The National Council on Disability (NCD) will seek proposals for a cooperative agreement to develop NCD’s annual progress report which will examine COVID-19’s broadscale impacts on people with disabilities. The research and findings in this report will provide policymakers, including the White House and Congress, and federal agencies, with insight needed to make policy decisions to improve the current and future welfare of people with disabilities in a national emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. The report will also provide people with disabilities information on federal policy, legislation, and initiatives related to emergency preparedness and response.

 

With the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision as the legal backdrop, the report will examine how COVID-19 impacted lives of people with disabilities in seven major areas: access to healthcare and direct care services; the impact on the direct care workforce; group housing, education, employment, mental health, and communications. The report will also include a discussion of the intersection of disability and race, and of transportation impacts. It will discuss the challenges to these systems, identify systemic weaknesses or strengths, describe federal agency and congressional responses, and progress/lack of progress in addressing the problems that COVID-19 brought to light or exacerbated. It will contain findings and make recommendations to Congress and federal agencies aimed at ensuring that policies and systems are put in place to ensure that civil rights are maintained, and the needs of people with disabilities are met now and in future pandemics.

 

NCD will post the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the 2021 Progress Report on July 24, 2020 at ncd.gov and grants.gov. The anticipated deadline for submitting proposals in response to the NOFO is August 21, 2020. The estimated contract period is 10 months. NCD encourages joint proposals from organizations collaborating to meet the requirements of the NOFO.

 

This pre-solicitation notice is issued solely for informational and planning purposes only. It does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity. This pre-solicitation notice does not commit the Government to contract for any work or services. Further, the National Council on Disability is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the United States (U.S) Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this pre-solicitation notice. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S Government to form a binding contract. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor grants.gov and ncd.gov for additional information. For more information, contact Ana Torres-Davis, Senior Attorney Advisor at atorresdavis@ncd.gov.