Organization History
In April 2003 a national grant writing seminar was held in Los Angeles, sponsored by SAMHSA and the California Hispanic Commission for Alcohol and Drug Abuse. An informal poll was taken amongst the 125 Latino community based organizations in attendance, asking the question about the need for an effort to form a Latino focused organization that could provide technical assistance in various areas to help Latino community based organizations gain access to Federal and State funding. The response was an overwhelming affirmation that such an organization was needed to put the voice of these organizations at the table as legitimate social service providers deserving an equal chance to compete for public funds. With this mandate the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership (LCCL) was born.
Summary of Statistical Highlights & Accomplishments:
- Over the past 14 years the LCCL has partnered with the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Justice, the State of Colorado/Colorado Department of Corrections, and most recently the Denver Foundation.
- As a national intermediary the LCCL has successfully managed over 40 million dollars in federal and state grant funds and contracts.
- To date, we have provided sub-grants to over 100 community and faith based organizations in over 20 cities in 8 states.
- The LCCL’s effective use of data systems is well documented in formal evaluations and governmental monitoring reviews. This practice provides data for performance management, fiscal accountability and program improvement.
- The LCCL has demonstrated strong performance and the ability to penetrate deep within marginalized communities of color (primarily Latino and African American) to effect measurable impact on the organizations we fund and the people they serve.
In 2004 LCCL received its first $10 million award from the US Department of Labor – This three-year, $10,000,000 grant supported 28 organizations in Denver, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Diego in developing and delivering educational and workforce development-related services for 2,000 Latino adjudicated and at-risk youth annually.
In 2005 LCCL was awarded a Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) grant from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for $978,551. A total of $400,000 was given in sub-awards to 44 nonprofits. In addition to the grant awards, the Latino Coalition provided training, technical assistance and expanded its reach to three new cities; Bakersfield, California, Portland, Oregon, and Hartford, Connecticut.
In 2007 LCCL received a two and a half year, 1.3 million grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The Latino Coalition provided grants averaging $140,000 to a cohort of 12 FBCOs to serve 480 at-risk and adjudicated youth each year over the course of the project period totaling $1,680,000 (two-year project period for direct service).
In October of 2012 LCCL was awarded its second $10 million from DOL/ETA. The focus of the project, Work and Gain Education & Employability (WAGEES), was to provide employability, education and supportive services to young offenders and high school dropouts between the ages of 18-24 residing in or returning to the high-poverty, high-crime communities. The project funded 14 sub-grants in Buffalo, New York, Denver, Colorado and Los Angeles, California. The average sub-grant award was $200,000 per year for up to two years based on performance (total of $400,000). The purpose of the grants was to prepare inmate re-entry individuals and high school drop-outs for employment, prepare to receive high school diplomas and industry-recognized credentials and increasing the rate at which participants enter post-secondary education and training.
In October 2014 LCCL was awarded a $2, 210,000 intermediary contract with the Colorado Department of Corrections
The Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) is testing a new community-based reentry program, called the Work and Gain Education and Employment Skills (WAGEES) project, in a contract valued at $2, 210,000, which was awarded to the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership (LCCL), Colorado Branch.
The WAGEES project was created by the 2014 state legislature; it calls for DOC to select a fiscal intermediary who will then make sub-grants to faith and community-based organizations who will provide direct services to improve the employment prospects of parolees assessed to be medium to high risk for recidivism. LCCL was awarded the fiscal intermediary contract in October 2014. The contract runs through June 30, 2016, and is renewable up to five years (2021).
In October of 2015 LCCL was awarded our third DOL grant for $4.5 million for reentry work in Colorado and Southern California
The Latino Coalition for Community Leadership has chosen five geographic locations in Colorado and California and through six sub-grantees will serve at least 600 young adult ex-offenders in high poverty, high crime geographic areas. Each of the six sub-grantees will receive a grant for total of $500,000 over the two year period, with year two of the grant awarded based on performance and meeting stated goals and objectives of the reentry program.
In June of 2017 LCCL was awarded our fourth DOL grant for $4.5 million for reentry work in Colorado and Southern California.
In January 2018 we were awarded a contract from the Denver Foundation for $300,000 a year over three years. Our contract calls for assistance to Community and Faith based organizations in developing data collection and evaluation tools, and to provide capacity building, and technical assistance to bolster the evaluation of their program effectiveness and impact.