OJJDP: Multistate Mentoring Programs Initiative 2025 (US)

Deadline: 24-Feb-25

The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention is seeking applications for its Multistate Mentoring Programs Initiative to support the implementation and delivery of mentoring services to youth populations that are at risk or high risk for delinquency, victimization, and juvenile justice system involvement.

Mentoring services can be one-on-one, group, peer, or a combination of these types. Applicants must initiate mentoring services to youth who are 17 years old or younger at the time of admission to the program. Mentors must be an adult (age 18 or older), or in cases where peer mentoring models are being implemented, an older peer and under adult supervision.

The target population should include those youth who are at risk or high risk for delinquency or victimization and/or are involved in the juvenile justice system. For this NOFO, OJJDP defines at-risk and high-risk youth as youth who are most likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system because they possess certain risk factors in key life domain areas (i.e., individual, family, school, community); are already involved in the juvenile justice system; and/or reside in environments that have high rates of parental incarceration, community violence, drug markets, gang concentration, and failing schools.

Goal

The program’s goal is to improve outcomes (such as improved academic performance and reduced school dropout rates) for at-risk and high-risk youth, and reduce negative outcomes (including delinquency, substance misuse, and gang participation) through youth mentoring.

Objectives

Objective 1: Increase or expand reach to the number of at-risk or high-risk youth receiving mentoring services.
Objective 2: Increase or maintain the number of screened and well-trained mentors, with an emphasis on ensuring the mentors selected reflect the youth they serve.
Objective 3: Develop and implement program design enhancements that align with research and evidence on effective mentoring approaches.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding: $24,000,000
Award Ceiling: $4,000,000
Anticipated Period of Performance Duration: 36 months
The following provides additional guidance for each of the funding categories:
- Category 1: Mentoring Organizations (1 state)
  - For Category 1, the maximum amount of funding applicants can apply for is $1,000,000.
- Category 2: Mentoring Organizations (2 to 10 states)
  - For Category 2, the minimum amount of funding applicants can apply for is $1,000,000. However, OJJDP is interested in providing more robust support (up to $4,000,000) for those applicants who can demonstrate their program has the “broadest reach” across their affiliates.
- Category 3: Mentoring Organizations (11 to 44 states)
  - For Category 3, the minimum amount of funding applicants can apply for is $2,000,000. However, OJJDP is interested in providing more robust support (up to $4,000,000) for those applicants who can demonstrate their program has the “broadest reach” across their affiliates.

Expected Deliverables

Deliverables are what the applicant will create or produce under the award. The term “deliverables” as used here refers to discrete products under an award. An award may support activities (e.g., personnel time for award activities) that are part of recipient performance but are not considered deliverables. Award recipients will be expected to develop and submit the deliverables listed below in the course of implementing their proposed project.
Provide high-quality mentoring services that meet the needs associated with the target population(s) and that will reduce delinquency or other problem behaviors in at-risk youth. Applicants under all categories should identify the proposed target population(s) and explain how the proposed mentoring approach will appropriately respond to their unique needs in a way that is likely to promote positive outcomes.

Eligibility Criteria

The types of entities that are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity are listed below:
- Government Entities
- State governments
- County governments
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Native American Tribal governments (federally recognized)
- Native American Tribal governments (other than federally recognized)
- Educational Organizations
- Independent school districts
- Public- and state-controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Other
  - Units of local government
  - Native American Tribal organizations (other than federally recognized Tribal governments)
In addition to meeting the entity eligibility requirement above, applicants must also meet eligibility requirements of one of the funding categories identified below:
- Category 1: Mentoring Organizations (1 state)
  - Eligible entities are those mentoring organizations that have been in existence and providing mentoring services for at least 3 years and are currently delivering a structured, standalone mentoring program (i.e., “program x”) in one state.
- Category 2: Mentoring Organizations (2 to 10 states)
  - Eligible entities are those mentoring organizations that have been in existence and providing mentoring services for at least 3 years and are currently delivering a structured, standalone mentoring program (i.e., “program x”) in 2 to 10 states.
- Category 3: Mentoring Organizations (11 to 44 states)
  - Eligible entities are those mentoring organizations that have been in existence and providing mentoring services for at least 3 years and are currently delivering a structured, standalone mentoring program (i.e., “program x”) in 11 to 44 states.

Application Requirements

A proposal abstract (no more than 2,000 characters) summarizing the proposed project must be completed in the JustGrants web-based form. The text from abstracts will be made publicly available on the websites if the project is awarded, so this section of the application should not contain any personally identifiable information (e.g., the name of the project director).
The abstract should be in paragraph form without bullets or tables and written in the third person (e.g., they, the community, their, themselves, rather than I or they). The abstract should include the following information:
- The name of the applicant’s proposed project.
- The purpose of the proposed project (i.e., what the project will do and why it is necessary).
- Where the project will take place (i.e., the service area, if applicable).
- Who will be served by the project (i.e., who will be helped or have their needs addressed by the project).
- What activities will be carried out to complete the project.
- The subrecipient(s)/partner organizations or entities, if known.
- Deliverables and expected outcomes (i.e., what the project will achieve).

For more information, visit Grants.gov.