National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living is a civilian sub-agency that funds grants and contracts supporting aging services, disability programs, and community-based long-term services and supports for vulnerable populations. The Administration operates primarily as a grant-making entity, with contract activity supplementing its core mission delivery through research, technical assistance, and program evaluation.

The Administration has awarded 10 federal contracts totaling $17.9 million in combined potential value since 2021, with $15.9 million obligated to date. Contract activity has been modest and irregular: 2 awards in 2021, 2 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 2 most recently in 2026. The contract base is moderately concentrated by value, with New Editions, Inc. and Blackfish Federal, LLC together accounting for $9.8 million across 4 awards. New Editions, Inc. leads by award count with 3 contracts valued at $5.4 million; the remaining four primes—National Academy of Sciences, Research Triangle Institute, Association of University Centers On Disabilities, and Blackfish Federal, LLC—each hold single or dual awards. Half of contract awards carry no set-aside designation; the remainder split between small-business set-asides (20%), 8(a) sole-source and competitive awards (20% combined), and woman-owned small business (10%).

Grant activity dominates the Administration's portfolio, with 2,577 awards obligating $2.3 billion in federal dollars since 2011. Award volume has declined sharply: 490 awards in 2021, 435 in 2022, then 84 in 2023, 79 in 2024, and 84 in 2025. The recipient base is highly fragmented across 641 distinct organizations, with the top five by-count recipients (Baylor Research Institute, Objective ED Inc., University of Illinois, American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences, and University of Massachusetts Boston) holding only 6 percent of recent awards. By federal dollars obligated, the top five recipients (University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Washington, Regents of the University of Michigan, The Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Corporation, and Kessler Foundation) account for just 4 percent of total federal funding. Grant assistance is predominantly formula-based, representing 63 percent of awards, with project grants comprising 32 percent and cooperative agreements 4 percent.

No recent contract opportunities or grant opportunities are recorded in source data as open or pending solicitation.