As an organization serving children and families, your program is likely aware of the foundational role that grant funding plays in implementing program services. Grant funding is available from public and private sources – federal and state departments, local agencies, foundations, for-profit companies, and more. It can be difficult to know where to look for funding, and we’ll begin by providing steps you can take to identify federal grants. We also provide a couple of examples of upcoming grant opportunities.
Grants.gov is the source to search and apply for federal grant funding. On the Search Grants page, there are thousands of opportunities listed at any given time. Knowing what you’re looking for – and how to find it – is key. As a first step, under Opportunity Status, check the boxes for forecasted (coming soon) and posted (open for competition now).
There are two other features that may make your search easier: the agency filter and keyword criteria. For example, you might use the agency filter to select “Department of Health and Human Services” or “Department of Education.” Or, you might search for keyword depending on the specific population you’re serving (e.g., homeless, foster care, teen parents).
To help give you a sense of what you might find, below are descriptions of two upcoming grant opportunities that might be of interest to the Head Start/Early Head Start community. The Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for both grant opportunities are expected to be released in March 2021, with applications due in May 2021.
Refugee Family Child Care Microenterprise Development Program (Opportunity Number HHS-2021-ACF-ORR-RG-1919): As described in the grant forecast, funding will be provided to organizations to support (e.g., training, financial literacy) refugees to operate a family child care business. The three main objectives are:
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.
Maternity Group Home Program (MGH) (Opportunity Number HHS-2021-ACF-ACYF-YZ-1904): The purpose of this funding opportunity is to provide shelter for pregnant and parenting youth, ages 16 to 22, and their infants and young children. As described in the grant forecast:
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 … 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).
If you are interested in these or other federal grant opportunities, consider using the grants.gov “Subscribe” feature to receive email updates. Grant funding is a powerful tool to enhance service coordination and delivery in support of family outcomes. With a strategic approach to identifying, applying for, and obtaining grant funding, your program may be able to expand its reach and engagement in communities.
Foundations for Families offers a variety of grant writing services that are tailored to the unique needs of each program. Explore our Grant Writing Solutions, and please be in touch to discuss how we could assist your program.
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