Program Sustainability

As programs gear up for this coming year's sustainability plans I would be interested to hear what folks gleaned from the National Mentoring Summit held in D.C. at the end of January on sustainability trends for the future. Although there wasn't a lot of concrete information about the future (a great deal more hand-wringing about the past as Children of Prisoners joins the list of federal mentoring funding streams that have been zeroed out)there are a few themes that stood out for me:

This is one of those opportunities that might be great given the right fit (you will know if it's a fit when you read the RFP). The DOJ and National Institute of Corrections are looking for 4 grantees to participate in a randomized-control evaluation. Sites that are funded ($1 million/year for up to 3 years) will be expected to provide a research coordinator and do a series of specific trainings (T4C, MIT) with community service agencies, parole officers and others. To participate you need to be able to enroll parole officers in the study, and have a solid reentry model in place, etc. etc.

Grant: Children, Youth, And Families At-Risk Sustainable Community Projects - To improve the quality and quantity of comprehensive community-based programs for at-risk children, youth, and families supported by the Cooperative Extension System.

Funder: U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Eligibility: Land-Grant institutions.

Deadline: Dec. 1.

Amount: Multiple awards of up to $80,000 each.

Contact: www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/rfas/cyfar_scp.html.

The official list for OJP grant awards, including OJJDP awards for mentoring grants has been posted.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/funding/11grantawards.htm

For those not funded, it is good grantsmanship to request reviewer comments on your proposal -- they should be emailed to you, but if you haven't received the email within the next couple of weeks, contact the program officer.

This grant opportunity from NSF will be of interest to school districts, universities, nonprofits and others involved in designing, implementing and researching STEM education programs, including, potentially, those developing ways to enhance the mentoring component of STEM programs. Although primarily designed for formal education, note that "the DRK-12 program recognizes that learning is not limited to formal school environments and times. The program encourages projects to draw from knowledge and practice of learning in out-of-school and informal settings."