Note: This information will be updated as new information becomes available. Applicants need to be registered with the federal government through www.grants.gov, a process that sometimes takes weeks.
Corporation for National and Community Service (Updated 4/3/2009)
Amount: $89 million for AmeriCorps State and National, $65 million for AmeriCorps VISTA.
Purpose: Supporting these programs’ efforts to send college-aged volunteers to community schools.
How to apply: For State and National programs the deadline passed on April 3. Formula grants will be awarded April 17 and competitive grants on May 8.
Education (Updated 4/3/2009)
Special Education
Amount: $12.3 billion.
Purpose: $11.3 billion for state grants, $400 million for preschool grants and $600 million for infant and toddler grants – which will all go towards special education teacher salaries, hiring more teachers and costs for services, including speech-language pathology, physical and occupational therapy and parent counseling. Funding also can be used to hire more specialty staff to increase individual attention for students.
How to apply: Formula grants will flow to states and then to individual school districts.
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Title I
Amount: $13 billion.
Purpose: $3 billion to be spent on improvement of schools not making adequate yearly progress, as defined by No Child Left Behind. Some of the rest of the funding will be given to community schools for various activities related to raising academic achievement, including improving student performance in core academic subjects, training teachers, improving curriculum and increasing parent involvement.
How to apply: Each state was already awarded 50 percent of these funds on April 1. States must submit to the Department of Education information on how the state plans to meet accountability requirements before the remaining funds are distributed. More information is available at www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/title-i.html.
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McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
Amount: $70 million.
Purpose: Coordinate programs that educate homeless children and youth in all states and to gather research on absenteeism among homeless students.
How to apply: Funds will be allocated to State Education Agencies based on 2007-2008 data of homeless students per school district, and then sub-grants will be issued to Local Education Agencies.
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Student Financial Assistance – Work-study
Amount: $200 million.
Purpose: Expanding existing work-study programs in which college students work at nearby community schools.
How to apply: These funds will be distributed to states on July 1 to be used for the 2009-2010 school year. More information is at www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/implementation.html.
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Innovation Fund
Amount: $650 million.
Purpose: Funds Local Education Agencies and their partnerships with nonprofits. Community schools with clear records of achievement gains in academics and attendance are in line to receive these funds as well.
How to apply: Will not be distributed until July 1, 2010 so applications are not available.
Health and Human Services (Updated 4/3/2009)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Amount: Approximately $21 million over two years for educational opportunities in NIH-funded laboratories for students and science educators. This is one of three Recovery Act supplements issued by NIH that will total $1 billion over two years.
Purpose: NIH is allowing organizations that have active research grants to request “administrative supplements” for programs that relate to Recovery Act priorities in job creation, economic development and accelerating the pace of scientific research. In addition, the supplements aim to encourage students to pursue research careers in health-related sciences and to provide elementary, middle and high school teachers as well as instructors at community colleges and non-research-intensive institutions with short-term research experiences in NIH-funded labs. The idea is to engage “students and educators in ground-breaking scientific research [that] will allow young people to connect with the excitement of biomedical innovation” and improve public health, Acting NIH Director Dr. Raynard S. Kington said in a statement.
How to apply: Applications are invited under an open solicitation, but readers are advised to follow any specific deadlines issued by institutes or centers. Administrative supplements may be used by those receiving active NIH research grants, research programs, center grants and cooperative agreements. To be considered for an administrative supplement, submit a request in writing to the applicable institute/center. Other NIH Recovery Act funding for administrative supplements is available for the following programs:
Promoting diversity in health-related research – including recruiting individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. NIH plans 1,000 administrative supplements under this program, totaling more than $60 million.
Promoting re-entry into biomedical and behavioral research careers after taking time off to care for children or attending to other family responsibilities. The amount for this program is not specified.
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Head Start and Early Head Start
Amount: $2.1 billion – $1 billion for Head Start and $1.1 billion for Early Head Start.
Purpose: To boost these existing programs so they can serve more children – roughly $220 million for Head Start to serve 16,600 additional children and their families and nearly $1.2 billion for Early Head Start to serve 55,000 more participants. Almost $354 million in Head Start funds will go towards improving staff compensation and training, upgrading centers and classrooms, increasing hours of operation and improving transportation.
How to apply: Grant applications will be available in the next couple weeks.
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Child Support
Amount: Around $1 billion.
