APTS Grant Center Funding Newsletter July 2010
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Join the APTS Grant Center Conference Call on Health Funding
Private Funding Sources for Health Initiatives
Congratulations New Hampshire Public Television!
Summary of APTS Grant Center Webinar on Datacasting
Share Your Success Stories With Us
Open Federal Funding Opportunities
Join the APTS Grant Center Conference Call on Health Funding
Health is a hot topic these days and stations are doing great work in health outreach, education and training. Join us for a conference call to learn more about what your colleagues are doing in this area and their success securing funding for health initiatives. We will also provide an overview of the federal health funding landscape and highlight upcoming opportunities from the Department of Health and Human Services.
We will record the call and post it to our website for those who are unable to attend.
Private Funding Sources for Health Initiatives
Funding for health care has long been a major priority for foundations. According to the Foundation Directory, 10,006 foundations have, collectively, made nearly 97,000 grants to health care since 2003. What's more, the nation's largest foundations regularly put substantial amounts of funding into the field. A 2009 survey of 1,339 large foundations showed that they pumped some $4,910,707,000 into health care grants in 2007 alone – making health the second largest giving area, next to education.
Network New Hampshire Now Partnership Receives $44.5 Million NTIA Broadband Grant
The APTS Grant Center congratulates New Hampshire Public Television (NHPTV) for their role in the Network New Hampshire Now’s (NNHN) success securing a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The $44.5 million grant will be matched with $22 million in private cash and in-kind funding. NNHN will expand broadband in all 10 counties in New Hampshire and also includes a wireless public safety network, connectivity for an intelligent transportation system, and last mile “fiber to the home” in two communities. The largest component is a middle mile fiber network that connects and supports the entire program, including connecting dozens of community anchor institutions, such as healthcare providers, community colleges, schools and libraries.
This grant will enhance New Hampshire Public Television’s service delivery in a number of ways. First, it will update NHPTV’s entire signal delivery and remote monitoring system from the Broadcast Center in Durham to all its transmitter sites. It will support the equipment necessary to deliver mobile datacasting (high speed data delivery to public safety vehicles utilizing NHPTV’s digital TV signal) and mobile TV from all five NHPTV transmitter sites. It also will provide capacity to connect NHPTV studios with key sites around the state. NHPTV’s Director of Technology Brian Shepperd had a key role in developing the NH Broadband Action Plan, and he will serve as the project manager for the $6 million microwave portion of the NNHN grant.
Congratulations New Hampshire Public Television!
Summary of APTS Grant Center Webinar on Datacasting
On Thursday, June 24, 2010, the APTS Grant Center held a webinar about funding opportunities for datacasting. We were pleased to have Tom Axtell, General Manager of Vegas PBS, and Mark O’Brien, Executive Vice President of SpectraRep, leading the discussion.
O’Brien discussed the unique opportunity for public television stations to become involved in datacasting, specifically in the realm of public safety. Public television stations can use the over-the-air broadcasting capabilities they already have to improve public safety systems in their communities. Datacasting through digital television is an information transmittal system that is better than what is being used in most places. O’Brien pointed out that currently, one of the biggest challenges facing public safety officials is access to bandwidth. Public safety officials in many areas cannot send more data than a text message and are paying for increased service from national providers, like AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, but they still do not have adequate bandwidth capacity. By using digital television bandwidth, public safety officials can greatly increase their capacity to send information. Any information that can be viewed on a computer can be broadcast over the television signal. This data can be sent to specific computers and is secure, targeted and encrypted. Many communities rely on cell phone service to communicate information in times of disaster, but that service is much less reliable and more susceptible to congestion and breakdown than datacasting over the television signal.
