Residential Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children

The Residential Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children opportunity is a forecasted federal cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement. The opportunity is identified as HHS-2026-ACF-ORR-ZU-0045 under Assistance Listing 93.676, Unaccompanied Children Program. It is intended to support organizations capable of providing high-quality, child-centered residential care that promotes the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children who are in the legal custody of the federal government because of their immigration status. Care providers are responsible for the children's day-to-day physical care while children are placed in their programs. Funded providers must be able to offer services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and must have the capacity to accept children at any time when doing so is safe and consistent with applicable state licensing requirements. At the time of application, providers must be licensed in accordance with state requirements to provide group home, shelter, or transitional foster care services for children, including any required child placement or related licenses. Standard ORR care providers must be licensed by an appropriate state agency or meet the state's licensing requirements if located in a state that does not allow state licensing of programs providing or proposing to provide care and services to unaccompanied children. ORR is particularly interested in projects that provide residential facility beds and transitional foster care in states and localities near the U.S. southern border with Mexico. The forecast estimates total program funding of 280000000, with approximately 50 awards anticipated. Individual awards are expected to range from 2000000 to 5600000. The opportunity does not require cost sharing or matching. The source does not provide additional details regarding allowable cost categories, indirect cost limitations, subaward limits, or a specific project period beyond the estimated project start date. Eligible applicants include public and state controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, small businesses, other for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status other than institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments, state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, and public housing authorities or Indian housing authorities. Faith-based and community organizations are eligible when they otherwise satisfy the eligibility requirements. Individuals, including sole proprietorships, federal entities, and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from merit review and funding. Special conditions apply to current recipients. Current recipients in the final year of their project period must determine whether their project period end date aligns with the projected award date. A current recipient that wants to continue providing services and whose project period ends in alignment with the projected award date must apply under this opportunity. Current recipients that are not in the final year of their project period may apply only by proposing services in a new facility and new location from where they are currently funded. ACF does not fund multiple projects offering the same type of service in the same location. The opportunity was forecast on September 2, 2026 and was last updated on September 2, 2026. The estimated posting date is September 30, 2026, so applications are not yet open as of the September 3, 2026 analysis date. The estimated application deadline is December 8, 2026, and electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on that date. The estimated award date is April 1, 2027, and the estimated project start date is also April 1, 2027. No letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, notice of intent, or other pre-application gating deadline is identified in the available forecast. No recurring application cycle is stated. The source identifies Yolanda Barnes as the grantor contact and provides UCBgrants@acf.hhs.gov as the program contact email. No telephone number is provided. Additional program information is available through the Office of Refugee Resettlement's Unaccompanied Children Bureau grants webpage. Because this is a forecasted opportunity rather than the final published notice, the provided material does not yet state detailed application components, required uploads, submission questions, evaluation criteria, or merit review criteria. Applicants should therefore treat the September 30, 2026 posting date and December 8, 2026 deadline as estimated until the final opportunity is published.

Demonstrate capacity to provide high-quality child-centered care 24 hours a day 7 days a week and accept children when safe and consistent with licensing requirements. Ensure required state licensing is in place at application. ORR is particularly interested in residential facility beds and transitional foster care in states and localities near the U.S. southern border with Mexico. Current recipients should ensure their proposed project complies with the restrictions concerning existing project periods, facilities, locations, and duplication of the same service type in the same location.