Citizenship Grant Program

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The Citizenship and Integration Direct Services Grant Program offered through the Office of Citizenship (OoC), within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will provide federal funding to eligible organizations to promote the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Competitive grants fund of approximately $4,500,000 will support the expansion of citizenship services in communities nationwide.Grant activities shall focus on promoting the rights and responsibilities of citizenship through citizenship education and naturalization preparation programs for legal permanent residents (LPRs). Proposed activities must include a citizenship education component consisting of citizenship or civics-focused English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction and citizenship instruction (U.S. history and government) to prepare LPRs for the civics, English reading, writing, and speaking components of the naturalization test. In addition to the mandatory citizenship education component, grant funds may be used to provide naturalization application preparation services, including legal services (within the scope of authorized practice of immigration law) and case management services to support the naturalization application and interview process. Grant funds may be used for outreach to inform LPRs of services offered through this grant-funded program and for staff professional development and volunteer training. Grants will be awarded to organizations proposing citizenship education services only, as well as to organizations proposing both citizenship education services and naturalization application preparation services.

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