hhs-2026-acf-acyf-sr-0012_.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Application due Monday, August 17, 2026

Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) Division of Positive Youth Development

General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GD-SRAE) Opportunity number: HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-SR-0012

Contents

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 4

Basic information 5

Eligibility 7

Agency Priorities 9

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 25

Find the application package 26

Get registered 27

Learn more 27

Step 3: Build Your Application 28

Application checklist 29

Application contents and format 31

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 45

Application review 46

Award notices 56

Step 5: Submit Your Application 57

Application submission and deadlines 58

Step 6: Learn What Happens After Award 60

Post-award requirements and administration 61

Contacts and Support 63

Before you begin 3

Appendices 67

Endnotes 68

Contents 2

Before you begin If you believe you are a good candidate for this funding opportunity, secure your SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations now. If you are already registered, make sure your registrations are active and up to date.

SAM.gov registration (this can take several weeks)

You must have an active account with SAM.gov. This includes having a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

See Step 2: Get Ready to Apply

Grants.gov registration (this can take several days)

You must have an active Grants.gov registration. Doing so requires a Login.gov registration as well.

See Step 2: Get Ready to Apply

Apply by the application due date

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, August 17, 2026.

To help you find what you need, this NOFO uses internal links. In Adobe Reader, you can go back to where you were by pressing Alt + Left Arrow (Windows) or Command + Left Arrow (Mac) on your keyboard.

Before you begin 3 https://sam.gov/ https://grants.gov/

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1:

Review the Opportunity

In this step

Basic information 5

Eligibility 7

Agency Priorities 9

Basic information Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)

Division of Positive Youth Development

Creating and providing youth sexual risk avoidance education programs.

Have questions?

See Contacts and Support.

Key facts

Opportunity name:

Opportunity name: General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GD-

SRAE)

Opportunity number:

HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-

SR-0012

Federal assistance listing:

93.060

NOFO version:

Original

Key dates

Application submission deadline: August 17, 2026

Expected project start date: September 30, 2026

Summary The General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GD-SRAE) Program funds projects that create and provide sexual risk avoidance education that teach youth how to voluntarily refrain from nonmarital sexual activity.

Projects must:

• Ensure that all content emphasizes and normalizes avoiding nonmarital sexual activity as optimal health behavior.

• Use medically-accurate and complete information. Reference peer-reviewed publications by educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations.

• Be age appropriate.

• Provide an evidence-based approach. Integrate research findings with practical strategies that align with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience.

• Teach the benefits associated with personal responsibility, self-regulation, goal setting, healthy decision-making, and a focus on the future.

• Include the physical, emotional, and financial advantages of avoiding nonmarital sexual activity.

• Teach how to resist and avoid sexual coercion and dating violence and discourage youth-specific risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illegal drug use.

• Consider culturally appropriate activities, recognizing the experiences of youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 5

Funding details Type: Grant

Expected total program funding: $19,217,650

Total expected awards: 43

Minimum award amount for the first budget period (award floor): $300,000

Maximum award amount for the first budget period (award ceiling): $450,000

We plan to fund a three-year project period. Each project period has three one-year budget periods.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 6

Eligibility Eligible applicants

• State, territorial, or county governments.

• City or township governments.

• Special district governments.

• Independent, regional, and local school districts.

• Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.

• Native American tribal governments (federally recognized).

• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities.

• Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments).

• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) other than institutions of higher education.

• Nonprofits without 501 (c)(3) status with the IRS other than institutions of higher education.

• Private institutions of higher education.

• For-profit organizations other than small businesses.

• Small businesses.

Other eligibility criteria Individuals (including sole proprietorships), federal entities, and foreign entities are not eligible to apply.

Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible for awards under this funding opportunity.

Disqualifying factors We will review your application to make sure it meets these responsiveness requirements.

We won’t consider an application that:

• Requests funding above the award ceiling.

• Is submitted after the deadline.

• Is from an individual (including a sole proprietorship), federal entity, or a foreign entity.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 7

• Is received in paper format that didn’t have a previously approved exemption from ACF.

Application limits If you submit the same application more than once under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), we will only acknowledge the last on-time submission.

You may submit multiple applications under this NOFO, but each one must propose a unique project with different service sites, populations, and core approaches.

Cost sharing This program has no cost-sharing requirement, meaning you do not need to contribute to the costs of this project.

If you choose to include cost-sharing funds, we won’t consider it during review. If you receive an award, we will include your voluntary commitment in the award, and you must report on the funds. If you don’t provide your promised amount, we may have to decrease your award amount or use other enforcement actions.

Post-award requirements

Before you apply, make sure you understand the requirements that come with an award.

See Step 6: Learn What Happens After Award for information on regulations that apply, reporting, and more.

Statutory authority The General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education grant is authorized and funded generally under the authority of section 1110 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1310, and section 510 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 710, and specifically by the appropriation for General Departmental Management for the Office of the Secretary under Division B, Title II of Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Pub. L. 119-75).

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 8

Agency Priorities Required alignment with ACF vision, mission, values, priorities, and guiding principles The recipient of this award must implement any funds awarded under this NOFO to effectuate program goals or agency priorities in accordance with ACF’s vision, mission, values, priorities, & guiding principles when authorized. Funded activities must advance ACF’s vision of resilient, safe, healthy, and economically secure children, youth, families, and communities, and support ACF’s mission to foster health and well-being through effective, accountable, and compassionate human services when awarded in any programs that authorize these priorities.

Consistent with ACF’s values, in carrying out any project that is funded under this NOFO, the recipient is required to adhere to the following principle:

1. Program Integrity and Fiscal Stewardship: Administer funds in accordance with all applicable federal statutes, regulations, and award conditions; maintain strong internal controls; and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.

The recipient is also required to adhere to the following principles when consistent with the authority and scope of the award and its activities:

2. Evidence-Based and Outcome-Focused Practices: Design and deliver services using evidence-based or evidence-informed approaches, establish measurable performance goals, and use data to monitor outcomes and drive continuous improvement.

3. Partnership and Local Leadership: Coordinate with state, tribal, territorial, local, and community partners, as appropriate, and tailor services to meet community-identified needs while respecting local decision-making authority.

In addition, in keeping with ACF’s priorities, the recipient must administer any project that is awarded under this NOFO in accordance with the following objectives when consistent with the scope of the award and its activities in programs that are authorized to advance them:

4. Family Stability and Child Well-Being: Strengthen families, promote safe and stable home environments, and improve outcomes for children and youth through prevention-focused and developmentally appropriate services.

5. Work, Self-Sufficiency, and Economic Mobility: Support pathways to employment, job retention, and economic independence for individuals and

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 9 https://acf.gov/about/acf-vision-mission-values families, including through workforce development, education, and supportive services.

6. High-Quality Early Care and Learning: Where applicable, invest in high-quality early childhood programs that support school readiness, healthy development, and long-term success.

The recipient must demonstrate ongoing compliance with these values and priorities, in all programs that are authorized to advance them through program design, implementation, reporting, and evaluation. Failure to meaningfully align funded activities with the applicable requirements may result in corrective action, additional reporting requirements, or other enforcement actions consistent with federal grant regulations found at 2 CFR Part 200 and the terms and conditions of this award.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 10

Program description Overview The goal of the General Departmental Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (GD-SRAE) Program is to encourage youth to avoid nonmarital sexual activity and other risky behaviors linked to adolescent sex.

The objectives of this program are to provide an educational curriculum and strategies that:

• Emphasize avoiding nonmarital sexual activity as optimal healthy behavior.

• Teach skills to help youth avoid risks without normalizing sexual activity outside of marriage.

• Serve youth ages 10 to 19.

For a glossary of terms used in this NOFO, please see the appendix.

SRAE program priorities The SRAE Program aligns with the following ACF priorities:

• Promoting Work & Self-Sufficiency – SRAE emphasizes personal responsibility, goal-setting, and future orientation. SRAE explicitly links behavior to poverty prevention and economic independence.

• Promoting Marriage & Family Formation – SRAE has a strong focus on avoiding nonmarital sexual activity and promoting healthy relationships that lead to stable marriages and families, which directly aligns with ACF priorities.

• Gold-Standard Research – Research and evaluation conducted under SRAE must be rigorous. SRAE provides opportunities for independent local evaluation and conducts rigorous national evaluation which is fully aligned with ACF priorities.

• Ensuring Value Alignment in Funding- SRAE statute centers on sexual risk avoidance and personal responsibility, aligning with ACF priorities on family formation, self-sufficiency, and behavioral outcomes.

