Grantmaking in Health and Housing that Targets People with Criminal Records

Source:

Council of State Governments

The Council of State Governments (CSG) conducted a survey of grantmaking in health and housing between 1995 and 2000 to identify awards that targeted people with criminal records in the United States. The purpose of this project, which CSG staff conducted with support from private foundations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been three-fold:

To clarify the extent to which grantmakers in health and housing have viewed people with criminal records as part of their target population
To inform decisions of grantmakers who regularly make awards for initiatives that target people with criminal records
To provide information that would facilitate collaborative efforts among grantmakers and policymakers around criminal justice initiatives that are health or housing related

The survey was not comprehensive (in part due to its reliance on the database of the Foundation Center), and the results do not therefore reflect a complete picture of grantmaking in this area. Nevertheless, the scope of the survey is unprecedented, and the data it yielded will help to realize many of the goals of this project. Analysis of the survey results indicated the following:

1.) A nearly negligible percentage of all health and housing grants target people with criminal records.

CSG staff identified 486 grants awarded during 1995-2000 that fit the survey parameters. The aggregate value of these grants was about $43 million � representing less than one quarter of one percent (0.20%) of all private foundation giving in the areas of health and housing during the same time period.

2.) When foundations award a health and housing-related grant that targets people with criminal records, it is usually by chance and rarely coordinated with the award of any other grants.

Half of the foundations identified during the survey awarded only one grant in this issue area. Only nine foundations (6 %) awarded more than seven grants in this area over the five-year period. Of the 15 foundations to which CSG staff sent questionnaires, none of the respondents stated that health and housing programs targeting people with criminal records was a priority funding area.

3.) Grantmaking in the areas of health and housing that targets people with criminal records is concentrated among less than ten foundations.

Less than four percent of the foundations identified in the survey accounted for 52 percent of the giving in this area.

4.) Housing and health initiatives that target people with criminal records and receive foundational grants are concentrated in just a few states.

Of the grant dollars supporting local or statewide initiatives, 38 percent supported projects either New York (27%) or California (11%). The next highest recipients were grantees in Pennsylvania (9%), and Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland, each with about 6 percent of total grant dollars.

5.) The geographic distribution of the grant dollars does not correspond to the geographic distribution of people under supervision of the criminal justice system.

Between 1995 and 2000, the New York State prison, probation and parole population represented, on average, 6 percent of all those people in the U.S. under supervision of the criminal justice system. Yet, as indicated above, during the same period, 27 percent (100 grants totaling $9.3 million) of all grants awarded for state and local initiatives were for projects conducted in New York State. By contrast, Texas accounted for about 13 percent of all people in prison, or on probation or parole in the United States in 1995 � 2000, but organizations located in Texas received only about 3.7 percent (22 grants totaling about $1.3 million) of all grant dollars for non-national initiatives awarded in the same time period.