Income Security and Social Services Grants

The Transitional Living Program (TLP) provides safe, stable, and appropriate shelter for runaway and homeless youth ages 16 to under 22 for up to 18 months and, under extenuating circumstances, can be extended to 21 months. TLPs provide comprehensive services that supports the transition of homeless youth to self-sufficiency and stable, independent living. Through the provision of shelter and an array of comprehensive services, TLP youth will realize improvements in four core outcome areas (i.e., safe and stable housing, education/employment, permanent connections, and social and emotional well-being).

The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to establish by cooperative agreement a National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (Center). The Center will be the Childrens Bureaus primary provider of training and technical assistance to build the capacity of Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) recipients, (to include states, tribes, tribal organizations, and migrant programs) and their partners to implement successful strategies that strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment. The key focus of the Center will be to enhance the ability of CBCAP recipients to effectively implement the requirements of the program and support evidence-informed and evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs and activities. The Center will facilitate CBCAP recipients work to plan for and develop a network of interdisciplinary community-based programs and activities that offer a continuum of services and resources that strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect. The Center will also promote CBCAP recipient efforts to engage individuals with lived expertise in critical decisions related to planning, implementing, and evaluating their CBCAP programs, and foster enhanced linkages between CBCAP recipients and child welfare, as well as other child and family systems to ensure families can access community supports tailored to address their unique needs. The project will have a 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF); Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF); Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) supports organizations and communities that work every day to end youth homelessness and adolescent pregnancy. FYSBs Division of Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) is accepting applications for the RHY Prevention Demonstration Program (RHY-PDP). RHY-PDP supports the design and delivery of community-based demonstration initiatives to prevent youth from experiencing homelessness. Through the development and coordination of partnerships with youth and young adult service providers, community organizations, and private and public agencies, the RHY-PDP will 1) identify young people at risk of experiencing homelessness; 2) design and develop a comprehensive community-based prevention plan to prevent youth homelessness; and 3) implement robust, holistic prevention services tailored for youth and young adults to respond to the diverse needs of youth who are at risk of homelessness and their families.

The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families' Family and Youth Services Bureau announces the anticipated availability of funds under the General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GDSRAE) Program. The purpose of the GDSRAE Program is to fund projects to implement sexual risk avoidance education that teach participants how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. The services are targeted to participants that reside in areas with high rates of teen births and/or are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The goals of GDSRAE are to empower participants to make healthy decisions, and provide tools and resources to prevent pregnancy, STIs, and youth engagement in other risky behaviors. Successful applicants are expected to submit program plans that agree to: use medically accurate information referenced to peer-reviewed publications by 1) educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations; 2) implement sexual risk avoidance curricula and/or strategies with an evidence-based approach integrating research findings with practical implementation that aligns with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; and 3) teach the benefits associated with self-regulation, success sequencing for poverty prevention, healthy relationships, goal setting, and resisting sexual coercion, dating violence, and other youth risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use without normalizing teen sexual activity.

This program provides $1,000 micro-grants to individuals and groups for creative and innovative projects that positively impact their communities.

The Street Outreach Program (SOP) provides street-based services to runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse, prostitution, sexual exploitation, and severe forms of human trafficking in persons. These services, targeted in areas where street youth congregate, are designed to assist such youth in making healthy choices and providing them access to shelter as well as basic needs, including food, hygiene packages and information on a rage of available services.

