PROGRAM OVERVIEW Program Title: Impact Aid Construction Program, P.L. 81-815 Program Purpose: Provides assistance to school districts for the construction and repair of urgently needed minimum school facilities in areas affected by Federal activities, including districts that are comprised mainly of Indian lands or that educate children who reside on Indian lands. Types of Assistance and Eligible Applicants: Grants to eligible local educational agencies. Types of Activities Supported: Activities related to the repair or construction of school facilities. 1/ Indian districts are districts comprised mainly of Indian lands or serving children residing on Indian lands. 2/ Includes carryover funds from the prior fiscal year. PROGRAM OVERVIEW Program title: Chapter 1 Basic Grants to Local Educational Agencies Program purpose: To make financial assistance available to local school districts for providing compensatory education services to educationally disadvantaged students. Type of assistance and eligible applicants: Funds are allocated to local school districts through a statutory formula based on the number of children in low-income families and each State's per-pupil expenditure. Students served are educationally disadvantaged children (defined as those who achieve below a grade level appropriate for his or her age) who are selected by the local school district based on their need for services. Special funding requirements: One percent of the funds appropriated for Basic Grants to LEAs is set aside for the BIA and the Outlying Areas. Roughly 66 percent of this set-aside is transferred through an interagency agreement to the BIA to meet the needs of educationally disadvantaged Indian children attending BIA-operated schools or BIA-contract schools. Types of activities supported: Local school districts use Chapter 1 funds primarily for providing instruction in basic skills. Nationally 76 percent of all Chapter 1 students served receive reading instruction; 47 percent receive math instruction. Program evaluations: Evaluation data from the National Assessment of Chapter 1 (1987) indicate that the program has had success in improving the basic academic skills of participating students. Chapter 1 students gain more than similar students who do not receive compensatory services. No evaluations have been done to assess the specific impact of Chapter 1 on Indians. 1/ Reflects passage of P.L. 100-297 which changed the basis of how the BIA and Outlying Areas set-aside is calculated. Type of assistance and eligible applicants: Discretionary grants are made to Federally-recognized tribes and Alaskan native villages. Basic grants of equal size are available to each tribe; those funds not awarded are made available for special projects grants awarded through a competition of basic grant recipients. Special funding requirements: Funding of title IV of the Library Services and Construction Act is provided through a mandated set-aside of 1.5 percent of the sums appropriated for titles I, II, and III of LSCA. Types of activities supported: Training of Indians as library personnel; purchase of library materials; special library programs; salaries of library personnel; construction or renovation of facilities; transportation; dissemination; assessment of needs; and contracting authority to provide any of the above. Program evaluations: No studies have been conducted to date. Program Purpose: To assist Indian tribes and tribal organizations to provide Vocational education programs. The services provided under this program are in addition to services Indians are eligible to receive under other provisions of the Perkins Act. Type of Assistance and Eligible Applicants: Discretionary grants to Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Special Funding Requirements: Under the vocational education Basic Grants program, 1.5 percent of the combined appropriations for Titles I (other than Section 112), II, and IV (other than Part E) is set aside for Indian and Hawaiian Natives programs. Of this amount, 0.25 percent is used to serve Hawaiian natives and 1.25 percent is used for the Indian program. Types of Activities Supported: Vocational projects funded under this program must be linked to tribal economic development plans. Types of training provided include bookkeeping, commercial fishing, administrative and secretarial skills, tribal management, and corrections administration. 1/ For fiscal year 1990, a total of $949,387,000 was requested for Vocational Education. Amounts for the Indian Vocational Education program and other vocational education activities were not specified pending enactment of new authorizing legislation. 2/ Estimate based on previous years' reports. Program Purpose: To provide vocational rehabilitation services to handicapped American Indians residing on Federal or State reservations in order to prepare them for suitable employment. Types of Assistance and Eligible Applicants: Discretionary grants to governing bodies of Indian tribes and consortia of those governing bodies located on Federal and State reservations. Special Funding Requirements: Applicants must must provide a broad scope of vocational rehabilitation services in a manner and at a level of quality at least comparable to those services provided under the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grant Program. Types of Activities Supported: Projects provide financial assistance for the establishment and operation of tribal vocational rehabilitation service programs. Vocational rehabilitation programs provide comprehensive rehabilitation services, diagnostic services, vocational assessment, plan development, restoration, vocational training, placement and post-employment support. Individual projects also conduct outreach activities to acquaint potential clients with the range of services available. Number of Individuals Served (Estimated)...3,500 Program Evaluations: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as ammended by PL 19-506, mandated a "Study of the Special Problems and Needs of American Indians with Handicaps Both On and Off the Reservation." The 1987 study reported the following barriers to State Vocational Rehabilitation service delivery to American Indians: a lack of employment opportunities on or near the reservation, cultural differences affecting traditional service delivery patterns, geographic isolation, lack of interagency cooperation, itinerant service delivery strategy, and a high level of substance abuse. The Study recommendations will be utilized to assist State and Federal Vocational Rebilitation Agencies to work together with Indian tribes and other local agencies to provide improved rehabilitation services. $3,625,000 $1,430,000 Rehabilitation Act Ammendments of 1986 require that 0.25 of 1 percent up percent of the appropriation for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants set aside for Grants to Indians. |