RESEARCH GRANT SUPPLEMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 8, February 25, 1994



P.T. 34



Keywords:

  HEALTH CARE 



Agency for Health Care Policy and Research



PURPOSE



The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) will make

supplemental funds available to grantees to extend research

opportunities to individuals with qualifying disabilities who are

capable of entering a research career.  It is hoped that the

supplemental funding will increase the number of individuals with

disabilities participating in health services research.



Supplemental awards are available to support individuals with

disabilities who are either graduate students, postdoctoral

researchers, or faculty.  Application, for or acceptance of, a

research supplement does not alter the requirement that grant

recipients must not exclude from participation in any program

receiving Federal financial assistance an otherwise qualified,

disabled individual solely by reason of the disability.  In addition,

grant recipients must make reasonable accommodation to the known

physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified disabled

individual unless the recipient can demonstrate that the

accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the

recipient's program.



General Provisions



The proposed research experience must be an integral part of the

approved, ongoing research of the parent grant.  Individuals with

disabilities must be given the opportunity to interact with

individuals of the parent grant, contribute intellectually to the

research, and enhance their research skills and knowledge concerning

health services research.  Furthermore, the Principal Investigator

must demonstrate a willingness and understanding that the purpose of

the award is to enhance the research capability of the student or

faculty member with a disability, and the research experience is

intended to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities

to develop into independent, competitive research investigators.



Principal Investigators are encouraged to contact their project

officer or the AHCPR grants management officer prior to submission in

order to obtain specific information about application requirements.

It is recognized that individual circumstances vary and, for unusual

situations, the grants management officer should be consulted for a

determination of eligibility.



Reasonable Accommodations



Funds may be requested, as part of the supplemental application, to

make changes or adjustments in the research setting that will make it

possible for an otherwise qualified employee with disabilities to

perform the essential functions associated with his/her role in the

project.  The accommodations requested under this program must be

directly related to the performance of the proposed role on the

research project and must be appropriate to the disabilities of the

individual.  Some types of accommodations that might be provided

under these awards include:  specialized equipment; assistive

devices; and personnel such as readers, interpreters, and assistants.

In all cases, the total funds for accommodations requested from the

supplement must be reasonable in relationship to the direct costs of

the parent grant and the nature of the supplemental award.



ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS



To be eligible for a supplemental award, the Principal Investigator

must hold an active AHCPR research grant (R01, R18, R29, or U01) with

a minimum of two years research support remaining at the time of

application.  Principal Investigators must be performing their

research in domestic institutions.



Usually, each parent grant may have only one supplement for a person

with disabilities.  Appointment of more than one individual to a

single grant under this program will be considered depending on the

nature of the parent grant, the circumstances of the request, and the

program balance of AHCPR.  A supplemental award under this program

does not preclude a separate supplement to support an

underrepresented minority.  It is not necessary for the individual

with disabilities to be appointed full time.



There is a ceiling of supplemental funds available which is 20

percent of the awarded direct costs.  That ceiling includes

administrative supplements, minority supplements, and supplement

under this program.  For example, an award of $200,000 for the parent

grant could receive up to a total of $40,000 for the sum of an

administrative supplement, a minority supplement, and/or a supplement

under this program.



Eligible Candidates



For the purpose of this announcement, the definition of disabled

individuals in the Americans With Disabilities Act will be used.  An

individual with a disability is one who has (A) a physical or mental

impairment that substantially limits one or more major life

activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or

(C) being regarded as having such an impairment."  Qualified

individuals with disabilities are those who, with reasonable

accommodation for their disability, are capable of entering a

research career after appropriate experience and training.

Disabilities that might confer eligibility for supplemental awards

under this program include, but are not limited to, the following:

total deafness in both ears, visual acuity less than 20/200 with

corrective lenses, speech impairment, missing extremities, partial

paralysis, complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental or

emotional illness, learning disabilities, kidney dialysis, and severe

distortion of limbs and/or spine.  In all cases, individuals

supported under this supplement program must, with reasonable

assistance, be able to contribute to the research supported by the

parent grant.



The supplemental application may request support for a graduate

student or a faculty member who is interested in the field of health

services research.  Awards will be limited to citizens, non-citizen

nationals, and individuals who have been lawfully admitted for

permanent residence (i.e., in possession of an Alien Registration

Receipt Card) at the time of application.



