[Federal Register: September 10, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 175)]
[Notices]
[Page 57433-57445]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10se02-92]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Refugee Resettlement Program; Final Notice of Availability of Formula Allocation Funding for FY 2002 Targeted Assistance Grants for Services to Refugees in Local Areas of High Need
AGENCY: Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), ACF, HHS.
ACTION: Final notice of availability of formula allocation funding for FY 2002 targeted assistance grants to States for services to refugees
\1\ in local areas of high need.
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\1\ Eligibility for targeted assistance includes refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, certain Amerasians from Vietnam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants, certain Amerasians from Vietnam who are U.S. citizens, and victims of a severe form of trafficking who receive certification or eligibility letters from ORR. (See section II of this notice on ``Authorization,'' and refer to 45 CFR 400.43 and the ORR State Letter 01-13 on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act dated May 3, 2001.) The term ``refugee,'' used in this notice for convenience, is intended to encompass such additional persons who are eligible to participate in refugee program services, including the targeted assistance program.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funds and
award procedures for FY 2002 targeted assistance grants for
services to refugees under the Refugee Resettlement Program
(RRP). The purpose of these grants is to provide services in
localities with large refugee populations, high refugee
concentrations, and high use of public assistance by refugees,
and where specific needs exist for supplementation of currently
available resources.
The final notice reflects adjustments in final
allocations to States as a result of additional arrival data. A
notice of proposed allocations of targeted assistance funds was
published for public comment in the Federal Register on May 28,
2002 (67 FR 36905).
DATES: The closing date for submission of applications is October 10, 2002. Refer to the section of this notice entitled Additional Information for more information on submitting applications. For more information on application procedures, States should contact their ORR State Analyst.
[[Page 57434]]
ADDRESSES: Address applications, in duplicate, to: Ms. Gayle
Smith, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for
Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington,
DC 20447. In order to be considered timely, applications must be
received in ORR by October 10, 2002.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
Number: 93.584.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Smith, Director, Division of Refugee Self-Sufficiency, (202) 205-3590, e-mail: gsmith@acf.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Purpose and Scope
This notice announces the availability of funds
for grants for targeted assistance for services to refugees in
counties where, because of factors such as unusually large
refugee populations, high refugee concentrations, and high use of
public assistance by refugees, there exists and can be
demonstrated a specific need for supplementation of resources for
services to this population.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has
available $49,477,000 in FY 2002 funds for the targeted
assistance program (TAP) as part of the FY 2002 appropriation for
the Department of Health and Human Services (Pub. L. 107-116).
The Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR) will use the $49,477,000 in targeted assistance funds as
follows:
[sbull] $44,529,300 will be allocated to States
under the 5-year population formula, as set forth in this notice.
[sbull] $4,947,700 (10% of the total) will be used
to award discretionary grants to States under continuation grant
awards.
The purpose of targeted assistance grants is to
provide, through a process of local planning and implementation,
direct services that would result in the economic
self-sufficiency and reduced welfare dependency of refugees
through job placements.
The requirements of the targeted assistance program
are contained in section 412(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA), which provides that targeted assistance
grants shall be made available ``(i) primarily for the purpose of
facilitating refugee employment and achievement of
self-sufficiency, (ii) in a manner that does not supplant other
refugee program funds and that assures that not less than 95
percent of the amount of the grant award is made available to the
county or other local entity.''
II. Authorization
Targeted assistance projects are funded under the authority of: (1) Section 412(c)(2) of the (INA), as amended by the Refugee Assistance Extension Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-605), 8 U.S.C. 1522(c); (2) section 501(a) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96- 422), 8 U.S.C. 1522 note, insofar as it incorporates by reference with respect to Cuban and Haitian entrants the authorities pertaining to assistance for refugees established by section 412(c)(2) of the INA, as cited above; (3) section 584(c) of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988, as included in the FY 1988 Continuing Resolution (Pub. L. 100-202), insofar as it incorporates by reference with respect to certain Amerasians from Vietnam the authorities pertaining to assistance for refugees established by section 412(c)(2) of the INA, as cited above, including certain Amerasians from Vietnam who are U.S. citizens, as provided under title II of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Acts, 1989 (Pub. L. 100-461), 1990 (Pub. L. 101-167), and 1991 (Pub. L. 101-513); and (4) section 107(b)(1)(A) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-386), insofar as it states that a victim of a severe form of trafficking shall be eligible for federal and certain State benefits and services to the same extent as a refugee.
