Title
National PAL’s FY 2018 Mentoring Program, funded through the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) [Award number 2018-JU-FX-0006] (NB)
The National PAL Mentoring Initiative will implement youth mentoring programs that strengthen and expand mentoring services to at-risk/high-risk youth populations, through PAL Chapters. Target youth include those who a) live in communities with high community risk factors including poverty, unemployment, violent crime, and drug/gang involvement; b) attend schools that have a high percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price meals and have high rates of absenteeism; c) are American Indian or Alaska Native; d) have one or more parents in the military; and/or e) live in rural communities. Mentors and mentees will participate in positive mentoring activities through PAL Chapters, providing greater opportunities for individual/group mentoring and academic achievement. The performance measurements for this initiative will include increasing the participating youth’s view of law enforcement, understanding of the dangers of drug and gang involvement, and increasing their perception of social support.
Explanation
The Gainesville Police Department became an affiliate chapter of the National Police Athletic League, recognized as the Reichert-BOLD Police Activities League (not an official grant-funded name) in August of 2017. We were afforded the opportunity to receive a $20,000 reimbursable Mentoring Grant later in the year, which assisted with operational funding for our program. Private funds were utilized to seed the grant, in which we successfully completed and satisfied the requirements according to the federal standards of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention through National PAL. Due to our success, we were subsequently awarded $34,200 for the next funding cycle. During this cycle, we renewed our chapter membership, renaming our chapter to the Gainesville Police Activities League to reflect our relationship with GPD and the City of Gainesville. We were successful in completing and satisfying all federal standards of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention through National PAL. In 2019, we renewed our membership in National PAL as the Gainesville Police Activities League and were subsequently awarded the Mentoring Grant again with an allocation of $25,200. The reduction is reflective of National PAL indication of an overall national reduction in all of its allocations and awards.
Fiscal Note
The grant allows funding requests for up to $25,200 for a 12-month budget and project period from March 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020. This cooperative agreement with the National Police Athletic League does not require any matching funds. The City of Gainesville would be eligible to apply for continuation funding at the end of that time, but should funding not be available, we would attempt to support similar activities through other funding sources and partnerships.
Recommendation
The City Commission authorize the City Manager to 1) apply/accept the Mentoring Initiative Grant of $25,200 from the National Police Activities League for use toward the Gainesville Police Activities League.