Internet Crimes Against Children Deconfliction System Program Grant

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Internet Crimes Against Children Deconfliction System Program Grant offers assistance to organizations looking for financial help to thwart  internet crimes against kids. The Internet Crimes Against Children Deconfliction Systems (ICAC) may be able to get help from OJJJDP through its grant program. This grant will award as much as $500,000 to help construct, maintain and house an Internet Crimes Against Children Data System (IDS). The grant's purpose is to assist law enforcement investigations with child exploitations, avoid conflict on data, and enhance the ability to share information among local, state and federal ICAC task forces. This grant is available to help enhance the ability of OJJDP to collect and aggregate information on child exploitation.

Get Paid to Do Nothing

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If you are a community organizer, here is a unique chance to take some paid time off.  The Alston Bannerman Sabbatical Fellowship is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity worth $25,000 for you to take three months off for reflection and renewal.   If you are feeling burned out, this could be a great option. The fellowship is looking for community organizers of color with more than 10 years experience who work in the United States or its territories.  But there are some additional qualifications. They favor applicants whose primary job is grassroots organizing, not advocacy or providing services.  You must take three consecutive months off and not do any of your usual work.  The full list of qualifications and an application can be found here. If you think some paid rest and relaxation could help you do a better job in the future, go ahead and apply.  Applications must be postmarked by April 5, 2011.  Fellows will be selected by the end of July.

Need Help Getting Your Message Out to Kids? Enter This Contest

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Child advocacy groups are always looking for new ways to make it clear to kids how laws and public policies affect them. A unique effort debuted last fall called I Got Arrested, Now What?, which explains the workings of the juvenile justice system by following a fictional teen through his experience. It’s in comic book form and unfolds like a poster. The Center for Urban Pedagogy is ready to help other organizations that work with kids to create and produce their own messages. The Center’s Making Policy Public project wants to match advocates with graphic designers who will help them create illustrative posters to simplify complicated policies for kids.

If You’re A Social Justice Change-Maker Check Out This Grant

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If you’re a change-maker in your community and under 40 years old, there’s a $100,000 prize that may have your name on it. Grinnell College, a private liberal arts school in Iowa (yes, Iowa…keep reading), is offering $100,000 to people who’ve shown “creativity, commitment and extraordinary accomplishment in effecting positive social change.”

What’s the prize? You could win $50,000 and another $50,000 for the organization of your choice. As many as three people a year can win the Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize. As long as you were under 40 on January 1, you can apply.

National Dropout Numbers: Three Million or 11 Million? It Depends on Whom You Ask

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High school dropouts have been a national concern for decades and there have been lots of studies on why teens drop out and how to keep them in school. Now, researchers are debating how many teens have actually dropped out and the numbers vary wildly, from 3 million to a whopping 11 million teens. As JJIE.org reported last month, the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics released a report in December documenting that about 3 million 16 to 24-year-olds were not in high school and did not have a high school diploma. The Center did not include dropouts with a GED or dropouts who were institutionalized. Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies used the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and estimates a much higher number: 6.2 million.

School District Rejects Federal Grant Money, Claiming Race to the Top Doesn’t Work

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Times are hard for school systems across the country, so why is the Jones County school district, refusing $1.3 million in Race to the Top federal funds? The school system, located southeast of Atlanta, claims the funding comes with stipulations, requiring that over half the money ($900,000) be spent on paying teachers based on merit, according to WMAZ-TV. The school board voted unanimously to reject the funds. The money was too targeted and restrictive to help the district, Superintendant William Mathews told the TV station. Mathews also explained that research does not show that paying teachers based on merit works.

Grant Provides Lawyers for Kids Fighting Deportation

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Every year, immigration officials discover more than 8,000 children who’ve come to the states unaccompanied. These kids have to figure out how to find and pay for their own lawyers while facing deportation. Microsoft has partnered with actress Angelina Jolie to grant $3 million to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization based in Washington, D.C. that helps young people who are facing the immigration system alone. KIND has helped almost 1,900 kids originating from more than 35 countries in the past year.  More than 1,900 attorneys have received training from KIND in an effort to build a national pool of lawyers for unaccompanied kids in the U.S.

For the full news release, click here.

Need Money? Who Doesn't! Learn How to Get Grants

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The Grantseeker Training Institute will hold a five day course to help grant seekers in Atlanta on November 15- 19, 2010. The session is designed to help you find funding for your non profit, develop a strategy to raise money, learn how to request a grant, and network with other non-profit organizations.  Over the course of the five days attendees will learn how to gain financial stability, recruit members who can help raise funds, search for funders, learn how to write a winning grant proposal, and budget to meet specific interests. The cost per person to attend all five days is $795. JJIE.org has a running list of grant opportunities, with deadlines, that is updated regularly.  click here. Keep up to date on conferences and events.  click here

Early Warning System For Kids At Risk

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The Annenberg Institute for School Reform is looking for six school districts nationwide to develop and test College Readiness Indicator Systems. The goal is to identify students in danger of dropping out of high school as early as the 9th grade. Researchers plan to create an early warning system using attendance patterns, grades, suspensions and other factors to predict which students are on track, and get help for students who are at risk of dropping out. The project is funded by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Each school will also work with the John Gardner Center at Stanford University to focus on college and career readiness. Contact the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University:  401-863-7990

Fighting Underage Drinking

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More than $20 million has been awarded to states nationwide to help combat underage drinking, according a news release from the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP). The federal grant money supports law enforcement, public education and other alliances that deal with young people and is being awarded through a program called Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws. Every territory and state, as well as the District of Columbia, has received $356,400 to go toward activities that hold adults accountable when they provide alcohol to minors. Here's the full news release from the OJP.