III. Client and Service Priorities
Targeted assistance funding must be used to
assist refugee families to achieve economic independence. To this
end, States and counties are required to ensure that a coherent
family self-sufficiency plan is developed for each eligible
family that addresses the family's needs from time of arrival
until attainment of economic independence. (See 45 CFR 400.79 and
400.156(g).) Each family self-sufficiency plan should address a
family's needs for both employment-related services and other
needed social services. The family self-sufficiency plan must
include: (1) A determination of the income level a family would
have to earn to exceed its cash grant and move into self-support
without suffering a monetary penalty; (2) a strategy and
timetable for obtaining that level of family income through the
placement in employment of sufficient numbers of employable
family members at sufficient wage levels; (3) employability plans
for every employable member of the family; and (4) a plan to
address the family's social services needs that may be barriers
to self-sufficiency. In local jurisdictions that have both
targeted assistance and refugee social services programs, one
family self-sufficiency plan may be developed for a family that
incorporates both targeted assistance and refugee social
services.
Services funded through the targeted assistance
program are required to focus primarily on those refugees who,
either because of their protracted use of public assistance or
difficulty in securing employment, continue to need services
beyond the initial years of resettlement. However, States may not
provide services funded under this notice, except for referral
and interpreter services, to refugees who have been in the United
States for more than 60 months (5 years).
In accordance with 45 CFR 400.314, States are
required to provide targeted assistance services to refugees in
the following order of priority, except in certain individual
extreme circumstances: (a) Refugees who are cash assistance
recipients, particularly long-term recipients; (b) unemployed
refugees who are not receiving cash assistance; and (c) employed
refugees in need of services to retain employment or to attain
economic independence.
In addition to the statutory requirement that
TAP funds be used ``primarily for the purpose of facilitating
refugee employment'' (section 412(c)(2)(B)(i) of the INA), funds
awarded under this program are intended to help fulfill the
congressional intent that ``employable refugees should be placed
in jobs as soon as possible after their arrival in the United
States'' (section 412(a)(1)(B)(i) of the INA). Therefore, in
accordance with 45 CFR 400.313, targeted assistance funds must be
used primarily for employability services designed to enable
refugees to obtain jobs with less than one year's participation
in the targeted assistance program in order to achieve economic
self- sufficiency as soon as possible. Targeted assistance
services may continue to be provided after a refugee has entered
a job to help the refugee retain employment or move to a better
job. Targeted assistance funds may not be used for long-term
training programs such as vocational training that last for more
than a year or educational programs that are not intended to lead
to employment within a year.|
In accordance with 45 CFR 400.317, if targeted
assistance funds are used for the provision of English language
training, such training must be provided in a concurrent, rather
than sequential, time period with employment or with other
employment-related activities. Reflecting section
412(a)(1)(A)(iv) of the INA, States must ``insure that women have
the same opportunities as
[[Page 57435]]
men to participate in training and instruction.'' In addition,
in accordance with 45 CFR 400.317, services must be provided to
the maximum extent feasible in a manner that includes the use of
bilingual/ bicultural women on service agency staffs to ensure
adequate service access by refugee women. The Director of ORR
also strongly encourages the inclusion of refugee women in
management and board positions in agencies that serve refugees.
In order to facilitate refugee self- support, the Director also
encourages States to implement strategies which address
simultaneously the employment potential of both male and female
wage earners in a family unit.
States and counties are expected to make every
effort to obtain child care services, preferably subsidized child
care, in order to allow caretaker family members the opportunity
to participate in employment services or to accept or retain
employment. To accomplish this, child care may be treated as an
employment-related service under the targeted assistance program.
Refugees who are participating in targeted assistance-funded or
social services-funded employment services or have accepted
employment are eligible for child care. States and counties are
expected to use child care funding from other
publicly-administered programs as a prior resource and are
encouraged to work with service providers to ensure mainstream
access to other publicly funded resources for child care. For an
employed refugee, targeted assistance-funded child care should be
limited to situations in which no other publicly funded child
care funding is available. In these cases, child care services
funded by targeted assistance should be limited to one year after
the refugee becomes employed.
