Centers for Independent Living CFDA 84.400 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Centers for Independent Living grant opportunity (CFDA 84.400A) was a discretionary, one-time American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding competition run by the U.S. Department of Education. Its core aim was to support the creation or expansion of a Center for Independent Living (CIL) that meets the required federal standards under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Title VII, Part C), specifically the standards and assurances in Section 725 and the related regulatory requirements in 34 CFR Part 366. In practical terms, the grant was meant to help an eligible organization plan, operate, administer, and evaluate a CIL as part of a statewide network of centers described in the relevant State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL). While the program sits within the independent living and disability services world, the ARRA framing also emphasized broader economic objectives tied to the 2008-2009 recession.

ARRA goals were explicitly baked into the program purpose. The notice highlights that ARRA funding was intended to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery, focus assistance on people most impacted by the recession, and make investments that improve long-term economic efficiency (including through advances connected to science and health). It also references investments in infrastructure-type priorities (transportation and environmental protection are mentioned generally as ARRA themes) and, importantly, stabilizing state and local budgets to reduce cuts to essential services and avoid counterproductive tax increases. Even though CIL grants are service-oriented, the ARRA language signals that applicants were expected to think about near-term economic impact alongside programmatic outcomes.

This particular competition was extremely limited in scope and geography: it invited applications from eligible applicants serving American Samoa only. The notice lists an expected number of awards of 1, with estimated total funding of $46,020 and an award ceiling also listed as $46,020, which strongly implies a single grant at that amount. There was no cost sharing or matching requirement, meaning applicants were not required to provide non-federal matching funds as a condition of the award (though they could still leverage other funds as part of their operating model).

Eligibility requirements were specific and grounded in the independent living model. An applicant had to be a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential, private nonprofit agency. Beyond organizational form, the applicant needed the legal authority and operational capacity to carry out the purposes of Part C of Title VII and perform the functions described in Section 725(b) and (c) of the Act and in Subparts F and G of 34 CFR Part 366. The notice also stresses that the organization must be able to receive and administer multiple funding streams: federal funds under 34 CFR Part 366, funds and contributions from private or public sources supporting the center, and funds from other public and private programs. This is consistent with how CILs typically operate, blending federal support with other resources to provide independent living services.

The competition was structured to either bring a new center into existence or expand services by creating a separate, complete center. Applicants had to either not already be receiving Part C CIL funding, or propose an expansion of an existing center through establishing a separate and complete center at a different geographic location (with an allowance that the existing center governing board could also serve as the governing board of the new center). Applicants also had to propose serving one or more geographic areas identified as unserved or underserved, and they were required to provide documentation showing the proposed new center aligned with the SPIL design for building a statewide network of centers in the relevant state or territory. In other words, the proposal could not be a stand-alone idea; it had to fit into the formal statewide planning framework already approved under Section 704 of the Act.

Applications had to be submitted electronically through the Department of Education e-Application system via the e-Grants website (http://e-grants.ed.gov). The notice makes clear that applicants could not email an electronic copy of the application to the agency; submission had to occur through the official system, with applicants entering data online that would be saved into a database. The timeline was short: applications were made available September 1, 2009, and the deadline for transmittal was September 16, 2009. The opportunity was later archived on October 16, 2009, reflecting that it was a time-limited ARRA competition rather than an open-ended or rolling program.

Administrative details in the synopsis identify the opportunity as ED-GRANTS-090109-002, categorized as discretionary funding using a grant instrument, and associated with an “Education Recovery Act” activity category. For support, the notice lists a systems contact for access issues (Julius Cotton, ED Grants.gov FIND Systems Admin) and a program manager contact (Sue Rankin White) at the U.S. Department of Education, including phone numbers and email addresses. As with many federal grant synopses, the description emphasizes that the Federal Register notice is the authoritative source and instructs applicants to consult it for full requirements such as performance measures, priorities, detailed submission instructions, and other compliance elements.

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Previous opportunity: Centers for Independent Living CFDA 84.132A

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