Income Security and Social Services for State governments Grants

**A modification to this NOFO was made on April 4, 2024. There are no content changes to application or program requirements. The funding opportunity number was changed from HHS-2024-ACF-ACYF-CW-0056 to HHS-2024-ACF-ACYF-CT-0056. There were changes made in Section I, Statutory Authority; and Section II, Expected Number of Awards and Estimated Total Funding. In Section III, Eligibility was changed to exclude for-profit organizations and small businesses. American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children are nearly 3 times more likely to enter foster care, compared to non-Native children. These four year grants are intended to generate evidence for how best to effectively implement child welfare practices and ongoing active efforts to maintain AI/AN families by funding state and tribal partnerships to jointly design and operate Indian child welfare best practice implementation demonstration sites. The evidence generated and lessons learned through this effort are intended to contribute to implementation efforts nationally to help maintain and preserve AI/AN families and allow their children to remain connected to their communities and cultures. The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity is to create and implement intergovernmental partnership models to improve implementation of child welfare best practices that are culturally appropriate for federally recognized AI/AN children to prevent maltreatment, removal from families and communities, and improve safety, permanency, and well-being. Recipients will serve as demonstration sites to design and implement projects to effectively implement culturally appropriate best practices in Indian child welfare, including measuring improvements in child welfare practice, Indian child welfare codes, legal and judicial processes, case monitoring, case planning, data collection, in-home family preservation services, infrastructure, and systems change. Partnerships must include the state Court Improvement Program, the state child welfare agency, and one or more tribal governments or tribal consortia including corresponding tribal court(s). The "Tribal government" partner(s) may be tribal child welfare agencies where appropriate under tribal law or custom.Effective culturally appropriate best practices for implementation require a high degree of collaboration between state and tribal courts and Indian child welfare agencies. Thus, both states and tribes must identify, build, and enhance necessary capacities. State/tribal collaborations will work together to craft solutions for longstanding challenges to providing effective best practices in Indian child welfare in ways that work best for their communities. This funding opportunity is intended to encourage state and tribal governments to work together to find creative, rational ways to meet the needs of AI/AN families with culturally appropriate best practices in Indian child welfare, with active efforts to retain or reunite Indian children with family as the gold standard for best Indian child welfare practice. The award also provides an important opportunity for states and tribes to build or strengthen relationships of trust by working together toward common family preservation goals. As part of the project, recipients may also consider the role of civil legal services in implementation efforts. Assessment of the success and/or need for legal representation to parties in Indian child welfare cases may be included in project work, as may provision of direct civil legal services, to the extent that such legal services are an identified part of a pilot or practice model to be tested.For purposes of this funding opportunity, "Tribal courts" are defined consistent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs regulations as "a court with jurisdiction over child custody proceedings and which is either a Court of Indian Offenses, a court established and operated under the code or custom of an Indian tribe, or any other administrative body of a tribe which is vested with authority over child custody proceedings.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces the availability of funds for the National Refugee Leadership and Lived Experience Council (NRLLEC) Program. The NRLLEC is a new program funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) that designs, implements, evaluates, and promotes national-level councils consisting of refugees and other ORR-eligible populations who have resettled into communities throughout the United States within the last five years. The NRLLEC Program will facilitate a National Young Adult Leadership Council comprised of members ages 18 to 24 every year for three years, as well as two additional councils with thematic focus to be determined in consultation with ORR. The NRLLEC Program will design, implement, evaluate, and promote five councils during the three-year project period. The programs primary goal is to positively impact the lives of council members and their refugee and larger communities by building council members capacity to serve as leaders. In addition, ORR recognizes that its engagement with these groups will enhance its ability to gather information from individual members firsthand about their lived experiences integrating into the United States. This will help inform ORR and its recipient network about how to best meet refugee needs through enhancing or changing ORR guidance, programming, and future councils. The NRLLEC Program will foster inclusivity, with council members attuned to the diversity, demographics, needs, and viewpoints of ORRs eligible population (https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/programs/refugees/factsheets). The NRLLEC Program will not seek consensus advice from council members.

OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthenscommunity safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. With this solicitation, OVC seeks to support VOCA Victim Compensation programs across the Nation that provide crucial financial assistance to hundreds of thousands of crime victims each year. VOCA Victim Compensation formula funds shall be used by states and territories for awards of compensation benefits to eligible crime victims. OVC encourages states and territories to use VOCA funding within program parameters to affirmatively advance equity, civil rights, justice, and equal opportunity. In line with these goals, OVC particularly encourages states and territories to include American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in program planning and funding. State and territory victim compensation programs, funded by VOCA Victim Compensation Formula Grant awards, supplement state/territory efforts to offset victims financial burdens resulting from crime. Compensation is vital to victims who face enormous financial setbacks from medical fees, lost income, dependent care, funeral expenses, relocation expenses, and other costs. OVC will award each eligible state and territory victim compensation program an annual grant equal to 75 percent of the amount the program awarded in state-funded victim compensation payments during the fiscal year 2 years prior to the present fiscal year, other than amounts awarded for property damage.

OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.With this solicitation, OVC seeks applications for funding under the FY 2024 VOCA Victim Assistance Formula Grant Program. This program furthers the Departments mission by providing grants to support the provision of services to victims of crime throughout the nation. OVC encourages SAAs to use VOCA funding within program parameters to affirmatively advance equity, civil rights, justice, and equal opportunity. In line with these goals, OVC particularly encourages SAAs to include American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in program planning and funding.This program furthers the DOJs mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.

Program Description Overview The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is seeking applications for funding. OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. With this solicitation, OVC seeks to provide funding for housing services for victims of human trafficking, as defined by 22 U.S.C. § 7102(11). This program furthers the DOJ’s mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) announces the availability of approximately $102 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income infants, toddlers, and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 42 U.S.C. 9840A of the Head Start Act. Interested applicants may email [email protected] for additional information.OHS encourages interested applicants to visit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant. This webpage provides information on applying for grants, registering and applying through Grants.gov, submitting an application, and understanding the grant review process.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) announces the availability of approximately $14 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income, migrant and seasonal infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 42 U.S.C. 9840A of the Head Start Act. Interested applicants may email [email protected] for additional information.OHS encourages interested applicants to visit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant. This webpage provides information on applying for grants, registering and applying through Grants.gov, submitting an application, and understanding the grant review process.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start (OHS) announces the availability of approximately $9 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low income American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 42 U.S.C. 9840A of the Head Start Act. Interested applicants may email [email protected] for additional information.OHS encourages interested applicants to visit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant. This webpage provides information on applying for grants, registering and applying through Grants.gov, submitting an application, and understanding the grant review process.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is funding a cooperative agreement to sponsor the Child Development Research Fellowship that gives child development professionals from across the national academic research community the opportunity to experience policy research relevant to programs serving low-income children and families. This award is for an organization to lead the Child Development Research Fellowship Program. The organization must be a Professional Membership Organization for researchers who can support the Child Development Research Fellowship Program. A Professional Membership Organization aims to support individuals professionally and aid them in progressing within their career/profession. The goal of the fellowship program is to expose researchers to policy environments, particularly at the federal level, whereby they gain skills and expertise for policy-relevant research. The program is intended to stimulate the fellows knowledge of child development research and evaluation, particularly regarding services for low-income children and families, and to inform their process of developing long-term, policy-relevant research and evaluation agendas. The public will benefit from the increased availability of researchers highly skilled and experienced in policy and program relevant research and evaluation. Fellows will engage on a full-time basis for a period of 1 year (with a possible second or third year at the discretion of the award recipient and depending on funding availability). Fellows will be exposed to the broader child development policy environment, particularly at the federal level, and to the policy research community through activities organized and conducted by the award recipient. Fellows will learn extensively about ACF and our programs that serve young children and their families. The cooperative agreement will require active partnership between the successful applicant and Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE).For more information about OPRE, see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre . Please subscribe to this forecast at grants.gov to receive notification of any updates.