Individuals with disabilities may receive support under this program

on only one grant at a time but may be supported by more than one

grant during the development of their research careers.  Support

under this supplemental program is not transferable to another

individual.



This program is not intended to provide an alternative means of

supporting disabled individuals who are already supported by research

grants or other Public Health Service (PHS) mechanisms.  If a

Principal Investigator wishes to transfer an individual with

disabilities to supplemental support from an existing PHS-supported

position, the reason for the transfer must be clearly documented.

Individuals may not be transferred to supplemental support merely to

increase the availability of funds on the parent grant.  Disabled

individuals receiving National Research Service Award (NRSA) support

may not be transferred to supplemental support prior to the

completion of their appointed period of training.



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



A request for a supplemental award may be received at any time.

Grantee institutions must make requests on behalf of the Principal

Investigator of the parent grant and in cooperation with the disabled

individual(s) who will participate in the grant.  Grantee

institutions should submit the request for supplemental funds using

the face page, budget pages 4 and 5 and a narrative justification

from grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91).  The proposed budget

should be related to the percent effort of the disabled individual.

For graduate students or faculty the salary requested must be in

accordance with the salary structure of the institution and

consistent with the level of effort.  Funds may also be requested to

permit accommodations to the research environment.



Applicants should include a brief three to four page description,

prepared by the Principal Investigator, of each disabled individual's

role in the ongoing research project.  The description should

summarize how the experience will be expected to enhance the research

capabilities of the disabled individual and how it relates to the

research objectives of the parent grant.  There should be a signed

statement from the individual with disabilities describing how the

research experience will relate to his/her educational objectives and

research goals.  The individual's academic and scientific experience

should be described and the individual's curriculum vitae and social

security number included.



The Principal Investigator must demonstrate that each individual with

disabilities has made a commitment to the ongoing research project.

Finally there should be a statement that establishes the eligibility

of the individual with disabilities for support under this program.

This should include information certifying:  the individual's

citizenship; the nature of the disability; any occupational

limitations associated with the disability; and the types of

accommodations, currently existing or yet needed, that will permit

the individual to undertake the proposed research experience.  The

institution should indicate its contribution to aid accommodation of

the candidate to the research environment.



If the initial budget period requested is for less than 12 months,

the budget should be prorated accordingly.



REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS



AHCPR will review requests for supplements using the following

criteria:  (1) The qualifications of the individual with disabilities

including career goals, prior research training, relevant experience,

and potential for a research career after appropriate experience and

training. (2) The degree to which the individual's role in the

project would result in an educational experience of future benefit

to the individual.  (3) The degree to which the individual's role in

the project will contribute to the scientific objectives of the

project.  (4) The degree to which the individual's proposed efforts

are integrated with those of others on the research team.  This

includes the nature, quality, and frequency of interaction the

individual is expected to have with the others on the team.  (5) The

degree to which any research design or logistical modifications of

the project are sound and contribute to the research objectives of

the parent grant.  (6) The appropriateness of the proposed

accommodations for the candidate and the appropriateness of the cost

of the proposed accommodations relative to the cost of the parent

project and the nature of the requested supplement with evidence that

the proposed accommodations, including those provided by the grantee

institution, will be sufficient to enable the candidate to adapt to

the research environment.



AWARD CRITERIA



AHCPR may approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications any

application for a supplement for an individual with disabilities.

Based on the availability of funds, quality of applications, and

furtherance of the stated objectives, AHCPR may award supplemental

funds in a lesser amount than requested and for less than the full

number of participants proposed.



The decision to fund a supplement will be made four to six weeks from

the time the request is submitted.  Within the current budget period,

funds will be provided as an administrative supplement to the parent

grant.  Continued funding for the supplement should be requested as

part of the non-competing continuation application, with a separate

budget page showing the supplemental funds requested.  Approval will

be contingent on (1) funding of the parent grant, (2) the progress in

reaching the objectives of the supplement, and (3) the retention of

the individual with disabilities in the project.  The supplement may

not extend beyond the current non-competitive segment of the parent

grant.



INQUIRIES



Principal Investigators interested in participating in this program

are encouraged to contact either their project officer or:



Ralph L. Sloat

Grants Management Office

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 601

Rockville, MC  20852-4908

Telephone:  301-594-1447



.

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