Weekly Address on Criminal Justice Reform
October 17, 2015
In his weekly address, President Obama highlighted the problems in our criminal justice system. Over the next few weeks, the President will travel the country and meet with Americans who are working to fix the criminal justice system, from law enforcement officials working to lower the crime and incarceration rates, to former prisoners who are earning their second chance.
View President Obama’s Weekly Address.
President Obama Hosts a Conversation on Criminal Justice Reform
On October 22, 2015, President Obama joined law enforcement leaders from around the country for a discussion on how we can reduce crime and incarceration.
View the Discussion on Criminal Justice Reform.
Funding Opportunities
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Community Services
Assets for Independence
Recently the AFI Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was modified. These edits affect anyone preparing an application for FY 2016 funding. Read the AFI Funding Opportunity Announcement.
Deadline: The application due dates for FY 2016 have changed to December 15, 2015 and May 13, 2016.
Background
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Community Services (OCS) will be accepting applications for grants to administer projects for the Assets for Independence (AFI) demonstration program.
AFI grantees administer projects that provide individual development accounts (IDAs) and related services to low-income individuals. Participants open an IDA and save earned income that is matched by project funds. The combined participant savings and project matching funds will be used for an allowable asset: a first home, a business, or post-secondary education or training. Projects also assist participants in obtaining the skills and information necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Grantees are encouraged to tailor the strategies and services they offer to the needs of their project participants and the opportunities in their community. Examples of activities in this area include financial education, asset-specific training, financial coaching, credit-building services, credit/debt counseling, and assistance with tax credits and tax preparation.
AFI projects must be funded with a combination of the federal AFI grant and cash from non-federal sources. The amount of cash from non-federal sources must be at least equal to the federal AFI grant amount. Applicants must provide documentation of commitment of non-federal funds in their application. Documentation must indicate that non-federal funds are committed for the 5-year grant period as of the date of the application. Specific requirements for this documentation will be included in the funding opportunity announcement.
Resources for Applicants
Prospective Grantee Webinar: Understanding the AFI Program
Assets for Independence Resource Center
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Pay for Success Permanent Supportive Housing Demonstration Program NOFA
In 2010, the Obama Administration released Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, in which federal partners set goals to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015, and end family and youth homelessness by 2020. However, there were still 84,291 individuals identified as chronically homeless in the United States in 2014. These individuals are persons with disabilities who experience long-term homelessness, and who typically cycle in and out of a variety of crisis services, including hospital emergency departments and inpatient stays, psychiatric centers, jails, and prisons. This cycling between services not only has negative impacts on health and well-being, but also incurs high costs to the public. Permanent supportive housing (PSH) is a proven solution to chronic homelessness, not only helping to increase housing stability and improvements in health, but also lowering public costs by stopping the revolving door between crisis services.
DOJ and HUD are partnering to advance Pay for Success (PFS), one promising model for financing services that can attract additional, non-traditional sources of funding. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (Pub. L. 113-76) and the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) authorized DOJ to make funds available for a PFS initiative implementing the PSH model for a population continuously cycling between the criminal justice system and homeless services. DOJ and HUD entered into an interagency agreement that designates HUD as the agency responsible for implementing the PFS Demonstration, and through this NOFA, HUD is making $8,679,000 available.
Deadline: February 12, 2016
View the Pay for Success NOFA.
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
New Markets Tax Credit Program
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) released the Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA) for the calendar year (CY) 2015 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program). The NOAA makes up to $5 billion in tax credit allocation authority available for the CY 2015 round, pending Congressional authorization.
The New Markets Tax Credit spurs investment of private sector capital into distressed communities by providing a tax credit to corporate or individual taxpayers who make qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). The CDEs, in turn, invest the capital raised into projects and businesses in low-income communities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the investment in a CDE and is claimed over a seven-year credit allowance period.
The CDFI Fund has made 912 awards—totaling $43.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority—to CDEs through the NMTC Program since the program’s inception. More information about the NMTC Program can be found on the program’s website or in the program’s fact sheet.
Deadline: December 16, 2015
Learn About Applying and Compliance for the NMTC Program
To provide more information about the NMTC Program and the application process, the CDFI Fund has posted presentations for potential applicants on the NMTC Program page, under How to Apply Step 2: Apply.
Upcoming Conference Call
The CDFI Fund will conduct a one-hour conference call to answer application questions. No presentation will be given during the call; only questions from participants will be addressed.
NMTC Application Conference Call
Thursday, October 29, 2015, 3:30 p.m. EDT
Dial-in number is 1-888-469-1239 and the pass code is 5561021. No prior registration is necessary.
Promise Zones In The News
The St. Louis American: BioSTL gets $500K grant from SBA
Hartford Courant: Revival Plan: Swift Factory Project Manager’s Ambitious Vision For A Hartford Neighbohood
