Grant Spotlight

Promise Neighborhoods Program Accepting Applications for $18M in Grant Funds

• By Kristal Kuykendall
• 08/08/22

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is now accepting applications for the Promise Neighborhoods program, which will award up to $18 million to four or five winning applicants later this year. The deadline to apply for the grants is Sept. 27, 2022.

The Promise Neighborhoods program aims to “significantly improve the academic and developmental outcomes of children and youth living in the most distressed communities of the United States, including ensuring school readiness, high school graduation, and access to a community-based continuum of high-quality services,” according to ED’s website.

The PN program specifically serves “neighborhoods with high concentrations of individuals with low incomes; multiple signs of distress, which may include high rates of poverty, childhood obesity, academic challenges, and juvenile delinquency, adjudication, or incarceration; adverse childhood experiences; and schools implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement activities under section 1111(d) of the ESEA,” according to the grant announcement on the Federal Register website. “All strategies in the continuum of solutions must be accessible to children with disabilities and English learners.”

The discretionary grant competition is open to any institute of higher education, a tribal organization, or a nonprofit entity working in formal partnership with either a high-need local education agency, an institute of higher education, a local elected official or local governmental office, or a tribal organization, ED said.

The competition includes three absolute priorities and three competitive preferences, explained in detail on the Federal Register grant announcement page.

Matching funds of 50% to 100% will be required in most cases, with the amount of matching funds required dependent on the absolute priority classification of the applicant; at least 10% of matching funds must be cash or in-kind contributions from the private sector, ED said. The department may decrease the matching funds requirement if an applicant "demonstrates significant financial hardship," and applicants unable to meet the matching requirement are encouraged to apply and include in their application a request to the Secretary of Education to reduce the matching requirement.

ED has posted recorded webinars providing guidance to applicants at the Promise Neighborhoods program page at the OESE website.

Learn more about the program requirements and find application instructions at the Federal Register website.