16760 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 62 / Friday, March 31, 1995 / Notices

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.

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
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 62 / Friday, March 31, 1995 / Notices 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 communitylevel service providers to ensure the

implementation of best practices, and to

provide training and technical

assistance to consumer-directed selfadvocacy 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 NIDRRfunded 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]

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