King County Grant Opportunity: Career Pathways for Youth Affected by Gun Violence
On Monday, March 20th, the King County Office of Performance, Strategy, and Budget launched the Career Pathways for Youth Affected by Gun Violence grant program. This opportunity is funded with $1 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support a gun violence prevention grant program in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Violent crime and gun violence are public health challenges that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. King County seeks to fund data-informed, community-focused violence deterrence/intervention programs for youth ages 12-28 who have been directly or indirectly affected by gun violence. The Scope of Work has two focus areas:
- Positive Identity Development
We engage in liberation and sovereignty when we pursue the restoration of our historical narrative and heritage, and foster reconnection to ancestors and cultural community. This is especially the case for Black and Indigenous folks who were ripped from their ancestral lands and culture, forced into widescale human trafficking and enslavement, and suffered genocide over the course of hundreds of years. It is important to rebuild and reinforce young people?s sense of heritage and its intersections with community. This is fundamental for young people to better understand who they are, and establish a strong sense of self-worth, voice, acceptance, and belonging. These are building blocks for aspirations, caring for others, confidence to follow and lead, and benefit from our economic ecosystem.
- Economic Strengthening and Solvency
This RFP is also intended to create economic opportunities that contribute to the underlying determinants of success and well-being including access to quality education, housing, and health. When our young people see their value AND are able access viable opportunities, it cultivates aspirations and drives their ambitions, which can in turn feed their overall sense of confidence and outlook on their lives. Equitable access to suitable resources includes removing institutional and systemic barriers. Thus, this RFP is partly about forging attainable and sustainable pathways of success for young people and their families that go beyond temporary employment solutions.
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Services for young people should include building relationships, providing intentional guidance, and connecting to resources related primarily to experiences that advance economic self-determination and prosperity, positive identity, and self-worth for young people (and their families). Examples of this would include paid trainings, certification, and job shadowing; paid internships; civic and business leadership development; career and ownership/stewardship mentoring; culturally reflective mental health and well-being supports; teaching life adaptive skills to thrive, and so on.
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