After O’Brien discussed the basics of datacasting, Axtell described the datacasting project that Vegas PBS implemented with the help of SpectraRep. Vegas PBS worked with the Las Vegas Police Department to develop a datacasting program that can transmit information about schools in Las Vegas. Vegas PBS sends a targeted datacast to the computers that are in each Las Vegas police car. The datacast includes maps and blueprints of schools, evacuation maps, student information and other data that is critical for the safety personnel who will respond to an emergency in schools. The police computers receive this information from an antenna, and emergency responders can use the data to make informed decisions about how to respond. The system is easy to use and was created with the input of public safety officials. The webinar includes a brief demo of the Vegas PBS program.
Federal funding is available for stations to develop their datacasting capabilities, but the opportunities are not through the agencies with which public broadcasting stations typically interact. The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency both sponsor grant programs that provide funding to public safety entities. Public television stations are more likely to be funded if they form strong partnerships before applying, as applications that demonstrate multiple entities working together are more desirable to funding agencies. A list of grant programs that support datacasting initiatives, as well as tips for applying, is available for download from the APTS Grant Center.
Public television stations have bandwidth capability that is highly desirable to public safety officials, and using that bandwidth for datacasting can deeply impact communities and provide an opportunity for public television stations to expand their reach and influence. To listen to the webinar and access relevant resources, please visit the Grant Center website.
Share Your Success Stories With Us!
Did your station receive a grant? Has the APTS Grant Center been helpful to your station in achieving its funding goals? How can we improve our service? Please let us know by clicking here and telling us your story.
Open Federal Funding Opportunities
Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities
Carol M. White Physical Education Program
Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities-Television Access
Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Formula Grant Program
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Communities
Full-Service Community Schools Program
High School Graduation Initiative
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education
The Arts on Radio and Television
Archives-Detailed Processing Projects
Grant: Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
Deadline: July 14, 2010
The purposes of this program are to help address state-identified needs for highly qualified personnel – in special education, related services, early intervention and regular education – to work with children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities and to ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research and experience, to be successful in serving those children.
Grant: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – Early Learning Mentor Coaches
Agency: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Division: Administration for Children & Families, Office of Head Start
Deadline: July 19, 2010
Funds from this program are available to current Head Start and Early Head Start grantees to support Early Learning Mentor Coaches who will provide on-the-job guidance, coaching, training and technical assistance to classroom teaching staff, home visitors and family child care providers who work in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The goal of the Coaching Initiative is to improve the quality of teaching, assist programs to promote positive, significant and sustained outcomes for children and promote career development for teaching staff working in Head Start programs.
Grant:Carol M. White Physical Education Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Deadline: July 19, 2010
The Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) provides grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to initiate, expand and improve physical education for students in grades K-12. Applicants are required to develop, expand or improve existing physical education programs and address State physical education standards by undertaking instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition and physical fitness activities.
Grant: Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities – Television Access
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
Deadline: July 19, 2010
The purposes of the Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities program are to improve results for children with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration and use of technology, support educational media services activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom setting to children with disabilities and provide support for captioning and video description that are appropriate for use in the classroom setting.
Grant: PBI Formula Grant Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Postsecondary Education
Deadline: Phase 1: July 21, 2010; Phase 2: August 20, 2010
Through the Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Formula Grant Program, the Department of Education makes grant awards to predominantly black institutions of higher education to enhance and expand educational opportunities for students at institutions recognized as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s).
Grant: Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Communities
Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Division: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Deadline: July 21, 2010
The purpose of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Communities (REACH CORE) program is to support local communities to strategically organize to implement and evaluate evidence-based policy, system and environmental change interventions that eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities in chronic diseases.
Grant: Full-Service Community Schools Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Innovation and Improvement
Deadline: July 23, 2010
The Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program, which is funded under the Fund for the Improvement of Education, encourages coordination of academic, social, and health services through partnerships between public elementary and secondary schools, the schools’ local educational agencies (LEAs), and community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations and other public or private entities.
Grant: The High School Graduation Initiative
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Deadline: July 28, 2010
The High School Graduation Initiative awards grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and state educational agencies (SEAs) to support the implementation of effective, sustainable and coordinated dropout prevention and reentry programs in grades six through 12 in schools that have dropout rates that are above the state average and in middle schools that feed into such schools.
