H. R. 1385—250
‘‘(C) personnel specifically trained to deliver services
to individuals who may benefit from receiving independent
living services;
‘‘(D) personnel specifically trained to deliver services
in the client assistance programs;
‘‘(E) personnel specifically trained to deliver services,
through supported employment programs, to individuals
with a most significant disability; and
‘‘(F) personnel specifically trained to deliver services
to individuals with disabilities pursuing self-employment,
business ownership, and telecommuting; and
‘‘(G) personnel trained in performing other functions
necessary to the provision of vocational, medical, social,
and psychological rehabilitation services, and other services
provided under this Act.
‘‘(2) AUTHORITY
TO
PROVIDE
SCHOLARSHIPS.—Grants and
contracts under paragraph (1) may be expended for scholarships
and may include necessary stipends and allowances.
‘‘(3) RELATED FEDERAL STATUTES.—In carrying out this sub-
section, the Commissioner may make grants to and enter into
contracts with States and public or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, including institutions of higher education, to fur-
nish training regarding provisions of Federal statutes, including
section 504, title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.), and the provisions of titles
II and XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.
and 1381 et seq.), that are related to work incentives for individ-
uals with disabilities.
‘‘(4) TRAINING FOR STATEWIDE WORKFORCE SYSTEMS PERSON-
NEL.—The Commissioner may make grants to and enter into
contracts under this subsection with States and public or non-
profit agencies and organizations, including institutions of
higher education, to furnish training to personnel providing
services to individuals with disabilities under title I of the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Under this paragraph,
personnel may be trained—
‘‘(A) in evaluative skills to determine whether an
individual with a disability may be served by the State
vocational rehabilitation program or another component
of a statewide workforce investment system; or
‘‘(B) to assist individuals with disabilities seeking
assistance through one-stop delivery systems described in
section 134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
‘‘(5) JOINT FUNDING.—Training and other activities provided
under paragraph (4) for personnel may be jointly funded with
the Department of Labor, using funds made available under
title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
‘‘(b) GRANTS
AND CONTRACTS
FOR ACADEMIC DEGREES
AND
ACADEMIC CERTIFICATE GRANTING TRAINING PROJECTS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Commissioner may make
grants to, and enter into contracts with, States and public
or nonprofit agencies and organizations (including institu-
tions of higher education) to pay part of the costs of aca-
demic training projects to provide training that leads to
an academic degree or academic certificate. In making such
grants or entering into such contracts, the Commissioner
H. R. 1385—251
shall target funds to areas determined under subsection
(e) to have shortages of qualified personnel.
‘‘(B) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Academic training projects
described in this subsection may include—
‘‘(i) projects to train personnel in the areas of
assisting and supporting individuals with disabilities
pursuing self-employment, business ownership, and
telecommuting, and of vocational rehabilitation coun-
seling, rehabilitation technology, rehabilitation medi-
cine, rehabilitation nursing, rehabilitation social work,
rehabilitation psychiatry, rehabilitation psychology,
rehabilitation dentistry, physical therapy, occupational
therapy, speech pathology and audiology, physical edu-
cation, therapeutic recreation, community rehabilita-
tion programs, or prosthetics and orthotics;
‘‘(ii) projects to train personnel to provide—
‘‘(I) services to individuals with specific disabil-
ities or individuals with disabilities who have spe-
cific impediments to rehabilitation, including
individuals who are members of populations that
are unserved or underserved by programs under
this Act;
‘‘(II) job development and job placement serv-
ices to individuals with disabilities;
‘‘(III) supported employment services, includ-
ing services of employment specialists for individ-
uals with disabilities;
‘‘(IV) specialized services for individuals with
significant disabilities; or
‘‘(V) recreation for individuals with disabilities;
‘‘(iii) projects to train personnel in other fields
contributing to the rehabilitation of individuals with
disabilities; and
‘‘(iv) projects to train personnel in the use, applica-
tions, and benefits of rehabilitation technology.
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—No grant shall be awarded or contract
entered into under this subsection unless the applicant has
submitted to the Commissioner an application at such time,
in such form, in accordance with such procedures, and including
such information as the Secretary may require, including—
‘‘(A) a description of how the designated State unit
or units will participate in the project to be funded under
the grant or contract, including, as appropriate, participa-
tion on advisory committees, as practicum sites, in curricu-
lum development, and in other ways so as to build closer
relationships between the applicant and the designated
State unit and to encourage students to pursue careers
in public vocational rehabilitation programs;
‘‘(B) the identification of potential employers that pro-
vide employment that meets the requirements of paragraph
(5)(A)(i); and
‘‘(C) an assurance that data on the employment of
graduates or trainees who participate in the project is
accurate.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), no grant or contract under this subsection may be
H. R. 1385—252
used to provide any one course of study to an individual
for a period of more than 4 years.
