OARS funding Family Studies

The goal of the Pension Counseling & Information Program is to help individuals understand and exercise their pension rights The regional counseling projects promote protection of the rights, financial security, and independence of older individuals and empower them to make informed choices for a secure retirement. Successful applicants will demonstrate a proven record of advising and representing individuals who have been denied employer or union-sponsored pensions or other retirement savings plan benefits, and will have the capacity to deliver services on a regional basis.

The mission of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program is to empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse. Through outreach, counseling, and education, the SMP program increases awareness and understanding of health care programs to protect Medicare beneficiaries from the economic and health-related consequences associated with Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse. ACL currently provides grant funding to support 53 SMP projects, including grantees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The SMP projects use this funding to provide local outreach, education, and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries through a trained volunteer workforce. SMP projects teach Medicare beneficiaries to protect their Medicare numbers, to detect billing discrepancies on their quarterly Medicare Summary Notice statements, and to report suspicious activity for further investigation. In addition, SMP projects actively disseminate fraud prevention and identification information through the media, outreach campaigns, and community events.

The JAMS Foundation/NAFCM Mini-Grant Program supports the development of innovative and effective programs that can be replicated by community mediation centers nationwide and serve as a pathway to their sustainability and growth. The 2018 Mini-Grant Program will focus on community mediation services for individuals and families who are currently homeless or facing eviction. Mini-Grants of $12,000 for up to two years will be awarded to five organizations throughout the country. Nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and public agencies are eligible to apply. The deadline for Solicitation of Interest responses is March 29, 2018; invited full proposals will be due June 25, 2018. Visit the NAFCM website to learn more about the program.

A Little HOPE supports organizations that provide bereavement support services and grief counseling to children and teens who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or loved one. To be considered, applicants must e-mail (no telephone calls) the name of their program, website address, names of executive director and program director, and the location of the program. No other information is needed (or will be processed). Strong preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to the use of community-trained volunteers. Grant award amounts are based on the scope and budget of the project. Introductory e-mails are accepted year round. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a complete application.

ACL intends to award up to five (5) Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) State Pilot Program grants designed to enhance the capacity of community disability-based programming by improving and/or increasing the services and supports provided by community-based disability organizations that are working to improve the quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, their families, and their caregivers. Grantees funded under this three year announcement will make subawards to community-based organizations across their states that provide long-term services and supports to people living with paralysis. All activities funded under this grant will promote greater independence, equality, choice, and control for individuals living with paralysis and to help them more fully integrate into their communities. Under a separate 2018 funding opportunity announcement, ACL will also award funds for a National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC). One of the activities of the NPRC will be to make subawards to nonprofit community-based organizations that provide long-term services and supports to people living with paralysis. The PRC State Pilot Program is designed, along with the NPRC, to help assess the most effective and efficient ways to enhance the capacity of community disability programming and increase the services and supports available for individuals living with paralysis.

The Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) forecasts the possible availability of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 funds to make five-year grants to up to forty- two entities designated as University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD). These grantees carry out four core functions: (1) interdisciplinary pre-service preparation and continuing education of students; (2) community services, including training, technical assistance, and/or demonstration and model activities; (3) research; and (4) dissemination of information. UCEDDs are interdisciplinary education, research and public service units of universities, or public or not-for-profit entities associated with universities that implement the four core functions addressing, directly or indirectly, one or more of the areas of emphasis (e.g., quality assurance, education and early intervention, child care, health, employment, housing, transportation, recreation and other services available or offered to individuals in a community, including formal and informal community supports, that affect their quality of life).

The Administration on Aging (AoA) will hold a competition for a new cooperative agreement to continue operation of the National Eldercare Locator. The Eldercare Locator will be available to people in 56 states and territories to provide information and referrals nationwide. The Locator is a call center with live information specialists helping older adults and their caregivers link to the aging network of trustworthy national, State, Tribal and community-based organizations. This new program announcement seeks to advance the Locator to better serve current and future older adults and those who care for them.

The purpose of NIDILRR's Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP), which are funded through the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to plan and conduct research and dissemination and utilization activities to develop methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, especially individuals with the most severe disabilities, and to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Rehabilitation Act). The purpose of this particular DRRP is to maintain the Burn Model Systems National Database and to provide training, technical assistance and support for the Burn Model Systems Centers as they contribute data to this database.

Miami University researchers can provide input about the professional development opportunities they'd like to see OARS offer in the next year by completing this 5-minute survey.

The Department of Administrative Services is soliciting competitive sealed proposals ("Proposals") on behalf of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for the implementation and provision of a combined benefits and tax system (the "Work").

