DEI Supplemental Supporting Statement

Funding Opportunity Announcement

Disability Employment Initiative

Supplemental Justification

Supplemental Supporting Statement A: Justification

This request seeks OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for the unique information collection requirements in the Disability Employment Initiative Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $15 million in grant funds authorized by Section 169, subsection (b), of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). We expect to fund approximately eight cooperative agreements to state workforce agencies, ranging from $1.5 million to $2.5 million each. The purpose of this program is to provide funding to expand the capacity of American Job Centers (AJCs) to improve employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities (including those with significant disabilities).

We expect to award approximately eight cooperative agreements of up to $2.5 million each with a period of performance of 42 months. The Department intends to award at least one grant in each of three population focus areas: 1) projects that focus on adults (ages 18 and older) with disabilities; 2) projects that focus on youth (ages 14-24) with disabilities; and 3) projects that focus on individuals (ages 14 and older) with significant disabilities. (For purposes of this FOA, individuals with significant disabilities include jobseekers who have physical, sensory, mental, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities; receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits; and require significant accommodations, supports, and customization of job responsibilities in order to obtain and maintain competitive integrated employment at or above minimum wage.) The Department will provide intensive technical assistance to support the applicant's specific-population focus and other grant-related components.

Applications will include the following information collections: 1) Form SF-424 “Application for Federal Assistance,” separately cleared under OMB control number 4040-0004, 2) Project Budget, 3) Project Narrative, and 4) Attachments to the Project Narrative.

Electronic availability:

This grant solicitation is available on the grants.gov Web site. Based on past DOL experience, the Department anticipates 75 percent of responses will be submitted electronically.

Small Entities:

This information collection will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Assurances of confidentiality:

These grant solicitations do not offer applicants assurances of confidentiality.

Special circumstances:

This FOA implicates no special circumstances.

Burden:

Based on past experience, the DOL expects to receive approximately 15 applications from an equal number of respondents.  The ETA estimates public reporting burden for the information collection to average 20 hours per response for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining needed data, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

15 applications x 20 hours = 300 hours.

The DOL has increased the October 2014, average hourly earnings in the professional and business services industry of $29.29 per hour by 40 percent (total $41.01 per hour) to monetize this burden.  See The Employment Situation—October 2014, DOL, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_11072014.pdf at page 32

300 hours x $41.01 = $12,303.00

The DOL associates no other burden costs with this information collection. In addition to the application, each grantee will be required to submit quarterly financial, performance, and narrative reports to the ETA. Those information collection requirements will be cleared under a separate control number.

Total burden: 15 respondents, 15 responses, 300 hours, $0 other cost burden.

Supplemental Supporting Statement B: Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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