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Funding Priorities, Eligibility, Timeline

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Funding priorities

About the Portland Children’s Levy

The Portland Children’s Levy (PCL) is a City of Portland initiative that generates approximately $23 million annually through a property tax of $0.4026 per $1,000 assessed valuation. Portland voters created the Levy in 2002 and overwhelmingly renewed it for the fourth time in May 2023, extending the end date of funding to June 30, 2029. PCL goals are to:

  • Prepare children for school.
  • Support children’s success inside and outside of school.
  • Eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in children’s well-being and school success.

PCL operates a competitive grant process at least once during each 5-year levy. PCL funds services in the following 6 program areas, as approved by voters: after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care, hunger relief and mentoring.

What We Do

Community engagement

Ahead of the funding round, PCL worked with Camille Trummer LLC and PKS International Community Engagement Liaisons to engage community members most affected by Levy investments. More than 750 people participated in surveys in more than 26 languages, focus groups and interviews. Their input along with feedback from PCL’s Community Council and Allocation Committee helped shape the priorities and program area strategies for both the 2024-25 large grants funding round and the 2025-26 small grants funding round.

2024 Community Engagement Report (PDF)

Funding priorities for small grants

Applicants must choose one funding priority in the program area in which they are applying. Your program may address multiple PCL funding priorities, but you must choose a single funding priority that is the primary focus of your work with children, youth, and families.

1. Provide activities for youth such as arts, sports, STEM education, and/or youth recreation, including youth with disabilities, developmental delays, and/or who identify as neurodivergent.

2. Provide hard and soft skill-building, career readiness and internship opportunities for youth.

3. Provide academic support including tutoring and homework assistance.

4. Support healthy social and emotional development, including activities to help youth build healthy peer relationships, reduce feelings of isolation, and learn healthy strategies to manage stress and navigate conflict.

1. Connect families to resources like food, utility payments, housing or rental assistance, and other basic needs.

2. Connect parents/caregivers with each other and reduce isolation.

3. Support parents/caregivers and youth experiencing grief and stress to learn coping skills.

4. Help children, youth, and families navigate multiple systems including child welfare, and access to mental/behavioral health and legal services.

5. Support the healing of families impacted by violence.

6. Offer support and resources to teen parents, including learning about child development and behavior, identifying and expressing feelings, helping children learn skills to handle stress, supporting children and families experiencing grief and stress learn skills to cope, access to substance use intervention and supports, and connecting parents to resources for basic needs.

1. Offer financial assistance to families for childcare. Please note PCL addresses this priority through its Community Childcare Initiative, a special initiative of $2 million annually for childcare affordability, administered by Child Care Resource & Referral of Multnomah County. PCL will not accept competitive grant applications for this funding priority.  

2. Help families learn about child behavior and development including managing difficult behavior.

3. Help children identify and express feelings.

4. Help parents and caregivers, including families of children with disabilities, neurodivergence, or developmental delays with parenting needs, including system navigation to help children access physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

5. Offer community-based pre/post natal maternal education.

PCL will not fund preschool classroom services or preschool-age childcare through this grant process due to Preschool for All.

1. Support for older foster youth to enter college and/or the workforce, find housing, and live on their own.

2. Support for foster youth to understand their cultural identity.

3. Support and create opportunities for connection and/or reunification between foster youth and birth families, including but not limited to mental health services.

4. Support for foster parents to create a welcoming home and provide supportive care for youth, including youth who identify as LGBTQ2SIA+.

5. Help for foster youth and their foster families and birth parents to navigate multiple systems, especially to access mental and behavioral health services.

6. Provide services that support and improve youth mental health, including for youth who identify as LGBTQ2SIA+.

7. Mentoring for foster youth and/or for birth parents of youth in foster care, especially by mentors who share similar experiences with the foster care system.

1. Food pantries offered at community locations.

2. Food pantries at schools.

3. Free groceries and/or ready-to-eat meals delivered to families’ homes.

4. Classes for children and families on nutrition, cooking, and/or gardening.

5. Access to gardens for families to grow food.

1. Offer activities to increase social connections, reduce isolation, and affirm identities among youth and families with similar identities.

2. Support youth, ages 14-24, to complete a pre-apprenticeship program, prepare for employment and/or college and/or complete an apprenticeship, post-secondary credential program or college degree.  

