ACL: Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Among People with Physical Disabilities

The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) invites applications for a new award for fiscal year (FY) 2023 for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment Among People with Physical Disabilities. NIDILRR’s RRTC program is authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

Donor Name: Administration for Community Living

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 04/10/2023

Size of the Grant: $875,000

Grant Duration: 60 months

Details:

The purpose of the RRTCs is to achieve the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topical areas as specified by NIDILRR. These activities are designed to benefit people with disabilities, family members, rehabilitation service providers, policymakers, and other research stakeholders.

NIDILRR has supported a wide range of research and development projects to generate knowledge that can be used to improve employment experiences and outcomes among people with physical disabilities. Projects currently funded by NIDILRR include explorations of individual- and job-related factors related to use of job accommodations among people with physical disabilities and studies to explore the demographic, educational, and injury-related characteristics associated with employment and earnings among people with spinal cord injury.

Priority

The Administrator for the Administration on Community Living(ACL) establishes a priority for an RRTC on Employment among People with Physical Disabilities. The RRTC must contribute to maximizing the employment outcomes of people with physical disabilities by:

  • Conducting research activities in one or more of the following priority areas, focusing on people with physical disabilities as a group or on people in specific disability or demographic subpopulations of people with physical disabilities:
    • Technology to improve employment outcomes among people with physical disabilities.
    • Individual and environmental factors associated with improved employment outcomes among people with physical disabilities.
    • Interventions that contribute to improved employment outcomes among people with physical disabilities. Interventions include any strategy, practice, program, policy, or tool that, when implemented as intended contributes to improvements in outcomes for people with physical disabilities.
    • Effects of employer or government practices, policies, and programs on employment outcomes among people with physical disabilities.
    • Practices and policies that contribute to improved employment outcomes among transition-aged youth and young adults with physical disabilities.
    • Vocational Rehabilitation practices that contribute to improved employment outcomes among people with physical disabilities.
    • COVID or Long-COVID experiences of people with physical disabilities, and the relationship between those experiences and employment outcomes.
  • Focusing its research on one or more specific stages of research. If the RRTC is to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one of the research stages, or research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified. This RRTC must conduct at least one research study at the intervention efficacy or scale-up evaluation stage of research. NIDILRR’s stages of research and their definitions are provided in this notice.
  • Demonstrating, in its original application, that people with physical disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds will be included in study samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of the population of people with physical disabilities being studied. The RRTC must describe and justify, in its original application, the planned racial and ethnic distribution of people with physical disabilities who will participate in the proposed research activities.
  • Serving as a national resource center related to the employment of people with physical disabilities by conducting knowledge translation activities that include, but are not limited to:
    • Providing information and technical assistance to service providers, people with physical disabilities and their representatives, and other key stakeholders
    • Providing training, including graduate, pre-service, and in-service training, to rehabilitation providers and other disability service providers, to facilitate more effective delivery of employment services and supports to people with physical disabilities. This training may be provided through conferences, workshops, public education programs, in-service training programs, and similar activities.
    • Disseminating research based information and materials related to the employment of people with physical disabilities.
  • Involving people with physical disabilities and members of other key stakeholder groups in the activities conducted under paragraph (a) – (d) to maximize the relevance and usability of the new knowledge and products generated and distributed by the RRTC.

Funding Information

  • Estimated Total Funding: $875,000
  • Award Ceiling: $875,000
  • Award Floor: $870,000

Length of Project Period

60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods

Eligible Applicants

  • City or township governments
  • Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • Special district governments
  • For profit organizations other than small businesses
  • Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
  • County governments
  • Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
  • Private institutions of higher education
  • Small businesses
  • Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • State governments

Additional Information on Eligibility

States; public or private agencies, including for-profit agencies; public or private organizations, including for-profit organizations; IHEs; and Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Foreign entities are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity announcement.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.