The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families' Family and Youth Services Bureau will be accepting applications from eligible local organizations and entities, including faith-based organizations or consortia, for the development and implementation of the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) in states that do not accept FY2024 allocations for State PREP. The purpose of this program is to support projects that educate youth, between the ages of 10 and 19 years, and pregnant and parenting youth under age 21, on abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. Projects are also required to implement at least three of the following six adulthood preparation subjects: healthy relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy, parent-child communication, educational and career success, and healthy life skills. The estimated award amount is based upon FY 2023 funding available for Competitive PREP awards and is subject to change.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces funding under the Refugee Family Child Care Microenterprise Development Project (RFCCMED). Through the RFCCMED program, ORR will fund successful applicants to provide refugee participants with training and technical assistance in professional child care, microenterprise development, and financial literacy; assist refugee participants in navigating the child care licensing process; and provide direct financial assistance as needed to enable participants to prepare their homes for child care business operation. Successful applicants will demonstrate internal capacity and partnerships to provide program services. The three main objectives of RFCCMED are to 1) help refugees to achieve economic self-sufficiency by establishing licensed family child care (FCC) businesses; 2) help refugee families gain access to licensed FCC businesses which will meet the early care and developmental needs of refugee children; and 3) assist refugees in learning how to navigate mainstream child care services.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces funding for a new Refugee Children and Youth Resilience Program. Through this award, ORR intends to establish a program that will strengthen support for ORR-eligible children, youth, and the adults caring for them by building staff capacity with child welfare knowledge at refugee-serving agencies. The goals of this new program are three-fold: 1) to provide virtual Training and Technical Assistance (T) through a child protection lens to ORR-eligible children, youth, and their families, as well as refugee-serving agencies, to ensure the safety and well-being of children and youth as they navigate the refugee resettlement and integration processes, 2) to provide in-person and group trainings to local agency staff to enable better communication and coordination between local child welfare agencies and refugee-serving agencies and to increase local capacity to support refugees children, youth, and their families, and 3) to provide virtual and emergency in-person child welfare and protection case consultations and deploy culturally competent social work, mental, and behavioral health staff to facilitate on-the-ground interventions, including during emergency crises involving refugee children, youth, and their families. The recipient is expected to foster and engage with a network of subject-matter experts (SMEs) with child welfare experience in the fields of refugee resettlement and social work to provide both remote and on-site training, technical assistance, and consultations on critical topics, such as family strengthening, family reunification, mental health, and integration.The recipient will be expected to conduct regular needs assessments to determine the T focus areas. Additionally, the recipient will be required to develop an online resource hub with resources related to refugee children and youth resiliency. This resource hub will contain relevant information about the research and best practices that support ORR-eligible children, youth, and families as they navigate the resettlement and integration processes in the United States.ORR-eligible children, youth, and families include those eligible for refugee benefits and services including refugees, asylees, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, victims of human trafficking, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Amerasians, children in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program, and other populations as determined eligible by Congress.

UpStart Thrift Store will award competitive grants of up to $5,000 to small business owners in Washington County. The UpStart Thrift Store team will work with the Startup Junkie Foundation leadership to select the awardees based on the merits of their application. If your startup or small business could benefit from such a grant, fill out the application at the link below. Please don't apply unless your business is physically located in Washington County, Arkansas. The grant awards starting at $500 are provided by the sales proceeds derived from efforts of an all volunteer non-profit thrift store called Upstart Thrift that is a program of the 501c3, Startup Junkie Foundation. The intent is to provide a hand up to deserving small businesses in Washington County, Arkansas. Applicants will only be eligible for one award per calendar year. Applications will be reviewed quarterly. The top three candidates will be contacted to conduct a brief interview. Candidates who do not receive a grant are still eligible for funds via Kiva NWA and free consulting from Startup Junkie.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) anticipates soliciting applications for Behavioral Interventions Scholars awards to support dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are using approaches grounded in behavioral science or behavioral economics to examine research questions of relevance to social services programs and policies. These awards are meant to build capacity in the research field to apply a behavioral science or behavioral economics lens to issues facing families with low incomes in the United States, and to foster faculty mentorship of high-quality doctoral students. Applicants are required to demonstrate how their research is grounded in behavioral economics/behavioral science and the applicability of their research to practices or policies serving children, adults, and families with low incomes, especially those that seek to improve their well-being. For information about OPRE, please go to https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre. For information about related work ongoing within OPRE, please go to https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/behavioral-interventions-to-advance-self-sufficiency-bias-research-portfolio.SAM .gov System Alert - Entity Validation Delays:All applicants must be registered at SAM.gov and establish a Unique Entity Identifier. Due to high demand, SAM.gov is experiencing a considerable delay in processing entity legal business name and address validation tickets. As needed, please start the process early to avoid interruptions in application submissions. You can find SAM resources related to this process here - https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view=KB0058422=7bb8810ddba05990060d5425f3961912=1. Interested in this announcement? Create an account at Grants.gov and subscribe to this forecast to receive notifications of updates and publication.

