BATON ROUGE, La.- The Louisiana Department of Education has released two Requests for Applications (RFA) to identify partner organizations to support families of students with disabilities. The Department will award up to $650,000 in total grants, authorized by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to the applicants whose proposals best align with the state's special education priorities.
Qualified organizations are encouraged to apply to one or both of the following RFA opportunities:
The Department is seeking applications from Louisiana-based organizations with a broad mission of serving the families of all students with disabilities defined in IDEA to provide regional support to families who need assistance with special education programming decisions for their child. Applicants must be able to develop a plan to provide in-person and virtual outreach and support to families attending all public schools in at least one of the 10 geographic groups outlined in the request.
The Department is seeking applications from organizations to provide resources to families of students with disabilities who need additional information to assist them with making important decisions about special education programming for their child. Applicants must be able to develop resources that are accessible to families of students with disabilities across the state.
The deadline for both applications is July 3, 2017, by 5 p.m.
The call for applications is the first step in the state's new competitive processfor awarding this federal funding. Under the new process, the Department worked with a group of parents, educators and other stakeholders to identify a set of key priorities and activities to be accomplished using the grant funds. In the coming months, the Department will review the submitted applications and select the organizations best equipped to carry out those priorities and activities. The Department will then submit contracts for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to consider.
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