Rigorous Impact Evaluation of Programs to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Achieve Optimal Health

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Office of Population Affairs, is offering funding under a cooperative agreement to support rigorous impact evaluations of programs designed to prevent teen pregnancy and promote adolescent optimal health. This opportunity is part of the broader Teen Pregnancy Prevention program, which focuses on evidence-based and innovative strategies that improve adolescent health outcomes. The initiative seeks to expand the existing evidence base by funding evaluations of promising interventions that address evolving needs among youth and their families. The primary purpose of this funding is to support the evaluation of interventions that promote body literacy and ensure transparency with parents and guardians. Body literacy is defined as understanding how the body functions in a state of health, including reproductive biology, and using that knowledge to make informed decisions. Additionally, funded programs must incorporate mechanisms that uphold parental rights, such as providing advance notice of program content, opportunities for review, and opt-out provisions. These elements are central to the program’s goal of fostering informed decision-making and strengthening family engagement in adolescent health education. Funding will support projects over a period of up to five years, with total program funding estimated at $8.3 million and individual awards ranging from $650,000 to $1,250,000. The funding is intended for research and demonstration projects rather than direct service delivery, although limited service delivery may occur as part of evaluation activities. Recipients must design and implement rigorous evaluation studies, including randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental designs, and must ensure interventions have prior evidence of promise and community support. Eligible applicants include a wide range of public and private entities, such as state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, tribal organizations, and for-profit entities. There are no restrictions on the qualifications of the Project Director or Principal Investigator, provided they are not excluded from federal funding systems. Applicants may collaborate through partnerships or consortia, but only one entity may serve as the primary applicant and award recipient. The application process requires submission through Grants.gov and includes several components: a project narrative, appendices, and a detailed budget package. The project narrative must clearly describe the intervention, evaluation design, organizational capacity, and project management approach. Applications are evaluated based on criteria including the significance of the proposed intervention, strength of the evaluation design, implementation plan, and overall project management. Recipients must also comply with federal reporting requirements, performance measures, and oversight expectations. The application deadline is July 23, 2026, with a technical assistance webinar scheduled for June 30, 2026. Awards are anticipated to be issued by September 30, 2026, with projects beginning shortly thereafter. The funding opportunity is not recurring in a formal sense but is part of a broader federal program that periodically releases similar opportunities. Successful applicants will be expected to begin planning activities immediately and reach full implementation readiness within the first year of the project period.

Focus heavily on demonstrating a rigorous evaluation design (RCT or QED), clearly articulate a strong theory of change supported by prior evidence, and ensure alignment with priorities around body literacy and parental transparency.