Foa_Content_of_HHS-2025-ACL-NIDILRR-REGE-0121.pdf

Administration for Community Living

National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) Program: RERC on Communication Technologies

HHS-2025-ACL-NIDILRR-REGE-0121

04/04/2025

Table of Contents Executive Summary

Additional Overview Content/Executive Summary

I. Funding Opportunity Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

3. Responsiveness and Screening Criteria

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Letter of Intent

Project Narrative

Table of Contents

Summary/ Abstract

Work Plan

Vitae/Biosketches of Key Project Personnel

References

Data Management Plan

Budget Narrative/Justification

Letters of Commitment from Key Participating Organizations and Agencies

Summary of Involved Individuals and Organizations

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

4. Submission Dates and Times

Informational Conference Call:

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Anticipated Announcement Award Date

VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

4. FFATA and FSRS Reporting

VII. Agency Contacts

VIII. Other Information

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-13)

Appendix

Instructions for Completing Required Forms

Budget Narrative/Justification- Sample Format

Instructions for Completing the Project Summary/ Abstract

ACL Center:

Funding Opportunity Title:

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) Program: RERC on Communication Technologies Funding Opportunity Number:

HHS-2025-ACL-NIDILRR-REGE-0121

Primary CFDA Number:

93.433 Due Date for Letter of Intent:

02/11/2025 Due Date for Applications:

04/04/2025 Date for Informational Conference Call:

01/29/2025 Applications that fail to meet the application due date will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration. You are strongly encouraged to submit your application a minimum of 3-5 days prior to the application closing date. Do not wait until the last day in the event you encounter technical difficulties, either on your end or, with https://www.grants.gov. Grants.gov can take up to 48 hours to notify you of a successful submission.

Executive Summary

Additional Overview Content/Executive Summary The purpose of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies designed to solve rehabilitation problems or remove environmental barriers for people with disabilities. RERCs also demonstrate and evaluate such technologies, facilitate service delivery system changes, https://www.grants.gov/ stimulate the production and distribution of new technologies and equipment in the private sector, and provide training opportunities. Under this RERC priority, the grantee must conduct research, development, and evaluation activities toward new technologies, strategies, and products that facilitate communication among people with disabilities who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood. In doing so, this RERC will increase understanding of the scientific and engineering principles pertaining to knowledge, strategies, and tools related to augmentative alternative communication. This grant will have a 60-month project period, with five 12-month budget periods.

I. Funding Opportunity Description Background:

Five million people in the United States cannot rely on their own speech to communicate (Beukelman & Light, 2020). This population has a broad range of developmental, acquired, or degenerative disabilities that make speech difficult. Almost 70% of this population has other physical functional limitations that make them unable to rely on written language (Bean et al., 2023). One-third of those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and 25% of those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) cannot rely on speech for communication (Carnett et al., 2023; Farzana et al., 2021). Over half of those with cerebral palsy (CP) have difficulty communicating and one-third are unable to communicate verbally (Avagyan et al., 2021). One-third of those who have had a stroke experience aphasia (Lamborn et al., 2024). Ninety-five percent of people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) experience dysarthria with 75% losing the ability to speak within 2-5 years following onset (Peters et al., 2024).

People who cannot rely on their own speech to be heard and understood experience fewer positive outcomes in all life activities. In primary and secondary education settings, children in this population rarely interact with peers alone (Berenguer et al., 2022) creating barriers to forming friendships and other social connections. Lack of communication support leads to higher post-secondary education attrition rates for transition-aged youth who cannot rely on speech, relative to their non-disabled peers (Batorowicz et al., 2024). Employment rates among people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood are estimated to be between 5% and 14% (Batorowicz et al., 2024; Lackey et al., 2023) resulting from limited job-related networking opportunities, hiring processes dependent on spoken interviews, and lack of access to communication technologies in the workplace (Lackey et al., 2023). Finally, people who cannot rely on speech for communication have negative health care experiences. These include unmet healthcare needs, loss of agency and autonomy, exclusion from important conversations and decisions, and increased reliance on family or other caregivers (Baylor et al., 2022), as well as increased length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality (Lamborn et al., 2024). Hospital patients with communication barriers are three times more likely to experience a preventable adverse event (Hurtig et al., 2018).

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) enhances or replaces speech or writing where these are insufficient to meet the individual’s needs (Bekteshi et al., 2023). AAC can be unaided and aided. Unaided AAC includes gestures, expressions, and body language. Aided AAC can be low-technology AAC that uses pictures, symbols, and books, or high-technology AAC that includes speech generating devices (SGDs), voice output software, eye gaze tracking, and brain-computer interfaces.

Using AAC improves language skills and literacy development (Avagyan et al., 2021), and enables environmental access, education, employment, and social participation (Bekteshi et al., 2023; Broomfield et al., 2024). Communication with AAC provides people with a greater sense of control, independence, self-identity, and self-actualization. Users can express basic functional needs and create deep connection to others. In addition, AAC can be used for non-communication tasks such as providing memory supports and assisting with the completion of work tasks (Broomfield et al., 2024).

People choose their AAC method for specific situations and use multiple methods at the same time. Some use high-tech AAC to communicate complex ideas but rely on gestures and low-tech AAC for simpler thoughts or needs. Some feel disconnected from synthesized voices and do not use SGDs to express their personality (Ripat et al., 2019). Many select different communication tools for different communication partners or within different contexts. Parents communicate with their child in the most fluent way, preferring unaided communication at home, especially in daily life contexts like morning and bedtime care routines when integrating technology is challenging (Berenguer et al., 2022).

Many who could benefit from AAC do not have access to it. Only 22% of school-aged children who would benefit from AAC have been evaluated for it (Binger et al., 2021). Of adults receiving AAC evaluations, 88% had never had an AAC device, and two-thirds were reliant on vocalization alone to communicate (Bean et al., 2023). Meanwhile, only 10% of adults with IDD who need AAC have access to it (García et al., 2020).

Lack of AAC access stems from barriers to service delivery and lack of resources. There are frequently long waiting lists for AAC services (Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). Parents report that not all school based Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) are well trained in AAC (Berenguer et al., 2022). In cases where trained SLPs are available, personnel are often not available to support the AAC device users (Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). For young children who experience significant delays in reaching developmental milestones for language acquisition and literacy, delays in AAC intervention can have far-reaching negative outcomes (Leonet et al., 2022).

High-tech AAC requires significant financial resources (Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). Knowledge of the comparative effectiveness of AAC interventions would allow people to select the AAC that matches their resources (Crowe et al., 2022). Parents of children who need AAC may lack the time needed to learn and manage high-tech AAC or learn and support low-tech AAC (Berenguer et al., 2022; Danker et al., 2023; Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). The time required to program AAC is a barrier for transition-aged youth who need to make context-appropriate vocabulary easily available to support their new roles in employment or post-secondary education (Batorowicz et al., 2024).

These acquisition barriers disproportionately affect racial minority groups. Children who are Black or Asian are less likely to be diagnosed with developmental disabilities before entering school than children who are Caucasian (Gallegos et al., 2021). Even after receiving a qualifying diagnosis, children who are Black or Hispanic are less likely than children who are Caucasian to receive AAC interventions (Gallegos et al., 2021; Pope et al., 2022). Three-quarters of children who are Black received less than 60 minutes of AAC intervention services per week, an inadequate time to make meaningful gains towards communication goals. Current AAC evidence-based practice for children with developmental disabilities are based on studies with largely caucasian samples. There has been little empirical research on interventions for children with culturally or linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds (King et al., 2022; Pope et al., 2022).

Only 8% of SLPs self-report that they are qualified to serve to children from CLD backgrounds.

These children lack access to qualified service providers (King et al., 2022).

Currently available AAC devices present barriers inherent within their features. AAC creates delays in communication while the user accesses the correct vocabulary. These delays make it difficult to participate in fast-paced communication that is often necessary for discussion of complex ideas (Batorowicz et al., 2024; Lackey et al., 2023; Ripat et al., 2019; Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). High-tech AAC devices can interrupt conversations when they need to be reset (Batorowicz et al., 2024; Broomfield et al., 2024; Crowe et al., 2022; Lackey et al., 2023; Ripat et al., 2019; Smidt & Pebdani, 2023). Many high-tech devices are complex and difficult to operate for those with cognitive disabilities, while input modalities may be inaccessible to those with physical disabilities (Danker et al., 2023). As a result of these barriers, 60% of AAC devices are abandoned within 12 months (Smidt & Pebdani, 2023).

