This is the second year that the County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board has designated $750,000 for new, targeted prevention funding.  Drawing from the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for Summit County High School (PDF) and Middle School (PDF) students, the Board is requesting proposals in three areas:

1.    Out of School Time Programming: Award up to $115,000 each (total allocation $325,000), for the implementation of programs that impact the key categories of the America’s Promise pledge, with priority given to three promises selected as areas of focus at Summit Education Initiative’s “Their Success is Our Success” event in January, 2015:  Caring Adults, Effective Education, and Safe Places.  The programs should include afterschool and summer programming. 

2.    Youth-Led Prevention/Youth Peer Support: Awards of up to $50,000 each (total allocation $325,000) in 2016 funding for youth-led prevention activities or support groups/programs for youth dealing with the effects of substance use or mental health disorders in their environment. 

3.    School-Based Mini Grants: Awards of up to $2,500 total allocation $100,000) in 2016 funding for individual school buildings.  District wide and multi-building projects can be considered for a higher allocation. Research shows that there is a positive relationship between parental school involvement and academic achievement among youth . These funds are to be used to support efforts to help address family engagement within schools, Preference will be given to areas identified that were not previously funded through this process in 2015 and those identified at highest risk based on YRBS data. These funds can be used to develop new programs or expand existing ones. While funds can be used to expand current initiatives, they cannot be used to supplant existing funding of those programs.  Eligibility is limited to Summit County School districts.

Funding guidance, eligibility requirements, programmatic examples, and submission templates are available here.  

An entity may apply for more than one programming area but each submission must be completed separately for scoring purposes. The deadline for proposals is no later than close of business April 22, 2016. 

For more information please contact Beth Kuckuck, Children’s Program Coordinator.