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement/Division of Unaccompanied Childrens Operations (ORR/DUCO), within the Administration for Children and Families, provides temporary shelter care and other child welfare-related services to unaccompanied children (UC) in ORR custody. Residential care services begin once ORR accepts a UC for placement and end when the minor is released from ORR custody, turns 18 years of age, or the minors immigration case results in a final disposition of removal from the United States. Residential care and other child welfare-related services are provided by state-licensed residential care programs in the least restrictive setting appropriate for the UCs age and special needs. ORR is announcing the availability of funds under this Standing Notice of Funding Opportunity (SNOFO) to seek Residential (Long Term Foster Care) Services for Unaccompanied Children providers. For the purposes of this SNOFO, the term "care provider" refers to the prime recipient and if applicable, its subrecipient(s). LTFC providers, or care providers, are required to be licensed (child placement license and any other required license according to state regulations) in the state in which they are located to provide foster care services and are required to meet the needs of UC by providing quality care in a community setting. UC who may qualify for placement in LTFC include the following: minors between the ages of 0-17 years of age, sibling groups, pregnant/parenting teens, and/or minors who are especially vulnerable or with other special needs.All entities funded under this SNOFO must also comply with Flores v. Reno, Case No. CV 85- 4544 RJK (C.D. Cal. 1996) (the Flores Settlement Agreement); pertinent federal laws and regulations; and ORR policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, the ORR Policy Guide and Manual of Procedures. ORR encourages applicants to review ORR;apos;s policies, instructions, and procedures at: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/policy-guidance/unaccompanied-children-program-policy-guide as these will be critical to the overall program design. SAM.gov System Alert: Entity Validation DelaysDue 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.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is soliciting applications for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data awards. These awards aim to support researchers conducting secondary analyses of data of relevance to Head Start (HS) programs and policies. This includes research of relevance to HS programs serving families with children 3 to 5 years old, Early HS programs serving pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, American Indian Alaska Native (AI/AN) HS programs serving families in tribal communities, and Migrant and Seasonal HS programs serving families engaged in migrant and seasonal farm work. The goals of the awards are to: 1) Address topics of current relevance to the goals and outcomes of HS programs; 2) Encourage active communication, networking, and collaboration among prominent HS researchers and policymakers; and 3) Increase the capacity of HS researchers to analyze existing data sets and disseminate their findings to multiple audiences. Topics and data sets of particular interest will be identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Findings from these awards are intended to inform policy, program administration, and future research. If you are interested in this funding opportunity, please register at Grants.gov and subscribe to this forecast to receive update notifications.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is soliciting applications for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data awards. These awards aim to support researchers conducting secondary analyses of data of relevance to Head Start (HS) programs and policies. This includes research of relevance to HS programs serving families with children 3 to 5 years old, Early HS programs serving pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers, American Indian Alaska Native (AI/AN) HS programs serving families in tribal communities, and Migrant and Seasonal HS programs serving families engaged in migrant and seasonal farm work. The goals of the awards are to: 1) Address topics of current relevance to the goals and outcomes of HS programs; 2) Encourage active communication, networking, and collaboration among prominent HS researchers and policymakers; and 3) Increase the capacity of HS researchers to analyze existing data sets and disseminate their findings to multiple audiences. Topics and data sets of particular interest will be identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Findings from these awards are intended to inform policy, program administration, and future research. If you are interested in this funding opportunity, please register at Grants.gov and subscribe to this forecast to receive update notifications.

