Public Welfare Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Public Welfare Foundation funds criminal justice reform efforts in the United States, especially surrounding the juvenile justice system.
IP TAKE: The Public Welfare Foundation approaches America’s “crisis of incarceration” by “focusing on catalyzing a transformative approach to justice that is community-led, restorative, and racially just.” This is a well-established, accessible funder that works in several areas of criminal justice reform. The foundation limits its grantmaking to specific geographic jurisdictions in the Midwest, West and South U.S. Grantmaking here is competitive, as this has been a crowded space in recent years.
The Public Welfare Foundation is approachable, so don’t hesitate to contact them with general questions or ideas. Letters of inquiry are accepted for a window of time each year beginning in the fall.
PROFILE: The Public Welfare Foundation was established in 1947 by Texas newspaper tycoon Charles Edward Marsh in order to “make gifts for education, charitable or benevolent uses in accordance with a plan which shall meet the changing need for such gifts with flexibility.” Today, it seeks to “catalyze a transformative approach to justice in the United States that is community-led, restorative, and racially just.” The foundation’s grants are geographically limited to the South (Georgia, Louisiana, Washington, D.C., and Jackson, Mississippi), West (Colorado and Oklahoma), and Midwest (Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Its two main funding areas are Adult Criminal Justice and Youth Justice.
In addition to its two main issue areas, outlined below, the foundation supports related criminal justice work via its Special Opportunities focus area. Recent areas of interest include Race, Redemption, and Restoration and grantmaking for the Washington, D.C. area. It is unclear whether these tentative initiatives will transition into established focus areas.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
The Public Welfare Foundation’s Adult Criminal Justice program seeks innovative solutions that “meet local priorities, foster collective action, and support new leaders.” The programs goals include:
Sentencing Reform to “decrease state incarceration and reduce racial disparities” and
Community Reinvestment, including “the redirection and prioritization of state and local resources toward targeted investments that support system-involved individuals in their communities.”
Previous grantees of the Adult Criminal Justice program include Safe & Just Michigan and American Friends Services Committee.
Youth Justice grants support programs and groups that work to “advance a fair and effective community-based vision of youth justice, with a focus on ending the criminalization and incarceration of youth of color.” The foundation’s youth justice grantmaking is three-pronged:
The Closing Youth Prisons sub-initiative aims to end the “warehousing” of young people in the criminal justice system, focusing instead on community-based alternatives.
Racial Disparities grantmaking works to eliminate structural racism in the juvenile justice system. These grants prioritize “front-end” reforms.
Raising the Age focuses on increasing minimum ages for incarceration and ending “the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth in the adult criminal justice system.”
Recent recipients in this area are Safe and Just Michigan, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, and Youth Justice Milwaukee.
The foundation’s Special Opportunities funding area appears to change areas of focus periodically and does not outline specific strategies for its subprograms. Recent areas of interest have included Race, Redemption, and Restoration and the greater Washington, D.C. area. Grantseekers should check the special opportunities page periodically for updates and new themes.
Important Grant Details:
This funder’s grants generally range from $5,000 to $500,000, but they may go up to $2 million.
The Public Welfare Foundation does not provide detailed information about its previous grants on its website, but grantseekers may follow the foundation’s blog for more information on its recent grantmaking.
The Public Welfare Foundation accepts Letters of Inquiry (LOI) beginning in the fall of each year, when grantseekers should visit the site to ascertain specific due dates and requirements.
Grantmaking is limited to specific Jurisdictions of Focus: the states of Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan and Oklahoma, as well as the cities of Washington, D.C., Jackson, Mississippi, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This foundation may be contacted with general inquiries via email or telephone at (202) 965-1800.
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