Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program

The Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program, or CYFAR-PDTA, is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The program is authorized under section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act and is listed under Assistance Listing Number 10.521. CYFAR-PDTA partners with universities to build connections, competency, and capacity that help CYFAR Supportable Community Projects develop holistic program support. Its broader objectives are to strengthen community educational programs for at-risk, low-income children, youth, and families based on locally identified needs and research, and to integrate CYFAR programming into ongoing Cooperative Extension Service programs. The CYFAR-PDTA recipient is expected to provide state-of-the-art professional development and technical assistance to CYFAR Supportable Community Project sites. The work must support programming, evaluation, technology, and technical assistance while leveraging the Cooperative Extension Service and Land-grant University system. Program activities address four national outcome areas: Early Childhood, School Age, Teen, and Parent and Family. Required activities include integrating Internet technology to facilitate collaboration and access to assistance, developing and implementing communication and training plans, coordinating an annual professional development session and orientation for new recipients, providing evaluation training, identifying common issues and needs, developing the CYFAR Annual Report, maintaining or developing data collection and reporting systems, creating or building upon common measures, and conducting annual capacity-building activities. Technical assistance must be provided to CYFAR-SCP recipients at both state and community levels and should include review and feedback on annual reports, responses to program inquiries, ongoing communication, and programmatic and administrative site visits. One-third of all SCP sites are to receive a physical site visit annually. The program must support the North Central, Northeast, Southern, and Western Cooperative Extension Service regions as well as 1890 Land-grant Colleges and 1994 Land-grant Tribal Colleges. The recipient is expected to leverage subawards to other Land-grant institutions for program, evaluation, technical, or technology expertise as needed. A subaward for the CYFAR Professional Development Workshop is limited to 50000 annually, and indirect costs are not permitted on that workshop subaward. More broadly, indirect costs are not authorized under this funding opportunity. No more than 50 percent of total award dollars may be subcontracted to other parties without prior written approval, except for subcontracts to Federal agencies. Approximately 1519113 is available for CYFAR-PDTA in FY 2026, with approximately the same amount identified as available for the first year of new competitive projects. The Program Key Information table anticipates one award and identifies both the minimum and maximum award amount as 1360000. The table lists a grant duration of 12 months, while the application instructions require a timetable covering the entire 3-year period. The NOFO also states that similar funding levels may be awarded for a second year as a continuation award if performance is satisfactory, funding is available, and continued support is in the best interests of the Federal government and public. These statements create a duration inconsistency in the source that applicants should verify. No cost share or matching contribution is required, and matching resources will not be used as an evaluation criterion, although voluntary cost share is encouraged. Applications may only be submitted by Cooperative Extension at 1890 Land-grant Institutions, including Tuskegee University, Central State University, and West Virginia State University; 1862 Land-grant Colleges and Universities; the University of the District of Columbia; and 1994 Land-grant Institutions. Only one application per institution will be accepted. Award recipients may subcontract to organizations that are not themselves eligible to apply when those organizations are necessary to conduct the project. Duplicate or multiple submissions are prohibited. Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov using funding opportunity number USDA-NIFA-SLBCD-012078. The deadline is 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time on September 1, 2026. Required materials include the SF 424 R&R forms, Project Summary or Abstract, Project Narrative, Senior or Key Person Profile, Budget, Supplemental Information Form, Conflict of Interest List, a two-page Data Management Plan, a comprehensive CYFAR-PDTA Logic Model, and other required attachments. The Project Narrative may contain no more than 20 1.5-spaced pages of written text plus up to 25 1.5-spaced pages for figures and tables. Attachments must be submitted in PDF format. NIFA first screens applications for compliance with administrative requirements and then uses scientific peer review for technically eligible applications. Evaluation criteria are Potential for Advancing the Mission of the CYFAR Program, 20 percent; capability to implement innovative training, professional development, and technical assistance, 20 percent; capability to provide technological support, 20 percent; capability to manage staff across multiple sites, 10 percent; experience working with and managing multiple audiences, 10 percent; experience and expertise in site visits and qualitative and quantitative research, assessment, and evaluation, 10 percent; inclusion of a comprehensive CYFAR-PDTA Logic Model, 5 percent; and suitability and feasibility of the Data Management Plan, 5 percent. Centers of Excellence consideration may serve as a tie breaker among equally meritorious applicants when applicable. NIFA may negotiate revisions to project scope, funding level, period, or method of support before recommending an award. Programmatic questions may be directed to cyfar@usda.gov. Questions about the NOFO or application may be directed to grantapplicationquestions@usda.gov, and award questions may be directed to awards@usda.gov. Grants.gov technical support is available at support@grants.gov and by telephone at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035. The application deadline is September 1, 2026, at 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time. The source does not establish a recurring annual competition or a future application cycle. For funded projects, the effective date specified by the NIFA awarding official must generally be no later than September 30 of the Federal fiscal year in which the project is approved and funds are appropriated, unless otherwise permitted by law.

Align the proposal directly with CYFAR-PDTA goals and show measurable impact on youth at risk. Demonstrate large-scale capacity for training, professional development, technical assistance, technology and database support, multi-site staff management, subaward management, site visits, and quantitative and qualitative evaluation. Include a comprehensive logic model and a feasible Data Management Plan because each is scored. Describe activities in sequence, evaluation methods, and subawardee roles and commitments. Follow the narrative page limits and PDF attachment requirements, conduct an administrative review before submission, and verify the submitted file manifest.