The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is seeking applications to fund grants that support the development, implementation, and evaluation of field-initiated approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare; and improving the safety, stability, and well-being of families in traditionally underserved communities.
Donor Name: Administration for Children and Families
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $500,000
Grant Duration: 60 months
Details:
The purpose of this NOFO is to fund eight projects for a 5-year period that bring forward innovative, community-supported approaches to addressing racial bias and inequity in child welfare systems.
Projects will use supporting data to identify and define the problem that needs to be addressed in their community. Projects will work in sync with families with lived experience to co-design and develop solutions to racial bias, disproportionality, and disparities experienced by historically underserved families in their community at a selected point(s) on the child welfare continuum. Projects will focus efforts on historically underserved and overrepresented communities and actively work to reduce structural barriers to accessing services wherever possible.
Field-Initiated Projects will focus on meeting the following project goals:
- Integrate the expertise of community members and establish meaningful roles for families and youth with lived expertise to develop or build upon innovative and effective strategies, activities, and solutions to address disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity in the child welfare system.
- Explore and confirm the root cause and local drivers of racial bias and inequity in child welfare and its impact on families in specific communities.
- Identify a point (or points) along the child welfare system continuum to focus innovative strategies or approaches to addressing disproportionality, racial bias, and inequity.
- Develop opportunities to build equity and enhance the capacity of the child welfare system to reduce rates of racial disparities, including in investigation and surveillance.
- Reduce racial disparities in family exposure to the existing child welfare system by identifying alternative resources, closing gaps in services and access, and developing community-based approaches to support safety and well-being.
- Evaluate strategies and activities implemented using relevant research approaches, including methods to ensure the people who are the focus of the research are engaged in the process.
- Enhance collaboration with those partners that are most appropriate for the project to address barriers for families most impacted by racial disparities in the child welfare system.
- Improve relationships between communities and the child welfare system by changing child welfare norms and values, building trust and confidence, addressing bias in decision making, and improving actual and perceptions of fairness across the system.
Funded projects are encouraged to be innovative in their approaches and to think broadly about potential project-specific solutions. Projects may also seek to enhance existing child welfare program services and activities by placing an emphasis on addressing bias and inequity, developing a shared understanding of the root causes of inequalities in child welfare systems, restructuring policies and practices to incorporate equity and to address bias and systemic racism, or institutionalizing program strategies and evaluation activities that support systemic equity and approaches to address community-identified needs and solutions.
Focus Area
The focus area for project implementation is a geographic area, demographic community, region or system identified by the community that would benefit from an in-depth analysis and subsequent development or expansion of innovative strategies and activities focused on reducing racial bias, disproportionality, and inequity in traditionally underserved and overrepresented communities.
Project Strategies and Activities
Project activities and strategies will be based on and informed by community-identified needs of the focus area for project implementation and address racial bias and inequity at a selected point(s) along the child welfare continuum. Strategies and activities will be culturally responsive, community-driven, and support families of color that live in traditionally underserved communities. Strategies will aim to reduce disproportionality, disparities, racial bias, and inequity among families of color and demonstrate shared power in decision-making and offering solutions.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Funding: $4,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $500,000
- Award Floor: $400,000
Project Period:
60-month project period with five 12-month budget period.
Eligible Applicants
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Independent school districts
- Special district governments
- Small businesses
- Private institutions of higher education
- County governments
- State governments
- City or township governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Additional Information on Eligibility
Per the statute, “The Secretary may make grants to, and enter into contracts with, entities that are states, Indian tribes, or tribal organizations, or public agencies or private agencies or organizations. Collaborative efforts are encouraged, but applicants must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the cooperative agreement. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity. Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements., ACF will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization’s religious character, affiliation, or exercise.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