You must clearly describe how your proposed project and activities align with the priorities mentioned above through program design, partnerships, and expected outcomes. More information on ACF’s Vision, Mission, Values, Priorities, and Guiding Principles can be found on ACF’s website.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 11

Curriculum requirements You are not required to choose from a set list of curricula and can create your own. But you must, at minimum, provide evidence-based projects that fulfill the following requirements:

• Teach the benefits of personal responsibility, self-regulation, setting goals, healthy decision making, and planning for the future.

• Teach how to resist and avoid sexual coercion, dating violence, and discourage risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use, recognizing how they increase the risk for teen sex.

• Encourage making choices that avoid sexual activity outside of marriage.

• Be medically accurate and complete and age-appropriate.

• As requested, you’ll submit curricula to the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) for a medical accuracy review and revise as needed to ensure curricula and other program materials are medically accurate and complete.

• You’ll take appropriate action to correct any medically inaccurate or age-inappropriate information discovered by FYSB during the project period.

◦ Any information provided on contraception is medically accurate. It ensures that students understand that contraception only offers physical risk reduction, not risk elimination.

◦ The education provided will not include demonstrations, simulations, or distribution of contraceptive devices.

• Be based on adolescent learning and developmental theories for the age group receiving the education and be culturally appropriate, recognizing the experiences of youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences.

• Provide formal training for program leaders and educators on the program’s approach, and factors that affect youth’s sexual risk avoidance.

◦ This training must be led by experts and professionals who can give ongoing support to facilitators.

• Connect program participants to other services, local community partners, and agencies that support the health, safety, and well-being of program participants.

• Your program must exclusively provide education on sexual risk avoidance, defined by statute as voluntarily refraining from nonmarital sexual activity (42 U.S.C. 710(b)(1)).

According to GD-SRAE legislation (42 U.S.C. 710)(b)(3)), you must address the following A-F topics, ensuring that the unambiguous and primary emphasis for each topic is a message to youth that normalizes the optimal health behavior of avoiding nonmarital sexual activity:

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 12 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title42-section710&num=0&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjQyIHNlY3Rpb246NzEwIGVkaXRpb246cHJlbGltKQ%3D%3D%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title42-section710&num=0&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjQyIHNlY3Rpb246NzEwIGVkaXRpb246cHJlbGltKQ%3D%3D%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title42-section710&num=0&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjQyIHNlY3Rpb246NzEwIGVkaXRpb246cHJlbGltKQ%3D%3D%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim

A. The holistic individual and societal benefits associated with personal responsibility, self-regulation, goal setting, healthy decision-making, and a focus on the future.

B. The advantage of refraining from nonmarital sexual activity to improve future prospects and the physical and emotional health of youth.

C. The increased likelihood of avoiding poverty when youth attain self-sufficiency and emotional maturity before engaging in sexual activity.

D. The foundational components of healthy relationships and their impact on forming healthy marriages and safe, stable families.

E. How other risky behaviors, such as using drugs and alcohol, increase the risk for teen sex.

F. How to resist, avoid, and receive help on sexual coercion and dating violence, recognizing that even with consent teen sex remains a youth risk behavior.

Success sequence for poverty prevention To further these statutory goals, we encourage you to incorporate promoting the Success Sequence for Poverty Prevention (Success Sequence) in your program.

The Success Sequence teaches youth the importance and benefits of achieving three core steps to ensure successful financial, physical, and emotional outcomes in adulthood.

The steps include:

• Graduating high school.

• Getting a full-time job.

• Getting married before having children.

Evidence-based interventions and strategies Your program should use interventions, strategies, approaches, and/or program models that:

• Have been evaluated using rigorous evaluation design and have demonstrated positive impacts for youth, families, and communities.

• Evaluations may include randomized controlled or high-quality, quasi-experimental trials.

• Bring together the best available research, professional expertise, and input from youth and families to identify and deliver services that have promise to achieve positive outcomes for youth, families, and communities.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 13

Referrals and connections to youth-friendly health care and other services You may provide referrals within the scope of the GD-SRAE Program. Your program should make connections and referrals to health care and other services easy for youth to access but may not pay for the services themselves with FYSB grant funding. Include referrals and service documentation to youth-friendly services that do not normalize sexual activity outside of marriage, such as:

• Educational services (such as tuition for formal K-12 or General Education Diploma classes).