This cooperative agreement would establish a Center for Home-based Child Care Research to support research about home-based child care (HBCC) in states, territories, This cooperative agreement would establish a Center for Home-based Child Care Research to support research about home-based child care (HBCC) in states, territories, tribes, and/or local community contexts. The purpose of the Center is to provide leadership, build research capacity in the field, and offer support in the development and facilitation of local research to improve understanding of HBCC settings and providers as well as access by the families who seek and utilize HBCC. This research center would promote sound research examining HBCC supply and the factors that support or suppress the availability of HBCC in communities. In addition, this Center would advance the fields understanding of HBCC engagement in public programs and quality improvement efforts. The Centers activities would build research and evaluation capacity in the field and support research in states, territories, and/or tribes that could inform local initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen HBCC.HBCC providers, or individuals and small business owners paid to provide child care in private residences or homes, are an essential segment of the child care landscape. They constitute the largest portion of the child care and early education (CCEE) workforce and serve the vast majority of children birth through school-age who are in regular nonparental care. It is critical for the Administration for Children and Families and for local communities to learn more about HBCC providers, both the individuals providing the care and the characteristics of the programs where they provide child care, in order to inform federal efforts and state, territory, tribal and/or local initiatives to increase access to safe and high-quality child care particularly for families with lower-incomes and working families. The Center would promote sound research examining HBCC and the factors that support or suppress the availability of HBCC in states, territories, and/or tribes. In addition, this Center would advance the fields understanding of HBCC providers engagement in publicly funded programs (e.g., child care subsidies, Head Start) and quality improvement efforts (e.g., Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), quality initiatives (QI), and continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiatives). The Centers activities would build research and evaluation capacity in the field and support research in state, territories and/or tribes that could inform local initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen the supply of HBCC. This Center would ideally bring together a team that has experience investigating HBCC, evaluating Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program and policies, and assessing the needs and experiences of families with lower-incomes, in tribal communities, and of historically marginalized populations. This Center would be equipped to strengthen the ability of local research partnerships to conduct model research projects that effectively address questions concerning HBCC in local contexts, while contributing to broader understanding in the field about HBCC.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), within the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), plans to solicit applications for cooperative agreements under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agency Data and Research Capacity: Planning Grants (Phase I). These projects are meant to support partnerships between CCDF Lead Agencies and researchers to develop and improve state, territory, and Tribal data systems and build the capacity of CCDF Lead Agencies to collect, analyze, and use data to guide child care policy decisions and program improvement efforts. Sponsored projects will work in collaboration to: (1) assess the current data and research capacity of the CCDF Lead Agency; (2) develop questions of interest to investigate state, territory, and Tribal child care policies and practices; (3) develop logic models to identify the data needed to address the questions of interest; (4) identify data sources available to answer questions of interest and assess the accessibility of those data; (5) identify possible data sources from other state, territory, Tribal, and local data systems for linking; (6) determine whether there is a need to collect data to answer policy-relevant questions; and (7) address the barriers to collecting, analyzing, and using data to inform child care policy decisions. These projects are intended to build the capacity of CCDF Lead Agencies to use data, including data on children, families, the workforce, and providers that participate in the child care subsidy system, to make data-informed decisions to improve child care policies and practices. These 18-month projects, with one project and budget period, will fund a planning phase to develop a research plan to address questions of interest to the CCDF Lead Agency, including a plan for identifying, linking, and using state, territory, and Tribal data to inform child care policy decisions. These planning projects may be followed by a second competition (Phase II), under a separate Notice of Funding Opportunity, to support execution of the research plans to develop and improve state, territory, and Tribal data systems. Projects must be conducted through partnerships between CCDF Lead Agencies (i.e., states, territories, Tribes, or local subsidy administering agencies) and researchers from institutions of higher education, within the state agency, research organizations, and/or other organizations with proven expertise conducting policy research. Applications are invited from CCDF Lead Agencies, institutions of higher education, research organizations, and other organizations with proven expertise conducting policy research. The research supported by this program should be collaborative from start to finish. The CCDF Lead Agency and their research partners must work together to assess the current data and research capacity of the CCDF Lead Agency and develop a feasible plan for identifying, linking, and using data to address questions of relevance to the CCDF Lead Agency. Sponsored projects will be expected to participate in a Consortium that will meet and communicate regularly to identify opportunities for coordination, such as to share information on facilitators and barriers to identifying and using data to inform child care policies and methods for linking data across systems, and to develop collective expertise and resources for the field. The Consortiums collaboration will support research capacity and learning within individual projects and across award recipients. Funding is subject to availability of funds and the best interests of the federal government.

