§ 772. Training
(a)
Grants and contracts for personnel training
(1)
Authority
The Commissioner shall make grants to, and enter into contracts with, States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations (including institutions of higher education) to pay part of the cost of projects to provide training, traineeships, and related activities, including the provision of technical assistance, that are designed to assist in increasing the numbers of, and upgrading the skills of, qualified personnel (especially rehabilitation counselors) who are trained in providing vocational, medical, social, and psychological rehabilitation services, who are trained to assist individuals with communication and related disorders, who are trained to provide other services provided under this chapter, to individuals with disabilities, and who may include—
(A)
personnel specifically trained in providing employment assistance to individuals with disabilities through job development and job placement services;
(B)
personnel specifically trained to identify, assess, and meet the individual rehabilitation needs of individuals with disabilities, including needs for rehabilitation technology;
(C)
personnel specifically trained to deliver services to individuals who may benefit from receiving independent living services;
(E)
personnel specifically trained to deliver services, through supported employment programs, to individuals with a most significant disability; and
(2)
Authority to provide scholarships
Grants and contracts under paragraph (1) may be expended for scholarships and may include necessary stipends and allowances.
(3)
Related Federal statutes
In carrying out this subsection, the Commissioner may make grants to and enter into contracts with States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, to furnish training regarding provisions of Federal statutes, including section
794 of this title, title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.), and the provisions of titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq. and 1381 et seq.), that are related to work incentives for individuals with disabilities.
(4)
Training for statewide workforce systems personnel
The Commissioner may make grants to and enter into contracts under this subsection with States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, to furnish training to personnel providing services to individuals with disabilities under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 [29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.]. Under this paragraph, personnel may be trained—
(b)
Grants and contracts for academic degrees and academic certificate granting training projects
(1)
Authority
(A)
In general
The Commissioner may make grants to, and enter into contracts with, States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations (including institutions of higher education) to pay part of the costs of academic training projects to provide training that leads to an academic degree or academic certificate. In making such grants or entering into such contracts, the Commissioner shall target funds to areas determined under subsection (e) of this section to have shortages of qualified personnel.
(B)
Types of projects
Academic training projects described in this subsection may include—
(i)
projects to train personnel in the areas of assisting and supporting individuals with disabilities pursuing self-employment, business ownership, and telecommuting, and of vocational rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation technology, rehabilitation medicine, rehabilitation nursing, rehabilitation social work, rehabilitation psychiatry, rehabilitation psychology, rehabilitation dentistry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and audiology, physical education, therapeutic recreation, community rehabilitation programs, or prosthetics and orthotics;
(ii)
projects to train personnel to provide—
(I)
services to individuals with specific disabilities or individuals with disabilities who have specific impediments to rehabilitation, including individuals who are members of populations that are unserved or underserved by programs under this chapter;
(2)
Application
No grant shall be awarded or contract entered into under this subsection unless the applicant has submitted to the Commissioner an application at such time, in such form, in accordance with such procedures, and including such information as the Secretary may require, including—
(A)
a description of how the designated State unit or units will participate in the project to be funded under the grant or contract, including, as appropriate, participation on advisory committees, as practicum sites, in curriculum development, and in other ways so as to build closer relationships between the applicant and the designated State unit and to encourage students to pursue careers in public vocational rehabilitation programs;
(3)
Limitation
(4)
Authority to provide scholarships
Grants and contracts under paragraph (1) may be expanded to provide services that include the provision of scholarships and necessary stipends and allowances.
(5)
Agreements
(A)
Contents
A recipient of a grant or contract under this subsection shall provide assurances to the Commissioner that each individual who receives a scholarship, for any academic year beginning after June 1, 1992, utilizing funds provided under such grant or contract shall enter into an agreement with the recipient under which the individual shall—
(i)
maintain employment—
(I)
in a nonprofit rehabilitation agency or related agency or in a State rehabilitation agency or related agency, including a professional corporation or professional practice group through which the individual has a service arrangement with the designated State agency;
(III)
for a period of not less than the full-time equivalent of 2 years for each year for which assistance under this section was received by the individual,
within a period, beginning after the recipient completes the training for which the scholarship was awarded, of not more than the sum of the number of years in the period described in subclause (III) and 2 additional years; and
(ii)
repay all or part of any scholarship received, plus interest, if the individual does not fulfill the requirements of clause (i),
except as the Commissioner by regulation may provide for repayment exceptions and deferrals.
