I am reading grantsI

I am reading grants—I do this a couple time a year for a State organization which gives out small sums of money for fresh, original and unique ideas for training professionals who serve families and persons with disabilities, professionals who may encounter folks with disabilities in the course of their work and families with members with disabilities and just people with disabilities. By small sums of money we are talking anywhere from a few thousand dollars to maybe a hundred thousand; altogether we are taking usually around $350,000 which sounds like a lot but believe it this is not a large sum of money especially for the numbers of folks who wish to be considered for a piece of the pie. We are allocated a sum of money each year for this, for lack of better words, competition.

I am actually reading grant applications. The agency or private non-profit submits a thirty page or more document describing the idea, the need for the idea, how they would implement idea, document idea’s implementation and so on. Some grant applications can be quite arduous. Some years we have had 30 applications to read, this is dreadful, however, this year there are only 11 apps to consider eleven apps are much more bearable. After each of us on the committee review and rank order the applications we will meet and discuss our findings and award the best applications we have as long as money holds out. We have been together for some time as a group now. The committee chair feeds us sandwiches and such but that’s OK we meet on “company time” and we believe we are doing good. The committee is made up of people from 10 or so programs, bureaus, departments and private non-profits who serve folks with disabilities. We like to think of ourselves as Professionals.

This grant program was actually started out as a way to encourage fresh ideas, radical thinking and low-cost alternative solutions to the needs of folks with disabilities in our State. The program has become an institution subject to politics, empire building and systemic abuse. There are some programs who apply every year for huge sums and get it—I do not know why really—but I have often wondered if this agency or program has some sort of sweetheart deal with the project at some high level. These monies were never meant to be “on going monies” for they have. When I have registered my objection or at least my questions, my questions are considered, discussed and many agree but eventually the dollars are awarded with the side bar they should look for funding elsewhere but they never find alternative funding. The committee is then left in the position if we do not fund” this last one time” the program and indirectly as always the consumer with disabilities will suffer. Then there are other programs who at one time were scrapers who survived on their own cunning and wit. They came up with a novel, interesting provocative project. The did and always do great worm but now they have become some what institutional in nature. They discovered a formulistic approach to writing the grants. Now, I notice every grant which come in by these groups are similar. I realized a couple of years ago they were either cut or pasting the previous years grant changing a little wording and numbers or in some cases just handing in the same grant hoping that either we would not notice or just give them the award because there was nothing better “out there” to consider. I swear two of these programs are virtual think tanks. They pump applications out when every a new grant season or opportunity avails itself. Some times these groups actually come up with great ideas and we have to problems awarding them the money. The problem there are others out there who I feel have good proposals but never get awarded the grant for many reasons and not all of them fair-in my opinion.

So I will struggle the next two weeks with the proposals I have. I will grade and write my opinion and eat my “free” lunch and enjoy my association with the committee members. I will be a good committee member and make a wave or two but none so high as to swamp the ship—just rock the boat a little and then sail ever onward.