This notice solicits applications for Advancing Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs. The purpose of this program is to improve health and well-being for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families by addressing three core systems focus areas for CYSHCN-access to patient/family-centered medical home, transition of youth into the adult health care system, and adoption of health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. This program will establish a national collaborative network of resource centers supporting state Title V programs, families of CYSHCN, child health professionals, and other stakeholders through the provision of technical assistance, training, education, partnership building, policy analysis, and research. Program Goal: The overall goal of this program is to strengthen the system of services for CYSHCN and their families by awarding three separate and distinct cooperative agreements. Cooperative agreements will be awarded to three recipients, who will collaborate to establish a national network of resource centers, with one center awarded for each of the following three focus areas: (1) Patient/family-centered medical home; (2) Transition of youth into the adult health care system; and (3) Health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. The three recipients will coordinate efforts to achieve quality care, decrease health care costs, and improve experience of care for CYSHCN and their families. An applicant can apply and be awarded only one focus area. For specific information about applying for one focus area, see Section IV. Application and Submission Information, Project Abstract.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success grants. The purpose of this grant program is to address one of the nation's top substance abuse prevention priorities; underage drinking among persons aged 9 to 20. At their discretion, states/tribes may also use grant funds to target up to two additional, data-driven substance abuse prevention priorities, such as the use of marijuana, cocaine, or methamphetamine, etc. by individuals ages 9 and above. SPF-PFS is designed to ensure that prevention strategies and messages reach the populations most impacted by substance abuse. The program extends current established cross-agency and community-level partnerships by connecting substance abuse prevention programming to departments of social services and their community service providers. This includes working with populations disproportionately impacted by the consequences of substance use; i.e., children entering the foster care system, transitional youth, and individuals that support persons with substance abuse issues (women, families, parents, caregivers, and young adults).

The opioid epidemic has disrupted public safety and significantly increased the burden on state and local law enforcement, substance abuse treatment delivery systems, mental health systems, child welfare and foster care, and the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems. Through this program, OJJDP is helping states and communities develop a data-driven, coordinated response to opioid abuse-related challenges that impact youth and community safety. Funding under this program may be used to support programs and services to youth and families impacted by both opioids and other substance use disorders.

The BLM's Recreation and Visitor Services Program oversees a broad and complex set of recreation related programs, which provide a multitude of recreation opportunities and experiences. These recreation resources and visitor services support strong local economies and public land conservation. As BLM works to enhance recreational opportunities for the American family, we strive to remain a good neighbor and partner.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), will solicit applications for Family Strengthening Research Scholars grants to support dissertation research on healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood policy issues. These grants are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus on questions that have direct implications for healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood policy decision-making and program administration, and to foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and high-quality doctoral students. These grants are intended to address issues of significance to inform policy decisions and solutions, particularly for underserved/understudied populations (e.g., low-income families, minority populations), utilize rigorous research methodology (including primary data collection and/or secondary data analysis), and help inform the development of future intervention research. For further information about OPRE, see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/. For information about previous Family Strengthening grantees, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/research/project/family-strengthening-scholars.

ACF is funding a cooperative agreement to sponsor the Child Development Research Fellowship that gives child development professionals from the academic research community the opportunity to experience policy research relevant to programs serving low income children and families. 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 one year (with a possible second or third year at the discretion of the grantee 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 grantee. The cooperative agreement will require active partnership between the successful applicant and OPRE.

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) Discretionary Grant Program seeks one grantee to enhance and expand the capacity of FVPSA formula grantees - state FVPSA administrators and state/territory domestic violence coalitions. For this grant program, one grantee will be expected to provide 1) topic-specific training and technical assistance at a national level and 2) intensive training and technical assistance at the state or territory level. The national training and technical assistance topics, and the identified formula grantee recipients of the intensive technical assistance, will be identified through: formula grantee needs assessments; program monitoring by FVPSA staff; and the selected grantee's internal processes for identifying needed topics and selected grantees. The training and technical assistance will focus on programmatic and administrative functions to build the capacity of FVPSA formula grantees, such as dissemination of FVPSA regulations and guidance, understanding roles and responsibilities of programmatic monitoring of local programs, incorporation of best practices, building the management capacity of organizations, and building partnerships within the state or territory which includes culturally-specific organizations and tribes. The grantee will participate in ongoing coordination and collaboration with the FVPSA-funded resource centers, collectively known as the Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN).

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announces funding for the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program (RAPP). Organizations funded under RAPP implement strategies that encourage the development of agricultural and food systems related services that will improve the livelihoods, physically and economically, of refugee families. These strategies work to provide sustainable and/or supplemental income, improved access to healthy foods and better nutrition, psychosocial development, and enhanced integration into communities by refugee families. Required activities under RAPP include: 1) Access to land; 2) Farming Production; 3) Training and Technical Assistance; and 4) Coordination with the Refugee Resettlement Community.

This program will fund project sites to develop a community-based, multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach to responding to youth with sexual behavior problems, their child victims, and their families as well as a training and technical assistance provider to support project sites in developing intervention models. The purpose of this program is to prevent sexual reoffending, promote healing, and provide services for victims and families. The program will focus on interfamilial and/or coresidential child victims and youth with problematic sexual behaviors. Examples of these types of sexual behaviors include, but are not limited to, sexual contact between children who do not know each other well (i.e., foster home or institutional setting); sexual contact between children of different ages, sizes, and developmental levels; aggressive or coerced sexual contact; sexual contact that causes harm to the child or others; and sexual contact that causes another child to be highly upset and/or fearful. Applicants should propose comprehensive, evidence-based intervention strategies for serving both the child victim(s) and the youth with sexual behavior problems and their parents/caregivers.