U.S. Department of Education Awards Over $35 Million for Grants to Support Cradle-to-Career Solutions in High-Needs Communities

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced new awards totaling more than $35 million for the Promise Neighborhoods and Project Prevent grant programs.

Promise Neighborhoods grants provide coordinated support services and programs to students from low-income backgrounds at every stage of their education from early childhood through their careers. For fiscal year 2022, four new grants totaling $23 million will focus on the implementation of services in neighborhoods that have never received support through the program. These services include high-quality early childhood education; high-quality, in-school and out-of-school time opportunities; and support for student transitions at each point in their academic careers, among others supports. Additionally, two existing grantees will receive a total of $4 million to expand services and scale results in their communities.

To highlight the importance of these awards, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will visit two schools in Hazard, Kentucky that are supported by Partners for Rural Impact, one of the newest Promise Neighborhoods grantees. The Secretary will discuss the importance of strong school-based, pre-kindergarten programs that set students up for successful transitions to elementary school, secondary school, and beyond. Since its establishment in 2010, the Promise Neighborhoods program is now in 34 states with partnerships across 73 communities.

Additionally, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to prevent and reduce community violence, the Department announced nearly $8 million in new grants to 11 school districts through Project Prevent. Project Prevent provides grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) impacted by community violence to expand the capacity of LEAs to implement community- and school-based strategies to help prevent community violence and mitigate the impacts of exposure to community violence for students.

“Promise Neighborhoods support students from cradle to career by those who know them the best—their families and communities,” said Secretary Cardona. “The awards announced today will help raise the bar for supporting our children and young people by investing in better learning conditions in their own communities so they can realize their incredible potential through education—and across our nation. I’m thrilled that this year’s awards also include crucial investments in reducing the community violence that too often endangers our children, their families, and their prospect for the future. Our children deserve to learn in safe and supportive schools and communities. Ensuring they can is—and will remain—a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration.”

These announcements demonstrate the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing commitment to prevent and reduce the impact thatcommunity violence has in many of our country’s school communities each day and to provide educational resources to support ending the epidemic of community violence.

The Promise Neighborhoods New and Extension awardees are listed below:

The Project Prevent awardees are listed below: