Dear Colleagues Letter

Dear Colleagues:

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is pleased to inform its grantees about the 704 Report for the FY 2008 reporting period (10/1/07 – 9/30/08). The revised 704 Report instrument and instructions, Parts I and II, can be downloaded at: http://www.ilru.org/TBD.

704 REPORT CHANGES

The FY 2008 704 Report content is the same as last year, except for required changes in the race and ethnicity data collection protocol based on the Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2007.

In addition, grantees have the option to complete and submit the 704 Report directly through the RSA Management Information System (MIS).

SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

The SPIL must be submitted both electronically and in hard copy, as described below.

Part I is to be completed by designated state units (DSU) and the statewide independent living councils (SILC). Part II is to be completed by the Part C-funded Centers for Independent Living (CILs). The 704 Report submittal deadlines are as follows:

• For 722 States –No later than December 31, 2008

• For 723 States – No later than January 31, 2009

Electronic

Emailed submittals must be sent to RSA at [email protected] and to the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) at [email protected]. Use the following procedures for naming the emailed 704 Report:

• For Part I (DSUs and SILCs), use the two letter state designator followed by the fiscal year designation. For example, Arizona’s FY 2008 704 Report Part I would be identified as AZ.08. Include the phrase, “704 Report”, in the email subject line.

• For Part II (CILs), use the two letter state designator followed by the CILs name or acronym and fiscal year designation. The Arizonans Building Liberty and Empowerment Center would be identified as AZ.ABLE.08 and the Sunshine CIL (in Arizona) would be identified as AZ.Sunshine.08. Include the phrase, “704 Report” in the subject line.

Submittal through the RSA MIS requires grantees to enter the 704 Report directly online. The RSA MIS can be accessed at http://rsadev.net/TBD. Click Info for New Users (see text box, upper left corner). [Note: Additional MIS submittal instructions TBD]

Hard Copy

One original signed copy must be mailed to:

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Attention: Roslyn Thompson

400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 5050, PCP Building

Washington, D.C. 20202-2800

CONTACT INFORMATION FORM

In order to ensure that our files are accurate and up-to-date, each DSU, SILC and CIL must complete and return the enclosed “Contact Information Form.” (Please submit one completed form with each electronic copy of the 704 Report.) Is this form on the MIS site?

NATIONAL 704 REPORT TRAININGS

RSA will conduct the following national teleconference and web cast trainings on the 704 Report, in collaboration with the RSA-funded IL NET project. The trainings will be based on the 704 Report Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) provided by RSA last fall, as well as your questions posted on ILRU’s bulletin boards (http://ilru.TBD for CILs and http://ilru.TBD for SILCs).

704 Report - Part I (DSUs and SILCs)

• TBD, 2008 3:00- 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

• Call-in number: TBD. Conference ID: TBD

704 Report - Part II (CILs)

• TBD, 2008 3:00-5:00 pm Eastern Time.

• Call-in number: TBD Participant Code: TBD

Please download and review the FAQ in advance of the training. It may be accessed at http://www.ilru.org/TBD. To register for the national training, please email [email protected] and indicate which training session you wish to join. Registration deadlines are TBD, 2008 for the first session and TBD, 2008. Those participating in the teleconferences are encouraged to do so in groups in order to promote further discussion afterwards.

Web Casts

The RSA-funded Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) program will web cast the national trainings at: http://www.ilru.org/TBD. Web cast participants may email questions at [email protected] during the teleconference. Transcripts will be available at: http://www.ilru.org/TBD.

If you have any questions regarding the 704 Report or the trainings, please contact Felipe Lulli at (202) 245-7425 or [email protected], or Roslyn Thompson at (202) 245-7544 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

Thomas Kelley

Independent Living Unit Chief