The purpose of the Title V Competitive SRAE Program is to fund projects to implement sexual risk avoidance education that teaches participants how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. Successful applicants are expected to submit plans for the implementation of sexual risk avoidance education that normalizes the optimal health behavior of avoiding non-marital sexual activity, with a focus on the future health, psychological well-being, and economic success of youth. Applicants must agree to: 1) use medically accurate information referenced to peer-reviewed publications by educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations; implement an evidence-based approach integrating research findings with practical implementation that aligns with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; and 2) teach the benefits associated with self-regulation, success sequencing for poverty prevention, healthy relationships, goal setting, and resisting sexual coercion, dating violence, and other youth risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use without normalizing teen sexual activity. The Title V SRAE legislation requires unambiguous and primary emphasis and context for each of the A-F topics to be addressed in program implementation. Additionally, there is a requirement that messages to youth normalize the optimal health behavior of avoiding non-marital sexual activity.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces funding for the Refugee Career Pathways (RCP) program. Through the RCP program, ORR will provide funding to enable refugees and other eligible populations to achieve self-sufficiency by obtaining the means to secure professional or skilled employment drawing upon previously acquired knowledge, skills, and experience. Under the RCP program, the primary focus is to assist participants in learning about career pathways and developing individualized plans to gain employment and advance within their chosen career field. Allowable activities will include case management, training and technical assistance, specialized English language training, and mentoring. In addition, eligible refugee participants may receive federal financial assistance for costs related to the establishment or re-establishment of credentials, such as obtaining educational credits or enrollment in required certification programs. ORR is requiring that RCP programs have a partnership with at least one educational institution (i.e., university, college, community college, or other institution with expertise in career and technical education) to facilitate career opportunities in ways that supplement, rather than supplant, existing services. RCP programs implemented by an educational institution must collaborate with at least one refugee-focused entity (i.e., resettlement office and/or other organization with programming specifically aimed at refugees).

Offering services and supports to older adults or persons with disabilities can enable them to maintain their independence and status in the community. In addition, we recognize that family caregivers provide most of the support that makes it possible for older people and people with disabilities to live in the community. Providing care can take a physical, financial, and emotional toll on family caregivers. Offering assistance to family caregivers can make it easier for them to continue providing care and allows older adults and persons with disabilities the opportunity to remain in the community.In 2019, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) established a new grant program that is testing models of programming designed to place volunteers in communities to assist caregivers, older adults, and persons with disabilities in maintaining independence by providing non-medical care. ACL proposes to continue the Volunteer Care Corps by funding a new one cooperative agreement to a national organization to advance the following broad objectives: Test person-centered model approaches of delivering local volunteer programming to assist older adults, persons with disabilities and their family caregivers in maintaining their independence. Evaluate locally developed test models to determine the benefit to volunteers, family caregivers, older adults, and persons with disabilities. Develop and implement a plan to broadly disseminate proven local models for replication in other communities.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) intends to award one cooperative agreement designed to better understand and address the needs of the Aging Network by documenting and reporting on Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), Tribal Organizations, and other organizations activities and expertise in health and the delivery of community-based services and supports.The Aging Network reaches into every community in the nation, playing a vital role in strategic planning, program development and administration, and service delivery. To ensure that older Americans have access to high quality aging services, the Aging Network must constantly review its programs and explore ways to innovate and enhance program design and delivery. There is an ongoing need to understand and document the activities that are undertaken in the Aging Network as its members grow and advance to accommodate the ever-evolving needs of the communities they serve. This funding announcement seeks to broaden the knowledge base of the Aging Network around ACL priorities, such as caregiving, housing, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as other critical issues. The primary goal is to increase ACL and the Aging Networks understanding of how AAAs, Tribal Organizations, and other agencies as appropriate, are adapting, enhancing, and expanding services and supports to meet current and future needs of older adults and their caregivers.

ACL recognizes senior centers as valued partners in the Aging Network that support community living by keeping older adults active, informed, and healthy. Many senior centers serve as important focal points for the delivery of comprehensive services. In 2021, to better ensure that senior centers have the tools and resources necessary to develop and implement programs that meet the current and future needs of the Nations older adults, ACL established a Modernizing Senior Centers Resource Center.ACL is seeking applications to fund one cooperative agreement that will continue the operation of the Modernizing Senior Centers Resource Center to provide technical assistance and training to senior centers as well as serve as a clearinghouse for innovative programs and strategies that can be successfully replicated at the local level.

