U.S. Department of Education: Promise Neighborhoods Program – Implementation Grant Competition

The vision of the Promise Neighborhoods program is that all children and youth growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to great schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and a career. The purpose of the program is to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in the most distressed communities and to transform those communities by:

1. Identifying and increasing the capacity of eligible organizations that are focused on achieving results for children and youth throughout an entire neighborhood.
2. Building a complete continuum of cradle-through-college-to-career solutions (continuum of solutions) of both education programs and family and community supports, with great schools at the center. All strategies in the continuum of solutions must be accessible to children with disabilities (CWD) and English learners (ELs).
3. Integrating programs and breaking down agency ‘‘silos’’ so that solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently across agencies.
4. Developing the local infrastructure of systems and resources needed to develop, implement, and sustain effective interventions to improve education outcomes and enhance family and community well-being across the broader region beyond the initial neighborhood.
5. Learning about the overall impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program and about the relationship between particular strategies in Promise Neighborhoods and student outcomes, including through an evaluation of the program, particular elements within the continuum of solutions, or both.

The current competition includes three absolute priorities and four competitive preference priorities.

Absolute priorities:

• Submission of a Promise Neighborhood Plan that describes the need in the neighborhood, a strategy to build a continuum of solutions, and the applicant’s capacity to achieve results
• Promise Neighborhoods in rural communities, where applicants propose to implement a Promise Neighborhood strategy that (1) meets all of the requirements in Absolute Priority 1; and (2) serves one or more rural communities only
• Promise Neighborhoods in Tribal Communities, where applicants propose to implement a Promise Neighborhood strategy that (1) meets all of the requirements in Absolute Priority 1; and (2) serves one or more Indian tribes

Competitive preference priorities:

• Improving early learning development and outcomes
• Quality affordable housing: to be eligible applicants or applicant partners must show that they have received a Choice or HOPE VI grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Promise Zones, which includes projects that serve and coordinate with a federally designated Promise Zone
• High school and transition to college, which includes increasing the proportion of high-need students who are academically prepared for, enroll in, or complete on time college, other postsecondary education, or other career and technical education

Eligibility: (1) nonprofit organizations, which may include faith-based nonprofit organizations, (2) institutions of higher education, and (3) Indian tribes.

Amount: A total of $29,800,000 will fund three to five grants ranging $400,000-$600,000 and averaging around $5,000,000. Applicants must obtain matching funds or in-kind donations equal to at least 100 percent of its grant award, except that an applicant proposing a project that meets Absolute Priority 2 (Promise Neighborhoods in Rural Communities) or Absolute Priority 3 (Promise Neighborhoods in Tribal Communities) must obtain matching funds or in-kind donations equal to at least 50 percent of the grant award.

Note: The Deadline for the Notice of Intent to Apply (encouraged) is July 25, 2016.

Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=285877

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