• Career development.

• Counseling services such as:

• Substance use disorder treatment.

• Tobacco cessation.

• Mental health counseling.

• Intimate partner violence counseling.

Referrals may be to local faith-based or community organizations, health care providers, or other entities providing relevant services.

Any funds used to provide information on contraception to children under 13 years of age must show a data-based need within the specific population.

Funds awarded under this NOFO may not be used to fund activity that does not align with ACF published priorities, to the extent authorized by applicable law.

Abortion referrals and services are prohibited Funds awarded under this NOFO may not be used to fund abortion-related services, including referrals.

Partnering agencies Agencies that you partner with should share a commitment to implementing grant funds to emphasize optimal health outcomes that do not normalize sexual activity outside of marriage.

Partnering agencies must:

• Choose programs and/or program elements that research shows effectively produce positive behavior changes for the group being served, such as preventing:

◦ Unmarried teen pregnancies.

◦ Sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

◦ Nonmarital sexual activity.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 14

• Select curricula that are medically accurate and complete, age-appropriate, and culturally appropriate.

• Select curricula that address healthy relationships, life skills, and decision-making with a positive youth development (PYD) approach.

• Make sexual risk avoidance education the focus of their SRAE funded project.

We encourage you to review evidence-based programs and their components (activities that make up programs) to see if they can be adapted, as long as copyright rules allow. Make sure interventions can be faithfully carried out and follow the key curriculum elements required for this award.

Chosen partners and agencies cannot use grant funds to perform abortions or provide abortion referrals.

Other requirements GD-SRAE programs funded under this NOFO must also:

• Be based on medically accurate and complete information.

• Be age and culturally appropriate.

• Use a PYD approach.

• Measure and report on project performance and ensure continuous quality improvement.

• Be sustainable after the award period ends.

You must also be fully staffed and able to carry out this project within 90 days of award.

Medically accurate and complete This means that project materials:

• Must be verified or supported by the weight of research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods.

• Must be either published in peer-reviewed journals, where applicable, or comprise information that leading professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the field recognize as accurate, objective, and complete.

Age appropriate This means that:

• Projects must provide age-appropriate information and activities. Age-appropriate means suitable (in terms of topics, messages, and teaching methods) to the developmental and social maturity of the particular age or age group of children

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 15 or adolescents, based on developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for the age or age group.

• Topics, messages, and teaching methods must be age-appropriate for children and adolescents.

Culturally appropriate This means that projects must use culturally appropriate interventions that recognize the experiences of youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences.

Reaching youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences You may not carry out diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that prioritize services for youth of one race, color, or national origin of youth participant over any other.

Your program must ensure there is no prioritization of any race, color, or national origin of youth when accessing GD-SRAE funded services

Youth participation is voluntary.

Using a positive youth development approach Incorporate a positive youth development (PYD) approach that ensures a young person has a sense of self-worth, belonging and membership, safe and structured settings, closeness in interpersonal relationships, positive adult role models, skills development, and opportunities to serve others. Any PYD approach utilized, including in any project curricula, products, or resources, must not be used in a way that conflicts with the ACF Vision, Mission, Values, Priorities, or Guiding Principles unless authorized by law, including any relevant court orders.

Trauma-informed care SRAE Programs should consider the trauma and mental health needs of young people who have experienced physical or sexual maltreatment, abuse, or violence.

Projects should include trauma-informed approaches. You should train staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in youth, including survival mechanisms or coping behaviors stemming from past experience with childhood sexual abuse or current trauma (from abusive or predatory relationships). You should build organizational and staff capacity to fully include knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices to be able to refer to appropriate treatment or services and to avoid re-traumatizing youth.

For youth who have experienced trauma, you should consider addressing and providing support for youth to develop underlying skills, competencies, responsibilities, and attitudes that improve basic functioning across key life moments.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 16

For example, effective programming that supports mental health, developing coping strategies, and increasing protective factors in a youth’s life can minimize negative risk-taking behaviors and increase their capacity to thrive.

Human trafficking universal education Per 22 U.S.C. 7102(11), the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 as amended, human trafficking (severe forms of trafficking in persons) means:

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.

• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Recipients must provide universal education on human trafficking to all program participants. Universal education provides information, safety messages, and resource connections to all individuals to mitigate risk across the population served. This approach normalizes access to support, reduces stigma, and promotes early connection to services. Universal education must be delivered, when possible, by staff trained in the approach. Program staff must offer resources regardless of whether a program participant discloses trafficking, and universal education should not be used to require or elicit disclosure.

Recipients must include information on human trafficking in all youth curricula.

Curriculum content must be research-based and theory-driven, emphasize strengthening participant knowledge and skills, and provide adequate opportunity for participants to practice and apply newly learned skills. Prevention education must support youth in recognizing trafficking risks, identifying potential trafficking schemes, and building skills related to safety, decision-making, help-seeking, and access to resources and support.

Education and outreach resources

• Look Beneath the Surface Campaign: Downloadable and printable outreach materials that help individuals who are at risk of or experiencing human trafficking recognize trafficking schemes and access support.

• SOAR Online: Free, self-paced online training courses that can be completed on demand.

• Office on Trafficking in Persons Resource Library: A searchable collection of anti-trafficking resources and materials, including outreach materials, toolkits, fact sheets, policy and guidance documents, and training tools that support prevention, awareness, identification, and access to services.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

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Mandatory reporting Human trafficking of children (labor and sex trafficking) is now defined under “child abuse and neglect” in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Pub. L. 93-247.

Therefore, if a recipient identifies potential concerns of human trafficking, the recipient is required to comply with all federal, state, tribal, and local mandated reporting requirements in the same way the recipient reports abuse and neglect within that jurisdiction (child welfare, law enforcement, etc.

Validated Screening Tools for Human Trafficking of Children and Youth[1]

Tool identifier In-depth

Short/ Rapid

Demographic Environment

Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification Tool

X Ages 10+, sex trafficking only

Multiple settings, including child welfare and juvenile justice systems, schools, homeless youth shelters, healthcare, and mental health settings

Human Trafficking Screening Tool

X X Ages 18–24, sex trafficking only

Runaway and homeless youth system settings

Quick Youth Indicators for Trafficking

X Youth who are homeless, sex trafficking and labor trafficking

Service provider setting

Rapid Appraisal for Trafficking

X Ages 18+, sex trafficking and labor trafficking

Healthcare setting

Short Screen for Child Sex Trafficking

X Ages 12–18, sex trafficking only

Healthcare setting

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

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ACF’s newest initiative: A Home for Every Child We encourage you to incorporate the ACF’s initiative, A Home for Every Child, into your program approach. The initiative is designed to reduce risk factors for adolescent pregnancy among youth in foster care.

Youth in foster care experience significantly higher rates of adolescent pregnancy due to unstable housing, disrupted relationships, and exposure to trauma.

Your program may support healthy decision-making, strong relationships, and youth connectedness for foster care youth. These factors contribute to long-term family stability.

Youth with foster care experience and pregnant or parenting youth are priority populations for sexual risk avoidance education due to their elevated risk of engaging in behaviors associated with nonmarital sexual activity and unintended pregnancy.

Delivering SRAE programming to these populations addresses key drivers of risk by emphasizing the benefits of avoiding nonmarital sexual activity and building skills related to healthy relationships, goal setting, and future orientation. As part of this instruction, youth may receive age-appropriate information on parenting and adoption, along with available supports, to promote responsible decision-making and an understanding of the long-term implications of family formation. By strengthening youths’ capacity to develop healthy relationships, practice self-regulation, and align their behaviors with their personal goals, SRAE programming supports improved outcomes for both youth and their future families. For pregnant and parenting youth, these supports can reinforce stability and responsible parenting practices. Over time, these efforts contribute to reducing sexual risk behaviors and supporting long-term well-being, including decreased likelihood of adverse outcomes among populations at elevated risk.

Performance measurement Performance measures are a set of indicators that reflect program performance.

If you receive an award, you’ll be expected to continuously improve the quality of the program and report on performance measures semi-annually. Ensure all subrecipients and implementation sites collect and submit the SRAE performance measures data.

These performance measures provide information based upon three categories of data collection:

• Structure, cost, and support for program implementation.

• Attendance, reach, and dosage.

• Participant entry and exit surveys (which capture characteristics, behaviors, program experiences, and perceptions of effects).

