(a) If a State or local government voluntarily contributes its own funds to supplement activities carried out under the applicable programs, the State or local government has the option to separate out the Federal funds or commingle them. If the funds are commingled, the provisions of this section shall apply to all of the commingled funds in the same manner, and to the same extent, as the provisions apply to the Federal funds.

(b) An organization providing social services under a program of the Department supported by Federal financial assistance must give written notice to beneficiaries and prospective beneficiaries of certain protections in a manner and form prescribed by the Office for Civil Rights, including by incorporating the notice into materials that are otherwise provided to beneficiaries. This written notice shall include language substantially similar to that in appendix C to this part. The notice must include the following information:

(1) The organization may not discriminate against a beneficiary or prospective beneficiary on the basis of religion, a religious belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a religious practice;

(2) The organization may not require a beneficiary or prospective beneficiary to attend or participate in any explicitly religious activities that are offered by the organization, and any participation by a beneficiary in such activities must be purely voluntary;

(3) The organization must separate in time or location any privately funded explicitly religious activities from activities supported by direct Federal financial assistance; and

(4) A beneficiary or prospective beneficiary may report an organization's violation of these protections, including any denials of services or benefits by an organization, by contacting or filing a written complaint with the Office for Civil Rights or the intermediary that awarded funds to the organization.

(c) The written notice described in paragraph (b) of this section must be given to a prospective beneficiary prior to the time the prospective beneficiary enrolls in the program or receives services from the program. When the nature of the service provided or exigent circumstances make it impracticable to provide such written notice in advance of the actual service, an organization must advise beneficiaries of their protections at the earliest available opportunity.

(d) The Department may determine that the notice described in paragraph (b) of this section must inform each beneficiary or prospective beneficiary of the option to seek information from the Department, or a State agency or other entity administering the applicable program, as to whether there are any other federally funded organizations in their area that provide the kind of services available under the applicable program.

(e) Notices or announcements of award opportunities and notices of award or contracts shall include language substantially similar to that in appendices A and B, respectively, to this part.

[89 FR 15714, Mar. 4, 2024]