In accordance with 45 CFR 400.317, targeted
assistance services must be provided in a manner that is
culturally and linguistically compatible with a refugee's
language and cultural background, to the maximum extent feasible.
In light of the increasingly diverse population of refugees who
are resettling in this country, refugee service agencies will
need to develop practical ways of providing culturally and
linguistically appropriate services to a changing ethnic
population. Services funded under this notice must be
refugee-specific services which are designed specifically to meet
refugee needs and are in keeping with the rules and objectives of
the refugee program. Vocational or job-skills training,
on-the-job training, or English language training, however, need
not be refugee-specific.
We strongly encourage States and counties when
contracting for targeted assistance services, including
employment services, to give consideration to the special
strengths of mutual assistance associations (MAAs), whenever
contract bidders are otherwise equally qualified, provided that
the MAA has the capability to deliver services. We also strongly
encourage MAAs to ensure that their management and board
composition reflect the major target populations to be served.
ORR defines MAAs as organizations with the following
qualifications:
a. The organization is legally incorporated as a
nonprofit organization; and
b. Not less than 51% of the composition of the Board
of Directors or governing board of the mutual assistance
association is comprised of refugees or former refugees,
including both refugee men and women.
Finally, in order to provide culturally and
linguistically compatible services in as cost-efficient a manner
as possible in a time of limited resources, ORR strongly
encourages States and counties to promote and give special
consideration to the provision of services through coalitions of
refugee service organizations, such as coalitions of MAAs,
voluntary resettlement agencies, or a variety of service
providers. ORR believes it is essential for refugee-serving
organizations to form close partnerships in the provision of
services to refugees in order to be able to respond adequately to
a changing refugee picture. Coalition-building and consolidation
of providers is particularly important in communities with
multiple service providers in order to ensure better coordination
of services and maximum use of funding for services by minimizing
the funds used for multiple administrative overhead costs.
The award of funds to States under this notice will
be contingent upon the completeness of a State's application as
described in the section entitled Additional Information, below.
IV. Discussion of Comments Received
Four letters of comment were received by the
deadline in response to the notice of proposed availability of FY
2002 funds for targeted assistance. These comments are summarized
below and in each case are followed by the Department's response.
Two letters of comment were received after the published deadline
and will not be considered. Comment: Three commenters expressed
concern that their counties no longer qualified for targeted
assistance under the formula and requested reconsideration.
Response: In the notice of proposed allocations, we
stated that if a county does not agree with ORR's population
estimate for refugees and entrants or wishes to submit data on
asylees or victims of a severe form of trafficking who have been
served by the county, the county must submit evidence to ORR by
June 27, 2002, in the form of specified data elements published
in the proposed notice. We also indicated that failure to submit
the required documentation within the specified time frame would
result in forfeiture of consideration.
One of these three commenters submitted data as well
as written comments in response to the proposed notice . Those
data have been reviewed and were found to pertain to secondary
migrants. As we have noted in previous years, we are not able to
include secondary migrants in the population formula for targeted
assistance because secondary migration data are not available at
the county level.
States report on secondary migration annually on the
ORR-11. This reporting is based on the first three digits of the
social security number (SSN). These digits identify the State in
which the SSN was issued, which, with a few exceptions, is the
State of initial resettlement. This information allows ORR to
both credit the State of in-migration and debit the State of
out-migration in developing State population estimates. Most
States and counties are not able to provide county-level
secondary migration data. We cannot use secondary migration data
for one county alone. It would be necessary to collect and
determine both in-migration and out-migration for approximately
1,000 counties during the qualification process in order to
arrive at accurate adjusted county population estimates.
ORR understands that discontinuance of funding in
counties that no longer qualify will have an effect on the
services in those counties. Every three years, the targeted
assistance qualification process attempts to direct targeted
assistance funds to those counties that are the most-impacted by
recent refugee arrivals. Counties losing targeted assistance
formula funds may wish to apply for ORR targeted assistance
discretionary funds through their States at the next available
opportunity.
