Funding Opportunities

Girls on swing The Government of the District of Columbia (the District) is committed to supporting students in preparing for a bright future. In service of that commitment, the District seeks to award and support the equitable distribution of grants to diverse organizations that provide children and youth with high-quality out-of-school time (OST) programming. To make that possible, the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Office), located in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME), works with an external grantmaking partner that will award and administer funds on behalf of the OST Office. The OST Office, with guidance from the Commission on Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Commission), is responsible for deciding the purpose and priorities of each grant competition.

Fiscal Year 2024 Grant Competitions Summary

The Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Office) located in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) thanks all organizations that applied for the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Out of School Time grant competitions, inclusive of School Year 2023-2024 (SY23-24). Altogether, there were 129 submitted applications. The quality of the applications made for a highly competitive process. The number of excellent programs and organizations that applied was impressive and we appreciate and recognize the contributions of every organization for their continued work with children and youth across the District of Columbia. FY24 grant competitions are funded with a combination of local funds and funds transferred from OSSE through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER III) and local subsidy dollars.

Highlights

In total, up to $22.1 million will be awarded to 121 organizations that propose to provide services to over 15,000 District of Columbia children and youth during the upcoming grant period.
Of the total:
- $1,912,476 may be awarded to up to 20 organizations receiving SY23-24 OST grants. These organizations propose to serve approximately 1,725 youth.
- $100,324 may be awarded to up to 3 organizations receiving SY23-24 Small Nonprofit OST grants. These organizations propose to serve approximately 55 youth.
- $16,966,058 may be awarded to up to 81 organizations receiving FY24 Year-Round OST grants. These organizations will provide afterschool programs and summer 2024 camps, and they propose to serve approximately 11,064 youth.
- $800,860 may be awarded to up to 14 organizations receiving FY24 Small Nonprofit Year-Round OST grants. These organizations will provide afterschool programs and summer 2024 camps, and they propose to serve approximately 634 youth.
- $661,500 may be awarded to up to 4 organizations receiving FY24 Coordinating Entity Year-Round OST grants. These organizations will provide afterschool programs and summer 2024 camps, and they propose to serve approximately 655 youth.
- $500,000 may be awarded to up to 1 organization receiving the FY24 STEM Mentorship Year-Round OST grant. The organization will provide afterschool and summer mentoring services, and they propose to serve approximately 100 youth.
- $400,000 may be awarded to up to 1 organization receiving the FY24 Students in the Care of DC Year-Round OST Coordinating Entity grant. The organization will provide out-of-school time and summer programming, and they propose to serve approximately 260 youth.
- $750,000 may be awarded to up to 1 organization receiving the FY24 Scholarships for OST Programs Year-Round grant. The organization will provide scholarships for afterschool programs and summer 2024 camps, and they propose to award scholarships to approximately 200 youth.
Eleven (11) organizations are new grantees that were not funded in FY23 by the OST Office.
The OST Office announced the FY24 Out of School Time grant competitions on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, and the FY24 Out of School Time Special Competition grant competitions on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.

Important Considerations:

Awardees will have 48 hours after school year award notices are made, to communicate their acceptance of the award to the OST Office.
Once all applicants respond confirming their acceptance or rejection of the grant award, the total number of grantees, total dollar amount of funding awarded, and the number of youth served for each competition will be adjusted as necessary.

View the complete Grant Competition Summary here.

FY24 Out of School Time Bridge Request for Applications (RFA)
RFA Release Date: Friday, August 18, 2023
Applications Due Date: Friday, September 8, 2023, by 5:00 pm EST

The Bowser Administration and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education's (DME), and the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Office) are excited to announce the release of the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) OST Bridge Program Grant Competition. The FY24 OST Bridge Program is a special out-of-school-time (OST) competition that was designed in response to concerns demonstrated by OST providers over the new dosage models outlined in the previously launched FY24 OST RFA. Developed in collaboration with impacted OST providers, this competition serves as a temporary bridge for organizations that are unable to meet the updated and higher dosage rate minimum requirements in FY24. As the OST Office aims to provide greater coverage and make better use of District resources, this competition offers one year (FY24) of support for awarded organizations to continue their previously established programming whilst simultaneously working towards adjusting their program models in order to meet the minimum dosage requirements established by the OST Office, which align with evidence-based best practices for OST programs. Given the updated OST Office dosage requirements, priority will be given to applicants that did not apply for the previous FY24 OST competitions. Funding for this Bridge Competition will be available for one fiscal year only, to support OST providers’ transition to the updated dosage model. One application per organization will be accepted in response to this RFA.

