California Serves Grant Program 2026-27

The California Serves Grant Program is administered by the California Department of Education in collaboration with California Volunteers and is authorized by Assembly Bill 181, Section 71, Budget Act of 2022, which established the California Serves Program through California Education Code Section 51475. The program builds on California's civic learning and engagement initiatives and the State Seal of Civic Engagement. The California Department of Education invites eligible California local educational agencies to apply for funding to promote access to effective service-learning, with the goal of expanding access for high school graduates to obtain the State Seal of Civic Engagement through high quality service-learning. The program emphasizes service-learning that combines meaningful community service activities with instruction and reflection to support academic and civic engagement learning objectives while meeting societal needs. The total grant budget for this Request for Applications is up to $5 million. Each funded eligible local educational agency may receive no more than $500,000 for the entirety of the grant period. Funds available to an applicant depend on the content and quality of the application and proposed activities. The California Department of Education intends to fund successful applications at the requested level when the request is well justified, proposed activities are realistic and well supported, and sufficient funds are available. If successful applications exceed available funding, the department may apportion funds at its discretion. Consortium applications are permitted, and each participating eligible local educational agency may apply for up to $500,000. The lead applicant serves as fiscal agent and is responsible for grant deliverables. Funds become available for distribution beginning July 1, 2027 and may be expended or encumbered through June 30, 2030. The department may withhold up to 10 percent of grant funds to ensure program compliance. Eligible applicants are California local educational agencies defined as school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools. An applicant must serve students in grade twelve, and at least 55 percent of pupils enrolled in the applicant local educational agency must be unduplicated pupils as defined by applicable California Education Code provisions. Individuals, community agencies, private schools, nonprofit organizations, public school sites, state special schools, California State Universities, University of California sites, private universities, consulting organizations, and local educational agencies that previously received a California Serves grant and are still participating in a grant cycle are not eligible. Applicants that have not previously received funding may be considered before applicants that have received funds in the past. A local educational agency may submit only one application as either a lead applicant or consortium member during a grant cycle. All consortium members must independently satisfy the eligibility requirements. Allowable expenditures include paid teacher planning time to increase service-learning in instruction, professional development on service-learning for administrators and teachers, instructional materials that integrate service-learning into instruction, materials and travel expenses associated with service-learning activities, personnel costs for coordinating service-learning at a local educational agency or school site, and participation costs associated with grant program evaluation. Grant funds may not supplant existing funding and efforts or pay for application preparation and delivery, law enforcement activities, telephone systems or services, vehicles, administrative or personal-use equipment, furniture, space or facility purchases or leases, certain remodeling, professional organization memberships, international travel, childcare, food and refreshments, promotional favors, periodical subscriptions, financial awards for students, or other costs that are not reasonable and necessary for the grant purpose. Administrative indirect costs are limited to California Department of Education approved indirect cost rates. Submission has two required stages. First, each applicant, or the lead applicant for a consortium, must email a Notice of Intent to Apply to SSCE@cde.ca.gov by September 8, 2026 at 4 p.m. The email must be titled California Serves Grant Intent to Apply and identify the applicant local educational agency, its 14-digit County-District-School code, a statement of intent to apply, and the name, email address, and telephone number of an application contact. Consortium notices must identify the lead applicant and all consortium members and their codes. Failure to submit this notice by the deadline makes the applicant ineligible. The complete application must then be submitted through the online application system by October 5, 2026 at 4 p.m. Required materials consist of application narrative responses entered online and two attachments: a project timeline and a proposed budget. The two attachments must be placed in a single zip folder of no more than 20MB. The proposed budget must use the provided Excel template and remain in Excel format. The application narrative addresses an executive summary, funding uses, theory of action, specific goals, participant identification, active participation, expected outcomes, demonstrated need, service-learning climate, equitable access, past and ongoing service-learning efforts, proposed activities, use of funds, current research, evidence-based strategies, proposed measures and data, data collection methods, organizational capacity, and processes for analyzing results and making mid-course adjustments. Applicants must explain how their work incorporates the five statewide State Seal of Civic Engagement criteria and the program's definition of service-learning. Grantees must use the California Department of Education model uniform metrics and provide required quantitative and qualitative reporting, including information about participating pupils and schools, pupil demographics, service impacts, progress toward the State Seal of Civic Engagement, implementation, and expenditures. Annual program deliverables include summaries of activities, model uniform metrics reporting, resources supporting local programming, professional learning and technical assistance, educator and student participation information, implementation reflections, and evaluation of civic-minded traits. Complete applications are reviewed and scored by a reading panel using an 84-point evaluation rubric. The Executive Summary is worth 4 points, Theory of Action 12 points, Demonstrated Need 12 points, Proposed Activities 16 points, Proposed Metrics 16 points, Project Timeline 8 points, and Proposed Budget 16 points. Reviewers use a holistic process, and application scores are important but are not the sole determinant of funding. The Request for Applications was released the week of August 3, 2026, with an application workshop webinar scheduled for August 26, 2026. The required Notice of Intent to Apply is due September 8, 2026 at 4 p.m., and the final application is due October 5, 2026 at 4 p.m. Intent to Award is scheduled for the week of December 21, 2026, appeals are due one week after Intent to Award is posted, and final awards are scheduled for the week of February 8, 2027. Selected applicants must sign and return the Grant Award Notification before work and disbursement may begin. Program questions may be directed to Sarah Smith at SSCE@cde.ca.gov, and the administering division telephone number is 916-323-6440. The California Serves Grant Program is described as an annual grant program; therefore, a subsequent annual cycle is anticipated, although future dates remain subject to change.

Address every requested narrative element within its character limit and align responses directly with the evaluation rubric. Demonstrate a well-justified need for service-learning resources and training and propose realistic, well-supported activities. Integrate the five statewide SSCE criteria and the statutory definition of service-learning throughout proposed activities and metrics. Use model uniform metrics and identify measurable outcomes, including the number of SSCE insignias awarded or anticipated and at least one additional measurable objective. Make the project timeline clearly show activity sequence, responsible parties, expected goals, and effectiveness measures. Ensure every budget cost is allowable, necessary, reasonable, supported by a detailed calculation, grouped by Object Code, and reconciled to the budget summary.