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Prop 47 Grant Application Now Available

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The much anticipated Request for Applications (RFA) for the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success grant program has been released by the California Department of Education (CDE). This grant program was established by SB 527 and AB 1014, following the passage of Proposition 47.

There was some initial confusion about the timeline and due dates, but the CDE webpages have been updated and now contain the correct information. Please consult the RFA for the full timeline on page 21.

Districts with high rates of chronic absence, out-of-school suspensions, and school drop outs will be given priority for these grants aimed at improving student outcomes by reducing truancy and supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of school or are victims of crime.

Click here to access the RFA and other required forms.

Letter of Intent Due Date: April 21, 2017

Application Due Date: May 10, 2017

We’d love to get a sense of who is applying — if you decide to apply, please let us know.

Please also feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Contact: Deanna Niebuhr, Senior Director of Community Schools, Partnership for Children & Youth
Deanna@partnerforchildren.org
510-830-4200 x1605

CSNetwork

Resources for Upcoming Grant Opportunity

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The Request for Proposals for the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success grants (through CDE, from Prop 47 savings) will be released by March 21 or sooner. We know from the legislation (SB 527 / AB 1014) that districts with high rates of chronic absence, out-of-school suspensions, and school dropouts will be given priority when grants are awarded.

We’re suggesting that districts start compiling their data now because the proposal writing timeline is expected to be very short.

As we’ve looked toward the release of this RFP, we’ve provided a number of resources and information over the past couple of months. Here they are in one place:

Resources:

  1. Data Collection Webinar – Rocking Your Next Needs Assessment, Public Profit
  2. Overview of the grant opportunitiy, Children Now
  3. Making Data Work in California, Attendance Works
  4. In School + On Track, California Office of the Attorney General

Background Information about the Grant Opportunity:

  1. New Community School Grant Opportunity by Ed Honowitz, Education Policy Advisor of then-Senator Carol Liu, September 26, 2016
  2. Grant Opportunity: Get out your data and start planning now! December 14, 2016
  3. Tracking Chronic Absence: Getting Ready for Prop 47 Grants or Just Setting Up for Improvement, January 31, 2017
CSNetwork

Tracking Chronic Absence: Getting Ready for Prop 47 Grants or Just Setting Up for Improvement

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By Deanna Niebuhr
Senior Director, Community Schools Initiatives at Partnership for Children & Youth

The Request for Proposals for the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success grants (through CDE, from Prop 47 savings) is expected out this March. We know from the legislation that districts with high chronic absence, out-of-school suspension, and dropout rates will be given priority when grants are awarded.

We’re suggesting that districts with high rates start compiling their data now because the proposal writing timeline is expected to be very short. For those that are not yet tracking chronic absence data, this is a great opportunity to put tracking systems in place. Whether or not you apply for a Prop 47 grant, this data is critical for making meaningful and steady improvement in student engagement and school climate, which are foundational to a whole child/community school approach.

Using your school data, the pathway to improvement can steadily be made clearer. This is especially true for chronic absence, defined as an individual student missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason (i.e. both excused and unexcused absences). Chronic absence in the early grades is highly predictive of later struggles. Research shows that chronic absence as early as kindergarten is associated with lower third grade reading scores and academic struggles as far down the road as fifth grade. This is especially true for students living in poverty and experiencing more than one year of chronic absence.(1)

Districts have been able to turn their numbers around when they have monitored chronic absence, worked with schools and families to figure out the nuances and patterns behind these absences, and then addressed the underlying issues unique to their school communities.

Attendance Works has free tools to use in tracking chronic absence. Their brief, Making Data Work in California: Leveraging Your District Data and Student Information System (SIS) to Monitor and Address Chronic Absence, lays out the basics on chronic absence and provides a checklist for setting up a tracking system.

If you have any questions about preparing for the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund grant, please contact Deanna Niebuhr at Deanna@partnerforchildren.org.

 

(1) Hedy N. Chang & Mariajose Romero. Present, Engaged & Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, National Center for Children in Poverty: September 2008.

CSNetwork

Grant Opportunity: Get out your data and start planning now!

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Back in September, the Governor signed into law Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success. This program takes savings from Proposition 47 and creates a grant program for school districts to implement research-based strategies to improve school climate and mitigate the school-to-prison pipeline.

The focus of these grants is to support “evidence-based, non-punitive programs and practices to keep the state’s most vulnerable students in school.” Using a community schools approach – integrating comprehensive services into schools through community partnerships – is explicitly named as an eligible strategy. Districts interested in launching a community school initiative should consider applying.

For districts that are ready for deeper dives into more targeted strategies, the list of eligible activities also includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Strategies to improve attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism
  • Restorative practices, restorative justice models, or other programs to improve retention rates, reduce suspensions, and reduce student contact with law enforcement agencies
  • Social-emotional learning, positive behavior interventions and supports, culturally responsive practices, and trauma-informed strategies

The California Department of Education (CDE) will be administering the grant program. The request for proposals is expected to be released in early 2017. Local education agencies (school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools) may apply for a grant. Funding levels are still being determined, but we know that grants will be for three years of funding. Grant recipients must make a matching expenditure of cash or in-kind contributions that equal at least 20 percent of the total grant awarded.

There are some good reasons to get started early in planning for your application. The RFP is expected to come out in early 2017 – January or February at the latest. And because funds must be expended in the current fiscal year, we are anticipating a quick turnaround time. In addition, planning timelines will be compressed as grant recipients will be required to align their funded strategies with their goals in their local control accountability plan (LCAP).

Who will receive these grants?

In selecting grant recipients, CDE will give priority to LEAs based on the following criteria:

  • High rates of chronic absenteeism, out-of-school suspension, and school dropout
  • Located in a community with a high crime rate
  • Have a significant representation of foster youth among its pupil enrollment

Get started now:

Based on these priorities, we encourage you to start your proposal planning process now so that you’re ready to go when the RFP comes out in the new year.

  • Gather your relevant student and neighborhood data.
  • Think about which strategies will make the biggest impact for your vulnerable student populations.
  • Think about which of your community partners can help to implement your strategy.
  • If you need additional assistance in thinking through how this grant can be most useful to your students, please contact us and we’ll help you or connect you to an organization that can.

For more information, contact Deanna Niebuhr at Partnership for Children & Youth: Deanna@partnerforchildren.org or 510-830-4200 x1605.

The above information was provided by Children Now. Click here for their summary.