deficiency. HUD will notify
you by facsimile or by return receipt requested. You must submit
clarifications or corrections of technical deficiencies in accordance
with the information provided by HUD within 14 calendar days of the
date of receipt of the HUD notification. If you do not correct the
deficiency within this time period, your application will be rejected
as incomplete.
VIII. Environmental Requirements
This NOFA does not direct, provide for assistance or loan and
mortgage insurance for, or otherwise govern or regulate real property
acquisition, disposition, leasing, rehabilitation, alteration,
demolition, or new construction, or establish, revise, or provide for
standards for construction or construction materials, manufactured
housing, or occupancy. Accordingly, under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1), this NOFA
is categorically excluded from environmental review under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321) and no
Finding of No Significant Impact is needed. In addition, the provision
of assistance under this NOFA is categorically excluded from
environmental review under Sec. 50.19(b)(3) and (b)(9).
IX. Other Matters
(A) Federalism, Executive Order 13132
This notice does not have federalism implications and does not
impose substantial direct compliance costs on State and local
governments or preempt State law within the meaning of Executive Order
13132 (entitled ``Federalism'').
(B) Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities
Applicants for funding under this NOFA (except Indian Housing
Authorities established by tribal governments exercising their
sovereign powers with respect to expenditures specifically permitted by
Federal law) are subject to the provision of section 319 of the
Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for
Fiscal Year 1991, 31 U.S.C. 1352 (the Byrd Amendment) and to the
provisions of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-65
(December 19, 1995).
The Byrd Amendment, which is implemented in regulations at 24 CFR
part 87, prohibits applicants for Federal contracts and grants from
using appropriated funds to attempt to influence Federal Executive or
legislative officers or employees in connection with obtaining such
assistance, or with its extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or
modification. The Byrd Amendment applies to the funds that are the
subject of this NOFA. Therefore, applicants must file a certification
stating that they have not made and will not make any prohibited
payments and, if any payments or agreement to make payments of
nonappropriated funds for these purposes have been made, a form SF-LLL
disclosing such payments must be submitted. The certification and the
SF-LLL are included in the application kit.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-65 (December 19,
1995), which repealed section 112 of the HUD Reform Act and resulted in
elimination of the regulations at 24 CFR part 86, requires all persons
and entities who lobby covered Executive or Legislative Branch
officials to register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of
the House of Representatives and file reports concerning their lobbying
activities.
(C) Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act; Documentation and Public Access
Requirements
Section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Reform Act of 1989 (HUD Reform Act) and the final rule codified at 24
CFR part 4, subpart A, published on April 1, 1996 (61 FR 1448), contain
a number of provisions that are designed to ensure greater
accountability and integrity in the provision of certain types of
assistance administered by HUD. On January 14, 1992, HUD published, at
57 FR 1942, a notice that also provides information on the
implementation of section 102. The documentation, public access, and
disclosure requirements of section 102 are applicable to assistance
awarded under this NOFA as follows:
(1) Documentation and Public Access Requirements
HUD will ensure that documentation and other information regarding
each application submitted pursuant to this NOFA are sufficient to
indicate the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied. This
material, including any letters of support, will be made available for
public inspection for a five-year period beginning not less than 30
days after the award of the assistance. Material will be made available
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and
HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 15. In addition, HUD will
include the recipients of assistance pursuant to this NOFA in its
Federal Register notice of all recipients of HUD assistance awarded on
a competitive basis.
(2) Disclosures
HUD will make available to the public for five years all applicant
disclosure reports (HUD Form 2880) submitted in connection with this
NOFA. Update reports (also Form 2880) will be made available along with
the applicant disclosure reports, but in no case for a period less than
three years. All
[[Page 69626]]
reports--both applicant disclosures and updates--will be made available
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and
HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 15.
(D) Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act
HUD's regulations implementing section 103 of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3537a),
codified in 24 CFR part 4, apply to this funding competition. The
regulations continue to apply until the announcement of the selection
of successful applicants. HUD employees involved in the review of
applications and in the making of funding decisions are limited by
regulations from providing advance information to any person (other
than an authorized employee of HUD) concerning funding decisions, or
from otherwise giving any applicant an unfair competitive advantage.
Persons who apply for assistance in this competition should confine
their inquiries to the subject areas permitted under 24 CFR part 4.
Applicants or employees who have ethics-related questions, such as
whether particular subject matter can be discussed with persons outside
the Department, should contact HUD's Ethics Law Division (202) 708-3815
(voice), (202) 708-1112 (TTY). (These are not toll-free numbers.) For
HUD employees who have specific program questions, the employee should
contact the appropriate Field Office Counsel or Headquarters Counsel
for the program to which the question pertains.
(E) Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance number is: 14.234.
X. Authority
Section 107(c) of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) authorizes CDWSP.
Regulations for the program appear at 24 CFR 570.415.
Dated: December 7, 1999.
Lawrence L. Thompson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 99-32112 Filed 12-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-29-P
