Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Foundation
Funding from the Abell Foundation will support Bon Secours Baltimore Community Works’ Returning Citizens program, which is designed to help 100 returning citizens break the cycle of incarceration. All program participants will receive behavioral health assessments and financial education; 70% are expected to complete TYRO, an intensive, five-week life skills course; and 65% will be placed into jobs, occupational skills training or higher education programs.
Baltimore’s Promise, Fiscally Sponsored by Fund for Educational Excellence
The Grads2Careers initiative seeks to establish a pathway for City Schools graduates who are not enrolled in four-year colleges or universities into well paying, high-demand, and high-growth occupations in the city and region. Phase I saw the 18-21 year old population served by Grads2Careers meeting the targets of 70% enrollment, 70% completion, and 70% or more participants being placed in job or enrolling in college. On a systems level, the initiative seeks to build capacity at the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, City Schools, and with occupational skills-training providers as these various entities work together to better serve the 18-21 year old population seeking to enter the workforce directly after high school.
Baltimore Urban Debate League
The Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL) has brought debate into Baltimore’s public school classrooms over the last two decades, improving academic skills, increasing student voice and engagement, and fostering social-emotional growth. This grant supports BUDL’s elementary and middle school program, with the aim of rebounding to its pre-COVID-19 reach in schools and students served.
Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership
Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership (BRHP) was created in 2012 as a result of the settlement of the landmark civil rights lawsuit, Thompson v. HUD, which sought to remedy decades of discriminatory public housing policies that left thousands of low-income African American families perpetually locked in high poverty neighborhoods in Baltimore City. BRHP administers the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, which couples Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as “Section 8”) with pre- and post-move counseling to support families who want to move from areas of deeply concentrated poverty to areas of opportunity throughout the Baltimore region. To date, BRHP has assisted over 5,000 families to move to low poverty communities with high performing schools, low levels of crime, and healthy environments, among other benefits.
Despite the significant benefits for families who have made these moves, BRHP data shows that many of the families served have stagnant incomes. To address this concern, BRHP has designed a new program called Growing Assets and Income (GAIN). The GAIN program is modeled on the successful, federally funded Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program administered by a number of public housing authorities, which provides financial incentives to participants who achieve employment, education and other goals. Evaluations of FSS programs have found that participants had significant increases in incomes, as well as improved credit scores and reduced debt. The GAIN program builds on lessons learned from housing authorities that have implemented FSS programs.
GAIN will provide participants with counseling, resource connections, and financial incentives tied to achievement of client-created goals, all designed to support clients in achieving financial stability and self-sufficiency. This grant supports a two-year pilot of the GAIN program that will serve 250 clients.
Baltimore Police Department
Funding from the Abell Foundation will support the Baltimore Police Department’s efforts to send eight BPD leaders to the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP). SMIP is a program of the Police Executive Leadership Forum (PERF) that provides police executives with intensive training in the latest management concepts and practices used in business and government. It is designed for mid-upper level police executives who will ultimately serve in leading roles in their police agencies.