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 19 https://acf.gov/a-home-for-every-child

FYSB will train you to conduct data collection and data submission. FYSB will ask you to collect specific indicators. Check local and state laws, policies, and procedures to ensure the practical collection of data. Obtain any necessary permissions (e.g., formal agreements with partners, Institutional Review Board approval, copies of school district approvals).

For more information about the SRAE performance measures, including definitions, survey instruments, and data collection tools, please see the SRAE Performance Analysis Study website.

Local evaluation (optional) You have the option to conduct a program evaluation, referred to as a local evaluation of your project. You may engage in your own optional local evaluation to:

• Develop additional Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-approved questions relating to program performance.

◦ This includes adding items to the end of the entry or exit surveys that are non-OMB approved.

• Collect additional service satisfaction feedback from youth participants entry and exit surveys.

Well-conducted evaluations require time for planning, implementation, analysis, reporting, and dissemination activities. We advise you to carefully consider, based on the study selected, whether you have enough time and resources to conduct your evaluation. We also recommend that you review the current SRAE evaluation resources to inform your evaluation plan.

SRAE local evaluations are:

• Separate from performance measurement.

• Designed to answer recipient-driven research questions that assess the program’s effectiveness, impact, implementation, and participant outcomes.

• An opportunity to assess areas of improvement.

• A way to contribute to the evidence base for SRAE programming.

In accordance with the legislation, the GD-SRAE evaluation that you opt to conduct must be:

• Rigorous.

• Evidence-based.

• Designed and conducted by independent evaluators who have experience in conducting and publishing research in peer-reviewed journals or other outlets.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 20 https://acf.gov/opre/project/sexual-risk-avoidance-education-performance-analysis-study-2027 https://acf.gov/opre/toolkit/sraene-implementation-evaluation-toolkits

You may contract with independent, local evaluators who design and conduct the local evaluation. These researchers must have experience in conducting evaluations of youth-focused programs in the community. They should match the type of methodology to the proposed local evaluation. Local evaluators may be from universities, research organizations, evaluation consultancies, or other institutions with experience in conducting high-quality evaluations of community programs.

Your funding level will not decrease if you choose not to conduct a local evaluation. If you do conduct a local evaluation, you may set aside up to 20% of your annual funding allocation or evaluation activities.

Methodology If you opt to conduct a local evaluation, you can use any of these methodologies:

• Impact evaluations: Effectiveness studies that have a control group that receives no services or different, distinctive services from the intervention group.

◦ These studies should also evaluate behavioral outcomes beyond the period directly following the end of programming.

• Comprehensive needs assessments: Systematic investigations that:

◦ Identify needs and challenges around a given issue.

◦ Determine root causes.

◦ Identify current barriers to addressing the need.

◦ Set priorities for future actions.

• Descriptive studies: Studies that document and link program implementation and participant outcomes.

◦ Descriptive evaluations generate knowledge or understanding about the programs and populations served and do not have a control group.

Technical assistance If you conduct a local evaluation, we will provide technical assistance and training to you and your local evaluator. This support will focus on planning, implementation, analysis, reporting, and dissemination. You may have to complete standardized forms and templates, describe your evaluation plans, and submit evaluation updates.

We will review your evaluation plan before you start evaluation activities. We may suggest improvements including revisions to the evaluation design and funding.

National evaluation We will conduct a national, descriptive study with recipients. We may invite a subset of projects to participate in a rigorous, federal evaluation. Federal evaluations are subject

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 21 to the Paperwork Reduction Act, and ACF/FYSB will receive all approvals prior to launching any evaluations.

Project sustainability You’re expected to collaborate with subrecipients and partners to carry out a sustainability plan that ensures the project continues after the period of federal funding ends.

Funding policies and limitations Changes in HHS regulations As of October 1, 2025, HHS adopted 2 CFR 200, with some exceptions included in 2 CFR 300. These regulations replace those in 45 CFR 75.

General policies

• We will only make awards if this program receives funding. If Congress appropriates funds for this purpose, we will move forward with the review and award process.

• Support beyond the first budget period will depend on:

◦ Appropriation of funds.

◦ Satisfactory progress in meeting your project’s objectives.

◦ A decision that continued funding is in the government’s best interest.

• If we receive more funding for this program, we will consider:

◦ Funding more applicants.

◦ Extending the period of performance.

◦ Awarding supplemental funding.

