The Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink is an independent, nonprofit resource offering tools, information, and strategies to assist any community interested in participating in the U.S. Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods program.

The Institute will provide technical support for planning, identifying quality approaches, building partnerships, assessing needs, and many more essentials for successfully responding to the federal Promise Neighborhoods application.

Visit the institute at www.PromiseNeighborhoodsInstitute.org.

Update on the Promise Neighborhoods Program

Just recently, the House drastically pared down the President’s $210 million Promise Neighborhoods funding request to just $60 million – not nearly enough to help communities implement this proven, pragmatic solution to child poverty.

Last month, more than 330 communities across America – at least one from every state – submitted applications for just $10 million in federal planning grants. Many more communities need implementation dollars to help turn the lessons of the Harlem Children’s Zone into reality.

How can you help?

Meet your Senator or Representative face-to-face and tell them, "Every child deserves a Promise Neighborhood. Please fully fund this proven program."

Click here for "Recess in a Box" – a step-by-step guide on how to schedule a meeting, what to say, and how to make sure your elected official listens.

PolicyLink and HCZ

For the last two years, HCZ and PolicyLink have been partnering to develop a policy framework for a federal Promise Neighborhoods program, based on the HCZ core principles. (Email promiseneighborhoods@policylink.org to receive updates on this program.)  A memo -- Promise Neighborhoods: Recommendations for a National Children's Anti-Poverty Program Inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone -- was submitted to the Administration during Obama’s transition into the White House in December 2009. In addition a large national conference was developed due to the efforts by PolicyLink and other partners.

HCZ and PolicyLink sponsored Changing the Odds: Learning from the Harlem Children's Zone® Model, a two-day conference in November 2009, where more than 1,000 leaders from nonprofit, community, government, and philanthropic organizations participated. Participants focused on how to transform their communities by replicating the innovative HCZ model. The conference addressed issues critical for those developing a local initiative: strategic planning, creating collaborations, evaluating programs, fundraising, engaging the community, and developing a pipeline of best practice programs. The HCZ white paper, Whatever It Takes, is available for more details on the model.

Two documents have been produced by PolicyLink and partners to help direct this process; the first is Focusing on Results in Promise Neighborhoods Recommendations for the Federal Initiative, a discussion paper jointly authored by HCZ, PolicyLink, and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, with contributions by Child Trends. The paper will be useful to any community-based, community change effort. It describes how a focus on results would contribute to the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, from the planning, design, startup activities and program implementation through the evaluation of the individual sites. We welcome your feedback and comments.

The second document, Outcomes and Indicators for Children An Analysis to Inform Discussions about Promise Neighborhoods was produced by Child Trends and is a companion piece to the Focusing on Results paper. It is a synthesis of research about the factors contributing to children’s healthy development, academic success, and college graduation. It also contains a literature review and a list of references that supports the research.

With President Barack Obama calling for 20 Promise Neighborhoods based on the HCZ model, people in the field have become more eager than ever apply and implement this framework in their own communities. The President’s FY 2011 budget in the Department of Education has proposed $210 million in funding for the Promise Neighborhoods program added to the $10 million already allotted for planning grants in FY2010.

Please visit www.PromiseNeighborhoodsInstitute.org for more information.