Rapid technology advances have begun to improve AAC systems, which may reduce abandonment in the long-term. AAC platforms have migrated to multi-use mobile technology that include advanced user interfaces and universally understood symbol languages. This has improved compatibility between mainstream and AAC technologies, allowing seamless interface between the software systems (Curtis et al., 2022). Context awareness, machine learning algorithms, improvements in speech recognition algorithms, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have the capacity to improve the communication process and allow environmental control through AAC technology (Curtis et al., 2022; Farzana et al., 2021). These advances may provide incremental changes that improve the understandability of SGD voice quality, reduce the burden of sentence formation, and allow the user to change or program their own vocabulary (Batorowicz et al., 2024; Crowe et al., 2022). Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology shows promise as an AAC application for people who lack volitional movement. However, additional work is needed to establish BCI standard terminology and performance measures and determine the effectiveness of BCI in supporting communication for people across disability groups (Chandler et al., 2022; Peters et al., 2022). These advances may transform AAC technology in the long-term.

Similarly, technological advances have reduced barriers to service provision. Telepresence platforms improved significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling AAC telepractice.

Now, after the pandemic, telepractice allows access to services in remote, rural, and underserved areas. Telepractice has been shown to be effective in delivering evaluation, assessment, intervention and monitoring services to those with a broad spectrum of developmental, acquired, and degenerative disabilities and conditions (Bekteshi et al., 2023; King et al., 2022). As a result, it may assist in reducing racial and cultural disparities in provision of AAC interventions (King et al., 2022) by providing access to service providers trained to provide services to people from CLD groups.

AAC services and technologies would advance through research that examines communication within the full context of real-world environments. People who cannot rely on speech to be heard and understood must be included in all aspects of the research design (Chandler et al., 2022;

Crowe et al., 2022). This inclusion will ensure prioritization of the most important research questions and consideration of the full context of use. Such research will be more generalizable and lead to interventions that have social validity within natural settings (Crowe et al., 2022).

References:

Avagyan, A., Mkrtchyan, H., Shafa, F. A., Mathew, J. A., & Petrosyan, T. (2021). Effectiveness and determinant variables of augmentative and alternative communication interventions in cerebral palsy patients with communication deficit: A systematic review. Communication Disorders, Audiology, and Swallowing (CoDAS), 33(5), e20200244.

Batorowicz, B., Mamo, K., Meadows, T., Fecica, A., & Renner, G. (2024). Transition to Adulthood for Individuals With Complex Communication Needs: A Scoping Review. OTJR:

Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 15394492241271162.

Baylor, C., Brown, C., Mroz, T. M., & Burns, M. (2022). Understanding how older adults with communication difficulties access health services: What we can learn from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Seminars in Speech and Language, 43(03), 176-197.

Bean, A., Harris, K., Kim, H., DiGiovine, C., & Sonntag, A. M. (2023). A scoping review of communication outcomes measures in augmentative and alternative communication. Assistive Technology, 36, 147-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2023.2224410.

Bekteshi, S., Konings, M., Karlsson, P., Criekinge, T. V., Dan, B., & Monbaliu, E. (2023).

Teleintervention for users of augmentative and alternative communication devices: A systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 65(2), 171-184.

Berenguer, C., Martínez, E. R., De Stasio, S., & Baixauli, I. (2022). Parents’ perceptions and experiences with their children’s use of augmentative/alternative communication: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(13), 8091.

Beukelman, D., & Light, J. (2020). Augmentative and alternative communication: Supporting children and adults with complex communication needs, 5th edition. eTextbooks for Students.

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etextbooks/588/.

Binger, C., Renley, N., Babej, E., & Hahs-Vaughn, D. (2021). A survey of school-age children with highly unintelligible speech. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 37(3), 194-205.

Broomfield, K., Harrop, D., Jones, G. L., Sage, K., & Judge, S. (2024). A qualitative evidence synthesis of the experiences and perspectives of communicating using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 19(5), 1802-1816.

Carnett, A., Devine, B., Ingvarsson, E., & Esch, B. (2023). A systematic and quality review of augmentative and alternative communication interventions that use core vocabulary. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-17.

Chandler, J. A., Van der Loos, K. I., Boehnke, S., Beaudry, J. S., Buchman, D. Z., & Illes, J.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2023.2224410 https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etextbooks/588/

(2022). Brain Computer Interfaces and Communication Disabilities: Ethical, legal, and social aspects of decoding speech from the brain. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 16, 841035.

Crowe, B., Machalicek, W., Wei, Q., Drew, C., & Ganz, J. (2022). Augmentative and alternative communication for children with intellectual and developmental disability: A mega-review of the literature. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 1-42.

