The Promise Neighborhoods program was established under the legislative authority of the Fund for the Improvement of Education Program (FIE).
The program is part of ED’s continued commitment to support locally-designed initiatives to revitalize the country’s most disadvantaged communities.
Promise Neighborhoods provides funding to support eligible entities, including:
- Nonprofit organizations, which may include faith-based nonprofit organizations;
- Institutions of higher education, and
- Native American tribes.
The vision of the program is that all children and youth growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to great schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and a career.
The purpose of Promise Neighborhoods is to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in our most distressed communities, and to transform those communities by:
- Identifying and increasing the capacity of eligible entities that are focused on achieving results for children and youth throughout an entire neighborhood;
- Building a complete continuum of cradle-to-career solutions of both educational programs and family and community supports, with great schools at the center;
- Integrating programs and breaking down agency “silos” so that solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently across agencies;
- Developing the local infrastructure of systems and resources needed to sustain and scale up proven, effective solutions across the broader region beyond the initial neighborhood; and
- Learning about the overall impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program and about the relationship between particular strategies in Promise Neighborhoods and student outcomes, including through a rigorous evaluation of the program.
The Department of Education (ED) announced its 2016 Promise Neighborhoods grant competition, which will award $30 million to up to five organizations to provide their communities with a coordinated, comprehensive suite of services and school supports aimed at improving the outcomes for students and their families.
Applications are due by September 6, 2016.