2011-05 IL Issue

Sta

te Edition

IL

Helping communities find the federal funding they need.

www.fundbook.orgp.� ~ The Fundbook - IL | May �011

Evaluation-Driven Budget Decisions

The month of May will be an important one for the state as legislators push toward a budget agreement for 2012. While the rest of us are wait-ing on pins-and-needles, lawmakers in the House and Senate are scheduled to return to the Capi-tol from spring break, at least five days a week, through May to work on their own versions of a spending plan, complete with revenue projec-tions and line-by-line appropriations. Informa-tion required by the governor’s budget office, and submitted by state agencies, regarding the impact of cutting 1 percent is supposed to influ-ence decision making on what the Governor calls a lean budget. Understandably, agencies are fear-ful of service disruptions and staff reductions. However, a metrics-based approach to trimming back government spending and ensuring Illinois’ economic growth and fiscal stability is one to be commended. If it works, keep it. If it isn’t work-ing, revise it or cut it. This approach including continuous improvement based on meeting ob-jectives and priorities seems like an effective process for fixing a broken budget system. Af-ter all, it is the same system required by a grant awardee or recipient of government funding.

Potential Cuts to Youth Programs

Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed FY12 Budget has six prioritized budget outcomes. Number four on the list is Human Services: Protection of the Most Vulnerable of our Citizens. Unfortunately, pro-posed cuts from the Governor’s office for the over-all state budget based on this list would significantly affect youth programs in Illinois and could become a larger issue among many communities, families, taxpayers and overall state spending. Governor Quinn’s budget proposal would eliminate the Com-munity Youth Services grant for the rest of 2011 and for FY12, which provides funding to youth pro-grams, prevention services and community-based groups that serve more than 30,000 Illinois teens and adolescents. Couple the funding elimination with already dwindling independent school district bud-gets, there will be a significant lack of critical pro-

gramming jeopardizing the safety, security, wellbe-ing and future of children and youth throughout the state of Illinois. An abrupt ending to the grants for current awardees has potential to even shut-down the entire operation without contingency planning and alternatives. In order to bridge the gap, there are federal funding opportunities available to local gov-ernments for youth and juvenile programs.

One of these is the Research Project Grant of-fered by the National Institutes of Health. The pro-gram proposes to enhance the understanding of ef-fective positive youth development programs and the mechanisms responsible for positive health and developmental outcomes. This grant opportunity will support the development, implementation, and evaluation of new or improved positive youth development programs, the evaluation of existing successful programs, or the evaluation of effective, evidence-based, gender-inclusive programs that are adapted, translated or disseminated for new popu-lations of youth or adolescents. Eligible applicants include State, County, City/Township, and Special District governments and independent school dis-tricts and public and state controlled institutions of higher education. The deadline for proposals is September 7, 2011. Inquiries concerning this fund-ing opportunity are welcomed from potential ap-plicants. For more information regarding this grant, visit: http://goo.gl/HIGHC

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is ad-ministrating the State Juvenile Justice Formula and Block Grants Training and Technical Assistance Program which will award a cooperative agreement to an organization that will provide training and technical assistance to state and local juvenile jus-tice formula and block grantees and sub-grantees to assist them in planning, establishing, operating, co-ordinating, and evaluating delinquency prevention and juvenile justice systems improvement projects. The deadline for this program is May 16, 2011. For additional information, contact the Justice Informa-tion Center at 1-877-927-5657, email [email protected], or visit http://goo.gl/mFXLY

The Community-Based Violence Prevention

The View from Illinios State

www.fundbook.org May �011 | The Fundbook - IL ~ p.�

Meggie Chapman & Associates is committed to providing our clients with the ability to acquire valuable information, assess needs and goals, create and enhance programs, cultivate relation-ships, leverage funding, and evaluate and continuously improve performance through our top-notch grant development firm.

Meggie Chapman & Associates understands that no one entity has the same fundraising or evaluation needs. We strongly believe in providing a full-range of customized and value-added consulting services to each client. Each client, short-term and long-term, is considered our partner. For the past eight years, Meggie Chapman and her team have partnered with educational institutions, govern-ment agencies, non-profit organizations, corporations and small businesses in support of their respective missions.

Meggie Chapman & Associates’ personalized process con-sists of a unique, multi-pronged approach that includes research, design, writing, editing, technical support and evaluation. These established processes and our 21st Century innovation and exten-sive network of highly-qualified consultants enables us to offer effi-cient and affordable services, as well as products that we are proud to stand behind. A pure demonstration of the firm’s efficacy is their success at raising millions in funding and connecting clients with valuable knowledge, resources and partnerships. Our ultimate goal is to assist each client to achieve their goals, further their mission and meet their needs.