Curtis, H., Neate, T., & Vazquez Gonzalez, C. (2022). State of the art in AAC: A systematic review and taxonomy. Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, St John's, Newfoundland.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3517428.3544810.

Danker, J., Dreyfus, S., Strnadová, I., & Pilkinton, M. (2023). Scoping review on communication systems used by adults with severe/profound intellectual disability for functional communication. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 36(5), 951-965.

Farzana, W., Sarker, F., Chau, T., & Mamun, K. A. (2021). Technological evolvement in AAC modalities to Foster communications of verbally challenged ASD children: A systematic review.

IEEE Access.

Gallegos, A., Dudovitz, R., Biely, C., Chung, P. J., Coker, T. R., Barnert, E., Guerrero, A. D., Szilagyi, P. G., & Nelson, B. B. (2021). Racial disparities in developmental delay diagnosis and services received in early childhood. Academic pediatrics, 21(7), 1230-1238.

García, J. C., Díez, E., Wojcik, D. Z., & Santamaría, M. (2020). Communication support needs in adults with intellectual disabilities and its relation to quality of life. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(20), 7370.

Hurtig, R. R., Alper, R. M., & Berkowitz, B. (2018). The cost of not addressing the communication barriers faced by hospitalized patients. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 3(12), 99-112.

King, M., Ward, H., Soto, G., & Barrett, T. S. (2022). Supporting emergent bilinguals who use augmentative and alternative communication and their families: Lessons in telepractice from the COVID-19 pandemic. American journal of speech-language pathology, 31(5), 2004-2021.

Lackey, S., Watson Hyatt, G., Batorowicz, B., van Engelen, S., Li, S., Pinder, S., & Davies, T. C.

(2023). Barriers and facilitators to accommodations in the workplace for adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): a systematic review. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 39(3), 181-197.

Lamborn, E., Carragher, M., O’Halloran, R., & Rose, M. L. (2024). Optimising Healthcare Communication for People with Aphasia in Hospital: Key Directions for Future Research.

Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports, 12(1), 89-99.

Leonet, O., Orcasitas-Vicandi, M., Langarika-Rocafort, A., Mondragon, N. I., & Etxebarrieta, G.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3517428.3544810

R. (2022). A systematic review of augmentative and alternative communication interventions for children aged from 0 to 6 years. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(3), 894- 920.

Peters, B., Eddy, B., Galvin-McLaughlin, D., Betz, G., Oken, B., & Fried-Oken, M. (2022). A systematic review of research on augmentative and alternative communication brain-computer interface systems for individuals with disabilities. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 16, 952380.

Peters, B., O’Brien, K., & Fried-Oken, M. (2024). A recent survey of augmentative and alternative communication use and service delivery experiences of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the United States. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 19(4), 1121-1134.

Pope, L., Light, J., & Franklin, A. (2022). Black children with developmental disabilities receive less augmentative and alternative communication intervention than their White peers:

Preliminary evidence of racial disparities from a secondary data analysis. American journal of speech-language pathology, 31(5), 2159-2174.

Ripat, J., Verdonck, M., Gacek, C., & McNicol, S. (2019). A qualitative metasynthesis of the meaning of speech-generating devices for people with complex communication needs.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 35(2), 69-79.

Smidt, A., & Pebdani, R. N. (2023). Rethinking device abandonment: a capability approach focused model. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 39(3), 198-206.

U.S. Department of Education - Office of Special Education Programs. (2024). Percentage Distribution of school-aged students served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, by educational environment and type of disabilities: Selected years, fall 1989 through fall 2022.: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Database; Nation Center for Education Statistics Retrieved from https://data.ed.gov/dataset/idea-section-618-data-products-state-level-data-files.

Priority:

The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) establishes a priority for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Communication Technologies. Under this priority, the RERC must use scientific and engineering approaches to research, develop, and evaluate innovative communication technologies that will result in new or improved products, devices, technological advances, or interventions. These advances in communication technologies must promote improved health and function, employment, or community living outcomes among people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard or understood. The RERC may address these outcomes in community, home, education, employment, or health care settings.

Under this priority, the RERC must conduct rehabilitation engineering research and development activities that lead to the design and production of accessible and easily usable AAC https://data.ed.gov/dataset/idea-section-618-data-products-state-level-data-files https://data.ed.gov/dataset/idea-section-618-data-products-state-level-data-files technologies and devices. The RERC must enhance the usability and effectiveness of currently available, new, and emerging strategies, technologies, and interventions to align with users’ goals, needs, and abilities.

