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Children's Initiative

Purpose
To create and promote stability and resiliency for children who have been exposed to domestic violence.

Requirements

The program must contain all four of the following components:

1)		Directly serve children who have been exposed to domestic violence ("Directly serve children" means that the Foundation will not fund programs that develop curricula or methodologies, train staff or educate the general public or that are designed to prevent domestic violence in general. ),
2)		Enhance the mother-child relationship,
3)		Include a Domestic Violence specific parenting education component, and
4)		Be a new program (Funding is for new projects that are within the first year of their development).

Priorities
The program will:

1)		Have the objective of preventing future abuse and breaking the cycle of violence,
2)		Assist children in coping with the physical, emotional and mental trauma of abuse,
3)		Provide treatment and services beyond initial intervention,
4)		Target children of middle school age and younger, and
5)		Use an approach Be based on proven and documented strategies and provide clear metrics to measure the programs outcomes

Eligibility
Types of Programs
The Foundation will provide program support for domestic violence programs only.

Projects which focus on abused, homeless or children with special needs or programs which attempt to prevent domestic violence or provide programs for children, some of whom have experienced domestic violence, are NOT the program's focus.

Requests for capital support or general operating support are not considered.

Geographic Scope
In this Initiative, unlike the general program, the Foundation will fund local projects without geographic restrictions.

Grant Size
The average grant size for the Initiative is $25,000.

Multi Year Funding
Multi year funding for up to three years will be considered on a year by year basis. Those projects which are funded for a first year may submit a grant cover sheet and submit a progress report in lieu of a "letter of interest" by April 1st for the second and third year and will automatically advance to the full proposal stage. While no three year funding commitment will be made by the Foundation, it is our intent to provide support for the second and third years when in the Foundation's judgment the program is making progress. No project will be considered for Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation funding for longer than three years.

Restrictions
Please note the following restrictions that apply to the general program, also apply here. The Foundation will not consider proposals in the following areas:

Books or media projects, unless the project is connected to other areas of Foundation interest
Capital projects
Individuals, scholarships or fellowships
Ongoing projects or general operating support for an organization
Organizations located outside the United States
Land acquisitions or trades
Lobbying activity
Research projects

Outcomes-Based Assessment
The Foundation is interested in supporting programs that are based on proven methodologies and that provide clearly measurable outcomes. Therefore applicants will be asked to clearly state their goals at the outset of each grant period, and to report on the project's outcomes annually. It is important to select metrics for measuring the program's outcomes that relate to the Foundation's goals. The single most important question to be addressed is: What measureable changes will happened in the participants' lives as a result of the project or program?

Application Process
The Letter of Intent is the first step in the application process and should be no more than two pages. Please use 12 point fonts and no less than one inch margins. Please also provide the following:

a one-page budget
a list of board members
an Application Cover Sheet - Children's Initiative, and
a copy of the applicant's letter from the Internal Revenue

The Letter of Intent should contain the following information in a concise form:

Brief background on the applicant organization
Need for the project
Plan to address the need (Include an overview of the treatment model and evidence that shows the model's effectiveness.)
Time frame, and
Projected project outcomes that are clear and measureable.

Please Note: If you have received a grant in previous years under this Initiative, please submit only an Application cover sheet and a report on progress to date in lieu of a letter of intent. Be prepared to submit a full proposal which is due August 1^st.

Deadline
Complete Letters of Intent for the Children's Initiative program must be received by the Foundation office no later than April 1, 2013. Incomplete LOIs will not be considered.

In fairness to all applicants, the Foundation will strictly adhere to its deadlines. Material received after the established deadlines will not be considered.

Foundation Process for Decision Making
The Board of Trustees will review all letters of intent at their meeting in June and will notify applicants in July of the Board's decision regarding the initial application stage. Organizations seeking second and third year support from the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation, who have provided the Foundation with a application cover sheet, a progress report and explicitly stated their intent to file a complete proposal, will automatically advance to the Full Proposal Stage.

Selected organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal which must be received at the Foundation office no later than August 1, 2013. Grant decisions will be made in November and funds will be distributed by year end.

Each grant proposal must carry the signature of the appropriate administrative officer of the tax-exempt non-profit applicant.

Organizations receiving grants are expected to assume proper fiscal responsibility for the expenditure of grant funds as well as to assure the Foundation that the purposes of the grants are fulfilled.