Required Federal Reporting

State Plan and Instructions document can be found on the CATADA website under the Resources header on the Federal Reporting Forms page.

Annual Progress Report Instruction Manual and Data Instrument can be found on the CATADA website under the Resources header on the Federal Reporting Forms page.

The following PDFs are available for download.

• Summary of AT Act Section 4 Grantee Requirements
• Annual AT Data and Fiscal Calendar
• AT Leasing Activities
• AT “Maker” Efforts

AT Act information including frequently asked questions, a link to the legislation, the history of the Act, a summary of the Act, and an overview of Section 6 of the Act can be found on the Learn about the AT Act page of this website.

The State Plan serves as the application for Section 4 AT Act formula funding and identifies which AT Act activities the Section 4 State AT Program grantee will conduct (or if the grantee claims comparability or flexibility) and how they will be implemented as part of the State AT Program. It covers a three year period initially with required interim updates annually. The plan is reviewed by ACL to ensure it conforms to the State Plan instructions and the requirements of the AT Act. The content of the State Plan is directly linked to the requirements for reporting annual data to ACL as described in the next section. Together these two data reports satisfy the federal data reporting requirements of Section 4 of the AT Act for the 56 Section 4 formula funded grantees. A new component of the State Plan for 2018 requires each grantee to report actual expenditure data tracked by specific categories as outlined in the AT Act. Additional information about expenditure tracking and reporting can be found under Fiscal Management.

The 2018-2020 State Plan submission has been delayed. ACL will provide more information on the system for data reporting and expected due date once the new ACL data system is operational. The webinar recording of the State Plan Update (2018-2020) which was held in November of 2017 is available under Resources on this page and continues to provide accurate information regarding the State Plan content. Additional training will be provided on the State Plan data reporting system itself once the system is operational and grantees will have ample time to enter data once the system is available.

Each State AT Program is required to submit the Annual Progress Report (APR) by December 31 of each year. The APR covers the period of October 1st through September 30th of each fiscal year and includes all the data elements required by Section 4(f) of the AT Act for state financing, device loan, reuse, device demonstration, training, technical assistance, public awareness, information and referral, state improvement outcomes, and leveraged funding. APR data must be reported for each activity included as part of your State Plan for AT.

The State Plan for Assistive Technology data collection document along with the Annual Progress Report (APR) data collection instrument and instruction manual are reference documents that should be easily accessed and frequently utilized by all State AT Program Directors. A link to the most recent CATADA webinar on APR data entry is provided below under the resources section of this page.

The Center for Assistive Technology Act Data Assistance (CATADA) provides technical assistance and supports to State AT Programs funded under Section 4 of the Assistive Technology Act of 2004. CATADA has developed and supports the web-based data reporting system for the Annual Progress Report (APR) called the National Assistive Technology Act Data System, (NATADS). This is an aggregate data reporting system used by State AT Programs (Section 4 formula funded grantees) to submit the required data elements of the APR pursuant to the AT Act mandates. NATADS primary purpose is to serve as the official APR data collection mechanism for the Section 4 formula funded grantees. It is not designed to provide a comprehensive data management system for internal operation of State AT Programs nor are their resources to support development of such a system.

The State Plan for AT for the 2018-2020 reporting period along with annual updates will be submitted in a system that is under development by ACL.

The CATADA website provides a wealth of data on all State AT Programs gathered from the APR. In addition, publications that summarize State AT Program data by fiscal year can be accessed and downloaded from the CATADA website.

CATADA has developed a web-based day-to-day data collection system that can be used by Section 4 State AT Programs for reporting data for all activities included in the State Plan for AT and required by the Annual Progress Report (APR). This system covers all the required data elements for all Section 4 authorized State AT Program activities, State Financing, Reuse, Device Loan, Device Demonstration, Training, etc. The system allows for data entry by multiple people and sites in an online format with the State AT Program controlling access. For more information about this system please contact Vance Dhooge at [email protected].

ACL has established three types of measurable goals: (1) Access to AT Goals, (2) Acquisition of AT Goals, and (3) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility Goals.

1. Access Goals relate to the state level activities of device loan for a decision-making purpose and device demonstration. The State will show that it has improved access to AT by reaching the ACL set target percentage of individuals and entities who accessed device demonstration programs or device loan programs and made a decision about an AT device or service as a result of the assistance they received. The Access Goal performance measure data is found in the Annual Progress Report (APR) for State Assistive Technology Programs.
2. Acquisition Goals relate to the state level activities of state financing, device reutilization, and device loan for purposes other than decision-making. The State will show that it has improved acquisition by reaching the ACL set target percentage of individuals and entities who obtained devices or services from State financing activities or reutilization programs who would not have obtained that AT device or service. The Acquisition Goal performance measure data is found in the Annual Progress Report (APR) for State Assistive Technology Programs.
3. ICT Accessibility Goal is focused on obtaining an outcome/result from information and communication technology accessibility training including improvement of policies procedures or practices in the areas of website and software development and procurement. The State will show that is has improved ICT training results by reaching the ACL set target percentage of participants reporting a targeted outcome. The ICT Training performance measure data is found in the Annual Progress Report (APR) for State Assistive Technology Programs.

With 2018 Annual Performance Report (APR) data now available on the CATADA website, AT Act Programs can begin to analyze their performance with an eye towards identifying possible areas for program improvement and/or changes to the State Plan for Assistive Technology (SPAT). Captioned video tutorials to facilitate using the CATADA tools are available on their website. You can run the following activity reports:

• Your state, single activity, single year
• Your state, single activity, multiple years (trend data 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Your state, single activity, compared with national data (and/or compared with a demographically similar state)

The AT3 Center has provided specific information on using your data for program improvement. It is included on each State Level activity web page (Device Demonstration, Device Lending, State Financing, and Device Reuse) as well as the State Leadership pages for Training and Public Awareness.

State Plan Webinar on March 18, 2020 to provide ACL updates for 2020:
ACL State Plan Update

NATADS day-to-day data system changes webinar presented on October 1, 2018 is available on the CATADA website Materials page.

FY 2018 APR Data Entry Webinar presented on September 26, 2018 is available on the CATADA website Materials page.

APR and State Plans presentation (PDF) by ATAP and CATADA from the April 2018 Leadership Symposium

Center for Assistive Technology Act Data Assistance (CATADA)

CATADA Data Training & Technical Assistance Materials and Events