Notice2021-16959
Notice of Final Issuance on the Administration for Native Americans Program Policies and Procedures
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 10, 2021
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentChildren and Families Administration
Abstract
Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended, ANA is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules and general statements of policy and to give notice of the proposed changes no less than 30 days before such changes become effective. On February 19, 2021, ANA published a Notice of Public Comment (NOPC) in the Federal Register regarding its proposed interpretive rules and general statements of policy relative to its six FY 2021 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs): Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NR-1907); Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance--Esther Martinez Immersion (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NB-1958); Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NL-1924); Social and Economic Development Strategies (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NA-1906); Social and Economic Development Strategies--Alaska (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NK-1902); and Social and Economic Strategies--Growing Organizations (HHS-2021-ACF- ANA-NN-1918). This Notice of Issuance responds to the public comments received from the NOPC.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 151 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43663-43665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16959]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
[CFDA Numbers: 93.581, 93.587, 93.612]
Notice of Final Issuance on the Administration for Native
Americans Program Policies and Procedures
AGENCY: Administration for Native Americans, (ANA), Administration for
Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS).
ACTION: Notice of final issuance.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of
1974 (NAPA), as amended, ANA is required to provide members of the
public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive
rules and general statements of policy and to give notice of the
proposed changes no less than 30 days before such changes become
effective. On February 19, 2021, ANA published a Notice of Public
Comment (NOPC) in the Federal Register regarding its proposed
interpretive rules and general statements of policy relative to its six
FY 2021 Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs): Environmental
Regulatory Enhancement (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NR-1907); Native American
Language Preservation and Maintenance--Esther Martinez
[[Page 43664]]
Immersion (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NB-1958); Native American Language
Preservation and Maintenance (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NL-1924); Social and
Economic Development Strategies (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NA-1906); Social and
Economic Development Strategies--Alaska (HHS-2021-ACF-ANA-NK-1902); and
Social and Economic Strategies--Growing Organizations (HHS-2021-ACF-
ANA-NN-1918). This Notice of Issuance responds to the public comments
received from the NOPC.
DATES: The FY 2021 FOAs have been published, and these FOAs serve as
the final notice of ANA's proposed changes.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carmelia Strickland, Director,
Division of Program Operations, Administration for Native Americans,
(877) 922-9262, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#afcec1ceccc0c2c2cac1dbdcefceccc981c7c7dc81c8c0d9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b3d2ddd2d0dcdeded6ddc7c0f3d2d0d59ddbdbc09dd4dcc5">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 814 of NAPA, as amended,
ANA is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to
comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules and general
statements of policy and to give notice of the proposed changes no less
than 30 days before such changes become effective.
ANA published a NOPC (86 FR 10283) on February 19, 2021, with
proposed policy and program clarifications, modifications, and
activities for the FY 2021 FOAs. The NOPC provided proposed
clarifications, modifications, and new text for six FY 2021 FOAs.
During the 30-day comment period, ANA received three responses to the
NOPC. ANA reviewed the comments and determined them non-substantive and
therefore would not require changes to the FOAs.
The following are the public comments received in response to the
NOPC and ANA's responses:
Comment: My comment is that I hope to have ANA implement a
requirement that all data collected in Indian Country by non-Indigenous
and Indigenous entities are collected in a manner that ensures the
tribe and community will have ownership, guardianship, and access to
that data.
Response: ANA highly encourages tribes to be aware of their rights
to intellectual property rights and data sovereignty. In the past, ANA
has provided trainings at grantee meetings and webinars through ANA's
training and technical assistance centers. In addition, ANA included a
statement in all FY 2021 FOAs that encouraged applicants to educate
themselves on intellectual property rights and the protection of
ownership of Native language materials, ceremonies, music and dance,
and other forms of knowledge and cultural practices that originate from
Native communities. However, due to the variety of laws, rights, and
jurisdictions of these matters, ANA leaves this up to the discretion of
grantees and applicants.
Comment: We urge ANA to discontinue the use of ``normalized
scoring.'' While the intent of this practice is to normalize scoring
across all review panels, it has had a negative impact on applications
that obtain high scores in their review panels, but end up with a much
lower scaled score, unjustly knocking them out of the competitive range
for a funding award.