The RERC must generate state-of-the-science knowledge and products. The RERC must also carry out effective knowledge translation and technology transfer activities so that its knowledge and products are used by people with communication disabilities who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard or understood. Toward these practical goals, the RERC must conduct at least one research project at the intervention efficacy or scale-up evaluation stage of research. The RERC must also conduct at least one development project at the proof of product or proof of adoption stage. NIDILRR’s stages of research and stages of development are described on ACL’s website.

Applicants must demonstrate, in their original application, that people with 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 disability population addressed by the RERC.

Applicants under the priority in this notice must specify in their proposal the following:

1. The NIDILRR outcome domain or domains to be addressed.

2. The target population or populations of people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood.

3. The technological devices or products to be produced.

4. The benefits of those devices or products to people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood.

5. The means of testing and evaluating the devices or products to be produced.

6. The way that people with disabilities will be included as part of proposed research and development teams, and the way that their input will be incorporated into research and development activities.

Requirements applicable to RERC Priorities:

As a national center, the RERC must conduct high-quality research, development, technical assistance, capacity building, knowledge translation, and dissemination activities that address significant needs, promote independence, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. To optimize benefits to people with disabilities, the RERC must ascertain the efficacy and safety of proposed strategies, technologies, or interventions, and collaborate with appropriate entities to facilitate the transfer and adoption of development products. The RERC must follow and understand emerging technologies and communicate to NIDILRR, ACL, and other relevant stakeholders about the potential opportunities and drawbacks associated with these technologies.

As a national center, the RERC must conduct high-quality research, development, technical assistance, capacity building, knowledge translation, and dissemination activities that address significant needs, promote independence, and improve the quality of life and community living outcomes of people with disabilities. To optimize benefits to people with disabilities, the RERC must ascertain the efficacy and safety of proposed strategies, technologies, or interventions, and https://acl.gov/aging-and-disability-in-america/nidilrr-frameworks collaborate with relevant entities to facilitate the transfer and adoption of development products.

The RERC must follow and understand emerging technologies and communicate to NIDILRR, ACL, and other relevant stakeholders about the potential opportunities and drawbacks associated with these technologies.

An RERC established under the proposed priority in this notice must be designed to contribute to the following outcomes:

1. Increased technical and scientific knowledge relevant to its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by conducting high-quality, rigorous research projects. The RERC must use appropriate engineering knowledge and techniques to collect, analyze, and synthesize research data.

2. Increased innovation in technologies, products, environments, performance guidelines, or monitoring and assessment tools applicable to its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome through the development and testing of these innovations. The RERC must apply appropriate engineering knowledge and techniques to achieve development objectives.

3. Improved research capacity in its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by collaborating with relevant industry groups, professional associations, institutions of higher education, health care providers, or educators, as appropriate, to train research and development professionals in its designated priority research area.

4. Improved awareness and understanding of cutting-edge developments in technologies within its designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by communicating with NIDILRR, people with disabilities and their representatives, disability organizations, service providers, professional journals, manufacturers, State Assistive Technology Act Programs, and other interested parties about trends and evolving product concepts related to its designated priority research area.

5. Increased impact of research and development in the designated priority research area.

The RERC must contribute to this outcome by providing technical assistance to relevant public and private organizations, people with disabilities, employers, and schools on policies, guidelines, and standards related to its designated priority research area.

6. Increased transfer of RERC-developed technologies to the marketplace. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by developing and implementing a plan for ensuring that all technologies developed by the RERC are made available to the public. The technology transfer plan must be developed in the first year of the project period in consultation with the NIDILRR-funded Initiative to Mobilize Partnerships for Successful Assistive Technology Transfer (IMPACT) Center.

7. Improved usability and accessibility of products and environments in the RERC’s designated priority research area. The RERC must contribute to this outcome by emphasizing the principles and goals of universal design in its product research, development, and evaluation.

