Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program | USDA NIFA SLBCD 009181

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SLBCD 009181

The Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program (CYFAR-PDTA) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) that is designed to strengthen how Land-Grant Universities and the Cooperative Extension System support children, youth, and families who are at risk of not having their basic needs met. The core idea is to use the reach and on-the-ground presence of Extension, combined with partnerships across local and regional organizations, to deliver practical educational programming that helps young people build the skills, supports, and opportunities they need to live healthy, stable, and productive lives. The program is framed around helping youth become positive contributors in their communities, including making a social difference through constructive engagement and skill-building.

A central focus of this opportunity is not simply providing direct services, but building the long-term capacity of communities and the institutions that serve them. CYFAR-PDTA partnering universities are expected to increase connections, competency, and organizational capacity so communities can develop and sustain holistic, coordinated programs for underserved and underrepresented at-risk children, youth, and families. In practice, this means supporting models that go beyond one-off events and instead help local partners create durable systems of programming that can continue to operate and improve over time.

The grant specifically supports professional development and technical assistance for CYFAR Sustainable Community Projects (SCPs). The purpose of this support is to ensure the continued development, quality, and implementation of the broader CYFAR Sustainable Community program. Through the Extension system, CYFAR-PDTA is expected to deliver key components that help SCPs function effectively, including guidance on program design and delivery, evaluation support to measure outcomes and improve quality, and technology resources that make programming and reporting more effective. The overall emphasis is on helping local projects strengthen what they do, document results, and scale or sustain efforts in ways that align with CYFAR goals.

Eligibility is limited to Cooperative Extension at specific Land-Grant institutions. Applications may be submitted by Cooperative Extension units at 1890 Land-grant Institutions (with examples listed in the notice such as Tuskegee University, Central State University, and West Virginia State University), 1862 Land-grant Colleges and Universities, the University of the District of Columbia, and 1994 Land-Grant Institutions. Only one application per Land-grant institution is allowed, which effectively requires internal coordination so an institution submits a single, unified proposal. While only these entities can apply as the primary applicant, award recipients are allowed to subcontract with organizations that are not otherwise eligible to apply, as long as those partners are necessary to carry out the project. This creates room for meaningful collaboration with community-based organizations, nonprofits, schools, or technology and evaluation partners, while keeping the official award anchored within the Land-Grant/Extension system.

From the funding notice details, the opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number USDA NIFA SLBCD 009181, CFDA (Assistance Listing) 10.521, and uses the grant funding instrument. The awarding agency is USDA NIFA. The original application closing date shown is 2022-06-21, and the listed award ceiling is 850,000. The opportunity category is discretionary, and the activity category is labeled agriculture, reflecting NIFA program classifications even though the focus here is primarily youth and family development delivered through Extension infrastructure.

In short, this opportunity is geared toward institutions that can serve as backbone providers of training, tools, and hands-on technical assistance so local CYFAR Sustainable Community Projects can deliver strong, evidence-informed youth and family programming, evaluate results, and sustain community-level systems that better meet the needs of at-risk, underserved, and underrepresented populations.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.521.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-05-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-21. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $850,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA SLBCD 009181

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