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a grant or contract recipient under
this subsection determines that an individual has a disabil-
ity which seriously affects the completion of training under
this subsection, the grant or contract recipient may extend
the period referred to in subparagraph (A).
‘‘(4) AUTHORITY
TO
PROVIDE
SCHOLARSHIPS.—Grants and
contracts under paragraph (1) may be expanded to provide
services that include the provision of scholarships and necessary
stipends and allowances.
‘‘(5) AGREEMENTS.—
‘‘(A) CONTENTS.—A recipient of a grant or contract
under this subsection shall provide assurances to the
Commissioner that each individual who receives a scholar-
ship, for any academic year beginning after June 1, 1992,
utilizing funds provided under such grant or contract shall
enter into an agreement with the recipient under which
the individual shall—
‘‘(i) maintain employment—
‘‘(I) in a nonprofit rehabilitation agency or
related agency or in a State rehabilitation agency
or related agency, including a professional corpora-
tion or professional practice group through which
the individual has a service arrangement with the
designated State agency;
‘‘(II) on a full- or part-time basis; and
‘‘(III) for a period of not less than the full-
time equivalent of 2 years for each year for which
assistance under this section was received by the
individual,
within a period, beginning after the recipient completes
the training for which the scholarship was awarded,
of not more than the sum of the number of years
in the period described in subclause (III) and 2 addi-
tional years; and
‘‘(ii) repay all or part of any scholarship received,
plus interest, if the individual does not fulfill the
requirements of clause (i),
except as the Commissioner by regulation may provide
for repayment exceptions and deferrals.
‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commissioner shall be
responsible for the enforcement of each agreement entered
into under subparagraph (A) upon completion of the train-
ing involved under such subparagraph.
‘‘(c) GRANTS TO HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVER-
SITIES.—The Commissioner, in carrying out this section, shall make
grants to historically Black colleges and universities and other
institutions of higher education whose minority student enrollment
is at least 50 percent of the total enrollment of the institution.
‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—A grant may not be awarded to a State
or other organization under this section unless the State or
organization has submitted an application to the Commissioner
at such time, in such form, in accordance with such procedures,
and containing such information as the Commissioner may require.
Any such application shall include a detailed description of strate-
gies that will be utilized to recruit and train individuals so as
H. R. 1385—253
to reflect the diverse populations of the United States as part
of the effort to increase the number of individuals with disabilities,
and individuals who are from linguistically and culturally diverse
backgrounds, who are available to provide rehabilitation services.
‘‘(e) EVALUATION
AND COLLECTION
OF DATA.—The Commis-
sioner shall evaluate the impact of the training programs conducted
under this section, and collect information on the training needs
of, and data on shortages of qualified personnel necessary to provide
services to individuals with disabilities. The Commissioner shall
prepare and submit to Congress, by September 30 of each fiscal
year, a report setting forth and justifying in detail how the funds
made available for training under this section for the fiscal year
prior to such submission are allocated by professional discipline
and other program areas. The report shall also contain findings
on such personnel shortages, how funds proposed for the succeeding
fiscal year will be allocated under the President’s budget proposal,
and how the findings on personnel shortages justify the allocations.
‘‘(f ) GRANTS FOR THE TRAINING OF INTERPRETERS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of training a suffi-
cient number of qualified interpreters to meet the commu-
nications needs of individuals who are deaf or hard of
hearing, and individuals who are deaf-blind, the Commis-
sioner, acting through a Federal office responsible for deaf-
ness and communicative disorders, may award grants to
public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations to
pay part of the costs—
‘‘(i) for the establishment of interpreter training
programs; or
‘‘(ii) to enable such agencies or organizations to
provide financial assistance for ongoing interpreter
training programs.
‘‘(B) GEOGRAPHIC
AREAS.—The Commissioner shall
award grants under this subsection for programs in
geographic areas throughout the United States that the
Commissioner considers appropriate to best carry out the
objectives of this section.
‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sub-
section, the Commissioner shall give priority to public or
private nonprofit agencies or organizations with existing
programs that have a demonstrated capacity for providing
interpreter training services.
‘‘(D) FUNDING.—The Commissioner may award grants
under this subsection through the use of—
‘‘(i) amounts appropriated to carry out this section;
or
‘‘(ii) pursuant to an agreement with the Director
of the Office of the Special Education Program (estab-
lished under section 603 of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (as amended by section 101
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997 (Public Law 105–17))), amounts
appropriated under section 686 of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—A grant may not be awarded to an
agency or organization under paragraph (1) unless the agency