[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 248 (Thursday, December 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 78398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30836]


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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION


Notice and Request for Comments: LSC merger of the migrant 
service areas in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Tennessee, and Alabama

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments--LSC merger of the migrant 
service areas in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Tennessee, and Alabama.

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SUMMARY: The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) intends to merge the 
Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and 
Alabama migrant service areas. Grants for these individual service 
areas have been awarded to Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) since 2001. 
For 2014, LSC will award TRLA 1-year grants for these migrant service 
areas. LSC intends to merge the seven migrant service area grants into 
one regional service area grant. Doing so will harmonize the grant 
structure with the longstanding delivery model.

DATES: All comments must be received on or before the close of business 
on January 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted to LSC by email to 
[email protected] (this is the preferred option); by submitting a 
form online at http://www.lsc.gov/contact-us; by mail to Legal Services 
Corporation, 3333 K Street NW., Third Floor, Washington, DC 20007, 
Attention: Reginald Haley; or by fax to 202-337-6813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Reginald J. Haley, Office of Program 
Performance, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K St., NW., Washington, 
DC 20007; or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of LSC is to promote equal 
access to justice and to provide funding for high-quality civil legal 
assistance to low-income persons. Pursuant to its statutory authority, 
LSC designates service areas in U.S. states, territories, possessions, 
and the District of Columbia for which it provides grants to legal aid 
programs to provide free civil legal services.
    The LSC Act charges LSC with ensuring that ``grants and contracts 
are made so as to provide the most economical and effective delivery of 
legal assistance to persons in both urban and rural areas.'' 42 U.S.C. 
2996f(a)(3). The LSC Act also required LSC to study the legal needs of 
migrants or seasonal farm workers and implement recommended approaches 
to meet their special legal needs. 42 U.S.C. 2996f(h).
    The regional approach to migrant delivery accomplished by merging 
the Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and 
Alabama migrant service areas would provide a more economical and 
effective delivery approach for serving the legal needs of migrants 
than a state-by-state delivery system would. This model serves two 
primary purposes--(1) it enables the grantee to pool the funds for 
these migrant service areas to provide services more effectively to 
respond to the needs of the migratory workers and families across the 
region, and (2) it enables LSC to fund a single entity to provide 
migrant services efficiently to all of these areas.
    LSC provides grants through a competitive bidding process, which is 
regulated by 45 CFR Part 1634. In 2013, LSC implemented a competitive 
grants process for 2014 calendar year funding that included, inter 
alia, the Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, 
and Alabama migrant service areas. For 2014, LSC will award TRLA 1-year 
grants for the migrant service areas in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. These grants are 
effective January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014. LSC intends to 
merge the Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, 
and Alabama migrant service areas into a single migrant service area 
and merge the 2014 grants to those service areas into a single grant 
beginning February 3, 2014.
    LSC invites public comment on this decision. Interested parties may 
submit comments to LSC no later than the close of business on January 
27, 2014. More information about LSC can be found at: http://www.lsc.gov.

    Dated: December 20, 2013
Atitaya C. Rok,
Staff Attorney.
[FR Doc. 2013-30836 Filed 12-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P