Monday, September 27, 2021

USCIS Awards FY 2021 Citizenship and Integration Grants

Nearly $10 Million Will Expand Citizenship Preparation Services in 25 States

Introduction

On Sept. 20, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the award of $10 million in grants to 40 organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents (LPRs) for naturalization. The grants also aim to promote prospective citizens' integration into American civic life by funding educational programs designed to increase their knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics. Located in 25 states, these organizations will receive federal funding to support citizenship preparation services for LPRs through September 2023.

Background

Since it began in 2009, the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program has awarded more than $112 million through 513 competitive grants to immigrant-serving organizations in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Now in its 13th year, the program has helped more than 290,500 LPRs prepare for citizenship.

USCIS anticipates that approximately 25,000 LPRs will receive citizenship preparation services by Sept. 30, 2023, as a result of the fiscal year (FY) 2021 awards issued through the grant program. An additional 12,500 LPRs will be served by the ongoing FY 2020 program, which continues through Sept. 30, 2022.

USCIS awarded the grants through two funding opportunities, both of which support organizations that provide citizenship instruction and naturalization application assistance to LPRs. Through grant funding, USCIS seeks to expand high-quality citizenship preparation programs to help LPRs integrate into American society and become successful U.S. citizens, ready to embrace and fulfill their responsibilities

In making final award decisions, USCIS took into account various program and organizational factors, including past grantee performance.

Organizations that receive awards under this program can only use grant funds to provide services to immigrants who have been lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence.

Grant Recipient Organizations

Under the Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services (DHS-21-CIS-010-002 (PDF, 642.51 KB)) and the Refugee and Asylee Integration Services (DHS-21-CIS-010-003 (PDF, 645.89 KB)) funding opportunities, grant recipients are public or private nonprofit organizations with recent experience providing citizenship instruction and naturalization application assistance to LPRs. These organizations include community and faith-based groups, public libraries and adult education and literacy organizations.

FY 2021 recipient organizations serve both traditional immigrant population centers and emerging immigrant population centers in 25 states. Grant recipients will provide citizenship preparation services to approximately 25,000 LPRs originally from more than 50 countries. Grant recipients represent:

  • Eight out of the top 10 states with the greatest increase in their LPR population between FY 2017 and 2019, including California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; and
  • Eight out of the top 10 states with the most naturalizations between FY 2016 and 2018, including California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington.
  • Eight out of the top 10 metropolitan areas with the most naturalizations between FY 2017 and 2019, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.

FY 2021 Grant Recipients

Grant recipients (in alphabetical order):

Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services

Organization

Location

Amount

1199SEIU League Training and Upgrading Fund

New York, NY

$250,000

Access California Services

Anaheim, CA

$250,000

Asian Counseling and Referral Service

Seattle, WA

$250,000

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

$250,000

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio

San Antonio, TX

$250,000

Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, Inc.

Overland Park, KS

$250,000

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa, CA

$250,000

Center for Pan Asian Community Services

Atlanta, GA

$250,000

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Los Angeles, CA

$250,000

Community Refugee and Immigration Services, Inc.

Columbus, OH

$250,000

Emerald Isle Immigration Center

Woodside, NY

$250,000

End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin

Madison, WI

$250,000

English Skills Learning Center

Salt Lake City, UT

$235,661

Fresno Unified School District

Fresno, CA

$250,000

Hartford Public Library

Hartford, CT

$250,000

HIAS and Council Migration Services

Philadelpia, PA

$250,000

HopeWorks

Memphis, TN

$250,000

Instituto del Progreso Latino

Chicago, IL

$250,000

Interfaith Works of Central New York, Inc.

Syracuse, NY

$249,987

International Institute of Metropolitan Saint Louis

Saint Louis, MO

$250,000

International Institute of Minnesota

Saint Paul, MN

$246,507

International Rescue Committee

Baltimore, MD

$250,000

International Rescue Committee, Inc., SeaTac

Seattle, WA

$250,000

International Rescue Committee, San Diego

San Diego, CA

$250,000

Jewish Family & Vocational Service of Middlesex

Milltown, NJ

$250,000

Jewish Family Services of Western MA

Springfield, MA

$250,000

Kentucky Refugee Ministries

Louisville, KY

$250,000

Laredo College

Laredo, TX

$250,000

Learning Empowered

Largo, FL

$249,448

Lutheran Community Services Northwest

Portland, OR

$250,000

Lutheran Social Services of Colorado

Denver, CO

$219,321

Mid‐Minnesota Legal Assistance

Minneapolis, MN

$250,000

Montgomery College

Rockville, MD

$250,000

Pars Equality Center

Sherman Oaks, CA

$250,000

Progreso Latino

Central Falls, RI

$250,000

School Board of Miami-Dade

Miami, FL

$250,000

Shorefront YM-YWHA

Brooklyn, NY

$250,000

Women for Afghan Women, Inc.

Fresh Meadows, NY

$250,000

YMCA of the Greater Houston Area

Houston, TX

$250,000

Refugee and Asylee Integration Services

Organization

Location

Amount

Catholic Charities of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN

$299,076

Review Process

As part of the grant review process, USCIS reviewed more than 95 eligible applications using two-member teams to evaluate each proposal. The reviewers scored applications numerically using published evaluation criteria. USCIS ranked the applications under each funding opportunity based on their average scores. The USCIS internal review panel determined the final list of recipients based on the ranked order, as well as the published strategic program priorities found on page 18 of the notice of funding opportunity for DHS-21-CIS-010-002 (PDF, 642.51 KB) and on pages 21-22 of the notice of funding opportunity for DHS-21-CIS-010-003 (PDF, 645.89 KB).

Contact Information

For additional information on the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, please contact the USCIS Office of Citizenship at citizenshipgrantprogram@uscis.dhs.gov or visit uscis.gov/grants.

To learn more about applying for federal funding opportunities, visit grants.gov or call 800-518-4726.


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