The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY) is soliciting proposals to plan and pilot OR scale up innovative programs and approaches for foster youth (ages 16 to 24) who are close to transitioning to adulthood or who have recently transitioned to adulthood from the foster care system.

Although the majority of young people who enter foster care in New York City achieve “permanency” through kinship guardianship (i.e., via a caretaker who is a relative), adoption, or reunification with their parents, approximately 600 young people in New York City age out of foster care each year without permanent families. Those who age out of foster care without a permanent family arrangement are at significantly elevated risk of criminal justice system involvement and other negative life outcomes.

Given these troubling outcomes, DANY is soliciting proposals to increase support for this population, including proposals with a focus on financial independence, workforce development and training, educational attainment, housing, and/or other areas to aid transitions out of care. These approaches are not considered exhaustive, but rather are possible ways applicants could address factors known to contribute to poor outcomes among young people aging out of foster care. Other approaches not listed here that seek to ease the transition to adulthood are eligible for funding. Given that little is known about the effectiveness of interventions with this population, proposals for approaches that are novel in general or in New York City specifically are strongly encouraged. Programs could be run by foster youth-serving organizations (e.g., an organization serving primarily foster youth could implement a new employment program) or non-foster youth-serving organizations (e.g., an organization focused employment programs for a broad population could implement a program tailored toward foster youth specifically).

The anticipated total funding for programs or approaches for foster youth who are close to transitioning to adulthood is up to $5.3 million over 3.5 years.

Documents

• CJII Programs for Foster Youth Transitioning to Adulthood Request for Proposals
• ADDENDUM 1: Applicant Questions and Answers

Deadlines

The deadline to submit questions about this RFP was Friday, November 4, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

The deadline to submit proposals was Friday, January 27, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Background

ISLG is the technical assistance consultant to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for CJII. ISLG will manage the grantees funded under CJII, and provide oversight and performance measurement throughout the lifetime of the initiative. All funds will be administered through the Research Foundation of CUNY (Research Foundation).

Updated February 4, 2017