Information on Available State and Federal Grants January 1999 Vol. 13, #1

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Small Cities Community Block Grant (CDBG) Program
and the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program for
Small Communities in New York State

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announces funding for its Small Cities Program in New York state under the Community Development Block Grant Program. The funds provide small communities and counties in New York state with an opportunity to propose programs that focus on creating or expanding job opportunities, addressing housing needs, or meeting local public facility needs.

HUD encourages communities to propose programs that are creative and innovative in addressing the needs of their community. A community may also propose a program that is “single purpose” in nature addressing a specific area of need.

ELIGIBILITY: Eligible applicants are units of general local government in New York state, excluding: 1) metropolitan cities; 2) urban counties; 3) units of government which are participating in urban counties or metropolitan cities; and 4) Indian tribes.

FUNDING: $54,558,000 is available for the CDBG Program and approximately $200,000,000 - $250,000,000 is available for the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program. The maximum for a Single Purpose Grant is $400,000 ($600,00 for counties).

DEADLINE: February 3, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Yvette Aidara, State and Small Cities Division, Office of Community Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 7184, 451 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-1322.

Canal Corridor Initiative Grants

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announces the availability of Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) economic development grants and guaranteed loans to fund eligible economic development activities related to the New York canal system. This announcement is part of the Canal Corridor Initiative, a multi-year effort designed to revitalize the economic base of communities in upstate New York through economic development projects and job creation along the canal system and connecting waterways.

HUD expects that the typical project proposal would be a Section 108-eligible economic development project that builds on the unique locational opportunities afforded by the New York canal system and connecting waterways to foster commercial revitalization, business growth and expansion, and job creation that will result in the economic and physical revitalization of the project area. Such projects would utilize funds made available by the Section 108 Loan Guarantee program to provide the “up-front” financing, along with other public or private resources to the extent financially feasible. The loan guaranteed by Section 108 would be expected to be repaid with a combination of the CDBG funds requested as part of this application, future CDBG appropriations, and the “cash flows,” if any, generated by the assisted project.

ELIGIBILITY: Eligible applicants are units of general local government in New York state, excluding: 1) metropolitan cities; 2) urban counties; 3) units of government which are participating in urban counties or metropolitan cities; and 4) Indian tribes that are proposing development activities related to the New York canal system or connecting waterways, including but not limited to the Hudson River, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.

FUNDING: $1,000,000.

DEADLINE: February 3, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert Duncan, Deputy Director, Office of Block Grant Assistance, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 7286, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-3587; or Michael Merrill, Director, Community Planning and Development Division, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 415 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-1780; telephone (716) 551-5755.

High School Equivalency Program;
College Assistance Migrant Program

The U.S. Department of Education is inviting applications for new awards for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). The purpose of the HEP and CAMP programs is to provide grants to institutions of higher education, or to private non-profit agencies working in cooperation with institutions of higher education, to help migrant and seasonal farmworkers complete high school and succeed in postsecondary education.

ELIGIBILITY: Institutions of higher education and private non-profit agencies working in cooperation with institutions of higher education are eligible.

FUNDING: Approximately $9 million has been appropriated to fund HEP awards, ranging from $150,000 to $495,000. Approximately $4 million has been appropriated to fund CAMP awards, ranging from $150,000 to $450,000.

DEADLINE: January 25, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Mary L. Suazo, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Migrant Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 3E317, FOB 6, Washington, DC 20202-6135; telephone (202) 260-1396; e-mail mary_suazo@ed.gov; or fax (202) 205-0089.

Indian Education Grants

The U.S. Department of Education is providing grants to support local educational agencies in their efforts to reform elementary and secondary school programs that serve Indian students in order to ensure that such programs are based on challenging State content standards and State student performance standards are used for all students, and are designed to assist Indian students to meet those standards.

ELIGIBILITY: Local educational agencies (LEAs) and certain schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Indian tribes under certain conditions are eligible.

FUNDING: $62 million is available to fund awards ranging from $3,000 to $1,400,000.

DEADLINE: February 1, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Cathie Martin, Office of Indian Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 3W115, Washington, DC 20202-6335; telephone (202) 260-1683. Information can also be found on the Department of Education website at: http://www.ed.gov/news.html.

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and
COPS in Schools Grants

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) announces the availability of Universal Hiring Program (UHP) grants to pay up to 75 percent of the total salary and benefits for new officers over three years, with the remainder to be paid by state or local funds. Funding will begin once the new officers have been hired or on the date of the award, whichever is later, and will be paid over the course of the grant. Funding may not be applied to officers hired pre-award without written authorization from the COPS Office.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services also announces a new grant program, COPS in Schools, designed to combat school violence by helping local law enforcement agencies hire community policing officers to work in schools. This program provides an incentive for law enforcement agencies to build working relationships with schools and to use community policing efforts to combat school violence. The COPS in Schools program will help reduce the local match requirement for local law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional new officers to be used in or around schools.

ELIGIBILITY: All policing agencies, as well as jurisdictions seeking to establish new policing agencies, are eligible to apply. Applicants for the COPS in Schools program must also provide assurance that officers employed under this program will be assigned to work in primary or secondary schools and must enter into a partnership agreement with either a specific school official or with an official with general educational oversight authority in that jurisdiction.

FUNDING: Grants will be awarded to provide for a designated portion of the salary and benefits of each new officer over three years. The maximum for the UHP grants is $75,000 per officer. The maximum for the COPS in Schools grants is $125,000 per officer.

DEADLINES: February 5, April 2, June 4, and July 16, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at (202) 307-1480 or (800) 421-6770. Information can also be found on the COPS website at:
http://www.usdoj.gov/cops.

Women’s Business Center Projects

The Small Business Administration (SBA) plans to support Women’s Business Center projects that will provide financial counseling and technical assistance to women who want to start or expand businesses. Service and assistance areas must include financial, management, marketing and government procurement/certification assistance. Applicants must target women who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

ELIGIBILITY: Private, not-for-profit organizations are eligible.

FUNDING: Not known at time of publication.

DEADLINE: Late January 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Sandy Murrell, telephone (202) 205-6673 or Mina Wales (202) 205-6621.

The Brookdale Relatives as Parents Program

The Brookdale Foundation is pleased to announce the 1999 Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) Local Seed Grant Initiative. RAPP is designed to encourage and promote the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting. The program is intended to: award seed money to local agencies to provide support groups and at least two other supportive services to relative caregivers and their families; encourage cooperation and collaboration among various service systems ( such as child welfare, health care and aging); ensure the development, expansion and future continuity of local services; and create replicable models of service.

Priority will be given to those agencies that have access to relative caregivers, provide supportive services, and demonstrate broad community involvement and support.

ELIGIBILITY: The sponsoring agencies must be 501 (c) (3) entities or have equivalent tax exempt status.

FUNDING: Up to 15 grants of $10,000 each will be awarded.

DEADLINE: February 26, 1999.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Requests for the RFP packet should be written on agency letterhead and mailed to: The Relatives as Parents Program, The Brookdale Foundation Group, 126 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022-3668. No faxes or phone calls please.

Syracuse University Continuing Education is offering a grant writing workshop on March 19, 1999 on the university campus. The workshop covers successful strategies to obtain funding from government agencies and private foundations. Topics include: conducting needs assessment, developing project concepts, scanning the environment to identify potential funding sources, writing a successful proposal, budgeting and the use of the Internet in proposal development. Persons working in research, education, and community-based organizations will benefit from this course. The fee for the all-day workshop is $109. For more information and to register call Peg DeGuire at (315) 443-3271.