This grant provides funding to educational institutions to create programs that support and encourage undergraduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to pursue advanced degrees and careers in neuroscience research.

Grants awarded under this announcement are to provide disaster reimbursement and assistance funds to those State Units on Aging (SUAs), and federally recognized Tribal Organizations who are currently receiving a grant under Title VI of the Older Americans Act (OAA), as amended. Total funding available for disaster assistance is subject to the availability of funds appropriated. The estimated number of awards is seven with an one year project period. Funds may only be used in those areas designated in the Major Disaster Declaration issued by the President of the United States under the Robert T. Stafford Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Funds typically are for the following OAA Title III types of gap-filling services: outreach, information and assistance, counseling, case management, advocacy on behalf of older persons, additional food and meals, supplies, damaged senior center equipment replacement, staff overtime, emergency medications, transportation and other such immediate needs. OAA funds may be used for permissible expenses incurred which are not or cannot be paid for through other disaster funding resources. Applicants should talk with the State, Tribal and local Emergency Managers to determine what funds may be available through other resources before applying for OAA funding. Eligible SUAs and OAA Title VI grantees should discuss all disaster applications including amount of funds requested with ACL Regional staff before submitting a formal application. SUAs and OAA Title VI grantees must submit proposals electronically via http://www.grants.gov.

These projects will be funded under the Projects of National Significance (PNS) within the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act. The project will focus on achieving economic security and mobility for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The purpose of the project may include providing aid to transition youth with intellectual and developmental disabilties, funding employment and postsecondary education opportunties, and / or assiting with assistive technology devices that may needed to help meet employment goals. Overall, these projects will create opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to directly and fully contribute to, and participate in, all facets of community life; and support the development of national and State policies that reinforce and promote, with the support of families, guardians, advocates, and communities, of individuals with developmental disabilities, the self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets of community life of such individuals.Projects funded under this announcement will work toward one or more of the following performance measures:Outcome Measure 1: Number of policies changed to improve the experience of people with ID/DD and their families Output Measure 1.1: Number of people who participated in policy advocacy activities Output Measure 1.2: Number of trainings about policy implemented Output Measure 1.3: Number of policy products created Output Measure 1.4: Number of times policy products were sharedOutcome Measure 2: Number of people with ID/DD and their families who report new or increased leadership roles Output Measure 2.1: Number of tools and resources created related to leadership by people with I/DD and their families Output Measure 2.2: Number of tools and resources shared related to leadership by people with I/DD and their families Output Measure 2.3: Percent of people with I/DD and their families who reported learning new leadership skills Output Measure 2.4: Number of people with I/DD and their family members who train or mentor others as leaders or advocatesOutcome Measure 3: Percent of people with ID/DD and their families who reported increased knowledge of supports needed to help them achieve the life they want Output Measure 3.1: Number of trainings held to increase knowledge of supports available to help achieve a desired life Output Measure 3.2: Number of resources created to increase knowledge of supports available to help individuals achieve the life they want Output Measure 3.3: Number of resources shared to increase knowledge of supports available to help individuals achieve the life they wantOutcome Measure 4: Number of data resources accessed Output Measure 4.1: Number of data resources created Output Measure 4.2: Number of activities to disseminate data

ACL is seeking applications from eligible state agencies that will establish, or reestablish, state and local coordinated Lifespan Respite Care systems and deliver respite care and related services to family caregivers of children and adults across all age groups, disabilities, and chronic conditions as defined in the statute. Eligible states applying must fall within one of the following two categories: 1) New States who have not previously received a grant under this program. 2) Returning States who have had at least one (1) Lifespan Respite Program grant, but whose programs have gone dormant or lapsed since federal funding ended and, thus, desire to re-establish their core state respite infrastructures, rather than apply for a Program Enhancement grant. ACL will fund at least three (3) cooperative agreements for the 3-year project period. All programs must from the outset, address the respite needs of all populations regardless of the age, disability, or chronic condition of the care recipient population. Funded applicants shall use grant funds for new and emergency respite services; activities to recruit and train respite workers and volunteers; assist caregivers with gaining access to needed respite services; continue or increase efforts to target underserved populations across the lifespan, and provide other authorized services as outlined in the Act. It is ACLs expectation that all grantees will, no later than the second and third years of the grant project period, provide respite services while continuing to expand and enhance the statewide respite infrastructure.