The District of Columbia Department of Human Services (DHS) is soliciting grant applications for the 2026 Community Legal Education and Resources Grant (CLEAR) from qualified Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Private Organizations, Associations, and Law Firms serving the District of Columbia’s community.
Donor Name: District of Columbia Department of Human Services
State: District of Columbia
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/16/2025
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Funding Priorities
To qualify for the CLEAR Grant the applicant must provide services in at least one of the funding areas listed below:
- Know Your Rights Presentations: This includes briefings or workshops where the applicant is educating the vulnerable community in Washington, DC about their legal rights and options. For the purposes of this grant, the applicant hosting the “Know Your Rights” presentation needs to be an attorney or an accredited representative or collaborate with an organization that has an attorney or an accredited representative on staff who runs these presentations. If an attorney or an accredited representative is not present at a “Know Your Rights” presentation, it will not qualify as a funded activity under the CLEAR grant.
- Family Preparedness: This includes assisting vulnerable communities in making a plan to care for their children and financial affairs and in preparing for emergencies where they may be unavailable to do so. For the purposes of this grant, the applicant would assist members of the community to plan for someone to legally care for their children and manage other areas, such as identifying a legal guardian for minors, creating a financial plan, gathering necessary documents, and preparing corresponding legal paperwork.
- Brief legal representations: This includes limited scope representations, brief legal consultations, review of applications for citizenship, legal screenings, and referrals to pro bono or paid counsel with little ongoing oversight for possible legal relief for individual persons.
- Full legal representations: This includes full representation by staff attorneys, paid outside counsel, or pro bono counsel supervised by or in conjunction with the applicant organization, on the array of legal matters including, but not limited to helping DC residents apply for citizenship or other status, making affirmative and defensive filings. Depending on the level of help offered, full legal representation may include protecting the financial assets and custody for children in the face of legal implications of parents or guardians; participation in lawsuits to protect the rights of NGOs that support these rights and the vulnerable population themselves within the District; and helping DC families provide foster homes, adopt, or sponsor vulnerable families and their children. Allowable costs can include not only the costs of providing legal services, but also application biometric fees for clients.
- Capacity Building: This entails building non-profit organization capacity to provide continuing legal representation to Washington, DC’s underserved residents, and/or train and mentor pro bono attorneys to perform any of the above tasks and otherwise build long-lasting capacity to provide legal services to the District’s underserved population on their legal issues.
- Language Access Services: This involves providing culturally competent language access services to other CLEAR grantees on an unlimited and as needed basis (to the greatest feasible extent) for CLEAR grantees to fulfill their grant obligations, supplementing, if necessary, a language access program funded with other dollars. Services shall be delivered by persons trained in providing interpretation of legal documents and on legal matters, across a broad range of languages spoken by communities within the District.
Grant Period
October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026.
Target Populations
The target population for the use of these funds are the vulnerable residents in the District of Columbia and families of mixed legal status with at least one family member residing in the District of Columbia, except for the final category of services targeted to CLEAR grantees.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants shall meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for the FY26 CLEAR Grant:
- The organization is a CBO with a Federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or evidence of fiscal agent relationship with a 501(c)(3) organization or is a private entity, such as a coalition or association, that is partnering with one or more 501(c)(3) organizations;
- The organization’s principal place of business must be located in the District of Columbia or if a national or regional organization, then it must have a location in the District through which it provides services;
- The organization must provide legal services to District residents with vulnerable legal status or collaborate with an organization and/or attorney who provides legal services to this population through the organizational efforts of the applicant;
- The organization must be currently registered and in good standing with the District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) and the Office of Tax and Revenue. Applicants must maintain their good standing status with the aforementioned entities throughout the pre-award process and the grant’s performance period;
- Applicants shall provide an affidavit regarding any debarments, suspensions, or defaults with the District of Columbia’s Office of Contract and Procurement;
- Applicants shall provide an affidavit certifying that they are eligible for a grant under D.C. Official Code § 1-328.15(d), regarding contributions and solicitation of contributions to a covered recipient.
For more information, visit DHS.
