The Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM) is soliciting grant applications from qualified Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and private organizations serving District of Columbia residents for its FY 2024 Immigrant Justice Legal Services Grant Program (IJLS).
Donor Name: District of Columbia Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM)
State: District of Columbia
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/07/2023
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
The $3.5 million IJLS grant program will support the provision of legal services to the DC immigrant population, as well as language access services which support the legal services provided by other grantees and ensure compliance with Language Access Act requirements.
The IJLS Grant Program offers one-time grants and provisional multi-year grants to CBOs with a current and valid 501(c)(3) status, as well as private organizations, associations, and law firms that plan to mobilize pro bono talent or skilled immigration attorneys and legal professionals in order to provide immigrant justice legal services.
Funding Areas
To qualify for the IJLS grant, the applicant needs to provide services in at least one of the seven (7) funding areas listed below:
- Know Your Rights Presentations include briefings or workshops by the applicant to educate the immigrant community in Washington, DC about their legal rights and options. For the purposes of this grant, the applicant hosting the “Know Your Rights” presentation must be an attorney or an accredited representative or must collaborate with an organization that has an attorney or an accredited representative on staff who runs these presentations. If an attorney or an accredited representative is not present and running a “Know Your Rights” presentation, it will not qualify as a funded activity under the IJLS grant.
- Brief legal representations include limited scope representations, brief legal consultations, legal screenings, and making appropriate referrals to pro bono or paid counsel with little ongoing oversight for possible legal relief, for individual persons, on immigration matters such as but not limited to, review of N-400 citizenship applications or filing renewal applications and assisting with legal preparedness should a family member be detained or deported.
- Full legal representations include full representation by pro bono counsel supervised by or in conjunction with the applicant organization, or by staff or contracted attorneys and trained legal professionals, on the array of immigration matters including but not limited to helping DC residents apply for green cards, making affirmative and defensive USCIS filings, such as filing applications for S, T, U, Special Immigrant Juvenile visas and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions for DC residents or family members of DC residents; providing legal help for family reunification efforts for families with at least one DC resident such as through spousal visas, or adult children sponsoring their parents; resolving legal issues as part of preparation for green card or citizenship applications; preparing affirmative and defensive asylum applications and providing legal representation at asylum interviews and/or hearings for DC residents; representing DC residents who are in removal proceedings, including filing petitions of cancellation of removal, where such applications have a reasonable likelihood of success (e.g., for persons who are not detained for a serious criminal offense involving a crime of moral turpitude at the time representation begins), and helping address the legal issues of refugees or potential asylees in the District and District families seeking to welcome refugees or persons seeking asylum to their homes or organizations seeking to sponsor refugees or persons seeking asylum in the District.
- Protection of temporary protected status (TPS) holders in Washington, D.C.: organizing and conducting full legal campaigns to TPS holders in Washington, DC, including advocacy before federal agencies, structural litigation, as well as individual legal representation.
- Structural litigation can include filing any lawsuits that may become necessary to challenge federal practices or interpretations of immigration law that violate the rights of immigrants, with plaintiffs who are DC-resident immigrants.
- Capacity building entails building non-profit organization capacity to provide continuing legal representation to Washington, DC immigrants, and/or train and mentor pro bono attorneys to perform any of the above tasks, and otherwise build long-lasting capacity to provide legal services to the District’s immigrant population. A prominent example is an organization supporting one or more of its staff members in obtaining “Accredited Representative” status, or an organization seeking “Recognized Organization” status.
- Language Access Services involves providing culturally-competent language access services to other IJLS grantees on an as-needed basis (to the greatest feasible extent) for IJLS grantees to fulfill their grant obligations and help grantees comply with Language Access Act requirements, supplementing, if necessary, a language access program funded with other dollars. Services shall be delivered by persons trained in providing interpretation of legal documents and on legal matters, across a broad range of languages spoken by immigrants in Washington, DC. Proposals for this component will not have a capped limit, and while priority is given to the provision of legal services, the amount that will be allocated to language access services will be determined by the needs of the program on a yearly basis and available funds
Target Population
The target population for these funds is immigrants of all ages who reside in the District of Columbia and families of mixed immigration status with at least one family member in the District of Columbia, except for the final category of services targeted to IJLS grantees. Although they do not require organizational applicants to inquire as to the income of their clients, the expectation is that legal services will be delivered through this grant to persons who could not afford full-priced paid legal representation on a free or lowcost, affordable basis.
Project Period
The grant award will be for a period not to exceed 12 months, with an earliest starting date of October 1, 2023 and a closing date of September 30, 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants shall meet the following conditions in order to apply for the IJLS grant:
- The organization is a CBO with a Federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or evidence of fiscal agent relationship with a 501(c)(3) organization; or be a private entity, such as a coalition or association, that is partnering with one or more 501(c)(3) organizations;
- The organization’s principal place of business must be located in the District of Columbia; or, if a national or regional organization, it must have a location in the District through which it provides services;
- The organization must provide legal services to the DC immigrant population or collaborate with an organization and/or attorney who provides legal services to the DC immigrant population through the organizational efforts of the applicant;
- The organization must be currently registered in good standing with the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Corporation Division, and the Office of Tax and Revenue;
- All services and programming to receive funds must be provided in the District of Columbia except where a DC resident is in a detention facility outside the District; in that case, services can be rendered at the detention facility, or where someone is outside the District and seeking to reunite with District resident family members and services need to be rendered to the person outside the District; and
- Current grantees must be current on IJLS reporting obligations for the FY23 grant cycle and those reports must reflect substantial progress towards the goals of their grant agreement.
- Organizations are eligible to apply for a multi-year grant if the organization has been an IJLS grantee with satisfactory performance for at least two consecutive years. Preference will be given to applicant organizations that can demonstrate a proven track record and can innovate or excel in the following areas:
- Success in meeting or exceeding proposed deliverables under previous IJLS grants;
- Legal services delivery;
- Client success;
- Immigration law expertise;
- Connections to and trust among DC immigrant populations;
- Demonstrated ability to comply with the grant terms, including prompt communication with grant administrator requests.
For more information, visit EOM.
