HHS-2026-ACF-ECD-YJ-0058_final.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Application due Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Office of Early Childhood Development

Evaluations of Practices for Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Opportunity number: HHS-2026-ACF-ECD-YJ-0058

Contents

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 4

Basic information 5

Eligibility 6

Agency priorities 9

Program description 11

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 22

Find the application package 23

Get registered 24

Learn more 24

Step 3: Build Your Application 25

Application checklist 26

Application contents and format 28

Step 4: Learn About Review and Award 46

Application review 47

Award notices 56

Step 5: Submit Your Application 57

Application submission and deadlines 58

Application 58

Step 6: Learn What Happens After Award 60

Post-award requirements and administration 61

Contacts and Support 62

Before you begin 3

Modifications 66

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 Tuesday, September 8, 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 6

Agency priorities 9

Program description 11

Basic information Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Office of Early Childhood Development

Supporting partnerships to evaluate promising practices for program integrity and fraud prevention.

Have questions?

See Contacts and Support.

Key facts

Opportunity name:

Evaluations of Practices for Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention

Opportunity number:

HHS-2026-ACF-ECD-

YJ-0058

Federal assistance listing:

93.575

NOFO version:

Original

Key dates

Application submission deadline:

September 8, 2026

Optional notice of intent deadline:

August 24, 2026

Expected project start date:

September 30, 2026

See intergovernmental review for other submission processes that may apply to this NOFO.

Summary The Evaluations of Practices for Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention program supports partnerships between CCDF Lead Agencies and research organizations. The aim is to identify promising strategies and approaches for fraud and waste prevention and examine the effectiveness of those efforts. A key goal of this program is to share promising practices with other states, territories, and tribes. The evaluations will guide child care policy decisions and improve program integrity and reduce waste and fraud, including through the development and improvement of state, territory, and tribal data systems.

For further information about ACF, visit our website. To learn more about the goals and initiatives of the CCDF program and Office of Child Care (OCC), please visit the OCC website.

Funding details Type: Cooperative agreement

Expected total program funding: $5,100,000

Total expected awards: 12

Minimum award amount for the first budget period (award floor): $125,000

Maximum award amount for the first budget period (award ceiling): $425,000

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

Awards made under this funding opportunity are subject to federal funds availability.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 5 https://acf.gov/ https://acf.gov/occ

Eligibility Eligible applicants

• City or township governments.

• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities.

• Private institutions of higher education.

• Independent school districts.

• Small businesses.

• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

• Special district governments.

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

• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

• For profit organizations other than small businesses.

• County governments.

• Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification).

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.

Your organization must be either:

• The CCDF Lead Agency responsible for setting relevant subsidy policies for your locality, state, territory, or Tribe.

• A research partner organization that has been approved to submit the application by that CCDF Lead Agency.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 6

CCDF Lead Agencies are identified by each state, territory, or tribe and given the authority to administer the CCDF program. They may be an individual agency or a joint interagency office at the state, territory, or tribal level. If the policies of interest are determined at the level of the county or other jurisdiction in the state, territory, or tribe applications from partnerships between the Lead Agency at that level and research organizations will be eligible.

Research partners must be from an institution of higher education, within the state, territory, or tribal agency, a research organization, or another organization with demonstrated capacity to conduct rigorous policy research.

You can find more information about associated documentation requirements in the additional eligibility documentation section.

Disqualifying factors We will review your application to make sure it meets these 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), a federal entity, or a foreign entity.

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

• Does not include either:

◦ A letter of proof that the applicant is the CCDF Lead Agency.

◦ A letter showing approval of the application from the CCDF Lead Agency responsible for setting relevant subsidy policies (such as the Lead Agency in states, territories, tribes, or local subsidy-administering agencies).

• Does not include a letter showing approval of the application from the research partner (if the CCDF Lead Agency is the applying entity).

• Does not include written evidence that research is a primary organizational activity of the research partner.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 7

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.

Organizations may submit more than one application to this opportunity, but multiple applications from the same organization must follow these rules:

• Each application must have a different Principal Investigator (PI).

• Each project submitted by an organization must be distinct in methods, data sets, and research questions.

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 Section 658O(a)(5) of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act (42 U.S.C. 9858m(a)(5)).