• To the extent permitted by law, including any relevant court orders, you may not use funds from this NOFO for any diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI and DEIA) activities. This includes:

◦ DEI- or DEIA-related research.

◦ Activities that discriminate or show preference based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or other protected traits.

◦ Any efforts that promote a “discriminatory equity ideology.” To the extent permitted by law, including any relevant court orders, ACF will also not allow funds awarded under this NOFO to support any services or activities that inculcate or promote gender ideology.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 22 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-B/chapter-III/part-300

For guidance on other types of costs that we restrict or do not allow, see General Provisions for Selected Items of Costs of the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR part 200.

Program-specific limitations and policies We do not allow the following costs under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO):

• Construction.

• Purchase of real property.

• Major renovation.

• Service provision, including those arranged through the program.

You also abide by the following rule:

• No more than 20% of the allocated funds can be used for an optional local evaluation.

• We do not allow the following costs under this NOFO:

◦ To replace current public or private funding .

◦ To replace existing, ongoing, or usual activities of any organization involved in the project.

◦ To pay for any health care or related services that grant recipients or subcontractors may have referred youth to.

Indirect costs Indirect costs are those shared across multiple projects and not easily separated.

To charge indirect costs you can select one of two methods:

Method 1 — Approved rate. If you currently have an indirect cost rate approved by your cognizant federal agency, you may use that rate.

Method 2 — De minimis rate. If you do not have a negotiated indirect cost rate, you may elect to charge a de minimis rate (see 2 CFR 200.414(f)). This rate may be up to 15% of modified total direct costs (MTDC). See the definition of MTDC (2 CFR 200.1). You can use this rate indefinitely.

You may not charge costs included in your indirect cost pool as direct costs.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 23 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRed1f39f9b3d4e72 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.414#p-200.414(f) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200#p-200.1(Modified%20Total%20Direct%20Cost%20(MTDC))

Subawards As the prime recipient, you must maintain a substantive role in the project. This means that you conduct funded activities and provide services necessary and integral to completing the project.

Monitoring your subrecipient’s activities alone as described in 2 CFR 200.332 is not a substantive role.

We do not fund awards where your role is primarily a conduit for passing funds to other organizations unless that arrangement is authorized by statute.

All subrecipients must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

Subrecipients must meet the eligibility requirements of this NOFO.

Salary rate limitation The salary rate limitation in the current appropriations act applies to this program. You may not use awarded funds to pay a salary at a higher rate than the rate for Executive Level II.

For the Executive Level II salary, please see the Office of Personnel Management information on executive and senior level employee pay.

The salary limitation reflects a person’s base salary (including any portion of the salary that is paid with indirect costs). It does not include fringe benefits or any income the person is allowed to earn outside of the duties of the applicant organization.

This salary limitation also applies to subawards, contracts, and subcontracts under an ACF grant or cooperative agreement.

Program income If you earn any money from your award-supported project activities (known as program income), you must use it for the purposes and under the conditions of the award. Find more about program income at 2 CFR 200.307.

Use of E-Verify All funded grantees and subgrantees are encouraged to use the national E-Verify system operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Social Security Administration, to ensure their employees are American citizens or are eligible to work in the United States.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 24 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#200.332 https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/ https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#200.307

Step 2:

Get Ready to Apply

In this step

Find the application package 26

Get registered 27

Learn more 27

Find the application package The application package has all the forms you need to apply. You can find it at this NOFO’s Grants.gov opportunity page. Then select the Package tab.

We recommend that you select the Subscribe button from the View Grant Opportunity page for this NOFO to get updates.

If you can’t use Grants.gov to download application materials or have other technical difficulties, including issues with application submission, contact Grants.gov for assistance.

1. Review 2. Get Ready 3. Build 4. Learn 5. Submit 6. Award Contacts

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 26 https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/6067eefa-f434-4a20-bbb5-5aa1b3a73581 https://www.grants.gov/support

Get registered SAM.gov You must have an active account with SAM.gov to apply. SAM.gov registration can take several weeks. Begin that process today.

To register:

• Go to SAM.gov Entity Registration and select Get Started. From the same page, you can also select the Entity Registration Checklist for the information you will need to register.

• You must agree to the financial assistance general certifications and representations [PDF] specifically. Those for contracts are different.

When you register, you will also receive your required Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

Once you register:

• You will have to maintain your registration throughout the life of any award.

• If your organization has multiple…