Purpose: To strengthen state child support enforcement programs, which establish, enforce, collect and distribute child support, by matching the existing incentive-based funds that the states receive every year.
How to apply: This new matching funds provision is in effect until Sept. 30, 2010. States will access the matching stimulus grants as they currently do through the existing funding system, which gives grant awards based on quarterly expenditures.
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Child Care and Development Block Grant
Amount: $2 billion.
Purpose: Supplement state funds for child care assistance for low-income families.
How to apply: A map which lists the targeted funding for each state under this grant can be found at www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/acf/childcaremap.html. States will distribute these funds to individual families in the form of vouchers.
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Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
Amount: Up to $5 billion.
Purpose: To help states serve more families looking for jobs and other forms of assistance.
How to apply: States must show an increase in families receiving TANF assistance or show an increase in spending on their TANF program during at least one quarter of the 2009 or 2010 fiscal years. More information available at www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/tanf.
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Community Services Block Grant (updated 4/10/2009)
Amount:$1 billion.
Purpose: For community service groups that help Americans in tough economic times. The groups must use the funds to reduce poverty, revive low-income neighborhoods and improve self-sufficiency in low-income families. Services and activities are to combat poverty by addressing employment, education, housing, nutrition and emergency services. The types of community organizations in line to receive the funds include those that supply job training and placement assistance, financial literacy and housing assistance.
How to apply: More information at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/csbg/guidance/im109.html.
Housing and Urban Development (updated 4/2/2009)
Amount: $1.5 billion in Emergency Shelter Grant funding, also known as the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).
Purpose: To provide short and medium-term rental assistance, housing relocation, and stabilization services for families and individuals during the economic crisis.
How to Apply: Only state programs, metropolitan cities or urban counties are eligible for pre-determined amounts of funding. However, these governmental agencies may subgrant to local units of government, which may include metropolitan cities and urban counties that receive HPRP funds directly from HUD, and/or to private non-profit organizations if the local government in the locality in which the organization will operate the program certifies that it approves of the program. To receive funding, each eligible grantee must submit an application that is postmarked no later than May 18. See http://www.hudhre.info/documents/HPRP_Notice_3-19-09.pdf
Justice Department (updated 3/20/09)
Edward Byrne Competitive Grants
Amount: $225 million is listed in the Recovery Act, with some set aside for Youth Mentoring grants, described below. The program solicitation, released March 19, does not say how many awards will be made or the size of each grant.
Purpose: Funding is awarded under eight categories, a few of which mention youth-related initiatives as eligible activities. Under category one – which funds community-based data-driven approaches to reducing crime – outreach to youth and community courts are suggested project components. A neighborhood probation and parole category mentions monitoring and engaging with adult and juvenile offenders in effective case management and offender supervision. Applicants may be national, regional, state or local public or private entities, including nonprofits and community organizations.
Proposals are also invited for grants to research and evaluate Recovery Act state and local law enforcement assistance. Multiple awards are planned under a variety of categories tied to assessing how well Recovery Act dollars under the Byrne program, and others, are meeting various objectives.
How to apply: Byrne applications are due April 27. Research proposals are due May 18. The Office of Justice Programs’ solicitation page lists all open Recovery Act grant opportunities.
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Youth Mentoring
Amount: The overall amount is not listed in the program solicitation released March 19. Youth mentoring funds were derived from the $225 million Byrne account, mentioned above, but the specific total amount is not in the announcement. Officials say that they plan to fund “multiple” awards of up to $500,000 each for four-year project periods.
Purpose: Eligible organizations are public agencies and private organizations, but applicants are required to form a “community partnership” that includes one or more private organizations, for-profits or community and faith-based groups. Applicants should develop, implement or expand local mentoring programs that lead to “measurable, positive outcomes for at-risk youth.” Officials emphasize the effectiveness of mentoring relationships that are structured and last at least 12 months. Projects must target at-risk youth younger than age 18.
National-scope mentoring projects that reduce juvenile delinquency and child victimization and improve the juvenile justice system through mentoring are eligible under a separate solicitation.
How to apply: Applications for both programs are due April 20. The Office of Justice Programs’ solicitation page lists all open Recovery Act grant opportunities.
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Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants (JAG)
Amount: $2 billion for formula grants to state or local governments. Sixty percent is for states and 40 percent is set aside for local units of government.
Purpose: JAG, run by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, funds initiatives related to prosecutions, courts and crime prevention and education.
