[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18548-18549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9261]
[[Page 18547]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VII
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Special Education--Training and Information for Parents of Children
with Disabilities; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year 1999; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 71 / Wednesday, April 14, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 18548]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Special Education--Training and Information for Parents of
Children with Disabilities; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards
for Fiscal Year 1999
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
1999.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides closing dates and other information
regarding the transmittal of applications for fiscal year 1999
competitions under one program authorized by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended: Special Education--
Training and Information for Parents of Children with Disabilities (one
priority).
This notice supports the National Education Goals by helping to
improve results for children with disabilities.
Waiver of Rulemaking
It is generally the practice of the Secretary to offer interested
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However,
section 661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the Administrative Procedure Act (5
U.S.C. 553) inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
General Requirements
(a) Projects funded under this notice must make positive efforts to
employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in project activities (see Section 606 of IDEA);
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects
(see Section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA); and
(c) Projects funded under this priority must budget for a two-day
Project Directors' meeting in Washington, D.C. during each year of the
project.
Information collection resulting from this notice has been
submitted to OMB for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act and has
been approved under control number 1820-0028, expiration date July 31,
2000.
Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to ensure that
parents of children with disabilities receive training and information
help them to improve results for their children with disabilities.
Eligible Applicants: Local parent organizations must meet the
criteria in section 682(g) of the Act, and also must meet one of the
following criteria--
(a) Have a board of directors the majority of whom are from the
community to be served; or
(b) Have as part of its mission, serving the interests of
individuals with disabilities from such community; and have a special
governing committee to administer the project, a majority of the
members of which are individuals from such community; examples of
administrative responsibilities include controlling the use of the
project funds, and hiring and managing project personnel.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, and 85; and (b) The selection criteria for this priority are
drawn from the EDGAR general selection criteria menu. The specific
selection criteria for this priority are included in the funding
application packet for this competition.
Priority
Under sections 661(e)(2) and 683 of the Act, and 34 CFR
75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute preference to
applications that meet the following priority. The Secretary funds
under this competition only those applications that meet this absolute
priority:
Absolute Priority--Community Parent Resource Centers (84.328C)
The purpose of this statutory priority is to support local parent
training and information centers that will help ensure that underserved
parents of children with disabilities, including low-income parents,
parents of children with limited English proficiency, and parents with
disabilities, have the training and information they need to enable
them to participate effectively in helping their children with
disabilities to--
(a) Meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible,
those challenging standards that have been established for all
children; and
(b) Be prepared to lead productive independent adult lives, to the
maximum extent possible.
Each community parent training and information center supported
under this priority must--
(a) Provide training and information that meets the training and
information needs of parents of children with disabilities proposed to
be served by the project;
(b) Assist parents to understand the availability of, and how to
effectively use, procedural safeguards under Section 615 of IDEA,
including encouraging the use, and explaining the benefits, of
alternative methods of dispute resolution, such as the mediation
process described in IDEA;
(c) Serve the parents of infants, toddlers, and children with the
full range of disabilities by assisting parents to--
(1) Better understand the nature of their children's disabilities
and their educational and developmental needs;
(2) Communicate effectively with personnel responsible for
providing special education, early intervention, and related services;
(3) Participate in decision making processes and the development of
individualized education programs and individualized family service
plans;
(4) Obtain appropriate information about the range of options,
programs, services, and resources available to assist children with
disabilities and their families;
(5) Understand the provisions of IDEA for the education of, and the
provision of early intervention services to, children with
disabilities; and
(6) Participate in school reform activities;
(d) Contract with the State education agencies, if the State elects
to contract with the community parent resource center, for the purpose
of meeting with parents who choose not to use the mediation process, to
encourage the use and explain the benefits of mediation, consistent
with Sections 615(e)(2)(B) and (D) of IDEA;
(e) In order to serve parents and families of children with the
full range of disabilities, network with appropriate clearinghouses,
including organizations conducting national dissemination activities
under section 685(d) of IDEA, and with other national, State, and local
organizations and agencies, such as protection and advocacy agencies;
(f) Establish cooperative partnerships with the parent training and
information centers funded under Section 682 of IDEA;
(g) Be designed to meet the specific needs of families who
experience significant isolation from available sources of information
and support; and
(h) Annually report to the Secretary on--
(1) The number of parents to whom it provided information and
training in the most recently concluded fiscal year; and
(2) The effectiveness of strategies used to reach and serve
parents, including underserved parents of children with disabilities.
The Secretary intends to fund a maximum of three awards.
Competitive Priorities: Within this Absolute Priority, the Secretary,
under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), gives preference to
[[Page 18549]]
applications that meet one or both of the following competitive
priorities:
The Secretary awards 20 points to an application submitted by a
local parent organization that has a board of directors, the majority
of whom are parents of children with disabilities, from the community
to be served. These points are in addition to any points the
application earns under the selection criteria for the program.
The Secretary awards 10 points to an application that provides
parent training and information in one or more Empowerment Zones or
Enterprise Communities in a manner that meets the competitive priority
relating to Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities published in
the Federal Register on November 7, 1994 (59 FR 55534). A list of areas
that have been selected as Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities
is included in the application package. These points are in addition to
any points the application earns under the selection criteria for the
program.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Project Award: Projects will not be funded in excess of $100,000
for any single budget period of 12 months.
For Applications and General Information Contact: Requests for
applications and general information should be addressed to the Grants
and Contracts Services Team, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, room 3317,
Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2641. The preferred method for
requesting information is to FAX your request to: (202) 205-8717.
Telephone: (202) 260-9182.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the TDD number: (202) 205-8953.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice or
the application packages referred to in this notice in an alternate
format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by
contacting the Department as listed above. However, the Department is
not able to reproduce in an alternate format the standard forms
included in the application package.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the
Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and
local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for
those programs.
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Application Notice for Fiscal Year 1999
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Application Deadline for Maximum Estimated
CFDA No. and name Application deadline intergovernmental award (per Project period Page limit number of
available date review year)\1\ awards
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84.328C Community Parent 4/20/99 6/01/99 8/02/99 $100,000 Up to 36 mos. (\2\) 3
Resource Centers.
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\1\ The Secretary rejects and does not consider an application that proposes a budget exceeding the amount listed for the priority for any single budget
period of 12 months.
\2\ As noted above, there is no page limit for this priority.
Note: The Department of Education is not bound by any estimates in this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office at (202) 512-1530 or, toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.
Note: The official version of a document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Dated: April 8, 1999.
Curtis L. Richards,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 99-9261 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
