NCD Progress Report 2020: Solving the Disability Employment Crisis A Call for Action by Congress and Executive Agencies | NCD 19 03

Opportunity Information: Apply for NCD 19 03

The National Council on Disability (NCD) released this discretionary funding opportunity (NCD 19 03) to hire a contractor, through a cooperative agreement, to research and draft NCDs 2020 Progress Report titled "Solving the Disability Employment Crisis: A Call for Action by Congress and Executive Agencies." The project is framed around the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is intended to take a hard look at why workforce participation for people with disabilities has remained persistently low despite decades of federal attention. NCD is seeking one award, with an anticipated maximum budget of up to $100,000, and an estimated performance period of about 8 to 9 months.

At its core, the work product is a major policy report that combines historical review, evaluation of federal action, and forward-looking recommendations. The report is expected to provide a 30-year retrospective on disability employment since the ADA, with particular attention to Title I of the ADA, which addresses employment discrimination and reasonable accommodation. A key expectation is that the report will not only restate the intent of Title I, but also analyze its real-world impact on employment outcomes for people with disabilities, including where the law has helped, where implementation has fallen short, and what structural or administrative issues have limited progress.

Another major component is an assessment of how federal workforce and disability policy has evolved since the ADA and whether those changes have actually improved employment participation. The opportunity specifically calls out analysis of major legislation intended to strengthen workforce participation, including the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. The selected applicant would be expected to examine how these laws and the programs they shaped have affected access to training, placement, and career advancement for people with disabilities, and to evaluate outcomes against the goal of increasing participation in the competitive labor market.

The scope also requires identifying and describing federal actions that have hindered workforce participation, whether through legislation, regulatory approaches, program design, or administrative practice. In practical terms, that means the report should surface well-documented federal barriers that keep people with disabilities out of jobs or limit advancement, and then translate that evidence into specific recommendations. The recommendations are expected to focus on raising workforce participation by removing those barriers and by proposing actionable federal and federal-private initiatives that address persistent obstacles. This includes examining collaboration models where government agencies and private-sector partners coordinate to improve hiring, retention, accommodations, and workplace accessibility, and then judging which approaches are scalable and effective.

Finally, the report is meant to function as a progress and accountability document for policymakers. It will compile and analyze recommendations previously made by NCD and other entities to Congress and federal agencies, then connect those recommendations to what was adopted, what was ignored, and what results followed. The end result should be a clear, evidence-informed call to action directed at Congress and executive agencies, with practical policy and program steps designed to move the needle on disability employment outcomes.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity may apply as long as it meets any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full notice. Applications were due June 21, 2019. The full Notice of Funding Opportunity was posted on ncd.gov and could also be requested by mail.

• The National Council on Disability in the employment, labor and training, information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NCD Progress Report 2020: Solving the Disability Employment Crisis A Call for Action by Congress and Executive Agencies" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 92.002.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 17, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 21, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for NCD 19 03

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