[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 62 (Friday, March 31, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16760-16761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-7942]
[[Page 16759]]
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Part VI
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Knowledge
Dissemination and Utilization (D&U) Program; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 62 / Friday, March 31, 1995 / Notices
[[Page 16760]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research;
Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization (D&U) Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed funding priority for fiscal years 1995-1996
for the Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization Program.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes a funding priority for the Knowledge
Dissemination and Utilization (D&U) Program under the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) for fiscal
years 1995-1996. The Secretary takes this action to ensure that
rehabilitation knowledge generated from projects and centers funded by
NIDRR and others is utilized fully to improve the lives of individuals
with disabilities and their families.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 1, 1995.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning this proposed priority should be
addressed to Betty Jo Berland, U.S. Department of Education, 600
Independence Avenue SW, Switzer Building, Room 3422, Washington, DC
20202-2601.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Esquith. Telephone: (202) 205-
8801. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the TDD number at (202) 205-8133.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice contains one proposed priority
under the D&U program, in the area of community integration for
individuals with mental retardation.
Authority for the D&U program of NIDRR is contained in sections 202
and 204(a) and 204(b)(6) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended
(29 U.S.C. 760-762). Under this program the Secretary makes awards to
public and private agencies and organizations, including institutions
of higher education and Indian tribes or tribal organizations.
This proposed priority supports the National Education Goal that
calls for all Americans to possess the knowledge and skills necessary
to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and
responsibilities of citizenship.
Under the regulations for this program (see 34 CFR 355.32), the
Secretary may establish research priorities by reserving funds to
support particular research activities.
The Secretary will announce the final funding priority in a notice
in the Federal Register. The final priority will be determined by
responses to this notice, available funds, and other considerations of
the Department. Funding of particular projects depends on the final
priority, the availability of funds, and the quality of the
applications received. The publication of this proposed priority does
not preclude the Secretary from proposing additional priorities, nor
does it limit the Secretary to funding only this priority, subject to
meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice of proposed priority does not solicit
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition
will be published in the Federal Register concurrent with or
following publication of the notice of final priority.
Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) the Secretary proposes to give an
absolute preference to applications that meet the following priority.
The Secretary proposes to fund under this program only applications
that meet this absolute priority:
Proposed Priority: Facilitating Community Integration for Individuals
with Mental Retardation
Background
NIDRR has supported Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers in
the area of mental retardation and developmental disabilities since
1965. In addition, NIDRR has supported a number of research projects
targeted on this population in areas such as transition from school to
work, public policy and expenditures for developmental disabilities in
the U.S., and successful transitions from nursing homes into the
community. As a result of such research and training efforts over many
years, a large body of knowledge now exists relative to enabling
individuals with mental retardation to live in their communities.
The population of public institutions for persons with mental
retardation has decreased from 195,000 in 1967 to 81,200 persons in
1991, (Lakin, 1993) as a result of public policy decisions and vigorous
efforts of public leadership groups to effect deinstitutionalization.
However, successful integration into communities that includes
residential, employment, and full participation components is not
easily achieved.
During the past eight years there have been major developments in
the understanding of community integration needs and strategies,
including: Funding models that allow for individualized options;
systems for assessing support needs for an individual and in a
community; models for both formal and informal support systems, and for
integrating the two approaches; and model strategies for systems change
within States. (Horner, 1994). Yet in nearly every State, policy and
practice do not reflect these advances in knowledge and understanding,
and do not take advantage of the best practices models and
implementation strategies that have evolved through research and
practice.
As a result, innovative supports for living in their own home or
community are available to very few of those who potentially could
benefit from them. Many thousands of people with developmental
disabilities continue to live in private and public institutions and
``mini-institutions'' in the community. In many cases,
``deinstitutionalization has resulted in trans-institutionalization''.
(Taylor, 1994) There are approximately 64,800 persons with mental
retardation and related conditions who are not receiving any form of
residential services and who are now on waiting lists for community
residential services (Lakin et al., 1993). And, although 48 percent of
all individuals with mental retardation nationwide resided in large
congregate care settings in 1992, there were 8 States that provided
services to more than 60 percent of consumers in family-scale settings
serving six or fewer individuals, while conversely, 6 States served
fewer than 10 percent of their clients in such small settings
(Braddock, 1994).
Thus, there is a demand for community integration assistance,
coupled with a tremendous variation in State ability to meet those
demands. This variation in services indicates that there is a critical
need for information about innovative, state-of-the-art practices and
for training and technical assistance on how to improve policies and
practices on community integration at the State and community levels.
NIDRR received substantial public comment on its 1995 proposed
priorities, contending that there is a national need for information on
best practices for community integration and a demand for training of
service providers and consumers to help communities overcome the
challenges of fully including all of their citizens and their families,
and to make community integration a reality. State and local policy
makers, regulators, and service agencies, as well as community service
providers require training and technical assistance to enable them to
address the issues that will emerge as States and localities move
toward a system of individualized supports. States and communities
require [[Page 16761]] information and training on policies and
strategies that could assist them in shifting from a provider-driven to
a consumer-driven service delivery system. The quality of community
services delivered to persons with disabilities and their families will
also depend on the ability of educational, employment and residential
service agencies to effectively address the training needs of their
approximately 250,000 direct service personnel (Wallace, T. & Johnson,
D., 1992 and Braddock, 1994).
The Secretary believes that there is a critical need for
dissemination of information on model programs, integrated statewide
systems of service delivery, exemplary practices, and systems change
strategies. In addition, there is a need to develop more effective
mechanisms for training community-level service providers to ensure the
implementation of best practices, and to provide training and technical
assistance to consumer-directed self-advocacy organizations and parent
organizations.
Priority
Under this priority, the Secretary supports a dissemination and
technical assistance center that--(1) identifies and disseminates
exemplary practices in community integration for individuals with
mental retardation; and (2) provides training and technical assistance
to State and local agencies, community-based service providers, and
consumer-controlled advocacy organizations to facilitate the adoption
of exemplary practices in community integration for individuals with
mental retardation.
In addition to activities proposed by the applicant to carry out
these purposes, the center must conduct the following activities.
Design and implement a national information resource on
community integration to serve policymakers and administrators,
community-based service providers, consumer-controlled advocacy
organizations, and individuals with mental retardation and their
families, ensuring that information is available in accessible formats
appropriate to individuals with a range of sensory, cognitive, and
other disabilities;
Prepare materials on important topical issues, which might
include, for example: Strategies to address social and cultural
barriers to full inclusion; strategies for cross-agency collaboration
in the development of individualized services or case management
practices; and reasonable accommodations to facilitate community
inclusion, and use them in information dissemination, training, and
technical assistance activities as appropriate; and
Coordinate with existing NIDRR-funded projects and
centers, and build upon the products of past NIDRR projects and similar
efforts funded by other Federal agencies, to ensure that the best and
most current information on needs and best practices is incorporated
into the information dissemination, training, and technical assistance
of this center.
Invitation To Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit comments and
recommendations regarding this proposed priority.
All comments submitted in response to this proposed priority will
be available for public inspection, during and after the comment
period, in Room 3424, Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW., Washington,
DC between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
of each week except Federal holidays.
Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR parts 350 and 355.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 760-762.
Dated: March 28, 1995.
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133D, Knowledge
Dissemination and Utilization Program)
[FR Doc. 95-7942 Filed 3-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