The FY24 OST Bridge RFA invites high-performing, fiscally responsible, nonprofits that focus on youth development and serve school-aged children and youth with OST programs to apply. Organizations applying to the OST Bridge competition may request up to $21 per youth served per total hours of program service, not to exceed the total grant amounts allowed, as follows:

School Year: Organizations applying to serve as an OST Bridge Program during the school year may request up to $40,000.
Year-round: Organizations applying to serve as an OST Bridge Program year-round (school year and summer) may request up to $60,000.

Grant funds may only be used to serve K-12 youth who reside in the District of Columbia. Please see FY24 OST Bridge RFA for more information. The scoring rubric can be found here.

Grant applications and attachments must all be submitted through Cityspan at Learn24RFA.cityspan.com. Applicants must first create an account in Cityspan. Successfully submitted applications will receive a confirmation email from Cityspan upon receipt of submission. If a confirmation is not received, contact [email protected] within 24 hours from the time of submission. Applications that do not receive a confirmation will not be reviewed.

Late (at or after 5:01 pm on September 8, 2023), incomplete, paper or emailed applications will not be considered for any reason, inclusive of due to technical difficulties/challenges. Applicants are highly encouraged to apply early and to avoid waiting until 5:00 pm to submit applications. All funding decisions are final and are not subject to review, appeal, or protest.

Grant Technical Assistance

Grant Information Session: The OST Office hosted a virtual information session to provide an overview and answer questions related to the RFA on Wednesday, August 23, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm. See presentation from info session here.

Questions

Questions regarding the FY24 OST Bridge RFA must be submitted via email to [email protected]. Questions and answers will be published beginning Monday, August 21, 2023. Once published, the questions and answers will be updated regularly as questions are received through Wednesday, August 30, 2023. Responses to questions will be provided through the document within 72 hours of receipt, except on weekends. Questions and answers can be found at FY24 Out of School Time Grants Q&A.

FY24 OST Special Competitions

The Office of OST has launched a request for applications for the following three special grant competitions for FY24:

The OST Office seeks one partner to manage the entirety of each of the special competitions. While organizations may apply for more than one special competition at a time, only one special competition grant may be accepted per organization. For more information, please review the guidance and RFAs for each competition below.

All applications and required attachments must be submitted through Cityspan at Learn24RFA.Cityspan.com

Training Video - Completing the FY24 OST Application in Cityspan

FY24 College & Career Mentorship Out of School Time Program RFA

RFA Release Date: May 31, 2023

Applications Due Date: June 30, 2023, by 5:00 pm EST

This RFA seeks to fund one nonprofit with a history of supporting mentoring programs to manage the FY24 College and Career Mentorship Program. The goal of the College and Career Mentorship Program is to increase access to and participation in college and career mentoring programs for youth ages 11-18 who are in grades 6-12. The mentorship program will provide college and/or career-focused mentoring opportunities for youth through one-on-one (1:1) or group (1:4) mentoring. Please see the FY24 College and Career Mentorship OST RFA and accompanying Scoring Rubric below:

FY24 Students in the Care of DC Out of School Time Program - Coordinating Entity

RFA Release Date: May 31, 2023

Applications Due Date: June 30, 2023, by 5:00 pm EST

This RFA seeks high-performing, fiscally responsible, non-profits to apply for this grant competition. Organizations applying must demonstrate (1) experience managing and coordinating enrichment or youth programming, (2) experience managing subcontractors or willingness to work with subcontractors, (3) ability to implement evidence-based practices that support positive youth development, and (4) experience working in a secure facility. This RFA is being offered in partnership with SCDC. Please see the FY24 Students in the Care of DC OST Program RFA and accompanying Scoring Rubric below:

FY24 Scholarships for Out of School Time Program - Coordinating Entity RFA

RFA Release Date: May 31, 2023

Applications Due Date: June 30, 2023, by 5:00 pm EST

This RFA seeks to fund one nonprofit with a history of supporting scholarship programs to manage the FY24 Scholarships for Out of School Time Program. The goal of the FY24 Scholarships Program is to increase access to and participation in OST programs for students with specific needs. These needs are not met through the over 90 organizations funded by the OST Office (Learn24). Please see the FY24 Scholarships for OST Program RFA and the accompanying Scoring Rubric below:

FY24 Out of School Time Request for Applications (RFA)

RFA Release Date: May 17, 2023

Applications Due Date: June 30, 2023, by 5:00 pm EST

The FY24 Out of School Time RFA invites high-performing, fiscally responsible, nonprofits that focus on youth development and serve school aged children and youth with OST programs to apply. Organizations applying must serve youth with a positive development approach. Grant funds may only be used to serve children and youth who reside within the District of Columbia. Please see the FY24 OST RFA and accompanying Scoring Rubrics below:

Learn24 OST Youth Scholarship Program

Looking for fun activities for your child to do this summer? Activity Scholarships for DC Students are now available through Learn24’s OST Youth Scholarship Program.

The Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes is excited to partner with the Greater Washington Community Foundation to help provide OST programs to students with specific needs. Examples of programs that the scholarship may support include, but are not limited to, programs designed specifically for students with disabilities, advanced learners, and English Language Learners. Individuals not considered at-risk may also be eligible to receive a scholarship based on the need and availability of funding.

Scholarships of up to $10,000 are available for individual students for use in approved OST activities in the calendar year 2023. The minimum scholarship award is $1,000. Applications has been

For more information, please click here.

Fiscal Year 2023 Safe Passage, Safe Blocks Request for Applications (RFA) - Special Application

The Fiscal Year 2023 Safe Passage Safe Blocks (SPSB) RFA - special application invites nonprofits with strong fiscal infrastructure with a history of managing federal funds to apply. In addition, nonprofits that have strong relationships with the community, and have experience providing youth programs should apply. The RFA seeks to support nonprofits to scale and build SPSB programs in designated Safe Passage Priority Areas. The SPSB programs will place trained adults on identified safe routes for students as they travel to and from school, in libraries, and to participate in occasional District-wide violence prevention efforts and will provide an afterschool program offering mediation and conflict resolution skill-building at each school within the priority area. The SPSB program will also support schools, school staff, students, and SPSB staff in building and strengthening community relationships. The OST Office anticipates awarding grants totaling up to $920,000 in total awards for the duration of FY23 to service-specific areas. The deadline to apply is closed.

Fiscal Year 2023 Request for Applications as Subcontractor to Summer Strong Coordinating Entities Grantees for Programming at DC Housing Authority and/or Department of Human Services Sites for Summer 2023

The Government of the District of Columbia (the District) is committed to supporting District children and youth in preparing for a bright future. In service of that commitment, the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Office) released a Summer Strong Coordinating Entities 2023 Request for Application, which closed on January 9, 2023. The Summer Strong 2023 Coordinating Entity grantees are slated to be announced by the OST Office in March 2023.

The OST Office releases this Request for Applications as Subcontractor (RFA Sub) in an effort to assist the CEs in selecting high-quality subcontractors (vendors). All selections will be made by the CEs themselves. Vendors will be selected based solely on information supplied in this application. The RFA Sub is intended for any local business, nonprofit, or individual interested in providing direct programming for children and youth ages 5 –17 (Grades K-12) with an engaging, fun, and educational camp experience. DCHS and DHS sites have not yet been identified and will be determined by the CEs as Summer 2023 approaches. Vendors may apply to offer the same program services (e.g. curriculum, content, or activities) at multiple locations within one application. A separate application is required for additional program services.

Vendors may request to offer to program to a specific age group or target population and must describe the population they wish to serve. Applicants must ensure and maintain an adult-to-participant ratio of at least 1:15 at all times. The deadline to apply has closed. The application will be submitted through the link below and documents will be uploaded separately. The CE will notify selected vendors by the end of May 2023.

Fiscal Year 2023 Students in the Care of DC Out of School Time Coordinating RFA

The 2023 Students in the Care of DC Out of School Time Coordinating RFA invites high-performing, fiscally responsible, non-profits to apply for this grant competition. Organizations applying must demonstrate (1) experience managing and coordinating enrichment or youth programming, (2) experience managing subcontractors or willingness to work with subcontractors, (3) ability to implement evidence-based practices that support positive youth development, and (4) experience working in a secure facility.

This RFA is being offered in partnership with SCDC. The intent of this RFA is to select one coordinating entity that will manage a high-quality OST program and manage subcontractors to provide evidence-based educational, social, emotional, and physical health opportunities and activities for students experiencing incarceration. Organizations applying must serve youth through a positive youth development approach.OST Office anticipates awarding one grant of up to $420,000 to coordinate the OST program at DC facility. Applicants may request up to $420,000.The deadline to apply has closed.

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