In addition, under each priority, the RERC must--

• Have the capability to design, build, and test prototype devices and assist in the technology transfer and knowledge translation of successful solutions to relevant production and service delivery settings;

• Evaluate the efficacy and safety of its new products, instrumentation, or assistive devices;

• Provide as part of its proposal, and then implement, a plan that describes how it will include, as appropriate, people with disabilities or their representatives in all phases of its activities, including research, development, training, dissemination, and evaluation;

• Provide as part of its proposal, and then implement, in consultation with the NIDILRR-funded Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a plan to disseminate its research results to people with disabilities and their representatives, disability organizations, service providers, professional journals, manufacturers, and other interested parties;

• Conduct a state-of-the-science conference on its designated priority research area in the fourth year of the project period, and publish a comprehensive report on the final outcomes of the conference at the beginning of the fifth year of the project period;

• Coordinate research projects of mutual interest with relevant NIDILRR-funded projects, as identified through consultation with the NIDILRR project officer;

• Specify the stage or stages of research projects that they are proposing. If the applicant proposes to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage, including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified. These stages (exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale-up evaluation) are defined in this section of the funding opportunity announcement; and

• Specify the stage or stages of development of the development projects that they are proposing. If the applicant proposes to conduct development that can be categorized under more than one stage, those stages must be clearly specified. These stages (proof of concept, proof of product, and proof of adoption) are defined in this section of the funding opportunity announcement.

Statutory Authority 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(b)(3)(A)

II. Award Information

Funding Instrument Type:

G (Grant) Estimated Total Funding:

$975,000 Expected Number of Awards:

Award Ceiling:

$975,000 Per Budget Period

Award Floor:

$970,000

Per Budget Period

Length of Project Period:

60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods Additional Information on Project Periods and Explanation of 'Other' The Administration has requested funding for the NIDILRR program for FY 2025. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final Congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if Congress appropriates funds for this program.

Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2026 from the list of approved but unfunded applicants from this competition.

III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants For FY 2024 the below guidance is provided to advance the Administration’s policy, as stated in E.O. 13985, to “pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” This guidance is intended to begin to address inequities in HHS programs, processes, and policies that may serve as barriers to equal opportunity. By advancing equity in our NOFOs, we can “create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone.”

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.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement:

No For awards that do not require matching or cost sharing by statute, recipients are not expected to provide cost sharing or matching. However, recipients are allowed to voluntarily propose a commitment of non-federal resources. If an applicant decides to voluntarily contribute non-federal resources towards project costs and the costs are accepted by ACL, the non-federal resources will be included in the approved project budget. The applicant will be held accountable for all proposed non-federal resources as shown in the Notice of Award (NOA). A recipient's failure to meet the voluntary amount of non-federal resources that was accepted by ACL as part of the approved project costs and that was identified in the approved budget in the NOA, may result in the disallowance of federal funds. Recipients will be required to report these funds in the Federal Financial Reports.

3. Responsiveness and Screening Criteria Application Responsiveness Criteria

To be considered for review under this grant opportunity, applicants must propose to run a RERC grant that is responsive to each of the requirements in the priority section of this funding opportunity announcement.

Application Screening Criteria We will screen all applications, and will reject any applications that:

• Are submitted after the established deadline;

• Propose a budget that exceeds $975,000 in any single budget year;

• Propose a project period that exceeds 60 months.

NOTE: NIDILRR is strengthening its double-spacing requirements. These new requirements will enhance the readability and accessibility of applications for reviewers. The requirements will also promote fairness by restricting the occasional applicant practice of placing narrative text in single-spaced tables for potential competitive advantage.

You must Double-space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) the project narrative. You are not required to double-space titles, headings, or footnotes in tables or figures. However, if text within any single row of a table or figure extends beyond a single line, the text in that row must be double-spaced.

NIDILRR will screen all applications for compliance with these double-spacing requirements.

For every line of single-spaced text within your project narrative, including text in tables and figures that does not comply with this requirement, NIDILRR will count that line against the page limit of 80 pages. For example, if your project narrative is 80 pages long but contains one page of single-spaced text, we will consider the narrative to be 81 pages long. We will then instruct reviewers not to review and score the last page of your project narrative.

IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package Application materials can be obtained from https://www.grants.gov or https://www.acl.gov/grants/applying-grants.

Please note, ACL requires applications for all announcements to be submitted electronically through http://www.grants.gov in Workspace. Grants.gov Workspace is the standard way for organizations and individuals to apply for federal grants in Grants.gov. An overview and training on Grants.gov Workspace can be found here at:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

The Grants.gov registration process can take several days. If your organization is not currently registered, please begin this process immediately. For assistance with https://www.grants.gov, please contact them at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726 between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Eastern Time.

• At the https://www.grants.gov website, you will find information about submitting an application electronically through the site, including the hours of operation. ACL strongly recommends that you do not wait until the application https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.acl.gov/grants/applying-grants http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://www.grants.gov/ mailto:support@grants.gov due date to begin the application process because of the time involved to complete the registration process.