ORR does not plan to consider the eligibility of
additional counties for targeted assistance formula funds until
FY 2005, when ORR will again review data on all counties that
could
[[Page 57436]]
potentially qualify for targeted assistance based on the
published criteria.
Comment: One commenter questioned whether Havana
Parolee numbers included in the formula are accurate and
represent Havana parolees who migrate north after a short stay in
Florida. The same commenter also asked whether asylee numbers are
included in the formula.
Response: For fiscal years 1999-2001, Havana parolee
numbers included in the formula were derived from actual data.
For fiscal years 1997-1998, INS provided the number of actual
Havana parolees. Please refer to the response above for the
discussion of secondary migration as it relates to targeted
assistance. In regard to asylees, the proposed notice stated that
counties that served asylees could submit specific data on each
asylee served in order to have their population estimate adjusted
to include those asylees whose asylum was granted within the
60-month period ending September 30, 2001. All asylee data
received by close of business June 27, 2002 were reviewed for
completeness and complete records were used to adjust arrival
data.
Comment: Another commenter requested a redesignation
of a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) to include one
county instead of three because new refugee arrivals have been
concentrated in one of the three SMSA counties, and refugee
centers in the other two counties have closed previously due to
declining new arrivals and time-eligibility limitations on
services for the residual county populations.
Response: ORR examined the distribution of arrivals
within the three-county SMSA and found that the two counties that
the commenter requested to be dropped from the SMSA had small
numbers of arrivals during the 5-year period from FY 1997-FY
2001. There is an advantage to the State to retain the SMSA as a
three-county SMSA, because arrivals receive double weight in the
qualifying process, while concentration receives single weight,
and allocations are made on the basis of arrivals. The State
qualifies for targeted assistance using the SMSA population and
concentration. The State is able to determine how the targeted
assistance funds will be used within the SMSA and may determine
to use the funds in the county with the largest number of
arrivals, as it does currently. The State should include its
proposal for use of funds in its targeted assistance application.
Refer to the section of this notice titled ``BUDGET AND BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION, CRITERIA 1 APPROACH, for required application
content regarding the distribution of funds to various counties
within an SMSA.
Comment: A different commenter suggested that ORR's
method of determining impacted counties was unfair because it
used the entire county population to determine impact instead of
the population of impacted cities in which refugees resided
within the county.
Response: Regarding the suggestion that ORR
determine eligibility for targeted assistance at the municipality
level, ORR is required by section 412(c)(2)(A) of the INA to make
grants to States for assistance to counties and similar areas.
Therefore, we do not consider cities, townships or municipalities
as meeting the intent of section 412(c)(2)(A) of the INA.
V. Eligible Grantees
Eligible grantees are: 1. those agencies of State
governments that are responsible for the refugee program under 45
CFR 400.5 in States containing counties which qualify for FY 2002
targeted assistance awards, and 2. those non-State agencies
funded under the Wilson-Fish program which administer, in lieu of
a State, a statewide refugee assistance program containing
counties which qualify for FY 2002 targeted assistance formula
funds.
The Director of ORR will determine the eligibility
of counties for inclusion in the FY 2002 targeted assistance
program on the basis of the method described in section VI of
this notice. The use of targeted assistance funds for services to
Cuban and Haitian entrants is limited to States which have an
approved State plan under the Cuban/Haitian Entrant Program
(CHEP).
The State/Wilson-Fish agency will submit a single
application on behalf of all county governments of the qualified
counties in that State. Subsequent to the approval of the
State/Wilson-Fish agency's application by ORR, local targeted
assistance plans will be developed by the county government or
other designated entity and submitted to the State/Wilson-Fish
agency.
A State with more than one qualified county is
permitted, but not required, to determine the allocation amount
for each qualified county within the State. However, if a State
chooses to determine county allocations differently from those
set forth in the final notice, in accordance with 45 CFR 400.319,
the FY 2002 allocations proposed by the State must be based on
the State's population of refugees who arrived in the U.S. during
the most recent 5-year period. A State may use welfare data as an
additional factor in the allocation of its targeted assistance
funds if it so chooses; however, a State may not assign a greater
weight to welfare data than it has assigned to population data in
its allocation formula. In addition, if a State chooses to
allocate its FY 2002 targeted assistance funds in a manner
different from the formula set forth in the final notice, the FY
2002 allocations and methodology proposed by the State must be
included in the State's application for ORR review and
approval.
