The need for youth programs that provide learning, mentoring and social-emotional support to students and young adults has never been greater, but COVID-19 has significantly impacted the ability of many nonprofits to keep their doors open. The Washington State Department of Commerce is partnering with School’s Out Washington to distribute approximately $9 million in state Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to respond to the impact of COVID-19 by supporting programs serving school age kids and young adults facing the most significant challenges to educational and economic opportunity.
“COVID-19 is straining individuals, families and communities in profound ways,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “Many community-based nonprofits are trusted places for young adults and parents seeking safe, healthy support systems for their children. These groups have been working to address inequity and disparities in the same communities where the COVID-19 crisis threatens to widen existing disparities.”
Gov. Jay Inslee directed state CARES Act funds to the Department of Commerce to help with COVID-19 relief efforts across Washington. The agency has distributed more than $700 million in CARES funding in support of local governments, tribes, nonprofits, housing relief and business recovery.
“The COVID-19 outbreak, extended school closures and social distancing have deepened inequities and hardships for children and youth across Washington state,” said School’s Out Washington executive Director Elizabeth Whitford. “During the pandemic, youth development programs have quickly adapted their services to provide responsive supports for youth and families, and they have also been particularly impacted by the financial and programmatic challenges that have come with COVID-19.”
Working with stakeholders and partnering with local organizations, School’s Out Washington developed application criteria and will award grants between $10,000 – $50,000, based on the organization’s 2019 budget. Priority consideration will be given to programs that serve youth with lower access to educational opportunity and whose leaders are reflective of the populations they serve.
A call for reviewers from communities around the state is needed to evaluate proposals on a regional basis to make awards by November 2020.
More details regarding this opportunity, and how to apply for a grant or to become a reviewer, are available at: http://youthdevrelief.schoolsoutwashington.org/
Youth development includes three primary types of programs: 1) expanded learning opportunities (ELOs) such as afterschool and summer programs, 2) mentoring, and 3) wrap-around services that connect youth with social-emotional and non-academic supports integrated within a school setting. Youth development programs emphasize the importance of meeting young people where they are – physically, academically, socially and emotionally – to help them build the relationships, competencies, and confidence they need to reach their full potential.
These funds are separate from the grants announced last week by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for organizations working with school districts to support school-based learning for the duration of this school year.
Additional relief for child care providers may be announced in the coming days from the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
Here Rand Paul points out to Dr. Fauci some forgotten history about lock-down is that no one intended for [or believed it would] save any lives. The quarantine was designed to spread out the deaths. Sweden is invoked.
https://youtu.be/UZ4K6AC2XFA
Matt, so far it has saved mine!
Darrol, that is only true if you can show you would have gotten Covid without the lockdown. Even if we had of stayed more open than Sweden there is a very good chance you personally would have never gotten sick.
Also unless you have had an accurate antibody test that came back negative yesterday you might be one of the large number of unreported people to get it and have no symptoms. There are cases of even 90 year olds getting Covid and recovering without any noticeable signs.
Anthony, you’re right in again. Dr. Giesecke’s whole thesis was that anyone who didnt get infected would only be delaying when they got infected to this winter. It was prudent to flatten the curve under the original assumptions (2.2 million deaths) and a static healthcare availability (hospital beds, reperators where actually increased dramatically). Both assumptions were way off. Now we’re all going into winter. The Swedes (unlike the other Scandinavian countries) have huge senior centers and their government admits they didnt adequately protect them in the beginning. Now the are among the lowest for infection rates. I read a story written by a dual citizen there, and he said coronavirus isnt even in the news very much as they all feel as though it’s past. They bet correctly.
AA and Matt, you guys are always trying to advance ideas that may will be correct, but the 12 people who died at the care giving place in Edmonds would likely still be alive if we had locked the doors earlier. I know I am safer by staying away from other people and it makes my blood pressure lower because I THINK I am safer.
Yes the original lock down plan was targeted to spread the cases over time so we did not have to go to a field hospital to find a venerators. So please stop telling me what You want me to know. I know I am better off by staying away from others. I know people who died and I am glad I stayed away from them when they were sick.
Listening to what others say sometimes raises my BP. That could kill me so I will just read this kind of stuff at a slow pace and not let it upset me. Stay well and Matt is trying to catch CV so I will definitely will stay my distance from him the next time I see him! If I do see him I will ask him to put on mask or a hood or a helmet. I am hopeful he will indulge me and do what I ask.
Darrol, it’s my fault the point might not be well made. The science behind Sweden is that because of the quarantine, and because a vaccine isn’t going to be available, then we need to rely on our individual immune systems and herd immunity to save lives. Our individual immune systems are compromised because of the reverse-quarantine, and this winter could turn out to be a bad flu season because we’re all like bubble-boys at the moment. Even if the vaccine is our end game, it’s not here and we need some level of herd immunity as a stop gap to say the least. Again, the reverse-quarantine works against herd-immunity. Also, Sweden faults themselves for not sequestering their seniors soon enough. That has really nothing to do with masks or restaurants. Sequestering seniors maybe is a good thing to do for the seasonal flu and people could argue the life-saving advantages of that idea in that context as well. Isn’t it the best policy to open the economy up, get herd immunity, *and* sequester seniors?
Darrol, A friend of mine had to go get tested for CV because the military base where he is stationed had a confirmed case. He went in to get tested and they discovered he has extreme blood pressure and other conditions he didn’t know about until he was seen by a doctor. If causality could be loosely applied, we could say coronavirus likely saved his life.
Sweden’s Johan Giesecke was just promoted to a chief epidemiologist in the WHO:
https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-herd-immunity-mastermind-who-promotion-1529111
Dr. Neil Ferguson, who predicted 2.2 million deaths in the US which kicked off the quarantine has been fired by the WHO for breaking his own quarantine rules to have an affair. If causality where really objective, Ferguson would have been let go for being so horribly wrong, not for getting strange.