Field Initiated Projects Program: Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) - Development | HHS 2019 ACL NIDILRR IFST 0320

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2019 ACL NIDILRR IFST 0320

The Field Initiated Projects Program: Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) - Development grant is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Community Living (ACL), specifically through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). It is designed to support development-focused work in disability and rehabilitation that leads to practical, usable outputs. The program sits within the broader Field Initiated (FI) Projects framework, which exists to advance methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technologies that help people with disabilities, especially those with the most severe disabilities, achieve fuller inclusion and integration in society. That includes better outcomes related to employment, independent living, family support, and long-term economic and social self-sufficiency. A related aim is to strengthen the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, meaning the work should have clear relevance to improving real-world rehabilitation and independent living systems and services.

This specific competition is reserved for minority-serving institutions and other eligible minority entities, along with Indian tribes, as a way to build and expand research and development capacity in communities that have historically been underrepresented in federally sponsored research. NIDILRR is intentionally narrowing eligibility in line with statutory authority under Section 21(b)(2)(A) of the Rehabilitation Act, which allows the agency to make awards to minority entities and Indian tribes to carry out activities authorized under Title II of the Act. In practical terms, the opportunity is both a disability-focused development grant and a capacity-building mechanism: it encourages eligible institutions to strengthen their ability to design, manage, and deliver high-quality disability and rehabilitation R and D projects, and to grow their presence in federal research portfolios.

The focus of the award is "development" rather than basic research. Applicants are expected to use existing knowledge and understanding gained from prior research and translate it into concrete, beneficial products or deliverables for the target population. Examples of the types of outputs this program supports include materials, devices, systems, methods, measures, techniques, tools, prototypes, processes, or intervention protocols. The key idea is applied creation and refinement: taking what is already known and turning it into something that can be tested, implemented, adopted by service systems, or otherwise used to improve outcomes for people with disabilities. Projects should be structured so that the deliverable is clear, the intended users or beneficiaries are well-defined, and the development work is logically tied to improving inclusion, integration, and functioning across community life, work, and independent living.

Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, and Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), with additional eligibility clarifications referenced in the official notice. The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development under CFDA 93.433. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $200,000 and anticipated making one award, making it a small, targeted competition intended to fund a single development project that aligns strongly with NIDILRR priorities and the MSI capacity-building purpose.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on December 17, 2018, with an original closing date of February 15, 2019. Applications were required to be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. The funding opportunity number is HHS-2019-ACL-NIDILRR-IFST-0320, and the official title emphasizes that this is the designated FI development funding opportunity for minority-serving institutions, meaning it specifically targets development proposals from eligible MSI and minority entities rather than the broader FI applicant pool.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Field Initiated Projects Program: Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) - Development" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.433.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 17, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 15, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (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 $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for HHS 2019 ACL NIDILRR IFST 0320

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