FAU Secures $21M Promise Neighborhoods Grant for Broward UP

The "Broward Unlimited Potential Promise Neighborhood" (Broward UP) initiative aims to provide children with access to quality education and strong community support, ensuring successful transitions to college or careers. (Photo by Alex Dolce)

Despite South Florida's reputation as paradise, the reality for many is stark. In the 2023-24 school year, Broward County reported more than 6,027 homeless children. The community also faces challenges like chronic absenteeism, mental health issues, poor nutrition, and limited access to quality early learning programs. These factors perpetuate a cycle of poverty and low educational attainment, hindering social mobility and the path to stronger communities.

To help address these issues, Florida Atlantic University has been selected as the recipient of a $21 million multi-year grant from the United States Department of Education Promise Neighborhoods program, a place-based initiative aimed at transforming poverty-concentrated neighborhoods into communities of opportunity.

This is the largest grant that FAU has received in its history to date. The grant funds South Florida's program titled, "Broward Unlimited Potential Promise Neighborhood" (Broward UP), following the lead by Broward College, initial innovator of the project.

FAU project partners also include the School Board of Broward County , the Children Services Council of Broward County , and the Community Foundation of Broward . As part of the grant, faculty from FAU's College of Social Work and Criminal Justice and College of Education,along with FAU's Division of Research,will be actively participating in research-related activities to support the project goals, including oversight of critical data analytics that are ultimately utilized to steer the program to achieve successful outcomes.

Broward UP links resources, talents and the creativity of communities to address the needs of children from cradle to career. The objective is to ensure all children growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to great schools and strong family and community support systems, which will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college or career pathway.

"Research is the cornerstone of this program's success," said FAU President Stacy Volnick. "This initiative will be fueled by the expertise and dedication of Florida Atlantic faculty researchers, administrators and community partners who will play a pivotal role in driving research efforts and overseeing critical data analytics to ensure the program achieves meaningful and lasting impact."

Knowing that potential exists in the most distressed communities within Broward County, especially in those zip codes with disproportionately high unemployment and historically low postsecondary education attainment rates, six ZIP codes neighborhoods (33309, 33311, 33313, 33319, 33023 and 33069) have been identified. Broward UP will serve these communities in which residents face intergenerational poverty and barriers to well-being and economic prosperity.

Under the leadership of Gregg Fields, Ph.D., principal investigator and FAU vice president for research, and a team of FAU administrators, faculty and research analysts along with a network of community organizations, the university is establishing a newly invigorated design for Broward UP.

"FAU and our partner organizations recognize the benefits of and are committed to innovative and sustainable changes that can occur when members across all sectors of the community join forces for the benefit of the children, families, and community at large," said Fields. "This approach highlights the power of collective action, where government agencies, educational institutions, nonprofits, businesses and local leaders come together to create lasting, transformative change in impoverished communities."

Co-principal investigators of the grant are: Nancy Romance, Ed.D., assistant vice president for STEM Research Initiatives, FAU Division of Research; Jonathan Mahadeo, director of analytics for Broward UP; Michael DeDonno, Ph.D., associate professor and director, Center of Research Excellence, FAU College of Education; Naelys Luna, Ph.D., founding dean and professor; Marianna Colvin, Ph.D., associate dean and associate professor; and David Simpson, Ph.D., assistant professor, all with FAU's College of Social Work and Criminal Justice.

FAU faculty researchers will be engaged in design projects to enhance the resilience and success of the Promise Neighborhoods Broward UP Community by empowering families, promoting child development and strengthening cradle-to-career readiness. Key research areas will address increasing mathematics and science education readiness, developing predictive models to identify potential student attendance issues, encouraging parents reading to young children, cultivating parents' promotion of education and college, and addressing community wellness, health and unemployment challenges.

Over the course of the project, Broward UP aims to serve more than 14,655 students and their families in Broward County and will provide solution pathways across five interconnected cradle-to-career pipelines that address early care and kindergarten readiness, K-12 success, high school transition to college and completion, 21^st century workforce, and mobilizing Broward UP communities.

Unlike traditional top-down approaches, Broward UP emphasizes collaboration with local leaders, businesses, nonprofits, community service organizations, and educational organizations to address the specific needs of the community. For example, the early care and kindergarten pipeline is designed to increase the number of children ready for kindergarten while the K-12 pipeline will provide a variety of extended learning opportunities to increase K-12 academic outcomes and high school graduation rates.

The remaining pipelines address K-12 and college and career solutions by providing support to children and adults to enroll and complete postsecondary education at Broward College and beyond. Across the multiple pathways, high school graduates and adults may participate in face-to-face instruction at community sites as well as fully online courses and remote instructor-led sessions. Many of these courses lead to industry certifications and college credentials in high-demand fields such as information technology, manufacturing and health sciences.

"Through the coexistence of access and excellence, Florida Atlantic embodies an innovative model where traditional gaps vanish," said Fields. "By removing barriers to education and opportunity, our approach demonstrates how individuals and families can be empowered, paving the way for brighter futures and stronger, more resilient communities."

FAU is ranked No. 32 by U.S. News & World Report in the "Social Mobility" category, thanks to innovative programs and services that support low-income students.

-FAU-

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