Applications submitted in response to the final
notice are not subject to review by State and area wide
clearinghouses under Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental
Review of Federal Programs.''
VI. Qualification and Allocation
For FY 2002, ORR will continue to use the formula that bases allocation of targeted assistance funds on the most current five-year refugee/entrant arrival data. Targeted assistance services are limited to refugees residing in qualified counties who have been in the U.S. five years or less. The Director of ORR proposes to determine the qualification of counties for targeted assistance once every three years, as stated in the FY 1999 notice of proposed availability of targeted assistance allocations to States which was published in the Federal Register on March 10, 1999 (64 FR 11927). The FY 1999-FY 2001 three-year project cycle expires 9/30/2002. In preparation for re- qualifying counties for FY 2002, ORR has reviewed data on all counties that could potentially qualify for TAP funds on the basis of the most current five-year refugee/entrant \2\ arrival data.
A. Qualifying Counties
In order to qualify for application for FY 2002
targeted assistance funds, a county (or group of adjacent
counties with the same Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, or
SMSA) will be required to either: (1) Rank above a selected
cut-off point of jurisdictions for which data were reviewed,
based on two criteria: (a) The number of refugee/entrant arrivals
placed in the county during the most recent five-year period (FY
1997-FY 2001) and (b) the five-year refugee/entrant arrival
population as a percent of the county overall population, or (2)
have received 3,000 or more refugee/entrant arrivals during this
same five- year period.
In regard to the first qualification criteria, each
county will be ranked on the basis of its five-year arrival
population and its concentration of refugees, with a relative
weighting of
[[Page 57437]]
two to one respectively, because we believe that large numbers
of refugee/entrant arrivals into a county create a significant
impact, regardless of the ratio of refugees to the county general
population.
Each county will then be ranked in terms of the sum
of a county's rank on refugee arrivals and its rank on
concentration. To qualify for targeted assistance based on rank,
a county will have to rank within the top 50 counties. In
addition, counties that have received at least 3,000 arrivals
within the most recent five-year period will also qualify. The
total number of qualifying counties is 53--the original 50 ranked
counties plus three additional counties with at least 3,000
arrivals within the most recent five-year period. ORR has limited
the number of qualified counties to 53 in order to cover as many
counties as possible while still targeting a sufficient level of
funding to the most impacted counties.
ORR decided that counties with 3,000 or more
arrivals should qualify for targeted assistance after analyzing
the arrival data and discovering that there were three counties
which ranked high in arrival numbers (37, 28, and 39) but will
not qualify for targeted assistance based solely on the sum of
the ranks formula. ORR concluded that these counties which ranked
high nationally in refugee population were impacted by high
numbers of refugee arrivals, and thus should qualify for Targeted
Assistance.
ORR has screened data on all counties that have
received awards for targeted assistance since FY 1983 and on all
other counties that could potentially qualify for TAP funds based
on the criteria proposed in this notice. Analysis of these data
indicates that: (1) 44 counties which have previously received
targeted assistance will continue to qualify; (2) five counties
which have previously received targeted assistance will no longer
qualify; and (3) nine new counties will be qualified.
Table 1 provides a list of the counties that will
remain qualified and the new counties that will qualify, the
number of refugee/entrant arrivals in those counties within the
past five years, the percent that the five-year arrival
population represents of the overall county population, and each
county's rank, based on the qualification formula described
above.
Table 2 lists the counties that have previously
received targeted assistance which will no longer qualify, the
number of refugee/entrant arrivals in those counties within the
past five years, the percent that the five-year arrival
population represents of the overall county population, and each
county's rank, based on the qualification formula.
The counties listed in this final notice as
qualified to apply for FY 2002 TAP funding will remain qualified
for TAP funding through FY 2004. ORR does not plan to consider
the eligibility of additional counties for TAP funding until FY
2005, when ORR will again review data on all counties that could
potentially qualify for TAP funds based on the criteria contained
in this final notice. We believe that a more frequent
redetermination of county qualification for targeted assistance
will not provide qualifying counties a sufficient period of time
within a stable funding climate to adequately address the refugee
impact in their counties, while a less frequent redetermination
of county qualification will pose the risk of not considering new
population impacts in a timely manner.