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 8 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section9858m&num=0&edition=prelim

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

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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 Background Child Care and Development Fund The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is a federal block grant program administered by the Office of Child Care (OCC). CCDF provides funding to states, territories, and tribes for child care and early education (CCEE) for families with low incomes with children under the age of 13, including children who receive or require protective services. CCDF is the primary federal funding source for child care subsidies that helps eligible families with low-incomes access CCEE. CCDF aims to improve the quality of CCEE and promote healthy development and learning for all children.

CCDF Lead Agencies in states, territories, and tribes must comply with the requirements set forth in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act. State, territory, and tribal governments set their own, detailed CCDF policies within these broader federal requirements. To learn more, please visit the CCDF Policies Database website.

Every year, a portion of the CCDF program dollars is invested in rigorous research and evaluation projects on CCEE policy topics. To learn more about projects funded with CCDF research set-aside funds, please visit the OPRE website.

Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Program integrity and accountability activities are integral to the effective administration of the CCDF program. Lead Agencies must ensure strong and effective internal controls to prevent fraud and maintain continuity of services to meet the needs of children and families. To operate and maintain a strong CCDF program, regular evaluation of the program’s internal controls and comprehensive training for all entities involved in the administration of the program are imperative. In their state, territory, and tribal plans, Lead Agencies describe their internal controls and how those internal controls effectively ensure integrity and accountability. These accountability measures address reducing fraud, waste, and abuse, including program violations and administrative errors.

Lead agencies have flexibility in the strategies and policies they implement to support program integrity and prevent fraud, including strategies and policies related to:

• Lead agency organizational structure and governance.

• Fiscal management and payment practices.

• Risk assessment and mitigation.

• Eligibility, enrollment, and attendance.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 11 https://acf.gov/occ https://ccdf.urban.org/ https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/research/topic/overview/child-care

• Monitoring, records reviews, and provider audits.

• Training and technical assistance for Lead Agency staff as well as providers receiving CCDF funds.

Evidence is limited, however, about which strategies and policies are effective in preventing fraud and improving program integrity and how those strategies and policies relate to program quality, stability, and families’ access to care.

The Evaluations of Practices for Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Award Program is designed to advance ACF’s priority of supporting gold-standard research by prioritizing projects that align with HHS’ Gold Standard Science. In particular, projects will conduct science in a manner that is:

• Reproducible.

• Transparent.

• Communicative of error and uncertainty.

• Collaborative and interdisciplinary.

• Skeptical of its findings and assumptions.

• Structured for falsifiability of hypotheses.

• Subject to unbiased peer review.

• Accepting of negative results as positive outcomes.

• Without conflicts of interest.

The award program emphasizes the adoption of evidence-based approaches and continuous improvement through rigorous data collection and analysis. Partnership teams are expected to use evaluation findings to refine and improve practices, ensuring that program enhancements are grounded in reliable evidence and lead to tangible outcomes for children and families.

Collaboration between CCDF Lead Agencies and research organizations is central to the award program, helping build strong partnerships and support local leadership. Teams are encouraged to coordinate with community members and tailor services to address unique local needs. This approach enhances the relevance and effectiveness of child care policies and avoids one-size-fits-all approaches so that decisions can be made closest to the people served by the CCDF program.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 12 https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hhs-gold-standard-science-report-2025.pdf

Program goals and requirements This program supports active collaborations between CCDF Lead Agencies and research organizations to build data and research capacity for evidence-informed child care policymaking. We refer to these collaborations as partnership teams throughout this NOFO.

Through these partnerships, CCDF Lead Agencies will strengthen their ability to make data and evidence-informed policy decisions to support improvements in CCDF program integrity, prevention of fraud and waste, and faithful administration of CCDF consistent with the rule of law. This includes the development and enhancement of state, territory, and tribal data systems.

To conduct evaluations that guide child care policy decisions and program improvement efforts to improve program integrity and reduce fraud, partnership teams will conduct their work across two phases during the four-year award period.

Phase 1 (Year 1): Phase 1 will be used as a foundational year.

During Phase 1, teams may:

• Solidify their partnerships.

• Refine their proposed evaluation plans.

• Increase capacity for implementing rigorous evaluations to inform decision-making.

During this time, partnership teams must also:

• Identify one or more promising practices for program integrity and fraud prevention that they will evaluate.

• Conduct preliminary analyses.