• All applicants must have a UEI and be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM, www.sam.gov) and maintain an active SAM registration until the application process is complete, and should a grant be made, throughout the life of the award. Effective June 11, 2018, when registering or renewing your registration, you must submit a notarized letter appointing the authorized Entity Administrator. Please be sure to read the FAQs located at www.sam.gov to learn more. Applicants should allot sufficient time prior to the application deadline to finalize a new, or renew an existing registration. This action should allow you time to resolve any issues that may arise. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in your inability to submit your application or receive an award. Maintain documentation (with dates) of your efforts to register or renew at least two weeks before the deadline. See the SAM Quick Guide for Grantees at:

SAM.GOV Quick Start Guide for Financial Assistance Registrations.

Note: Once your SAM registration is active, allow 24 to 48 hours for the information to be available in Grants.gov before you can submit an application through Grants.gov. This action should allow you time to resolve any issues that may arise. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in your inability to submit your application or receive an award.

1.

• Note: Failure to submit the correct EIN Suffix can lead to delays in identifying your organization and access to funding in the Payment Management System.

• Effective October 1, 2010, HHS requires all entities that plan to apply for and ultimately receive federal grant funds from any HHS Operating/Staff Division (OPDIV/STAFFDIV) or receive subawards directly from the recipients of those grant funds to:

2. Register in SAM prior to submitting an application or plan;

3. Maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active award or an application or plan under consideration by an OPDIV; and

4. Provide its UEI number in each application or plan to submit to the OPDIV.

Additionally, all first-tier subaward recipients must have a UEI number at the time the subaward is made.

• The Federal Government will transition from the DUNS Number to the New

Unique Entity Identifier. As of April of 2022, the federal government stopped using the DUNS number to uniquely identify entities. At that point, entities doing business with the federal government will use a Unique Entity Identifier (SAM) created in SAM.gov. It is entered on the SF-424. It is a unique, nine-digit identification number, which provides unique identifiers of single business entities.

• You must submit all documents electronically, including all information included on the SF424 and all necessary assurances and certifications. In accordance with the Federal Government’s efforts to reduce reporting burden for recipients of http://www.sam.gov/ https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=54e0016fdb3bbd90a8cb4a3913961934 federal financial assistance, the general certification and representation requirements contained in the Standard Form 424B (SF-424B) – Assurances – Non-Construction Programs, and the Standard Form 424D (SF-424D) – Assurances – Construction Programs, have been standardized federal-wide.

Effective January 1, 2020, the updated common certification and representation requirements will be stored and maintained within SAM. Organizations or individuals applying for federal financial assistance as of January 1, 2020, must validate the federally required common certifications and representations annually through SAM located at SAM.gov.

• After you electronically submit your application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment from https://www.grants.gov that contains https://www.grants.gov tracking number. The Administration for Community Living will retrieve your application form from https://www.grants.gov.

If you have any questions about the programmatic or substantive requirements of this funding opportunity, please contact the competition manager:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living

Maureen Linden Maureen.Linden@acl.hhs.gov

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

Letter of Intent Number of Days from Publication 35

02/11/2025 Applicants are requested, but not required, to submit a letter of intent to apply for this funding opportunity to assist ACL in planning for the application independent review process. The purpose of the letter of intent is to allow our staff to estimate the number of independent reviewers needed and to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the review. Letters of intent should be sent to:

Megan.Alvarado@acl.hhs.gov

In your email include:

• The funding opportunity number and title.

• The name and contact information for the project principal investigator.

• A brief description of the proposed activities.

• A list of key individuals and their organizations that will have a significant role in your project.

• A list of individuals whose selection as a peer reviewer might constitute a conflict of interest due to their involvement in the application development.

For further information regarding the LOI submission process, contact Megan Alvarado.

https://www.grants.gov https://www.grants.gov https://www.grants.gov mailto:Maureen.Linden@acl.hhs.gov mailto:Megan.Alvarado@acl.hhs.gov

Project Narrative The Project Narrative portion of your application is where you describe your proposed project and address each of the review criteria. Applicants should address each of the review criteria in the project narrative. Each applicant must limit the Project Narrative to the equivalent of no more than 80 pages using the following standards:

• A page is 8.5" x 11" on one side only with 1" margins at the top, bottom, and both sides;

• You must Double-space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) the project narrative.

You are not required to double-space titles, headings, or footnotes in tables or figures.