Grant: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) – Comprehensive Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Division: Office of Postsecondary Education
Deadline: July 29, 2010
The Comprehensive Program of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education supports innovative grants and cooperative agreements to improve postsecondary education. It supports reforms, innovations and significant improvements of postsecondary education that respond to problems of national significance and serve as national models.
Grant: America's Media Makers—Development Grants and Production Grants
Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Division: Division of Public Programs
Deadline: August 18, 2010, for projects beginning April 2011
Grants for America's Media Makers support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas and beliefs in order to deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity and history in creative and new ways. Grants for America’s Media Makers should encourage dialogue, discussion and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.
Grant: Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Deadline: August 23, 2010
The Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program will support metropolitan and multijurisdictional planning efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation and infrastructure investments in a manner that empowers jurisdictions to consider the interdependent challenges of Economic competitiveness and revitalization, social equity, inclusion, and access to opportunity, energy use and climate change and public health and environmental impact.
Grant: The Arts on Radio and Television
Agency: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Deadline: September 2, 2010
Through this category the National Endowment for the Arts seeks to make the excellence and diversity of the arts widely available to the American public through nationally distributed television and radio programs.
Grants are available to support the development, production and national distribution of radio and television programs on the arts. Priority will be given to artistically excellent programs that have the potential to reach a significant national audience, regardless of the size or geographic location of the applicant organization. Only programs of artistic excellence and merit, in both the media production and the subject, will be funded.
Grant: Youth Initiative Program – Environmental Education Opportunities
Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior
Division: Bureau of Land Management
Deadline: September 10, 2010
This program is intended for schools and local organizations in Oregon and Washington. The Bureau of Land Management is interested in working in conjunction with a variety of school districts and other partner youth-focused nonprofit organizations to enhance students' classroom learning by providing opportunities to learn about public lands, further their understanding and appreciation of natural and cultural resources and pique their interest in natural resource careers.
Grant: Enduring Questions
Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Division: Division of Education Programs
Deadline: September 15, 2010, for projects beginning May 1, 2011
The NEH Enduring Questions grant program supports the development of a new undergraduate course that will foster intellectual community through the study of an enduring question. This course will encourage undergraduates and teachers to grapple with a fundamental question addressed by the humanities and to join together in a deep and sustained program of reading in order to encounter influential thinkers over the centuries and into the present day.
Grant: Archives – Detailed Processing Projects
Agency: The National Archives and Records Administration
Division: National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
Deadline: October 7, 2010. Optional draft deadline is August 2, 2010. NHPRC support begins no earlier than July 1, 2011.
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals for detailed processing and preservation of collections of national significance. The collections also should have high research demand or substantial preservation challenges. To apply in this category, repositories must have virtually all of their collections processed sufficiently so that researchers can find them through online searches, and they must have procedures in place to prevent the creation of new backlogs.
Grant: Archives – Basic Projects
Agency: The National Archives and Records Administration
Division: National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
Deadline: October 7, 2010. Optional draft deadline is August 2, 2010. NHPRC support begins no earlier than July 1, 2011.
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals for fundamental archival activities that promote preservation and use of America’s documentary heritage.
Activities included under the Basic Projects grant program may be any one or combination of
- Basic processing for projects that process and reveal collections that researchers cannot easily discover through online search engines. Basic processing includes identifying collections of manuscripts and records and describing them at the appropriate component level. Applicants must include plans to promote the use of their collections after completing this processing.
- Preservation planning for projects that focus on the preservation of collections as a whole. This approach of phased preservation often involves surveys of collections, assessment of environmental controls and risk assessment.
Questions? Please email or call Ellen Holloway: eholloway@apts.org, 202-654-4214, or Karen Spitzfaden: kspitzfaden@apts.org, 202-654-4207, or visit our website: www.apts.org/grantcenter
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