Banner ad


Home

Obama's Promise Neighborhoods and Los Angeles

June 7, 2010
 		 Printer-friendly version
When he took office, President Barack Obama set in motion the delivery of his promise to create a social service model inspired by the famed Harlem Children's Zone in 20 communities throughout the country. Last month, the Department of Education Promise Neighborhood Initiative began accepting letters of "intent to apply," challenging universities and nonprofit organizations throughout the country to submit a plan to create a cradle-to-college education "with a full network of supportive services" through a place-based approach.

Letters of interest have now been submitted and the full application is due June 22 of this month. And for Los Angeles County agencies the anticipation is building. L.A. County is one of the largest and most complex regions in the country, with more than 88 cities, almost 3,000 nonprofit organizations, and close to 18 percent of people living below the federal poverty line -- making it a prime target for a Promise Neighborhood, but also a difficult one in which to coordinate services. 

To help facilitate a coordinated approach to the application process, a group of public sector organizations (including LAUSD, LACOE, L.A. City Mayors Office, etc.), called the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhoods Public Sector Workgroup, has organized meetings to explore ways in which the county's public and private organizations can work together to support strong PNI application from the region.

Also lending support to a coordinated application approach is a consortium of key L.A. County-based foundations -- including The California Endowment, the Annenberg Foundation and others -- called the L.A. Promise Neighborhood Ad Hoc Task Force. As part of its efforts, the Annenberg Foundation, which also funds the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), invited the HCZ founder Geoffrey Canada, to give the Task Force recommendations on how best to approach the application process.

As of the 28th of May, 16 L.A. County agencies and universities have submitted a letter of intent and are now in the final stretch of the application process. Canada had recommended collapsing the applications to provide only one from the L.A. County region, but given the complexities of the area, it is still unclear how many applications eligible L.A. County organizations will submit.

For more information about the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, click here for an online blog and resource titled Building Neighborhoods. For more information about the L.A. County Promise Neighborhoods Public Sector Workgroup contact Ruben Gonzales at rubengnzls@aol.com.

‹‹Back to this week's Monday Morning Report
 

Comments

Fri, 06/11/2010 - 09:01 — kkurutz

First 5's Involvement

First 5 LA is not eligible to apply for the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative as eligible entities are nonprofits and institutions of higher education, however we are hopeful that a competitive application surfaces from Los Angeles County.
Tue, 06/08/2010 - 02:40 — Anonymous

First 5's Involvement

What is First 5 LA doing on its own to address the request for a letter of intent? Are you putting one together yourselves?

Post new comment