(a) The Police Recruitment program offers funds to qualified community organizations to assist in meeting the costs of programs which are designed to recruit and train police applicants from a variety of neighborhoods and localities.

(b) Individual participants encountering problems throughout the police department application process shall receive counseling, tutorials, and other academic assistance as necessary to assist them in the application process of a police department.

(c) Program goals should include increasing the retention in the hiring process for police applicants participating in the program.

(d) Programs funded under the Police Recruitment program will have a one-year grant period, with allowances for two additional years of no-cost extensions.

The non-profit community organizations that wish to receive a grant under this program should provide for an overall program design with the objective of recruiting and retaining applicants from a variety of populations to a police department. The recruitment strategies employed may include:

(a) A process for recruiting applicants for employment by a police department. These processes should include working in cooperation with a local law enforcement department to develop selection criteria for the participants. The selection criteria may include, but are not limited to:

(1) Demonstrated interest in policing as a career;

(2) Scholastic record (except that failure to meet the satisfactory academic scores shall not disqualify the applicant since the program is designed to provide tutorial service so to help applicant pass the required examinations);

(3) Background screening;

(4) Work experience;

(5) Letters of recommendation.

(b) The recruitment services must ensure that applicants possess the necessary mental and physical capabilities and emotional characteristics to be an effective law enforcement officer.

Participating organizations should have experience in or an ability to develop procedures to publicize the availability of like programs. These programs should be widely publicized throughout the affected geographic area. The methods for publicizing the Police Recruitment programs may include, but are not limited to:

(a) Sending press releases to community bulletins, college and local newspapers, and television stations, as well as public service announcements to local and college radio stations;

(b) Sending information to and/or making presentations at:

(1) Local community colleges;

(2) Colleges and universities serving populations in the geographic area of the program;

(3) Local nonprofit groups;

(4) Academic counseling departments within public and private nonprofit colleges and universities;

(5) Academic counseling departments within public and private nonprofit high schools;

(6) High school and college student associations;

(7) Local religious groups;

(8) Local social services agencies.

(c) Disseminating press releases and/or translated materials to non-English language newspapers and magazines; and

(d) Maintaining toll-free or other easy-access telephone numbers for obtaining application materials.

(a) The program designed by the community organization must include academic counseling, tutorials and other academic assistance programs to enable individuals to meet police force academic requirements, pass entrance examinations, and meet other requirements. The program should include:

(1) Processes for evaluating educational assistance needs of young adults and adults. These processes should include, but are not limited to: screening procedures and testing batteries to assess individual needs;

(2) Tutorial programs designed to meet the specific and varied academic needs of individual applicants; and

(3) Academic and guidance counseling for adults. Specific counseling programs must be designed for individuals who encounter problems with passing the entrance examinations, and may include specialized counseling in self discipline, study habits, taking written and oral exams, and physical fitness.

(b) These tutorial and academic assistance programs must be provided by individuals or groups that have experience in developing and providing tutorial programs for young adults and adults.

(c) The program provider must also have experience in providing counseling for participants who encounter other problems with the police department application process.

Applicants must describe in detail the intended program strategies for providing academic and guidance counseling activities for members of the community, as described in §§ 92.2 through 92.4. A review of mandatory topics to be addressed in a detailed concept paper/application to be provided by all applicants follows.

(a) Applicants must address program strategies for responding to program and applicant needs throughout the recruitment process. The process should be based on an examination and understanding of the needs of the population in meeting the qualification requirements of the police department. The project strategy should subsequently be tailored based on the understanding of the current and anticipated problems in meeting police department requirements.

(b) Applicants must describe the manner in which academic services and tutorials, and guidance counseling programs that would assist applicants to pass the entrance examination and related tests will be provided. This should also include the anticipated length of the academic and guidance counseling programs, qualifications of the counselors, and the content of the counseling programs.

(c) Applicants must provide retention services to assist in keeping individuals in the application process of a police department. These may include:

(1) Counseling programs aimed at meeting the needs of potential police applicants before they are eligible to apply for a sworn position;

(2) Pre-police employment programs, such as junior police cadet programs, reserve programs, and police volunteer activities and

(3) Mentoring activities utilizing sworn officers.

(d) Applicants must estimate the number of police applicants to be served by the prospective program, along with an estimation of the total number of potential or actual applicants who will be successfully hired and eventually deployed as police officers.

Funding for these programs will be for one year only, but will allow for two additional years of no-cost extension.

(a) Eligible organizations for the Police Recruitment program grant are certified nonprofit organizations that have training and/or experience in:

(1) Working with a police department and with teachers, counselors, and similar personnel;

(2) Providing services to the community in which the organization is located;

(3) Developing and managing services and techniques to recruit and train individuals, and in assisting such individuals in meeting requisite standards and provisions;

(4) Developing and managing services and techniques to assist in the retention of applicants to like programs; and

(5) Developing other programs that contribute to the community.

(b) A program is qualified to receive a grant if:

(1) The overall design of the program is to recruit and retain applicants to a police department;

(2) The program provides recruiting services that include tutorial programs to enable individuals to meet police force academic requirements and to pass entrance examinations;

(3) The program provides counseling to applicants to police departments who may encounter problems throughout the application process; and

(4) The program provides retention services to assist in retaining individuals to stay in the application process of the police department.

(c) To qualify for funding under the Police Recruitment program, the intended activities must support the recruitment services, tutorial and other academic assistance programs, and retention services for individuals. The qualified non-profit organization must submit an application which identifies the law enforcement department with which it will work and includes documentation showing:

(1) The need for the grant;

(2) The intended use of the funds;

(3) Expected results from the use of grant funds;

(4) Demographic characteristics of the population to be served, including age, disability, race, ethnicity, and languages used;

(5) Status as a non-profit organization; and

(6) Contains satisfactory assurances that the program for which the grant is made will meet the applicable requirements of the program guidelines prescribed in this document.