Controlling Board approves $230,000 for youth service and mental health planning grants

Ohio Controlling Board, Aug. 25 — The Controlling Board approved two grant-related funding requests for the Commission on Service and Volunteerism: roughly $100,000 for Ohio250 service-learning grants to be passed through to local grantees, and about $130,000 for a youth mental-health planning grant tied to AmeriCorps program development. William Hall, executive director of the Commission, told the board the funding arrived after the biennial budget process and came through national and program-specific grants. He said the Commission acts primarily as a pass-through: the Ohio250 fund will be released as a notice of funding to schools and youth-serving organizations (about 20 grantees anticipated), while the AmeriCorps-related award is a planning grant to operationalize new AmeriCorps programming. Why it matters: The grants aim to expand youth service learning—tying service activities to school curricula—and to plan AmeriCorps programming focused on youth mental health. Board members sought clarity on why the items were not in the earlier budget submissions and…