To support and coordinate
research and its utilization to improve the lives of people of all ages with
physical and mental disabilities, especially persons with severe disabilities
through: (1) Identifying and eliminating causes and consequences of
disability; (2) maximizing the health, physical, and emotional status of
persons with disabilities and their functional ability, self- sufficiency,
self-development and personal autonomy; (3) preventing or minimizing personal
and family, physical, mental, social, educational, vocational, and economic
effects of disability; and (4) reducing and eliminating physical, social,
educational, vocational, and environmental barriers to permit access to
services and assistance and to use their abilities in daily life.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts are awarded for research,
demonstrations, dissemination/utilization projects of national significance,
and career training projects. All applications must meet standards of
excellence in research and evaluation design. Fellowships support individual
investigators in pursuing research in rehabilitation.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: Grants and cooperative agreements may be made
to and contracts with States, public, private, or nonprofit agencies and
organizations, institutions of higher education, and Indian tribes and tribal
organizations for research projects and specialized research activities related
to the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities; fellowships may be
awarded to individuals.
Beneficiary Eligibility: Individuals with disabilities of all ages may
benefit directly or indirectly from demonstrated research and other project
activities conducted by grantees benefit.
Credentials/Documentation: Applicants should present written evidence
of other agencies' willingness to cooperate when the project involves their
acceptance or the utilization of their facilities or services. Costs will be
determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local
governments. Nonprofit organizations must show proof of such status.
Pre-application Coordination: The NIDRR long-range research plan as
required by Congress is the basis for program announcements that are published
in the Federal Register and Requests for Proposals that are published in the
Commerce Business Daily. The standard application forms as furnished by the
Federal agency or published in the Federal Register and required by OMB Circular
No. A-102 must be used for this program. This program is excluded from coverage
under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: Application forms are submitted to: Application
Control Center, Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW., Washington,
DC 20202. This program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-110.
Award Procedure: Official notice of approved applications is made
through issuance of a Notice of Grant Award or an official letter of fellowship
award. Grants and fellowships are awarded by the Secretary, Department of
Education.
Deadlines: Established when grants and contracts are solicited by
Program Announcements and Requests for Proposals are solicited. Announcements
may be published throughout the year.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: Ranges from 30 to 365 days.
Generally, solicited grants, fellowships, and contracts will be acted upon
within 120 days.
Appeals: No formal appeal procedures. If an application is
disapproved, the reasons for disapproval will be fully stated. Applicants will
be sent copies of the reviewers' comments appraising their applications.
Renewals: Grant and contract extensions may be available, if formally
applied for and approved. The Secretary may elect to extend the period of a
fellowship. Applications for renewals are treated as new applications and must
compete with other new applications on the basis of program relevance as well as
standard requirements for excellence in design. If a grant application is for a
project for funding in two or more years, applicants must include detailed
budgets and proposed work for each year in the initial application. Grantees
must submit annual progress reports in order to receive continuation funding.
Renewals are subject to the availability of funds.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements: Grantees funded under Sections
204(a) and 202(k) of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, are required to share
in the cost of projects. The amount of cost-sharing is negotiable. Cost-sharing
for other grantees is at the Secretary's option.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Funds are granted on a 12 month
basis with support beyond the first year contingent upon acceptable evidence of
satisfactory progress, continuing program relevance, and availability of funds.
Awards may be made for a maximum of five years.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Annual reports of progress and annual expenditures are
required on all projects. Comprehensive final reports are due 90 days after the
end of the project.
Audits: All fiscal transactions identifiable to Federal financial
assistance are subject to audit by ED Audit Agency.
Records: Proper accounting records, identifiable by grant or contract
number including all receipts and expenditures, must be maintained for three
years. Subsequent to audit, they must be maintained until all questions are
resolved.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification: 91-0301-0-1-506.
Obligations: (Grants and Contracts) FY 01 $100,400,000; FY 02 est
$110,000,000; and FY 03 est $110,000,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: Not available.
In fiscal year 2001, 10 fellowships; 92 field-initiated grants were supported;
39 rehabilitation research and training centers; 17 rehabilitation engineering
centers; 16 spinal cord model systems projects; and research and demonstration
projects were funded.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
Grant administrative policies for programs and fellowships may be obtained
from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research,
Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20202.
NIDRR program regulations are contained in 34 CFR 350-359.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office: Contact Headquarters Office.
Headquarters Office: Director, National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research, Office of Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20202-2572. For grants and contracts contact: Donna Nagle.
Telephone: (202) 205-5880. For fellowships contact: Ellen Blasiotti. Telephone:
(202) 205-9800. For TDD, use (202) 205-4475.
Web Site Address: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/RSA/NIDRR.
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
(1) Research and Training Centers with emphasis on
vocational rehabilitation, medical rehabilitation, rehabilitation of persons
with mental retardation, deafness rehabilitation, rehabilitation of persons
with mental illness, and rehabilitation of those with severe visual
disabilities; (2) rehabilitation Engineering Centers with the application of
engineering advances as applied to rehabilitation of persons with physical
disabilities; special activities in prosthetics, orthotics, and rehabilitation
aids and devices for various handicapping conditions; (3) specific research
and demonstration projects concerned with medical, psychosocial, sensory,
psychiatric, and vocational rehabilitation; (4) research utilization and
dissemination of research findings; (5) field initiated projects in
rehabilitation research; (6) innovation grants for conferences, testing of
devices and curriculum development; (7) grants for advanced training in
research related to disability; and (8) grants for projects to facilitate
implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Objectives of projects and programs must be in
consonance with and should contribute to achievement of the goals and objectives
of the Institute. Adequate facilities must be available or planned to carry out
the specific project or program. Personnel must be trained and qualified to
carry out the proposed programs, and staffing patterns must be appropriate.
Demonstrations of adequate plans and procedures for ensuring the relevance to
current needs in rehabilitation and the potential for project results must be
effectively utilized. Commitment of available resources on the part of the
applicant and evidence that the applicant has knowledge of rehabilitation issues
as well as knowledge of past and present related research activities. A
statement showing that the estimated cost to the government is reasonable in
relation to anticipated project results. Demonstrate the ability and capacity to
achieve stated goals. Demonstrate, coordinate and cooperate with regional
programs, State agency programs, and private rehabilitation facilities. Specific
weighted selection criteria are contained in program regulations. For
fellowships, criteria are specified in program regulations, 34 CFR 356. These
criteria include the education and experience of the individual and the quality
of the fellowship proposal.
