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Erika Fitzpatrick
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 New Federal Mentoring Funds Coming; Website Launched

New solicitations for federal mentoring grants could be announced in the next few weeks and months from several federal agencies - although little is set in stone given that a new Congress and president will take office in January amid unpredictable economic and budgetary circumstances.

This trickle of information came during a Washington, D.C., meeting of the Federal Mentoring Council (FMC) earlier this month. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)-run consortium of federal agencies coordinates policies and initiatives around ensuring that youth have supportive and caring adults in their lives.

Established in May 2006 and convening quarterly, the FMC includes representatives of the U.S. departments of Education, Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development, Defense and Agriculture. The meeting was chaired by Kristin McSwain, CNCS chief of program operations.

At the recent meeting, FMC members briefly discussed mentoring grants, including a forthcoming request for proposal (RFP) for Learn and Serve funding that CNCS plans to release in January. It will include school-based mentoring as an allowable activity.

Curtis Porter, director of the Youth Development Division in the HHS Family and Youth Services Bureau, said in a telephone hookup to the meeting that the federal Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) solicitation will be released this spring. He said the program, which started in 2003, hit a milestone in 2008: 110,000 youth-adult matches. MCP has funded more than 320 faith-based and community organizations, in addition to states, tribes and other entities, HHS officials said. A total of $45 million was provided to support 215 mentoring programs in 2008, but the 2009 amount for MCP is not yet known.

Nancy Ayers, from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, said several mentoring solicitations could be coming out soon, but the timing, amount and other details were far from settled.

McSwain said in a November interview that the FMC hopes to standardize language around mentoring in the federal grant solicitations that touch on this activity. She also said the council is preparing to release a new report in January that includes case studies of effective mentoring programs.

At the meeting, she announced a new website – http://www.nationalmentoringmonth.org – designed to coordinate January's National Mentoring Month volunteer-recruitment and other activities. The site features a public service announcement by retired Gen. Colin Powell and resources for local mentoring organizations. President-elect Barack Obama also cut a mentoring-month print ad for ServiceNation, one of several mentoring-related news and resource items highlighted on the new site. 

Topics: Mentoring
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 Poll: Most Voters Elect to Support After-School

A majority of likely voters support increasing funds for after-school program, according to a new poll commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance, which used the findings to urge newly elected lawmakers and Democratic President-elect Barack Obama to boost these resources in the coming year. 

Nearly nine out of 10 likely registered voters said that after-school programs are important, given the dangers of modern society.  Men’s intensity of support for after-school programs increased by 10 percent in 2008, with 63 percent “strongly” agreeing with the need for after school, compared with 53 percent in the alliance’s 2006 poll. Majorities of Democrats (94 percent), Independents (83 percent) and Republicans (71 percent) said they supported organized activities or safe places for children and teens to go when school is out.

Majorities of both Obama voters as well as those who voted for Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) said they “strongly” backed after-school. Seventy-six percent of those polled said the incoming 111th Congress should increase after-school funding. 

The alliance wants to see funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CLC), the main federal after-school program, more than doubled to its full authorization level of $2.5 billion. Three in four voters – or 76 percent – said that after-school programs are an “absolute” necessity for their communities.  

The survey, conducted in early November by Lake Research Partners with analysis help from The Tarrance Group, reached 1,200 likely registered voters via landline phones and cell phones. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percent.

Contact: Afterschool Alliance (202) 347-2030 or (866) KIDS-TODAY.

Topics: After School
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