B. Allocation Formula
Of the funds available for FY 2002 for targeted
assistance, $44,529,300 will be allocated by formula to States
for qualified counties based on the initial placements of
refugees, Amerasians, entrants (including Havana parolees), and
Kurdish asylees in these counties during the five-year period
from FY 1997 through FY 2001 (October 1, 1996--September 30,
2001). These data are available in the ORR refugee data system.
For fiscal years 1999 through 2001, Havana parolees
were derived from actual data. For fiscal years 1997-1998, INS
provided the number of actual Havana parolees. The State of
Florida supplied ORR with the actual number of these parolees
which arrived in Florida. The remaining parolees were not
identified with any other State of arrival. To account for these
arrivals, ORR prorated the non-Florida parolee numbers to
qualifying counties in other States based on the counties'
proportion of the five-year entrant population in the U.S.
VII. Allocations
Table 3 lists the final qualifying counties, the
number of refugee and entrant arrivals in those counties during
the five-year period from October 1, 1996--September 30, 2001,
the number of Havana parolee arrivals in those counties for this
five-year period, the sum of the third, fourth, and fifth
columns, and the final amount of each county's allocation based
on its five-year arrival population.
Table 4 provides State totals for final targeted
assistance allocations. Table 5 indicates the areas that each
final qualifying county represents. Tables 1 through 5 follow:
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P
[[Page 57438]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10SE02.000
[[Page 57439]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10SE02.001
[[Page 57440]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10SE02.002
[[Page 57441]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10SE02.003
[[Page 57442]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN10SE02.004
BILLING CODE 4184-01-M
[[Page 57443]]
VIII. Application and Implementation Process
Under the FY 2002 targeted assistance program,
States and Wilson/ Fish agencies may apply for and receive grant
awards on behalf of qualified counties in the State. A single
allocation will be made to each State by ORR on the basis of an
approved State application. The State or Wilson/Fish agency will,
in turn, receive, review, and determine the acceptability of
individual county targeted assistance plans.
Pursuant to 45 CFR 400.210(b), FY 2002 targeted
assistance funds must be obligated by the State agency no later
than one year after the end of the Federal fiscal year in which
the Department awarded the grant. Funds must be liquidated within
two years after the end of the Federal fiscal year in which the
Department awarded the grant. A State's final financial report on
targeted assistance expenditures must be received no later than
90 days after the end of the two-year expenditure period. If
final reports are not received on time, the Department will
deobligate any unexpended funds, including any unliquidated
obligations, on the basis of the State's last filed report.
The requirements regarding the discretionary portion
of the targeted assistance program will be addressed under
separate continuation grant awards. Continuation applications for
these funds, therefore, are not subject to provisions contained
in this notice but to other requirements which will be published
separately.
IX. Required Assurances
A. Assurance that targeted assistance funds will
be used in accordance with the requirements in 45 CFR Part 400.
B. Assurance that targeted assistance funds will be
used primarily for the provision of services which are designed
to enable refugees to obtain jobs with less than one year's
participation in the targeted assistance program. States must
indicate what percentage of FY 2002 targeted assistance formula
allocation funds that are used for services will be allocated for
employment services.
C. Assurance that targeted assistance funds will not
be used to offset funding otherwise available to counties or
local jurisdictions from the State agency in its administration
of other programs, e.g. social services, cash and medical
assistance.
The Project Description Overview
Purpose
The project description provides a major means by which an application is evaluated and ranked to compete with other applications for available assistance. The project description should be concise and complete and should address the activity for which Federal funds are being requested. Supporting documents should be included where they can present information clearly and succinctly. In preparing your project description, all information requested through each specific evaluation criteria should be provided. Awarding offices use this and other information in making their funding recommendations. It is important, therefore, that this information be included in the application.
General Instructions
ACF is particularly interested in specific factual information
and statements of measurable goals in quantitative terms. Project
descriptions are evaluated on the basis of substance, not length.
Extensive exhibits are not required. Cross referencing should be
used rather than repetition. Supporting information concerning
activities that will not be directly funded by the grant or
information that does not directly pertain to an integral part of
the grant funded activity should be placed in an appendix.
