Deadline: 16-Jul-21
The Department of Homeland Security and Office of Procurement Operations – Grants Division is seeking applications for the 2021 Citizenship and Integration Grant Program: Refugee and Asylee Integration Services.
The goal of the RAIS funding opportunity is to provide extended integration services, which build on, but are not intended to replicate, those resettlement services funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which prioritize early economic self-sufficiency.
The primary focus of the RAIS is to provide individualized programming to LPRs who entered the United States under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), were granted asylum, as well as Cuban or Haitian entrants and individuals on an SIV, to attain the skills and knowledge required for successful citizenship and to foster a sense of belonging and attachment to the United States.
Although the title of the program refers only to refugees and asylees, LPRs who entered the United States as Cuban or Haitian entrants or were admitted on an SIV are also eligible for services under this program.
This grant strives to promote long-term civic integration of those LPRs who have identified naturalization as a goal yet may need additional information and instruction to attain it.
Elements
Proposed services must include the four mandatory elements listed below:
- Development of an individual integration plan for each program beneficiary who will receive services: The intent of this requirement is to develop an integration road map for program beneficiaries who have identified naturalization as a goal, including those who are not yet ready to apply for naturalization and may require interim services to attain the skills and knowledge required for successful citizenship.
- Provision of or referral to integration services that address the specific needs identified in the program beneficiary’s individual integration plan: Grantees must offer access to a range of services designed to foster long-term integration that are tailored to the specific needs of the target population.
- Civics-based literacy instruction, civics-based ESL instruction, and citizenship instruction to provide enrolled LPRs with the skills and knowledge needed to prepare for citizenship: Based on the assessment conducted to develop the program beneficiary’s individual integration plan and student progress during the grant period, a minimum of 150 program beneficiaries should be enrolled in an appropriate instruction level. USCIS recognizes that not all individuals will be ready for placement into a high beginning citizenship class (which is the target level for USCIS-funded citizenship instruction) at the time they seek services to begin preparing for naturalization.
- Provision of free naturalization application services, within the scope of the authorized practice of immigration law: Grant recipients must provide services at no cost to the applicant to support the naturalization application submission and interview process. Naturalization application services can only be provided to program beneficiaries who have had a full assessment of their integration needs and have a completed integration plan.
Funding Information
- Available Funding for the NOFO: Approximately $1.8 million
- Projected number of Awards: Up to 6
- Period of Performance: 24 months (comprising two 1-year budget periods)
- Projected Period of Performance Start Date(s): 10/01/2021
- Projected Period of Performance End Date(s): 09/30/2023
Eligibility Criteria
The following entities are eligible to apply to this announcement:
- City or township governments
- County governments
- Independent school districts
- Indian/Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
- Indian/Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
- Indian/Native American Tribally Designated Organization
- Public/Indian Housing Authority
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS status, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public & state-controlled institutions of higher education
- Special district governments
- State governments
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=333615