4. Build the capacity of lesser-resourced localities and communities to apply for and absorb federal funding as well as to successfully undertake Justice40 projects
Create standards for the provision of technical assistance to “disadvantaged” communities.
The communities that Justice40 intends to benefit often have fewer resources available to them, whether monetary or otherwise, and thus have less capacity to both apply for and absorb competitive funding and successfully undertake Justice40 projects. To ensure that these communities can access federal funding (either directly from federal agencies or via pass-through funding from state and local governments), the administration should direct agencies to provide technical assistance that can support these communities in planning appropriate projects, developing proposals, applying for funding, executing the projects, and subsequently tracking and reporting on their impact.
Nonprofit networks, intermediary organizations, and technical-assistance providers have deep expertise in each of these areas and can serve as navigators between the federal government and communities; however, providing assistance without regarding local circumstances and context can often harm more than help. The administration should thus create standards that direct federal agencies to develop new technical-assistance strategies (or expand existing ones) that support networks of diverse providers with connections to the communities they are serving, as well as mechanisms for evaluating the performance of such assistance that take into account community perspectives and feedback (see recommendation 2: Meaningfully engage communities).
Move beyond providing assistance to build capacity and empower communities.
The provision of technical assistance is only a first step; the federal government, in collaboration with state and local governments, should ultimately work toward building the capacity of communities to apply for funding independently and empowering them to successfully undertake projects on their own terms. One way to do this could be to provide multi-year formula funding for pre-development to all Justice40-eligible communities, which could help underresourced communities hire staff and create strategic plans to address their most pressing issues. The administration should also encourage state, regional, and local governments to incorporate support for capacity-building activities into existing infrastructure and capital improvement plans so that communities can help codesign and codevelop projects. Collectively, this and other recommendations in this section will help ensure that communities are better positioned to take advantage of funding (federal or otherwise) when opportunities arise.