(c)
Grants to historically Black colleges and universities
The Commissioner, in carrying out this section, shall make grants to historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions of higher education whose minority student enrollment is at least 50 percent of the total enrollment of the institution.
(d)
Application
A grant may not be awarded to a State or other organization under this section unless the State or organization has submitted an application to the Commissioner at such time, in such form, in accordance with such procedures, and containing such information as the Commissioner may require. Any such application shall include a detailed description of strategies that will be utilized to recruit and train individuals so as to reflect the diverse populations of the United States as part of the effort to increase the number of individuals with disabilities, and individuals who are from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds, who are available to provide rehabilitation services.
(e)
Evaluation and collection of data
The Commissioner shall evaluate the impact of the training programs conducted under this section, and collect information on the training needs of, and data on shortages of qualified personnel necessary to provide services to individuals with disabilities. The Commissioner shall prepare and submit to Congress, by September 30 of each fiscal year, a report setting forth and justifying in detail how the funds made available for training under this section for the fiscal year prior to such submission are allocated by professional discipline and other program areas. The report shall also contain findings on such personnel shortages, how funds proposed for the succeeding fiscal year will be allocated under the President’s budget proposal, and how the findings on personnel shortages justify the allocations.
(f)
Grants for the training of interpreters
(1)
Authority
(A)
In general
For the purpose of training a sufficient number of qualified interpreters to meet the communications needs of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and individuals who are deaf-blind, the Commissioner, acting through a Federal office responsible for deafness and communicative disorders, may award grants to public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations to pay part of the costs—
(B)
Geographic areas
The Commissioner shall award grants under this subsection for programs in geographic areas throughout the United States that the Commissioner considers appropriate to best carry out the objectives of this section.
(C)
Priority
In awarding grants under this subsection, the Commissioner shall give priority to public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations with existing programs that have a demonstrated capacity for providing interpreter training services.
(2)
Application
A grant may not be awarded to an agency or organization under paragraph (1) unless the agency or organization has submitted an application to the Commissioner at such time, in such form, in accordance with such procedures, and containing such information as the Commissioner may require, including—
(A)
a description of the manner in which an interpreter training program will be developed and operated during the 5-year period following the date on which a grant is received by the applicant under this subsection;
(B)
a demonstration of the applicant’s capacity or potential for providing training for interpreters for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and individuals who are deaf-blind;
(g)
Technical assistance and in-service training
(1)
Technical assistance
The Commissioner is authorized to provide technical assistance to State designated agencies and community rehabilitation programs, directly or through contracts with State designated agencies or nonprofit organizations.
(2)
Compensation
An expert or consultant appointed or serving under contract pursuant to this section shall be compensated at a rate, subject to approval of the Commissioner, that shall not exceed the daily equivalent of the rate of pay for level 4 of the Senior Executive Service Schedule under section
5382 of title
5. Such an expert or consultant may be allowed travel and transportation expenses in accordance with section
5703 of title
5.
(3)
In-service training of rehabilitation personnel
(A)
Projects
Subject to subparagraph (B), at least 15 percent of the sums appropriated to carry out this section shall be allocated to designated State agencies to be used, directly or indirectly, for projects for in-service training for rehabilitation personnel, consistent with the needs identified through the comprehensive system for personnel development required by section
721
(a)(7) of this title, including projects designed—
(B)
Limitation
If the allocation to designated State agencies required by subparagraph (A) would result in a lower level of funding for projects being carried out on August 7, 1998, by other recipients of funds under this section, the Commissioner may allocate less than 15 percent of the sums described in subparagraph (A) to designated State agencies for such in-service training.
(h)
Provision of information
The Commissioner, subject to the provisions of section
776 of this title, may require that recipients of grants or contracts under this section provide information, including data, with regard to the impact of activities funded under this section.
(i)
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003.