Pages should be numbered and a table of contents
should be included for easy reference.
Approach
Outline a plan of action which describes the
scope and detail of how the proposed work will be accomplished.
Account for all functions or activities identified in the
application. Cite factors which might accelerate or decelerate
the work and state your reason for taking the proposed approach
rather than others. Describe any unusual features of the project
such as design or technological innovations, reductions in cost
or time, or extraordinary social and community involvement.
Provide quantitative monthly or quarterly
projections of the accomplishments to be achieved for each
function or activity in such terms as the number of people to be
served and the number of activities accomplished. When
accomplishments cannot be quantified by activity or function,
list them in chronological order to show the schedule of
accomplishments and their target dates.
If any data is to be collected, maintained, and/or
disseminated, clearance may be required from the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This clearance pertains to any
``collection of information that is conducted or sponsored by
ACF.''
List organizations, cooperating entities,
consultants, or other key individuals who will work on the
project along with a short description of the nature of their
effort or contribution.
Additional Information
Following are requests for additional information that need to be included in the application:
Objectives and Need for Assistance
Clearly identify the physical, economic, social, financial, institutional, and/or other problem(s) requiring a solution. The need for assistance must be demonstrated and the principal and subordinate objectives of the project must be clearly stated; supporting documentation, such as letters of support and testimonials from concerned interests other than the applicant, may be included. Any relevant data based on planning studies should be included or referred to in the endnotes/footnotes. Incorporate demographic data and participant/beneficiary information, as needed. In developing the project description, the applicant may volunteer or be requested to provide information on the total range of projects currently being conducted and supported (or to be initiated), some of which may be outside the scope of the program announcement.
Budget and Budget Justification
Criteria 1: Approach
[sbull] If administered locally, the name of the
local agency administering the funds, and the name and telephone
number of the responsible person.
[sbull] The amount of funds to be awarded to the
targeted county or counties. In instances where a State receives
targeted assistance funding for impacted counties contained in a
standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA), the State must
indicate in its application the proposed allocation plan for the
counties contained in the SMSA and the rationale for the proposed
allocations. In instances in which a State receives targeted
assistance funding for impacted counties contained in an SMSA
that includes a county or counties located in a neighboring
State, the State receiving those funds must provide a description
of coordination and planning activities undertaken with the State
Refugee
[[Page 57444]]
Coordinator of the neighboring State in which the impacted
county or counties are located. These planning and coordination
activities should result in a proposed allocation plan for the
equitable distribution of targeted assistance funds by county
based on the distribution of the eligible population by county
within the SMSA. The proposed allocation plan must be included in
the State's application to ORR.
[sbull] Assurance that county targeted assistance
plans will include:
1. A description of the local planning process for
determining targeted assistance priorities and services, taking
into consideration all other ORR-funded services available to the
refugee population, including formula social services.
2. Identification of refugee/entrant populations to
be served by targeted assistance projects, including approximate
numbers of clients to be served, and a description of
characteristics and needs of targeted populations. (As per 45 CFR
400.314)
3. Description of specific strategies and services
to meet the needs of targeted populations.
4. The relationship of targeted assistance services
to other services available to refugees/entrants in the county
including formula allocated ORR social services to
States/Wilson-Fish agencies.
5. Analysis of available employment opportunities in
the local community. Examples of acceptable analyses of
employment opportunities might include surveys of employers or
potential employers of refugee clients, surveys of presently
effective employment service providers, and review of studies on
employment opportunities/forecasts which will be appropriate to
the refugee populations.
6. Description of the monitoring and oversight
responsibilities to be carried out by the county or qualifying
local jurisdiction.
7. Assurance that the local administrative budget
will not exceed 15% of the local allocation. Targeted assistance
grants are cost-based awards. Neither a State nor a county is
entitled to a certain amount for administrative costs. Rather,
administrative cost requests should be based on projections of
actual needs. All TAP counties will be allowed to spend up to 15%
of their allocation on TAP administrative costs, as need
requires. However, States and counties are strongly encouraged to
limit administrative costs to the extent possible to maximize
available funding for services to refugees.