The Unaccompanied Children Lived Experience and Youth Engagement Support Program is forecasted to provide funding to establish, manage, and evaluate a Lived Experience Community Council and Lived Experience Leadership Academy comprised of former unaccompanied children and individuals who sponsored children from ORR care. The recipient shall recruit, identify, orient, and train lived experience experts that reflect the demographic diversity (e.g., age, language, etc.) and varied experiences and circumstances (e.g., pregnant/parenting youth, survivors of human trafficking, etc.) of former unaccompanied children and sponsors. Therefore, prior experience developing programming centering lived experience and youth voice and/or supporting unaccompanied children, sponsors, and reunified families is highly desirable. These lived experience bodies have two objectives. The first is to collect feedback from former unaccompanied children and reunified families about their first-hand experience integrating to the United States. The second is to positively impact the lives of Community Council and Leadership Academy members by building their capacity to serve as leaders within their respective communities. The recipient shall provide the necessary resources, such as personnel, to support the implementation of the lived experience bodies. Task areas will include: a) development of the Community Council implementation plan and Leadership Academy curriculum; b) development of a web-based application; c) selection of eligible candidates to the appropriate lived experience body; d) project management; e) interpretation and translation services for, and during, community meetings; f) secure technology for members to participate in virtual meetings; g) compensate members for their time; h) as separate cohorts, coordinate and implement Washington Weeks for the Community Council and Leadership Academy to meet with government leaders and relevant stakeholders, and i) disseminate to the ORR-funded network feedback obtained through the lived experience bodies' work that centers youth voice and lived experience.

The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) forecast provides information for eligible candidates interested in submitting applications for the Technical Assistance and Evaluation of the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration (NextGen TA/Eval). This will be a cooperative agreement awarded to a single state or tribal child support agency. Under this cooperative agreement, the selected recipient will procure and manage an independent third-party organization(s) to provide technical assistance and evaluate the demonstration projects funded under the forecasted companion Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) HHS-2024-ACF-OCSE-FD-0015, Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration. This cooperative agreement will have a 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods. Required activities will include:Implementation tracking and evaluationOutcome tracking and evaluationProviding programmatic and evaluation technical assistance to demonstration grant recipients, including leading regularly scheduled virtual learning community webinars and annual in-person meetings throughout the 5-year project periodImplementing and overseeing a Management Information System for grant recipients under the companion NOFO that systematically collects program services and short-term outcomes for participants in the demonstration projects funded under the companion NOFO or developing some other method to collect this informationDisseminating technical assistance materials, completed evaluation reports, and other lessons learned to a national audience, including presenting at national or state conferences. This may include offering technical assistance and support to non-grant recipient child support programs who want to start and/or strengthen their own child support-led employment services programs.Applicants for this grant may also apply under the companion NOFO, but it is not a requirement for application or selection under this announcement. A successful applicant under this NOFO may also be selected as a successful applicant under the companion NOFO, but one award is not related to the other. The recipient of this award will select a third-party organization to conduct the evaluation and will maintain impartiality regarding the evaluation of all project sites.OCSS forecasts the awardee may receive up to $8,057,059 over the 5-year project period. The annual award ceiling for years 1-2 is $3,587,353. The annual award ceiling for years 3-5 is $294,118. The award floor is the same as the ceiling and average cost.

