Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS): Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA): Disability Innovation Fund (DIF)—Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment Innovative Model Demonstration Project, ALN 84.421D

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Note: Each funding opportunity description is a synopsis of information in the Federal Register application notice. For specific information about eligibility, please see the official application notice. The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html . Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information. For the addresses for obtaining and submitting an application, please refer to our Revised Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs, published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2021. Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) Program, as provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260), is to support innovative activities aimed at increasing CIE as defined in section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) (29 U.S.C. 705(5)), for youth and other individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this competition is to increase the opportunity for SWTCIE program participants--students and youth with disabilities seeking subminimum wage employment and potential VR program applicants or VR-eligible individuals with disabilities who are employed or contemplating employment at subminimum wage--to obtain CIE, defined in section 7(5) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) and in the Definitions section of this notice. To achieve this purpose, projects funded under this priority will create innovative models, for dissemination and replication, to: (1) Identify strategies for addressing challenges associated with access to CIE (e.g., transportation, support services); (2) provide integrated services that support CIE; (3) support integration into the community through CIE; (4) identify and coordinate wraparound services for any individual served by the project who obtains CIE;(5) develop evidence-based practices and share those practices with other entities holding 14(c) certificates, State VR agencies, local rehabilitation providers, State and local workforce agencies and regional and local employers; and (6) provide entities holding section 14(c) certificates with readily accessible transformative business models for adoption. Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.421D.

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