3. Offer identity-specific support, opportunities and mental health resources for youth to express their feelings and heal from trauma, grief, and experiences of violence.

4. Offer services that prevent youth from joining gangs and reduce gang involvement.

5. Offer mentoring services that affirm the cultural identities of youth and families.

6. Help youth develop leadership skills.   

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

The Portland Children’s Levy encourages all eligible organizations to apply.

Applicant organizations must be 501(c)(3) tax-exempt community-based nonprofits and incorporated in Oregon. PCL does not accept applications from school foundations, Parent-Teacher Associations or Parent-Teacher Organizations, individuals, LLCs, or other 501(c) organizations.

Fiscal Sponsorship:   If the applicant organization does not yet have 501(c)(3) status, you can apply with a fiscal sponsor. The sponsoring organization must be an eligible organization, and you must submit a copy of a signed agreement between you and the sponsoring organization agreeing to the sponsorship with your PCL grant application. The sponsoring organization may have annual revenue above $750,000 per year.  The administrative costs included in your budget may not exceed 15% across both nonprofit organizations.

Non-profit organizations must have annual revenues of $90,000 to $750,000 to be eligible for small grants.

If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact info@portlandchildrenslevy.org

Eligible service population

Proposed programs must directly serve children/youth and their families. All children and families to be served with PCL funding must live or go to school within City of Portland boundaries. (See a map with zip codes and a map with detailed street and school locations for reference.) Please refer to the grant application for full eligibility requirements.

Duration of investment

PCL funding is available for 3 years beginning July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029, with a potential renewal up to 2 additional years if voters reauthorize the Levy.

Available funding and grant amounts

Up to $1.5 million is available for small grants in this funding round. Grants are made for 3 years with an opportunity to renew the grant pending voter reauthorization of PCL.

  • The minimum 3-year grant is $81,000. If you apply for the minimum 3-year grant, you must budget at least $27,000 for the first year.
  • The maximum 3-year grant is $240,000. 
  • Your first-year grant request can’t exceed 30% of your organization’s annual revenue in the last closed fiscal year.

Use this table to help you determine the total amount you can request for one year and for 3 years.

Annual revenue last closed fiscal yearYear 1 grant amount3-year grant amount
less than $90,000Not eligible to applyN/A
$90k- up to $266kMin: $27,000 Max. 30% of annual revenueMin: $81,000 Max: 3 times year 1 request
$267k- $750,000Min: $27,000 Max: $80,000Min: $81,000 Max: $240,000

City of Portland rules and guidelines

Funded organizations will be required to follow City of Portland Equal Employment Opportunity hiring guidelines and contracting rules; provide proof of insurance for general liability, automobile, abuse and molestation, and workers compensation; and provide additional assurances as required by PCL staff.  

Background on the 2020-21 small grants funding round

In 2020 PCL allocated $1 million over 3 years for small grants. During the funding round, 31 applicants requested $4.4 million, and PCL awarded grants to 7 applicants totaling $1 million. Applicants requested $4 for every $1 that PCL had available.

Timeline

This timeline will be updated as additional dates and times are confirmed.

DateMilestone
Oct. 15-Dec. 1, 2025Grant applications available
Oct. 27, 1:30-3 p.m.Info session #1 (register for Zoom link)
Oct. 19, 9:30-11 a.m.Info session #2 (register for Zoom link)
Nov. 14Deadline to register for WebGrants
Nov. 20, 5 p.m. PSTDeadline to submit questions for the Q&A
Dec. 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m. PSTDeadline to submit small grants applications in WebGrants
February 2026Community Council reviews, edits and finalizes recommendations for Allocation Committee
Week of March 3 Funding recommendations sent to applicants
Mid-MarchOpportunity for applicants to submit written testimony to the Allocation Committee
AprilAllocation Committee funding decisions
April to mid-MayCity Council meets to consider Allocation Committee funding decisions*
Mid-May to June*If City Council approves funding decisions, grant negotiations begin*
July 1, 2026*If City Council approves funding decisions, grants begin*

*PCL does not have control over City Council decision-making – this timeline is subject to change based on City Council deliberations.

Timeline last updated Oct. 15, 2025