Sneak Preview: ED Proposes Extensions for Transition TA Programs

(The following was excerpted from a recent article in the Federal Grants Development Handbook.) The Department of Education (ED) has proposed waivers that would extend the performance period for 33 current projects under grant programs that provide technical assistance (TA) for students with disabilities to help them find employment after high school, known as “transition-age TA services.”

The proposal would allow ED’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) “to align and coordinate, and improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of, direct training and technical assistance services focused on transition-age children and youth with disabilities and their families,” the agency said in a recent Federal Register notice. “In addition, [ED] will consider approaches for improving coordination among programs that provide these services to more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of states, service providers, youth with disabilities and families, and to allow for efficient use of the funding available to support these activities.”

The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) at 34 C.F.R. §75.250 generally prohibit project periods that exceed five years, and EDGAR regulations at 34 C.F.R. §75.261(a) and (c)(2) prohibit project period extensions involving the obligation of additional federal funds. These proposed waivers from EDGAR requirements would enable 33 projects originally funded in federal fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2016, to receive one-time additional funding and would extend the performance period to Sept. 20, 2020.

OSERS explained that it “does not believe that it would be in the public interest to run competitions for these programs in FY 2019 because [ED] is reviewing the alignment of its training and TA services focused on transition from high school to college, careers and adult services for children and youth with disabilities and their families.” It further added that funding should not lapse for these programs. “Allowing funding to lapse before [ED] establishes a new, coordinated strategy for training and TA services would leave youth and families without access to critical services and assistance to ensure that students with disabilities … transition from K-12 prepared for post-secondary success,” OSERS noted. Comments on the proposed waivers are due by July 8 and can be sent through Regulations.gov by referring to docket number ED-2019-OSERS-0044.

OSERS proposes to extend one project under the National Technical Assistance Center on Improving Transition to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students with Disabilities program (NTACT) (CFDA No. 84.326E). The NTACT program provides technical assistance to state educational agencies, local education agencies, state vocational rehabilitation agencies and other vocational rehabilitation service providers to implement evidence-based and promising practices and strategies to ensure that students with disabilities graduate from high school with the knowledge, skills and supports needed for success in postsecondary education.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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