• Assess data sources and systems, including availability, quality, accessibility, linkage, usability, and quality of administrative and other relevant data systems.

• Conduct pilot studies.

• Share initial findings with the consortium and OCC.

Phase 2 (Year 2 through Year 4): During Phase 2, partnership teams will implement and complete their evaluation study and report on their findings throughout the process, including preliminary and emerging findings.

Award recipients will receive one budget period (one year) of funding at a time.

Partnership teams will need to complete a non-competing continuation (NCC) application each year to receive each subsequent year of funding. NCC applications must demonstrate satisfactory performance by meeting the proposed project goals, objectives, and activities within the stated timeline, updating milestones and

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 13 maintaining communication with the FPO, and maintaining communications and collaboration between CCDF Lead Agency and partnership organizations. Performance progress markers will be finalized in discussion with FPO after award.

The specific goals and requirements of this award program are detailed in the following subsections.

Goal: Promote evidence-based strategies that improve program integrity and prevent fraud in CCDF Partnership teams are expected to work together to identify and evaluate promising strategies for promoting CCDF program integrity, accountability, and fraud prevention.

These strategies may be new or existing practices; and may focus on activities or policies related to internal controls, lead agency structure or governance, fiscal management, payment practices, eligibility, enrollment, attendance, monitoring, audits, lead agency or provider training, or other strategies aimed at improving program integrity or reducing fraud, waste, and abuse.

Partnership teams will determine which promising practices are ready for evaluation and work together to execute a rigorous evaluation of those practices. This includes strengthening CCDF Lead Agencies data capacity, as needed, and their ability to use data and evidence to improve efforts related to program integrity and accountability.

Through these evaluations, the partnerships will also build the evidence base for effective program integrity and fraud prevention strategies and provide critical exemplars for other Lead Agencies to learn from.

Goal: Conduct a rigorous evaluation of promising practices for program integrity and fraud prevention Each partnership team must conduct an evaluation of a new or existing promising practice for program integrity and fraud prevention to evaluate its effectiveness to reduce intentional fraud.

The strategy you evaluate should have a:

• Clearly defined theory of change.

• Logic model that reflects how the strategy is intended to work.

The evaluation needs to:

• Clearly state research questions that help assess how well one or more strategies improve program integrity and prevent fraud.

• Include new data collections or analysis of administrative data.

• Employ the best available research design and methods to address the questions of interest.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 14

• Use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods to address practical questions that matter to the CCDF Lead Agency and the social policy and early care and education fields.

• Be designed with enough data and participants to tell if the program has the predicted impact and works as expected.

Evaluations can:

• Collect new data.

• Use administrative or program data that the CCDF Lead Agency already has or is collecting.

• Link multiple data sources to one another.

Partnership teams must use rigorous methods that are both feasible and appropriate to answer the research questions. Evaluations also need to be appropriate for and relevant to the populations, circumstances, and settings that the study focuses on. The evaluations need to align with the ACF Evaluation Policy.

All planned studies need to adhere to the following definition of rigor:

• Credibility:

◦ Ensuring that you are evaluating what you intended to evaluate.

◦ Making sure you describe the strategy or policy being studied is accurate and recognizable to others.

◦ Making sure you’re using the strongest and most compelling approach that is practical for answering the question.

◦ If conclusions about program efficacy are being examined, the study design should include a comparison group (that is, the study should be a randomized control trial or quasi-experimental design).

• Applicability:

◦ Being able to generalize findings beyond the current project that is, findings fitting into contexts outside the study situation.

◦ Ensuring the sample being studied represents one or more of the populations being served by the program.

• Consistency:

◦ Consistently following and clearly explaining processes and methods.

◦ Ensuring that someone else could replicate the approach.

◦ Ensuring that other studies can confirm what is found.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 15 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/acf-evaluation-policy

• Neutrality:

◦ Producing results that are as objective as possible.

◦ Acknowledging the bias brought to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the results.

Goal: Build effective research partnerships and disseminate findings Collaborations between state, territory, or tribal CCDF Lead Agencies and researchers should be mutually beneficial. They provide high-quality evidence to help agencies make policy decisions while giving researchers an opportunity to develop greater capacity for policy-relevant research. Partnerships also increase the long-term capacity of the field to produce, access, and use rigorous and relevant research to inform child care policies at local and national levels.

