Submit Applications for California Community Reinvestment Grants Program

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development is seeking applications for its California Community Reinvestment Grants Program.

Donor Name: Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

State: California

County: Selected Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 09/18/2023

Size of the Grant: $3,000,000

Grant Duration: 3 years

Details:

The mission of CalCRG program advances health, wellness, and economic justice for populations and communities harmed by the WoD.

Program Priorities

CalCRG program priorities include proposals from organizations led by individuals directly impacted by the WoD, organizations that serve formerly incarcerated individuals, and organizations placing individuals in jobs. Preference Points will be allocated to proposals that match current CalCRG program priorities.

CalCRG Program’s Priority Population

Individuals from populations and communities in California that were disproportionately impacted by the WoD represent the CalCRG program’s priority population. “The War on Drugs” refers to the effort in the United States since the 1970s to combat illegal drug use by greatly increasing penalties, enforcement, and incarceration for drug offenders. Decades of federal and state policies drastically increased funding for drug-control and enforcement agencies while imposing harsh penalties for even low-level, nonviolent drug offenses.

The WoD has disproportionately impacted communities of color, particularly low income African American/Black and Latino/Hispanic populations. For example, even though African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, and White persons use and sell marijuana at similar rates, African American/Black and Latino/Hispanic individuals have historically been arrested more frequently for marijuana violations. Harsh federal and state drug policies enacted during the WoD, such as mandatory minimum prison sentencing, three-strikes laws, and longer prison sentences for offenses involving crack cocaine compared to those involving the same amount powder cocaine6, led to the mass incarceration of people of color, decreased access to social services, loss of educational attainment due to diminished federal financial aid eligibility, prohibitions on the use of public housing and other public assistance, and the separation of families. The CalCRG program aims to be a resource to address and repair the multigenerational impacts of the WoD.

Funding Information

A total of $48,000,000 is available, of which 50 percent will be reserved for small Community-based Nonprofit Organizations that have average annual total revenue of $5,000,000 or less over the last three tax years.
Applicants may request a minimum of $600,000 up to a maximum of $3,000,000 total. The grant amount is for the entire three-year grant term, not an amount per year. In other words, a $600,000 request represents $200,000 per year for the three-year grant term. In addition, at least 75 percent of grant funds awarded must be used for direct personnel costs (wages and benefits only) for the employees (W-2 only) of the applicant that will be providing the proposed services and shall be reimbursed by the CalCRG program at a rate of 100 percent of the costs.

Eligible Services

Proposed services must fall within one or more of the funding categories below:

Job Placement (JP)
- Services geared towards placing clients in long term jobs15 that lead to economic self-sufficiency and beyond. All proposals must include purposeful and meaningful involvement in placing clients in a job. Jobs that offer various possible career pathways, opportunities for upward mobility, and work benefits like access to healthcare are preferable. Activities in connection with placing clients in a job are eligible services and considered allowable, however, job placement must be the outcome of the proposed services.
Mental Health Treatment (MHT)
- Services geared towards helping clients achieve mental well-being through either clinical or nontraditional means.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment (SUD)
- Services geared towards helping clients recover from substance use disorder through clinical or non-traditional means.
System Navigation Services (SNS)
- Services geared towards helping clients navigate and access systems to advance their economic, physical, and emotional well-being. Typically, though not exclusively, proposals for system navigation services include needs assessments that inform case management to provide clients with access to services that remove barriers and/or meet clients’ specific needs.
Legal Services to Address Barriers to Reentry (LS)
- Services are geared towards helping clients reenter society after incarceration in jail or prison.
Linkages to Medical Care (LMC)
- Services are geared towards helping clients secure medical services.

Geographic Eligibility

The CalCRG program statute requires programs and services to be provided to communities disproportionately impacted by past federal and state drug policies. In accordance with this requirement, the CalCRG program has developed the following criteria:

Services proposed by an applicant must be for communities within ANY of the following geography:

A county within California with a per capita drug related arrest rate higher than the state’s per capita drug related arrest rate. Based on data publicly available from the California Department of Justice (1980-2016), the following counties meet this requirement: Alameda, Alpine, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Merced, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba.
Census tracts that are among the highest (top 25 percent) civilian unemployment and poverty in the state (based on the 2013-2017 American Community Survey).
Census tracts that are among the highest (top 25 percent) 1-parent or nonfamily households in this state (based on the 2013-2017 American Community Survey).
Census tracts that are among the lowest (bottom 25 percent) educational attainment (non-high school graduates) in this state (based on the 2013-2017 American Community Survey).
Census tracts that have been designated in California as an Opportunity Zone

Eligibility Criteria

Local Health Departments (LHDs) – Defined as any of the 61 California-identified local government health departments with a legally appointed Health Officer.
Community-based Nonprofit Organizations (CBOs) – Defined as organizations established and focused on issues and concerns at the community level (neighborhood, city, county, region) that are representative of the populations or significant segments of the populations they provide services to in that community. They are often organized around a particular purpose or cause and tend to be grassroots in nature, working from the ground-level upward to create positive change and equity. All CBOs that apply for a grant from the CalCRG program must:
- Have been duly organized, in existence, and in good standing for at least six months prior to the date the Grant Solicitation is issued by GO-Biz;
- Be registered with the California Secretary of State’s Office, with an “Active” status9 (check SOS status here);
- Have a tax-exempt status with both the Internal Revenue Service (check IRS status here) and the California Franchise Tax Board (check FTB status here);
- Have a “Registry Status” of “Current” or “Exempt” with the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts (RCT)11 (check RCT status here);
- Have any other state or local licenses or certifications necessary to provide the proposed services (e.g., facility licensing by the Department of Health Care Services, etc.), if applicable; and
- Have a physical address in California.
Existing CalCRG program grantees – LHDs and CBOs that have a current CalCRG program grant, either as a single organization, or as part of a collaborative application, are eligible to apply only if their existing CalCRG program grant has been in effect for at least 12 months and they have expended at least 50 percent of their existing grant, as evidenced by invoices submitted and approved by the Phase 1 application deadline.