October 2005

Q: Who or what agency funds initiatives might help us to sustain the work we have started with the youth referred to our system of care community by juvenile justice?

This question comes up frequently when I am talking with people from different system of care communities. Children formally involved with the juvenile justice system usually have histories with a variety of public agencies. Many of these youth have been involved with, or are still involved with, the agencies responsible for: 1) child protection; 2) education; 3) mental health; 4) substance abuse treatment and prevention; 5) medical care; and 6) justice. There are funds designated for services and programs for high risk populations in each of these agencies.

The Justice Department (Office of Justice Programs and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) provides funding that supports treatment and other programming, as well as monitoring of services to youth involved in this system. If you were to take a look at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Web site to review their funding priorities and publications, you would find many current and past funding opportunities that might be of interest. The site includes current funding, past OJJDP solicitations, and funding opportunities from other Office of Justice Program initiatives and offices. The site also describes formula and block grants, which all states, local jurisdictions, and territories can access. The names of the state juvenile justice specialists, who administer and monitor compliance, are available and easy to access from the site.

OJJDP also has responsibility for awarding discretionary grants. These grants are awarded through a peer review process. States, other units of local government, and private organizations are eligible to apply. These opportunities can be found easily on the OJJDP website, too.

There are many funding opportunities that can aid sustainability efforts nestled in the U.S. Department of Education. One such initiative supports the development of technology. With scare resources, many of you are already relying on technology to provide linkage. Take a look at the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism, or “E-Rate initiative,” to see if it can help you increase capacity. The E-Rate initiative provides subsidies to public and private schools, libraries, and consortia of libraries to help with the purchase of telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal networking equipment. Service and equipment discounts range from 20 to 90 percent and depend on the level of poverty and urban or rural status of applicants. E-Rate funding comes from a Universal Service fee charged to telecommunications service providers, including most local phone companies. The program is administered by the Schools and Libraries Division of the not-for-profit Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) and is overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Who is eligible for E-Rate support?

E-Rate support is available to public and private schools, libraries, and consortia of libraries. Eligible schools must meet the statutory definition of an elementary or secondary school as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, or be a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under State law. Eligibility of institutions serving youth who are neglected or delinquent, including juvenile correctional facilities, may differ from State to State and from institution to institution.

Eligible expenditures fall into one of three categories:

• Telecommunication services (e.g., basic telephone service, cellular phone service)
• Internet access (e.g., Internet service provider (ISP) charges such as dial-up or high-speed/broadband service)
• Internal networking equipment (e.g., the infrastructure needed to establish a local area network (LAN) including servers and switches, as well as vendor maintenance costs)

Note that E-Rate funds may not be used to support a number of related technology expenses including instructional software, personal computers, and other types of equipment. USAC provides a comprehensive list of services and products that are eligible for E-Rate support on its Web site (http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/eligible.asp).

Other sources of funding can be accessed through collaboration with programs and services that are already funded to support the same population of youth. These might include, but are not limited to the following:

• The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
• The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
• National Center for Mental Health Promotion
• Struggling Teens.com
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (NIAAA)
• National Center for PTSD
• Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

There are grants and other awards available through other federal and local agencies. Youth Today is a bi-monthly publication that lists many grant and contract opportunities, as well as recent awardees. It is a good resource for tracking new funding in states and communities, especially funding from private foundations. A subscription could prove to be a tremendous benefit to your organization.