It takes time to build and maintain research partnerships, so partnership teams can use Phase 1 of the project period to solidify their partnerships.

Partnership teams are expected to work collaboratively throughout all phases of the project to make sure that the research addresses questions that are of interest to the CCDF Lead Agency, and will be directly useful to both the Lead Agency and the research partner organization, as well as the federal CCDF program and the field at large.

Partnerships must be formalized through memoranda of understanding, contracts, or subaward agreements during the project period.

Partnerships will also foster information exchange among practice, policy, and research communities by (a) working with a cohort of other award recipients and federal staff in a research consortium; (b) engaging other relevant groups in the research process; and

(c) disseminating knowledge and insights to relevant audiences at the local, state, and national levels.

a) Partnership teams will also work with a cohort of other award recipients and federal staff in a research consortium.

• The Consortium will meet regularly to:

◦ Share lessons learned.

◦ Identify common measures, data collection protocols, and data management tools.

◦ Identify opportunities for collaborative analysis and synthesis.

◦ Plan for dissemination.

◦ Develop collective expertise and resources to be shared with the field at large.

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 16

• As a result of this collaboration, partnership teams may choose to refine their evaluation design, data collection measures, and analytic approach after award.

b) Partnership teams must actively engage relevant community, programmatic, policy, and research experts throughout the project period. Learning from the experiences of families and early educators can also improve policies and programs.

• For this NOFO, active engagement is defined as intentionally involving the groups and people who are invested in the outcomes of the evaluation and the strategy in all phases of the research process.

• You should get their input transparently while safeguarding the objectivity and independence of the study, to avoid undue influence, bias, and the appearance of bias.

c) Partnership teams will disseminate knowledge and insights to relevant audiences at the local, state, and national levels.

• Partnership teams must attend the Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium (CCEEPRC) and National Research Conference on Early Childhood (NRCEC) meetings, when held.

• The meetings bring together award recipients, contracted researchers funded by ACF, academic and professional researchers, early childhood program administrators and practitioners, training and technical assistance providers, and federal, state, and local policymakers to discuss early childhood policy research. It is an excellent opportunity to foster information exchange among interested parties and disseminate insights from the research, work, and developments.

• Partnership teams must also identify or develop ways to communicate about the implications and innovations of the research project to research, policy, and practice audiences at the local, state, and national levels. Teams should consider opportunities to engage and disseminate relevant information to partners that are supporting early care and education systems building efforts, such as State Early Childhood Advisory Councils. Dissemination includes (but is not limited to) interim and final results.

Additional information and resources:

Please see below for more information on building effective research partnerships:

• OPRE blog post on research partnerships and evidence use.

• Brief on How to Build and Strengthen Partnerships between CCDF Lead Agencies and Early Care and Education Researchers: Supporting Evidence to Inform Policy.

If you need contact information for CCDF Lead Agencies, please see:

• Contact information for state and territory CCDF Lead Agencies.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 17 https://acf.gov/opre/national-research-conference-early-childhood-nrcec https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2023/04/role-r3p-research-practice-policy-partnerships-and-evidence-use https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/how-build-and-strengthen-partnerships-between-ccdf-lead-agencies-and-early-care-and https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/how-build-and-strengthen-partnerships-between-ccdf-lead-agencies-and-early-care-and https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/contact-information/state-and-territory-child-care-and-development-fund-administrators

◦ Contact information for Tribal CCDF Lead Agencies (this list was last updated in 2022 and is the most recent information available).

For information on ACF’s expectations on engaging with tribal communities, see the Roadmap for Collaborative and Effective Evaluation in Tribal Communities.

Partnership teams will attend the following required Consortium meetings:

• Consortium kickoff meeting: Key project personnel (for example, Principal Investigators, CCDF Lead Agency partners, other key partners, and task leads) will attend a one-day kickoff meeting. This virtual meeting will be held in the first four months of the project period.

• Biannual virtual consortium meeting: These virtual meetings will each be about one hour long and will serve as the primary venue for cross-project collaboration and shared learning.

• Annual consortium meeting: These are usually two-day, in-person meetings held in Washington, DC in conjunction with the CCEEPRC and NRCEC convenings.

During these meetings, you will:

◦ Discuss project developments.

◦ Identify research questions or issues of common interest.

◦ Identify potential collaborative products and resources.

Dissemination products must be:

• Written in plain language.

