Legal Assistance Enhancement Program Grants

The Legal Assistance Enhancement Program Grants are administered by the Administration for Community Living within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Administration on Aging and Office of Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services. This federal funding opportunity is designed to support innovative projects that expand or improve the delivery of legal assistance to older adults with social or economic needs. The program aligns with federal priorities to improve health outcomes, connect individuals to essential services, and protect vulnerable populations from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It is authorized under the Older Americans Act, which emphasizes the importance of legal services in helping older adults maintain independence and assert their rights. The primary objective of the program is to fund pilot projects that address a clearly identified community legal need within one of the Older Americans Act priority legal areas. These areas include income security, healthcare, long term care, housing, utilities, nutrition, protective services, guardianship defense, and age discrimination. Projects must involve a legal services provider working in close collaboration with the state legal assistance developer. This collaboration is central to the program and must be formalized through a detailed agreement outlining roles, responsibilities, and contributions to project implementation, evaluation, and future replication. Funding supports a wide range of allowable activities, including legal advice, limited representation, and full legal representation for older adults. However, projects must go beyond simple legal education or document preparation and must provide substantive legal assistance. Applicants are required to design and implement a pilot intervention, evaluate its effectiveness, and produce a replication plan to scale successful models across the state. Funds cannot be used for construction, basic research, or activities that do not align with federal regulations or policy restrictions. Additionally, there is a mandatory cost sharing requirement, with applicants required to provide at least 25 percent of total project costs through non federal sources. Eligible applicants are broadly defined as organizations other than individuals or foreign entities, meaning nonprofits, governmental entities, and other domestic organizations may apply. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov and require active registrations with both SAM.gov and Grants.gov systems. The application package includes a project narrative, budget narrative, work plan, collaboration plan, and supporting documents such as resumes and letters of commitment. The project narrative is limited to 20 pages and must clearly describe the problem, proposed intervention, expected outcomes, and evaluation methods. Applications are evaluated through a competitive merit review process based on criteria including relevance to program goals, strength of the proposed approach, anticipated impact, organizational capacity, and budget justification. Reviewers assess whether the project demonstrates a clear need, provides a feasible and innovative solution, and includes measurable outcomes that improve the well being of older adults. The Administration for Community Living also considers alignment with agency priorities and the applicant’s past performance in managing federal awards. Key deadlines include an optional notice of intent due July 24, 2026, and a final application submission deadline of August 25, 2026 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. Awards are expected to be announced by September 30, 2026, with projects beginning immediately thereafter. The period of performance is two years, structured as two 12 month budget periods. Selected grantees will receive ongoing technical assistance and oversight from the funding agency and must comply with reporting, evaluation, and data sharing requirements throughout the grant period.

Ensure strong collaboration with state legal assistance developer and include measurable outcomes tied to health and financial improvements; clearly address one OAA priority legal issue and demonstrate innovation