However, if text within any single row of a table or figure extends beyond a single line, the text in that row must be double-spaced;

o NIDILRR will screen all applications for compliance with these double-spacing requirements. For every line of single-spaced text within your project narrative, including text in tables and figures that does not comply with this requirement, NIDILRR will count that line against the page limit of 80 pages. For example, if your project narrative is 80 pages long but contains one page of single-spaced text, we will consider the narrative to be 81 pages long. We will then instruct reviewers not to review and score the last page of your project narrative;

• Use a font that is not less than size 12 and is Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New or Arial;

• Include all critical information, including the Work Plan, in the Project Narrative, minimizing the need for additional appendices;

• Ensure that you attach PDF files only for any attachments to your application. While you are able to attach files to your application in formats other than PDF, non-PDF files are converted into PDF format before reviewers see and evaluate your application. The conversion to PDF format may not maintain your original formatting. Therefore, to ensure the integrity of your application documents we strongly recommend that you attach only PDF files as you submit your application.

NOTE: The page limit for the Project Narrative does not apply to the Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the table of contents, budget narrative/justification, the forms, the summary/abstract, the vitae/ biosketches, references, or the letters of commitment from key participating organizations and agencies, the summary of involved individuals and organizations, data management plan, and the data safety and monitoring plan (if applicable).

For project narratives that exceed 80 double-spaced pages, NIDILRR will instruct reviewers to disregard all of the content on the pages beyond the 80th page.

Table of Contents The Table of Contents should show where and how the important sections of your proposal are organized. While the application will be submitted electronically, the reviewers may use printed copies during the review process. The Table of Contents will assist reviewers in more efficiently and effectively evaluating your application.

Summary/ Abstract The one-page abstract must be a comprehensive description of the whole project (all years) and not a description of the competency of the institution or Project Director/PI. It is not an executive summary. The abstract can be single-spaced.

Work Plan Applicants must provide a Work Plan (Plan of Operation) in their Project Narrative. The Work Plan should cover all years of the project period. The Work Plan should include a statement of the project's overall goal(s), anticipated outcome(s), and the major tasks that are proposed to achieve the goal and outcome(s). For each major task, the Work Plan should identify timeframes involved and the lead person responsible for the task. A "Project Work Plan - Sample Template" is provided in the Appendix section of this Funding Opportunity Announcement.

Vitae/Biosketches of Key Project Personnel Vitae or biosketches of key project personnel should include information that is specifically pertinent to the applicant’s proposed project. Applicants are encouraged to use NIH’s biosketch format, which provides reviewers with a concise description of training, expertise, and productivity that is relevant to the proposed project.

References Applicants should provide references for works cited in the Project Narrative. Applicants may provide references in any format (i.e., APA, AMA, MLA), though the formatting should be consistent.

Data Management Plan You must provide a data management plan for your project. We will review the data management plan for compliance before making an award.

The data management plan is your plan for making your NIDILRR-funded data available to the public at the end of your grant. The Data Management Plan must include the following:

• A description of the types of data you will collect for your project.

• A description of how you will organize, store, and preserve your project data.

• A description of the metadata to be provided for useful analysis of the data by others.

Metadata include descriptions and labels for variables and values in your dataset.

• A description of the data repository that you will use to make your data available to the public at the end of your grant. We recommend that you use the ICPSR as your data repository, but you may select a different data repository.

o If you select a different data repository, you must provide information on how the data repository will provide long-term preservation and free public access to the project data.

• If applicable, describe why your data cannot be submitted to a data repository.

• A description of the informed consent process that will enable data sharing.

• Costs associated with data management can be included in your budget.

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm

If you require technical assistance in preparing your data management plan for this application, contact ICPSR at ICPSR-help@umich.edu or 734-647-2200.

Budget Narrative/Justification The applicant must submit an itemized budget breakdown for each project year and the basis for estimating the costs of personnel salaries, benefits, project staff travel, materials and supplies, consultants and subcontracts, indirect costs, and any other projected expenditures.

The Budget Narrative/Justification can be provided using the “Budget Narrative/Justification – Sample Format” included in this document. Applicants are encouraged to pay particular attention to this document, which provides an example of the level of detail sought. A combined multi-year Budget Narrative/Justification as well as a detailed Budget Narrative/Justification for each year of potential grant funding is required. This information will be uploaded in the "Budget Narrative/Justification" section under the "Optional" category. If applicable, address cost share in a separate section of the budget narrative labeled "cost share."

Letters of Commitment from Key Participating Organizations and Agencies Include letters of commitment from key participating…