The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) forecast provides information for eligible candidates interested in submitting applications for the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration (NextGen). The NextGen program model is based on lessons learned from the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration. Its goal is to expand and enhance child support-led employment services for noncustodial parents. All state and tribal child support programs are eligible. Each applicant will self-identify into one of the following three mutually exclusive groups:Tribal child support agenciesState child support agencies where at least one local jurisdiction participating in the demonstration does not currently have an employment and training program or the program has been in operation for less than 5 yearsState child support agencies where all local jurisdictions participating in the demonstration have had an employment and training program in operation for at least 5 yearsAll groups are expected to implement their employment and training programs according to the program design elements described below. Deviations are allowed, but they must be justified, and the applicant must explain how they propose to handle the design elements described below.All groups are expected to provide the following child support and related services to noncustodial parents who receive employment and training services:Initiating and expediting order review and if appropriate modificationSuspending enforcement tools while participating in the program, including removing license suspensions and bench warrantsProviding debt reduction if permitted by state lawHelping with parenting time ordersWraparound services, such as fatherhood and parenting classes, substance abuse, or mental health services, are a plus but not required. OCSS anticipates that the grant recipient will partner with other agencies and programs to provide the employment and training services and other wraparound services.Experience shows that programs work best if each partner focuses on their core competencies. The child support program is expected to be the fiscal agent, manage the day-to-day operation of the program, and provide child support and related services, including those listed above. OCSS does not anticipate that child support staff will provide the employment and training services or wraparound services since these are not the child support program core competencies. These services may be paid for by the grant, but in most instances, they will be delivered by partnering agencies.This grant program will have a 60-month project period with five 12-month budget periods. Year 1 will focus on start-up and development of the program design. Years 2, 3, and 4 will be devoted to providing services, and the final year will be dedicated to evaluation, close-out, and sustainability work. Grant recipients will receive technical assistance and evaluation support from the recipient of the Technical Assistance and Evaluation of the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration grant (see companion forecast). They will also participate in peer-to-peer learning opportunities.Recipients may receive between $350,000 and $2,102,941 over the 5-year project period. The award ceilings and floors for each project year is as follows:Year 1 (initial application): $588,235 ceiling and $100,000 floorYear 2: $588,235 ceiling and $100,000 floorYear 3: $308,824 ceiling and $50,000 floorYear 4: $308,824 ceiling and $50,000 floorYear 5: $308,824 ceiling and $50,000 floorOCSS anticipates that the budget requested will be scaled up or down according to the number of people served by the project.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity is to establish by cooperative agreement the National Center for Tribal Child Welfare Innovation and Advancement (Center). The Center will serve as the Childrens Bureaus (CB) primary vehicle for delivering effective, high-quality technical assistance (TA) to Title IV-B and Title IV-E American Indian and Alaska Native Nations. TA provided will enhance organizational and system performance, and improve outcomes for tribal children, youth, and families by honoring indigenous ways of knowing, and working collaboratively to ensure the preservation of tribal cultures.The Center will provide culturally relevant TA in these areas:1. Workforce Supports: Increase the knowledge, skills, and capacities of child welfare professionals in the tribal child welfare workforce2. Prevention Programs: Support for the development, enhancement, and expansion of tribal prevention programs3. Tribal Child Welfare Programs: Develop, enhance, and expand tribal child welfare programs4. Federal Requirements: Support successful implementation and compliance with federal requirements5. Tribal-State Collaboration: Develop and support meaningful state and tribal collaborations6. Data Management: Enhance capacity for data collection, analysis, visualization, and procurement of case management systems

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to establish, by cooperative agreement, a National Child Welfare Center for Court Innovation and Advancement (CCIA). The CCIA will serve as the technical assistance (TA) provider to State and Tribal Court Improvement Programs (CIPs and TCIPs respectively). The CCIA will also provide TA to continuously improve and promote high quality legal representation for parents, children, and the child welfare agency, including around prevention and at all stages of child welfare proceedings as well as improve the quality of dependency hearings and reviews.The CCIA will be the Childrens Bureaus (CB) principal TA provider to CIPs, TCIPs and the broader child welfare legal and judicial community. The CCIA will build the capacity of TA recipients to meet current and future standards and requirements described in statute and federal regulations (including those specified under titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act), improve organizational and system performance, and improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. In addition, the CCIA will be responsible for increasing the knowledge, skills, capacity, and resources of child welfare legal professionals.

The Maternity Group Home (MGH) program provides safe, stable, and appropriate shelter for pregnant and/or parenting youth and young adults ages 16 to under 22 who have runaway or are experiencing homelessness, and their dependent child(ren), for 18 months and, under extenuating circumstances, up to 21 months. Service providers must accommodate for the needs and safety of the dependent children to include facility safety standards for infants and children on the premises. MGH services include, but are not limited to, parenting skills, child development, family budgeting, and health and nutrition education, in addition to the required services provided under the Transitional Living Program to help MGH youth and young adults realize improvements in four core outcome areas. The MGH combination of shelter and services is designed to promote long-term, economic independence to ensure the well-being of the youth and their child(ren).