An Overview
Community Reinvestment Program
The Community Reinvestment Program issues grants to communities disproportionately affected by prior federal and state drug policies in order to redress a wide range of community needs—from housing to childcare to job skills training and many areas in between. The grants are not limited to activities related to cannabis.
Taxes from legal adult-use cannabis sales in New York State go into the Cannabis Revenue Fund. Per the Cannabis Law (§ 99-ii), 40% of Cannabis Tax Revenue goes back to the communities most disproportionately affected by prior drug policies in the form of grants overseen by the Cannabis Advisory Board (CAB) via the Community Grants Reinvestment Fund. Through these grants, it is the goal of OCM and the CAB to distribute impactful funding to areas of the state that have been historically under-resourced, underserved, and over-policed. The future programmatic focus of the Community Reinvestment Program can change according to the guidance provided by the Cannabis Advisory Board.
Who can apply?
In this first 2024 grant cycle, only 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations who provide services for young people (individuals ages 0-24 years) in designated geographies of New York State are eligible to apply. Organizations do NOT have to be affiliated with any cannabis-related businesses or activities to apply.
What activities will be funded?
In this first 2024 grant cycle, grant funds can be used to support a broad array of services for young people, ages 0-24, focusing on at least one of three program areas: Mental Health, Workforce Development, or Housing.
How much funding will be distributed?
The total available funding for this grant opportunity is $5,000,000. Each individual grant award will total $100,000.
Current Funding Opportunities
This grant opportunity has not yet opened and is coming soon.
To be informed of future grant opportunities and learn about when this RFA will be open, please sign up for email updates below and check back regularly for updates.
For Applicants
The Community Reinvestment Program will issue annual funding opportunities through competitive procurements focused on various allowable activities.
By law, the Community Reinvestment Program may be designed to fund such initiatives as job placement, job skills services, adult education, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, housing, financial literacy, community banking, nutrition services, services to address adverse childhood experiences, afterschool and child care services, system navigation services, legal services to address barriers to reentry, including, but not limited to, providing representation and related assistance with expungement, vacatur, substitution and resentencing of marihuana-related convictions, and linkages to medical care, women's health services and other community-based supportive services.
According to the guidance of the Cannabis Advisory Board, the program may choose to focus on different areas in the future. The grants from this program may also be used to further support the social and economic equity program created by article four of the cannabis law and as established by the Cannabis Control Board.
What can I do now before the RFA is released to get ready to apply?
All applicants will be required to submit prequalification applications that can be started now in the Statewide Financial System (SFS). Due to the length of time it can take to complete this process (typically 5-10 business days, but sometimes longer), it is advised that interested nonprofits prequalify as soon as possible.
- For support, access SFS Coach by logging in to SFS and clicking the SFS Coach tile on My Homepage.
- There, Applicants will find a Grantee Handbook with screenshots of SFS and step-by-step guidance on how to use SFS.
- Questions about working in SFS can also be sent any time to the SFS Help Desk at [email protected] or by phone at (518) 457-7717 or (855) 233-8363 (toll free).
How will applicants be selected for awards?
Applications will be submitted to OCM’s eGrants system and scored by a panel of qualified reviewers. Application questions cover information about the applicant’s organization, the community they plan to serve, the activities they’re proposing, and a budget. Organizations will be selected based on scoring of all application materials, assessing their ability to implement a successful project aligned with the goals of the Community Reinvestment Program.
To ensure limited resources are available to areas of the State where funding can have the most impact, the 2024 grant cycle aims to prioritize funding to counties identified as high-need for youth-oriented services and as historically under-resourced and overpoliced. Additionally, OCM and the Cannabis Advisory Board intend to make at least one award within each Empire State Development (ESD) Region to ensure geographic distribution of awards across the State.
How much time will my organization have to spend down the grant funds?
If awarded, organizations will enter a two-year contract with OCM, allowing the opportunity for a one-time advance payment, with the remaining funds distributed via quarterly reimbursement-based vouchering.