Opportunity Information: Apply for OFOP0001267
The Employability Skills for At Risk Youth to Prevent Crime and Violence opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number OFOP0001267) is a discretionary grant from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), focused on reducing crime and violence in Costa Rica by improving legitimate economic pathways for youth. The core idea is straightforward: provide practical job-oriented training, place participants into internships with local businesses, and create a realistic bridge to paid employment so participants can apply what they learned in real workplaces. The program is framed as a prevention initiative, aiming to lower involvement in violence or criminal activity by increasing employability, stability, and connection to supportive community institutions.
The target population is youth ages 18 to 35 living in areas identified as high-violence, high-risk communities. The initial priority geographies include the provinces of Limon and Puntarenas, plus multiple cantonments: San Jose, Alajuela, Liberia, Garabito, Heredia, Sarapiqui, Corredores, Cartago, Desamparados, Alajuelita, and Nicoya. In addition to these, eight more locations may be added based on discussions with Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Security. The Ministry has already prioritized the named locations due to their elevated risk profiles. Because the objective is to deliver training that is relevant to local labor markets, the selected implementer is expected to coordinate closely with INL Costa Rica to pinpoint the specific communities within each province or cantonment where activities will actually occur.
A key operational requirement is coordination and local buy-in before implementation begins. The grantee must work with INL Costa Rica to organize and hold meetings with local police and municipal officials in each location prior to launching activities there. This reflects the program's public safety lens: the project is not only about training, but also about alignment with community safety strategies and ensuring local institutions understand, support, and can help connect the project to the young people most at risk.
The grant sets an ambitious participation target: graduating at least 100 people in each location during the period of performance. While the notice does not specify the total number of sites that will ultimately be served (given the possibility of adding eight more), it clearly signals that the implementer needs the capacity to run repeated cohorts across multiple communities, manage internship placements at scale, and consistently deliver training that meets minimum content requirements while still being tailored to each local economy.
Program design must include several mandatory elements. First, participants must receive training in a specific, marketable skill, meaning the program cannot be limited to general employability workshops alone. Second, before deciding what technical skills to teach, the grantee must conduct a study or assessment of each location and the needs of businesses in the area, with the purpose of identifying exactly which skill sets are in demand locally. This requirement is meant to prevent a mismatch between training and actual hiring needs and to make it easier to convert internships into real job opportunities. Third, every student must be placed in an internship at a business where they can practice the skills learned. The internship component is not optional; it is built into the program logic as the mechanism that turns classroom learning into job readiness and employer trust.
In addition to technical training and internships, the program must incorporate broader employability supports. Training is required to include life skills, personal finance education, and job interview skills. These components reflect common barriers faced by at-risk youth, such as limited experience navigating workplace expectations, difficulty managing income, and lack of practice presenting themselves to employers. The program also requires that each student receive a diploma, ideally coordinated with Costa Rica's National Institute of Learning (INA) or certified by INA. That preference underscores the value placed on recognized credentials that employers can trust and that participants can use beyond the life of the project. Finally, each cohort must have a graduation ceremony, which serves both a motivational purpose and a community-facing purpose, publicly recognizing achievement and reinforcing positive social identity tied to employment rather than risk behavior.
Eligibility is open to a range of organizational types that can credibly deliver training and workforce placement. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit/non-governmental organizations, as well as U.S.-based and foreign-based educational institutions. The funding instrument is a grant, with an award ceiling of $350,000, and INL anticipates making one award. The opportunity was posted on December 14, 2023, with an original closing date of February 14, 2024. The CFDA (assistance listing) number associated with the opportunity is 19.704, consistent with State Department foreign assistance programming.
Taken together, this opportunity is best understood as a multi-site workforce development and violence prevention project that must be locally grounded, employer-linked, and credential-oriented. A competitive proposal would need to show it can (1) identify in-demand skills in each community, (2) recruit and support at-risk participants ages 18 to 35, (3) deliver high-quality technical and life-skills training, (4) secure and manage internships for every participant, (5) coordinate effectively with INL Costa Rica, municipal leaders, and police, and (6) produce measurable outputs, especially the graduation of at least 100 participants per location, with diplomas recognized preferably through INA and visible completion milestones through graduation ceremonies.Apply for OFOP0001267
- The Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Employability Skills for At Risk Youth to Prevent Crime and Violence" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.704.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-14.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $350,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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