To get started on your project today or to learn more about how our firm can tailor services to meet your specific needs, please contact Meggie Chapman at:

Phone 602-672-3064Fax 866-422-6024

[email protected]

www.fundbook.orgp.� ~ The Fundbook - IL | May �011

Demonstration Program, also administrated by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), is providing funding for states and units of local government to support federal, state, and local partnerships to rep-licate proven multi-disciplinary, community-based strategies to reduce violence. The program’s goal is to replicate programs, such as the Chicago CeaseFire model, to reduce violence in targeted communities. Applicants must target their proposed intervention on the high-risk activities and behaviors of a small number of carefully selected members of the com-munity who are likely to be involved in violent ac-tivities, specifically gun violence, in the immediate future. The application deadline for this program is May 23, 2011. For additional information, contact the Justice Information Center at 1(877)927-5657, email [email protected], or visit http://goo.gl/tGu-cO

Supplementing Public Safety

With budget cuts looming over local govern-ment agencies, public safety agencies are no excep-tion, now is the time to think about those federal and private funding opportunities that can strengthen and supplement FY12 allocations and help keep staff. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hir-ing Program competition will be open May 2, 2011. The turn-around is quick with a May 25, 2011 dead-line. However, in recent years, with Illinois cities’ crime rates doubling that of the national index, the possibly $200 million available for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement offi-cers, the payoff of potentially hiring up to 50 offi-cers is worth the work to pump out the application by deadline. To find out more about this grant that provides 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for 3 years, please visit http://goo.gl/zdAKG or contact the COPS Office Response Center at 1-800-421-6770. Similarly, for local fire departments, feeling the staffing pinch, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) provides funds for fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to hire qualified firefighters. Funding is specifically dedicated to enabling departments to hire trained front line firefighters to improve response time

and operational standards. This annual competition is forecasted and is yet to be announced for FY11. For more information on SAFER grants, please visit http://goo.gl/gIAjB or call program staff at 1-866-274-0960.

Illinois Transportation Funding Protected

An agreement has been reached that protects nearly $400 million in federal funding for eight transportation projects in Illinois that were targeted for rescission in the House Republican’s FY11 bud-get plan. The projects no longer in jeopardy include: the Chicago to Quad Cities Amtrak route, Engle-wood Flyover Create project, Wadsworth Bridge Replacement, Chicago Transit Authority purchase of all-electric buses, Peoria Warehouse District Proj-ect, Moline Multimodal Facility, Barrington EJ&E Grade Separation at US 14, and the Hybrid Paratran-sit Bus purchase for Grundy County. Clearly, this is a relief for these communities that have planned and secured millions in private investment in anticipa-tion of this funding.

For other transportation projects still on the chopping block, there are some funding opportuni-ties currently available through the U.S. Department of Transportation. The FY11 Paul S. Sarbanes Tran-sit in Parks Program funds capital and planning ex-penses for alternative transportation systems such as buses and trams in federally-managed parks and public lands. State, tribal and local governments act-ing with the consent of a Federal Land Management Agency are eligible to apply. The application dead-line is May 9, 2011. For further information, contact Program Manager, Adam Schildge, Office of Transit Programs, at 202-366-0778 or [email protected], or visit http://goo.gl/sJyWm

The Transit Track Worker Safety Protection Demonstration Project seeks to improve the safety of transit workers, specifically right-of-way safety for all transit workers through innovative use of new or advanced technologies to reduce the hazards associated with working on or around the right-of-way. Eligible applicants include state and local gov-ernment agencies, public and private transit agen-cies, operators of public transportation services, and universities. The application deadline has been ex-tended to May 30, 2011. For more information, con-tact the Program Manager, Roy Chen, at (202) 366-

0462 or via email at [email protected], or visit http://goo.gl/1Z21y

Claim Your Credit

Businesses have until June 30, 2011 to hire em-ployees in order to claim the $2,500 Illinois Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit, created by Gov-ernor Quinn. H.B. 4599 also expands the credit to in-clude former worker-trainees from the Put Illinois to Work program, hired by employers, as long as the employees receive no less than $10 hourly, with a minimum $18,200 annually. In order to be compli-ant, the position must be sustained for at least one year (not necessarily held by the same individual for the year). Employers wishing to utilize the credit designed to jumpstart job creation should register new positions online at JobsTaxCredit.illinois.gov. Employers hiring a former participant in the Put Illinois to Work program can claim half of the tax credit six months after the date of hire and the last half of the tax credit 12 months after the date of hire. For more information, businesses should call 1-800-252-2923 §

This article was contributed by Meggie Chapman of Meggie Chapman & Associates. Meggie Chapman is very knowledgable of the grants and funding territory in IL and works with local governments and non-profits on grants-related services there.

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