JAG funds allocated through the stimulus law have reporting requirements that are different from the standard grants in terms of accountability, transparency and oversight. In addition, funds must be tied to job creation.
How to apply: States have until April 9 to submit applications under the state formula portion of JAG. Qualifying units of local government have until May 18 to submit applications under this part of JAG. Local youth organizations that want to access these funds should contact their state JAG administering agencies, which establish funding priorities.
Check online for information or send an e-mail to the program.
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Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs
Amount: $125 million. The program solicitation, released March 19, says that minimum grants of $50,000 each will be awarded for 24-month projects, but does not note the total number of awards planned.
Purpose: To prevent crime and drug-related crime in rural areas in these five categories: combating rural crime, improving rural law enforcement investigations, enhancing rural detention and jail operations, rural justice information sharing and national training and technical assistance. Local, county and tribal law enforcement agencies – as well as state law enforcement from “rural states” or that assistsone or more “rural areas” are the main eligible organizations. However, public and private nonprofits, including community-based organizations, may apply under the training and technical assistance category.
How to apply: Applications are due April 22. The Office of Justice Programs’ solicitation page lists all open Recovery Act grant opportunities.
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Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)
Amount: $50 million.
Purpose: State and local prosecutorial and law enforcement organizations currently receiving ICAC funding, among others, are eligible for grants, which are used to track down people who engage in online enticements of children, child exploitation and child obscenity and pornography.
How to apply: ICAC money is split among several different solicitations. The main program provides $41 million for task forces. Applications are due April 8 under that solicitation. The rest of the money is available for ICAC task force training and technical assistance; research; and the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System. The application deadline for the latter three programs is May 14. Another research program, to evaluate Internet child safety materials used by ICAC task forces in school and community settings, is accepting applications until May 18. States, local governments and nonprofits are among those eligible to apply for the single $500,000 grant.
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Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
Amount: $100 million.
Purpose: Most will be split among OVC’s victim compensation and assistance formula grant programs, each of which received $47.5 million in stimulus allocations.
The remaining $5 million was put toward the OVC National Field-Generated Training competitive grant program, which offers grants of $50,000 to $500,000 to nonprofits, including faith-based and community-based organizations, to develop national training, technical assistance and demonstration projects. Projects should advance crime victims’ rights and services in a number of areas, including child abuse.
How to apply: Proposal submissions are due March 26.
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Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
Amount: $225 million.
Purpose and how to apply: The money is distributed as follows:
* $140 million for the Services Training Officers Prosecutors (STOP) formula grants for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial strategies to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. State allocations can be viewed here. Requests for proposals are due March 24.
* $43 million for transitional housing assistance to help domestic violence victims and their families move into permanent housing. Eligible applicants are states, units of local government, Indian tribes and other organizations with a documented history of providing effective domestic violence services. The request for proposals is here, with applications due April 8.
* $20.8 million for the tribal governments grant program to combat violent crimes against American Indian and Alaska Native women, enhance victim safety and develop education and prevention strategies. Eligible applicants include federally recognized Indian tribes, their authorized designee or a consortium consisting of two or more federally recognized tribes. These funds also will be released soon, likely as competitive grants.
* The rest of the OVW Recovery Act money is allocated to state and tribal domestic violence coalitions. State coalitions apply for funding by March 24; the tribal coalition deadline is April 8.
Check this site daily for new OVW solicitations.
Labor Department
Workforce Investment Act, State Formula Grants
Amount: $1.2 billion for services to youth.
Purpose: Create summer employment opportunities for youth. The House-Senate conference committee also envisioned funds providing for “year-round youth activities” and the extension of eligibility for such services to age 24, “to reach young adults who have become disconnected from both education and the labor market.”
How to apply: See the Training and Employment Guidance Letter at http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL14-08.pdf. You can also contact Eta.stimulus@dol.gov.
The Department of Labor released the summer job money to states in March. Those funds went to each state’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) contact. Then, “the state allots funds to local areas, and local areas have primary responsibility for managing youth programs under WIA,” according to Suzy Bohnert, a spokeswoman for the Department of Labor.
To find the WIA contact in your state, visit: www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/statecon.cfm.
To find out how much stimulus money has been given to your state for summer jobs, look at the “WIA Youth Activities” lines on this regularly updated list: www.doleta.gov/Recovery/pdf/WIA.pdf.
