Disaster Assistance for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service Disability Programs in Puerto Rico and Florida

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announces a new funding opportunity to address the needs of people with disabilities impacted by Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. People with disabilities often have unique needs during a crisis. For example, they may have a wider variety of functional limitations, sometimes requiring more supports, many of which are often in short supply during and after a crisis event. It is critical that individuals, service providers, and communities actively engage in emergency planning and response that is inclusive of people with disabilities to ensure they continue to be supported in their communities and not in institutions. Effective emergency and disaster response and recovery promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play. The disability networks funded by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) play essential roles in that work. As the nation’s visible and trusted network of programs, these organizations provide a variety of services, including those related to assisting with emergency and disaster recovery efforts, such as offering case management support, relocating impacted individuals to safe housing in the community, and ensuring state and local services provided are accessible to people with disabilities. Understanding the resources available and the needs of people with disabilities in their areas, these networks have over 50 years of community experience and possess intimate knowledge of how to address emergencies and disasters.  Puerto Rico and Florida were directly impacted by major category 4 hurricanes which significantly affected the vital services and programs that support older adults, people with disabilities, and their family caregivers to live as independently as possible in their own communities. The Aging and Disability Network has been attempting to meet an increased need for services in impacted communities with current Older Americans Act (OAA) funding, Rehabilitation Act funding, and Developmental Disabilities Act funding. None of these authorities include direct funding for disaster related activities and programs are redirecting funds intended for other activities to address immediate needs caused by the Hurricanes. This funding is intended for the ACL Aging and Disability Network in Florida and Puerto Rico to help advance recovery and response efforts that are inclusive of people with disabilities and provide gap-filling services for older adults, people with disabilities, and their family caregivers for immediate and long-term disaster response and recovery. Examples of activities consistent with the purpose of this directed announcement funding are the following:Program a staffing costs to support response and recovery efforts, including case management.Program materials and supplies costs to support response efforts.General outreach to people with disabilities and information and referral.Monitoring shelters / temporary dwellings for health, wellness, and safety.Coordination with emergency response partners and other local and state agencies to ensure the needs of people with disabilities are being addressed.Providing case management and managing transitions to home / community placement for those placed in skills nursing facilities.Assisting with replacing supplies, durable medical equipment, and medication.Providing food assistance and home delivered groceries / meals.Obtaining needed personal hygiene items.Providing or assisting with access to personal care assistance and transportation assistance. Assisting with finding new accessible housing and assisting with home modifications.Advocating on behalf of people with disabilities at the state and local level.Awards authorized under Subtitle D of the DD Act, University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), shall be provided funding under this opportunity. Award recipients will be required to submit annual progress reports on the activities conducted, challenges, successes, and lessons learned and provide a written summary. In addition, to show impact of the grant awards, the grantee will include the number of people served or impacted by the services provided against each of the activities chosen to be implemented. To be eligible to receive this grant, the grantee must submit a Letter of Assurance to ACL containing all the assurances required, UCEDDs who do not complete assurance requirements below or otherwise indicate no desire to receive funds will be excluded from receiving funds. Other RequirementsA. Letter of AssuranceA Letter of Assurance is required to be submitted by the eligible entity in order to receive an award. The Letter of Assurance must include the following:1. Assurance that the award recipient is the agency or entity designated as UCEDD in the state or territory.2. Assurance that funds will supplement and not supplant existing UCEDD funding.3. Assurance that funds will be spent in ways consistent with the purpose of the funding in carrying out one or more of the following activities: Program a staffing costs to support response and recovery efforts, including case management.Program materials and supplies costs to support response efforts.General outreach to people with disabilities and information and referral.Monitoring shelters / temporary dwellings for health, wellness, and safety.Coordination with emergency response partners and other local and state agencies to ensure the needs of people with disabilities are being addressed.Providing case management and managing transitions to home / community placement for those placed in skills nursing facilities.Assisting with replacing supplies, durable medical equipment, and medication. Assisting with replacing supplies, durable medical equipment, and medication.Providing food assistance and home delivered groceries / meals. Obtaining needed personal hygiene items. Providing or assisting with access to personal care assistance and transportation assistance. Assisting with finding new accessible housing and assisting with home modificationsAdvocating on behalf of people with disabilities at the state and local level. 4. Assurance that the award recipient will do outreach to Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Centers for Independent Living, State Councils on Developmental Disabilities, and other University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in the state as appropriate to maximize state coordination wherever possible.5. Assurance to provide semi-annual federal financial reports and annual program reports that describes activities conducted, challenges, successes, and lessons learned. The written summary will also include number of people served or impacted by the services provided. I understand that ACL will provide further guidance on how to submit these reports. 6. I furthermore certify that I am the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) identified above and have the authority to submit this request on behalf of the above identified agency.B. Action PlanTo be eligible to receive this grant, the eligible entity must submit a plan detailing the need(s) they plan to address of people with disabilities impacted by Hurricanes Ian or Fiona and how they intend to implement authorized activities to address these needs. The plan must include a budget request with a justification for how the funds would be used to support disaster recovery efforts.