Response: ANA may use the statistical technique of
``normalization'' to convert raw scores from review panels to a
standardized scale to negate any differences or biases in scoring
behaviors among different panels and numerous reviewers. The decision
to normalize scores occurs in advance of the panel session so as not to
prejudice any specific competition and that all awards are made
consistently across the different funding competitions when there are
three or more panels. ANA has left the option for using normalized
scores in the FY 2021 FOAs but will keep this comment in mind for
planning the FY 2022 competitions.
Comment: We would like clarification about whether training and
technical assistance information will still be available and accessible
on the websites of the regional training and technical assistance
providers, and that applicants who do not provide a letter of intent
will be able to access such services.
Response: ANA provides technical assistance throughout all stages
of the application process, regardless of providing a letter of intent.
Comment: Project-specific funding does not clearly define
``essentially identical or similar in whole or in part.'' It is not
clear if the development of resources, like textbooks, would count as
``essentially identical or similar'' projects if they build on previous
work and use similar project designs.
Response: ANA has a long-standing policy that it will not fund
projects that are essentially identical or similar in whole or in part
to previously funded projects proposed by the same applicant. While an
applicant can have previously developed materials, the new project
cannot duplicate the same materials and must address different
subjects, populations, etc. If an applicant has concerns about whether
ANA has funded them in the past for a project ``essentially identical
or similar in whole or in part,'' ANA encourages them to reach out to
ANA or an ANA technical assistance center for clarification.
Comment: ANA is requiring applicants to the Esther Martinez
Immersion (EMI) language FOA to submit ``an official document that
certifies the applicant has at least 3 years of experience in operating
and administering'' an immersion school or language nest as required by
the statute. As it stands, there are very few immersion schools and
language nests in the United States where applicants could gain
experience. We propose that this be modified to provide a training
alternative for applicants without access to existing immersion
programs. We recommend that ANA provide examples of certifications that
will be accepted.
Response: The requirement of a certification by the applicant
having not less than 3 years of experience in operating and
administering a Native American language survival school or a Native
American language nest is in the authorizing legislation of the Native
American Programs Act for the EMI. ANA only clarified in the FOA that
this was a requirement. In the EMI FOA, it states that the application
should include an official document signed by the authorized
representative that certifies that the applicant has at least 3 years
of experience operating and administering a Native American language
nest, Native American language survival school, or any other education
program in which instruction is conducted in a Native American language
in accordance with Public Law 109-394 (42 U.S.C. 2991b-3(c)(7)). ANA's
training and technical assistance centers are available to help
applicants meet the requirements of the EMI FOA.
Comment: We would like to commend ANA for the proposed changes to
the FY 2021 FOAs. We appreciate the revision resulting from the Indian
Community Economic Enhancement Act (ICEEA) of 2020, which added Native
community development financial institutions (CDFIs) as eligible
entities. Similarly, we strongly support the new economic development
legislative priorities that will be incorporated into the program areas
of interest for the SEDS FOA. We encourage ANA to make it clear that
these economic development priority points are available for
applications from existing Native CDFIs that proposed economic
development projects as well as from eligible applicants who propose to
develop new Native CDFIs. In addition, we applaud the proposed efforts
to reduce the redundancy and the number of scoring criteria in the FY
2021 FOAs.
[[Page 43665]]
Response: Thank you for your comment. The new ICEEA law does allow
for the development of existing Native CDFIs. Therefore, should a
Native CDFI submit an application that proposes a project for any of
the following projects: (1) The development of a tribal code or courts
system for purposes of economic development, including commercial
codes, training for court personnel, (2) the development of non-profit
subsidiaries or other tribal business structures; or ``(3) the
development of a tribal master plan for community and economic
development and infrastructure'' and the application includes the
economic priority area(s) in the project goal, all objectives and
indicators as reflected in the project's framework, project approach,
OWP, and outcome tracker, they will be awarded points. ANA will
instruct reviewers to provide all bonus points for applications that
propose an economic priority project that expands or creates a Native
CDFI.
Elizabeth Leo,
Senior Grants Policy Specialist, Office of Grants Policy,
Administration for Children and Families.
[FR Doc. 2021-16959 Filed 8-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-34-P
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