Grant Reviewer Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Education is seeking peer reviewers (field readers) for discretionary grant program applications for upcoming Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) grants related to the Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. The application review process involves a reader orientation, reading and evaluation of applications, and discussions with other panelists.

Apply on-line to become a reader for the OPE grant program at: http://opeweb.ed.gov/frs

Legislative Updates

The National Rehabilitation Association's priorities for reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act, shared with Members of Congress and their staff during NRA's Government Affairs Summit and, more recently, this week include:

• The Governors' Waiver Authority Issue Statement which states that the National Rehabilitation Association cannot and will not support any waiver of any provision of the Rehabilitation Act by Governors, the U.S. Department of Labor, or anyone else who seeks to waive the provisions of our carefully-crafted Act.
• The National Rehabilitation Association is not insensitive to the plight of Governors and the State of the States, but we believe the Community and Congressional architects' intent was that the Rehabilitation Act would always maintain a discrete funding stream for the sole use of eligible young adults and adults with disabilities and the integrity of the programs were to be honored.
• Maintaining Mandatory Funding for Title I of the Rehab Act. Pursuant to a recent Washington Wire, the President signed an Executive Order in February establishing a Commission to look at all entitlement (mandatory-funded) programs. Title I of the Rehab Act is mandatory funded, which means that Title I receives the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) every year unless inflation and the Consumer Price Index (Adjusted for Urban Areas) (CPIU) are in the negative. This year, that was the case. The rate of inflation was negative and, as a result, Title I did NOT receive the COLA.
• The National Rehabilitation Association believes that the Title III and Title VI programs, respectively, are complementary to the supports and services that Title I provides to eligible individuals with disabilities.
• The National Rehabilitation Association supports continued, discrete funding for Supported Employment, Projects with Industry, In-Service Training, and Migrants and Seasonal Farm Workers, all of which are extraordinarily important to individuals with disabilities.
  

Find all NRA 2010 Issues Statements on NRA's website: www.nationalrehab.org

NCD Nominees Announced

FROM THE NRCA Capitol Insider:
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced on March 10 that the Committee had approved nominations to fill positions at the National Council on Disability and other federal agencies. The nominees now move to the full Senate for confirmation. The nominees for NCD membership are:

• Gary Blumenthal of Massachusetts
• Chester Alonzo Finn of New York (a board member of The Arc)
• Sara A. Gelser of Oregon
• Ari Ne'eman of Maryland (who formerly worked on UCP's Life Without Limits project)
• Dongwoo Joseph Pak of California
• Carol Jean Reynolds of Colorado
• Fernando Torres-Gill of California
• Jonathan M. Young of Maryland