 New grant opportunities from SDFSP The U.S. Department of Education’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program (SDFSP) has announced new funding opportunities for its fiscal year 2000. Five grant competitions are underway, all with deadlines set for mid- to late spring. These grant programs are: elementary school counseling demonstration program; alternative strategies to reduce student suspensions and expulsions; middle school drug and school safety prevention coordinators; grant competition to prevent high-risk drinking and violent behavior among college students; and model alcohol and other drug prevention programs on college campuses. For each of these grant programs, please refer to the accompanying table for important deadlines. Elementary school counseling demonstration program Grants will be awarded to local education agencies to establish or expand counseling programs in elementary schools. SDFSP intends to award approximately 60 grants of $325,000 to those applicants who demonstrate the greatest need for counseling services in the schools served, propose the most innovative and promising approaches, and show the greatest potential for replication and dissemination. Alternative strategies to reduce student suspensions and expulsions In response to a national concern, this initiative will fund projects to enhance, implement, and evaluate strategies to reduce the number and duration of student suspensions and expulsions, and ensure the continued educational progress through challenging course work for students who are either suspended or expelled. Eligible applicants under this program include public and private non-profit organizations and individuals. Middle school drug and school safety prevention coordinators Continuing last year’s efforts to bring more Safe and Drug-Free Schools coordinators into the nation’s middle schools, SDFSP will be awarding approximately 140 grants, ranging from $250,000 to $400,000, under the Middle School Coordinator initiative. This program allows school districts to recruit, hire, and train full-time drug prevention and safety coordinators to improve the quality of drug and violence prevention programs in middle schools. The new coordinators supported by this grant will be responsible for identifying and assisting schools in adopting successful research-based drug and violence prevention programs, conducting needs assessments and evaluating the prevention programs. Eligible applicants are Local Educational Agencies. Grant competition to prevent high-risk drinking and violent behavior among college students SDFSP is providing $2 million dollars to assist institutions of higher education in the prevention of high-risk drinking and/or violent behavior among college students, particularly college student athletes, first-year students, or students attending two-year institutions. Funds under this initiative will be used to develop or enhance, implement, and evaluate campus-based prevention strategies. Successful applications will propose effective strategies that focus on reducing high-risk drinking among college students and/or preventing violent behavior by college students. Alcohol and other drug prevention models on college campuses Grants under this initiative will be awarded to institutions of higher education that have been using an alcohol or other drug prevention program for at least one full academic year and have proven the effectiveness of the program that they are using. Applicants will describe how intended funds will be used to maintain, improve, or further evaluate the prevention program being implemented on their respective campuses. They will also need to provide a plan to disseminate information about the prevention program to parents of prospective college students and to other colleges and universities where similar efforts may be adopted. Important dates for these grant competitions are detailed in the table on the next page. For information on all of these funding opportunities, visit the Safe and Drug-Free School Web Site. |
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