OAKLAND COUNTY OUT OF SCHOOL TIME LEARNING SUPPORT FUNDADMINISTERED BY UNITED WAY FOR SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN

Click here to apply now through Oct. 18.

We are thrilled with the interest in this funding opportunity. All potential applicants must start their application by COB, Friday, October 14th. For all applications initiated by the deadline, we will be extending the due date of this grant application to Tuesday, October 18th at 6 PM.

Overview

As a result of the learning loss experienced by students throughout Oakland County, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oakland County Executive and Board of Commissioners have allocated $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to establish the Oakland County Out of School Time Learning and Social Emotional Supports Grant Program. This program will offer grants to Oakland County non-profit organizations, school districts, public-school academies, and Oakland County Cities, Villages, and Townships (CVTs) delivering Out of School time academic and social emotional learning services with a goal of increasing the capacity of these organizations to meet this growing demand for services. Grants will be awarded for a two-year period. 

Through this fund, the Oakland County Executive and Board of Commissioners have made up to $5,000,000 available to nonprofits, school districts, public-school academies and Oakland County CVTs providing services in the youth development and out of school time sectors, serving residents of Oakland County through a competitive grant award process administered by United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

Application release date is targeted for the last week of September. If you missed our informational webinar, please review the recording and PowerPoint deck for details about this grant opportunity. You are also welcome to join us at one of the coffee hour dates listed below.

Please note: This is a two-year grant contract, if awarded. Extensions for this grant contract will not be considered, including no-cost extensions.

Please submit questions to: EducationPartners@UnitedWaySEM.org

Feel free to drop in for our informal coffee hour meetings, hosted virtually on Microsoft Teams:

10-11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6
Meeting ID: 257 722 036 67
Passcode: FcjZ9J

1-2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11
Meeting ID: 211 043 976 476
Passcode: reAqRA

Please read the following information carefully for details pertaining to funding priorities, eligibility, award types, funding amounts, compliance requirements, and grant timeline. 

Compliance Requirements and Funding Priorities

Funds through this award are being made available to help nonprofit organizations, school districts, public-school academies, and Oakland County Cities, Villages, and Townships (CVTs) scale capacity to deliver academic and social emotional supports to youth impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure operational continuity and expansion to meet growing demand for support services throughout the county. Oakland County recognizes the incredible strain the COVID-19 pandemic has put on both individual learning progression, as well as out of school time youth service providers. The funds allocated for this grant program are to be used expressly for the purpose of delivering out of school academic and social emotional support services to the youth of Oakland County. Programming should: 

• Support existing programs in expanding seat offerings and/or  
  • Add social-emotional learning (SEL) best practices and/or play-based, inquiry-based, and/or experiential learning (STEAM + Literacy) and to their offerings and infrastructure. This can be done through:  
    • Intentional investments (equipment not capital expenditures) in existing spaces (recreation centers, libraries, community hubs, etc.)  
    • Training for program staff on best practices for out of school time providers.   

• Be grounded in best practices for program quality, or be using grant dollars to implement best practices, as it relates to supportive youth development in out of school time spaces.  
  • Additional Resources about quality standards can be found here: Weikart’s pyramid of program quality; Michigan Department of Education Standards of Quality 

Grant funding is available for the following types of programs and services: 

Onsite programming at schools 

This would allow students to receive after school programing without having to worry about transportation to and from an after-school provider. Programming could serve as enrichment, extended learning and/or support health and wellness.  

Offsite with out of school time providers 

Offsite providers can use grant dollars to improve programming through equipment & materials investments and/or personnel training and/or the addition of programming.  Schools can use grant dollars to offer transportation to offsite out of school time providers.

Offsite non-traditional learning providers 

High-traffic spaces where community gather can invest in creating spaces where experiential, inquiry, and play-based learning can happen.  

Compliance requirements include:  

• All funds received under this grant must be spent within the spending period of Jan. 16, 2023 – Jan. 1, 2025. No extensions to the spending period will be granted. Payments will be made quarterly, for a total of eight equal payments over two years.

• Organizations must be providing or supporting quality Out of School time youth development or academic services. Examples of support services include but are not limited to providing transportation or meals during extended programming. 
• There should be no duplicative funding for the same services provided. 
• Grant award recipients shall be required to submit quarterly reports, over the course of two years, in accordance with the grant timeline provided above.  
• Funds received through this grant must be spent on programs or services in Oakland County and/or to support Oakland County residents.  
• Funding cannot be designated for capital purchases or improvements. Funding can be used to purchase program materials. 

• School Districts awarded funding for NEW programming must provide match dollars at 100% of the total awarded grant. Please be prepared to attest to the match dollar availability, including the funding source and amounts of matching funds. 

Additional priorities include:  

• Organizations that have a long-standing track record in Oakland County. 
• Organizations that can demonstrate the positive impact of their evidence-based interventions on youth in the community. 

• Ensuring that the slate of awardees demonstrates adequate coverage of geographic area and service type. 

Eligibility   

Prior to applying, applicants should review the award types and scoring rubric below and choose the award type that best fits the organization’s needs and capacity within the award and spending timeframe. There is no mechanism for negotiating alternate award amounts after an application is submitted and there will not be an opportunity to extend or amend grant contracts beyond the stated grant period.

Funds are available for four types of awards. Organizations should be prepared to demonstrate their rationale for the award type selection throughout the application, including within the program narrative questions, and when detailing your proposed budget allocations.

Applicants must meet the following basic eligibility criteria:  

• The applicant must be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, a school district or public academy or a City, Village or Township (CVT) in good standing with both the State of Michigan and the Internal Revenue Service. 

• The applicant must be based in Oakland County or providing service to Oakland County youth ages 0-18. Services supported through this grant may only be offered to Oakland County residents.  

• Applicants must track demographic data of participating youth, and provide regular updates of the age, gender, race, and home zip code of all participants. Applicants must also be able to report on the progress of outcomes stated in the original application. 

• Applicants must be able to justify the award level they have requested through proposed budget allocations and narrative responses.  

• The applicant must be a provider of evidence-based out of school time services and those services, where applicable, must be delivered by professionals in good standing and, where necessary, licensed by the State of Michigan. More information about identifying Evidence Based Programming can be found here: The Wallace Foundation – Social and Emotional Learning Interventions under Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review 
  • Service types include but may not be limited to:  

• • • Summer/School Break youth programming 
    • Out of school time care with academic or social emotional components  
    • Transportation to Out of School time academic or social emotional supports 

• • • Highly specialized youth programs such as FIRST Robotics, or 4-H 
    • Programming for the youngest learners, including: 

• • • • • Reading hour at the local library 
        • Pre-K Sports Programs 
        • Infant/Toddler Music Programs 

• • • • • Research based Parent/Child play groups 
• Organizations must target communities and youth impacted by COVID-19.  

Award Types

Prior to applying, applicants should review the award types and scoring rubric below and choose the award type and funding amount that best fits the organization’s needs and capacity within the award and spending timeframe. There is no mechanism for negotiating alternate award amounts after an application is submitted and there will not be an opportunity to extend or amend grant contracts beyond the stated grant period.  

Funds are available for four types of awards and four funding ranges. The funding ranges associated with each award type is a guideline, and not a rule. If you are selecting mismatched funding ranges and award types, you should be prepared to demonstrate your rationale throughout the application, including within the program narrative questions, and when detailing your proposed budget allocations. 

FAQs

Click here to review the FAQ document.