Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program Competing Continuation (Year 6)

The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program - Competing Continuation (Year 6) is a federal grant opportunity administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in collaboration with the Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy. The DFC Support Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997. The program is designed to establish and strengthen collaborations that support community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance use among youth. Its statutory goals are to strengthen collaboration among communities, public and private nonprofit agencies, and federal, state, local, and tribal governments, and to reduce substance use among youth while contributing over time to reductions in adult substance use. This competing continuation opportunity is specifically intended to fund eligible community-based coalitions addressing youth substance use that have previously received a DFC grant during Years 1 through 5, have experienced a lapse in DFC funding, or have completed the first five-year funding cycle and are applying for a second five-year funding cycle. The program focuses on youth age 18 and younger and seeks to address community factors that increase the risk of substance use while promoting factors that minimize that risk. A coalition is defined for this program as a community-based formal arrangement for cooperation and collaboration among groups or sectors of a community in which the participating groups retain their individual identities while working together toward the common goal of building a safe, healthy, and drug-free community. Eligible applicants include special district governments, independent school districts, city or township governments, county governments, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, Native American tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status as specified by the opportunity, private institutions of higher education, and public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. Additional eligibility provisions state that a DFC legal applicant, whether an organization applying on behalf of a coalition, the coalition itself, or an applicant coalition, must reside within the United States and/or U.S. territories. Applicants must be a nonprofit as defined by the IRS as a 501(c) organization, an entity determined appropriate by the Administrator, or part of or associated with an established legally recognized domestic public or private nonprofit organization. Examples include state and local governments, federally recognized and state-recognized tribes, urban Indian organizations, universities and colleges, professional associations, voluntary organizations, self-help groups, community- and faith-based organizations, and tribal organizations. The forecast estimates total program funding of 31,250,000 dollars and approximately 50 awards. The stated award ceiling is 125,000 dollars. Grants.gov displays an award floor of zero dollars, which is treated as missing rather than as a valid minimum award under the applicable data-entry rules. Cost sharing or matching is explicitly identified as required, but the forecast does not provide the required percentage, ratio, or dollar amount. Therefore, the existence of a matching requirement can be confirmed, while the amount requires verification from the final notice or related official program materials. The source does not provide detailed allowable-cost rules, indirect-cost limitations, subaward limitations, or other spending restrictions. This opportunity is currently forecasted rather than open for applications. The forecast was initially dated July 28, 2026 and was last updated September 1, 2026. The estimated posting date is January 26, 2027, which is used as the anticipated application opening date for data-entry purposes. The estimated application deadline is March 31, 2027, with electronically submitted applications due no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The provided forecast does not identify a letter of intent, concept paper, notice of intent, pre-proposal, initial application, or other pre-application gating requirement. It also does not provide specific application forms, narrative questions, required uploads, evaluation criteria, scoring criteria, or detailed submission mechanics beyond the requirement for electronic submission by the deadline. The estimated award date is August 30, 2027, and the estimated project start date is September 30, 2027. The opportunity is associated with Assistance Listing 93.276, Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grants, and is categorized as a discretionary grant in the Health funding activity category. The forecast does not state that this specific competing continuation opportunity recurs annually, biennially, quarterly, or on another regular schedule, so recurrence is not inferred. Questions may be directed to Christi Jones at DFC_NOFO@cdc.gov. The listed telephone number is 000-000-0000, which appears to be a placeholder in the source and is retained only because it is the number explicitly provided. Because this is a forecast, dates, funding information, application requirements, and other details may be clarified or changed when the final opportunity is posted.

Demonstrate how the coalition will strengthen collaboration among community partners and prevent and reduce youth substance use by addressing community risk factors and promoting protective factors.