8. For any State that administers the program
directly or otherwise provides direct service to the
refugee/entrant population in a qualified county (with the
concurrence of the county), the State must have the same
information contained in a county plan prior to issuing a Request
for Proposals (RFP) for services. States that administer programs
directly may spend no more than 5% of their total allocation, and
up to 10% of the county's allocation, on administrative costs
that are reasonable, allocable, and necessary.
9. Assurance that the State will make available to
the county or designated local entity not less than 95% of the
amount of its formula allocation for purposes of implementing the
activities proposed in its plan, except in the case of a State
that administers the program locally as described in item H
above. Allocable costs for State contracting and monitoring for
targeted assistance, if charged, must be charged to the targeted
assistance grant and not to general State administration.
Criteria 2: Additional Information
[sbull] A description of the State's plan for conducting fiscal and programmatic monitoring and evaluations of the targeted assistance program, including frequency of on-site monitoring.
Criteria 3: Objectives and Need for Assistance
Identify the results and benefits to be derived.
All applicants will be required to establish
proposed targeted assistance performance goals for each of the
six ORR performance outcome measures for each impacted county's
proposed service contract(s) or sub-grants for the next
contracting cycle. Proposed performance goals must be included in
the application for each performance measure. The six ORR
performance measures are: entered employments, cash assistance
reductions due to employment, cash assistance terminations due to
employment, 90-day employment retentions, average wage at
placement, and entered employments with available health
benefits. Targeted assistance program activity and progress
achieved toward meeting performance outcome goals are to be
reported quarterly on the ORR-6, the ``Quarterly Performance
Report.''
States that are currently grantees for targeted
assistance funds should base projected annual outcome goals on
past performance. Current grantees should have adequate baseline
data for all of the six ORR performance outcome measures based on
a history of targeted assistance program experience.
States identified as new eligible targeted
assistance grantees are also required to set proposed outcome
goals for each of the six ORR performance outcome measures. New
grantees may use baseline data, as available, and current data as
reported on the ORR-6 for social services program activity to
assist them in the goal-setting process.
New qualifying counties within States that are
current grantees are also required to set proposed outcome goals
for each of the six ORR performance outcome measures. New
counties may use baseline data, as available, and current data as
reported on the ORR-6 for social services program activity to
assist them in the goal-setting process.
Proposed targeted assistance outcome goals should
reflect improvement over past performance and strive for
continuous improvement during the project period from one year to
another.
Final targeted assistance outcome goals are due
November 15, 2002, in conjunction with the ORR Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA) cycle.
Criteria 4: Budget and Budget Justification
Provide line item detail and detailed
calculations for each budget object class identified on the
Budget Information form.
Detailed calculations must include estimation
methods, quantities, unit costs, and other similar quantitative
detail sufficient for the calculation to be duplicated. The
detailed budget must also include a breakout by the funding
sources identified in Block 15 of the SF-424.
Provide a narrative budget justification that
describes how the categorical costs are derived. Discuss the
necessity, reasonableness, and allocability of the proposed
costs. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is particularly
interested in the following:
A line item budget and justification for State
administrative costs limited to a maximum of 5% of the total
award to the State. Each total budget period funding amount
requested must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable to the
project. States that administer the program directly in lieu of
the county, through a mutual agreement with the qualifying
county, States that administer programs directly may spend no
more than 5% of their total award, and up to 10% of the county's
allocation, on administrative costs that are reasonable,
allocable, and necessary.
Forms may be obtained from the ORR Web site at:
[[Page 57445]]
X. Reporting Requirements
States are required to submit quarterly reports on the outcomes of the targeted assistance program, using Schedule A and Schedule C of the ORR-6 Quarterly Performance Report (0970-0036).
XI. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13)
All information collections within this program
notice are approved under the following valid OMB control
numbers: SF 424 (0348-0043); SF 424A (0348-0044); SF 424B
(0348-0040); Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (0348-0046);
Uniform Project Description (0970-0139), Expiration date
12/31/2003; Financial Status Report (SF-269) (0348- 0039); and
ORR Quarterly Performance Report (0970-0036).
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person
is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless
it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 10 hours per response,
including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of
information.
Dated: August 27, 2002.
Carmel Clay-Thompson,
Deputy Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement.
[FR Doc. 02-22851 Filed 9-9-02; 8:45 am]