• Widely accessible.

• Publicly available.

Award recipients must pre-register your evaluation plan with an appropriate public registry. For more information, see Pre-Registering Studies – What Is It, How Do You Do It, and Why?

Partnership teams will confer with the FPO to connect with the Child and Family Data Archive (CFData) to discuss the datasets that are most appropriate for archiving. As part of these discussions, we will consider:

• Privacy.

• Intellectual property rights.

• Data ownership.

• Similar issues.

Please refer to the Stevens Amendment of the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements for guidance requiring all HHS grant and cooperative

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 18 https://acf.gov/occ/contact-information/tribal-ccdf-contacts-state https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/roadmap-collaborative-and-effective-evaluation-tribal-communities https://digital.gov/guides/plain-language https://acf.gov/archive/opre/blog/2022/08/pre-registering-studies-what-it-how-do-you-do-it-and-why https://acf.gov/archive/opre/blog/2022/08/pre-registering-studies-what-it-how-do-you-do-it-and-why https://www.childandfamilydataarchive.org/ https://acf.gov/grants/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements https://acf.gov/grants/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements agreement recipients to acknowledge federal funding when publicly communicating projects or programs funded through the HHS annual appropriation.

Cooperative agreement— description of ACF’s involvement A cooperative agreement is a method of awarding federal assistance in which substantial federal involvement is anticipated. A cooperative agreement clearly defines the responsibilities of ACF.

ACF staff will:

• Monitor the overall project and work collaboratively with award recipients to help them accomplish project goals and ensure alignment with the focus of program integrity and fraud prevention.

• Provide technical assistance and feedback when necessary, including joint decision-making on research design, approach, dissemination, and archiving data.

• Approve any subawards and any changes to the project questions or approach.

• Support collaboration among award recipients, including scheduling and hosting consortium meetings, setting agendas, and coordinating activities.

• Facilitate collaboration and coordination with other ACF-funded award recipients, ACF program offices (such as the Office of Child Care), and their technical assistance providers and other contractors.

• Provide feedback on proposed plans and products to make sure that they fill needs and are relevant to local and national policy and practice communities.

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.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 19 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-B/chapter-III/part-300

• 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.

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.

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.

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Step 1: Review the Opportunity 20 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.

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

Step 1: Review the Opportunity 21 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/

Step 2:

Get Ready to Apply

In this step

Find the application package 23

Get registered 24

Learn more 24

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 23 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 UEIs, use the one associated with your physical location.

Grants.gov You must also have an active account with Grants.gov. You can see step-by-step instructions at the Grants.gov Quick Start Guide for Applicants.

Need help? See Contacts and Support.

Learn more Visit Applying for an ACF Grant Award on the ACF Grants page.

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

Step 2: Get Ready to Apply 24 https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/financial-assistance-general-certification-representations.pdf https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/financial-assistance-general-certification-representations.pdf https://grants.gov/applicants/applicant-registration http://www.grants.gov/quick-start-guide/applicants https://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/how-apply-grant

Step 3:

Build Your Application

In this step

Application checklist 26

Application contents and format 28

Application checklist Make sure that you have everything you need to apply. You will find the forms in Grants.gov.

File one: Narratives Use the Project Narrative Attachment form.

Component Included in page limit?

Table of contents Yes

Project summary Yes

Project narrative Yes

Line-item budget and budget narrative Yes

File two: Attachments Insert each in a single Other Attachments form.

Component Included in page limit?

ACF priorities alignment attestation No

Indirect cost agreement Yes

Legal proof of nonprofit status No

Legal proof of for-profit status Yes

Legal proof of small businesses Yes

Additional eligibility documentation Yes

Organizational capacity supporting information (including organization chart) Yes

Third-party agreements Yes

Letters of support Yes

Protection of human subjects certification No

Step 3: Build Your Application 26

Standard forms Use each required form in Grants.gov.

Component Included in page limit?

Project Abstract Summary No

Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) No

Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A) No

(SF-424B) Assurances for Non-Construction Programs No

Key Contacts No

Grants.gov Lobbying form No

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) No

Project/Performance Site Location(s) (SF-P/PSL) No

Step 3: Build Your Application 27

Application contents and format You will submit two files plus the standard forms in the application package.

Your organization’s authorized official must certify your application.

See intergovernmental review to find out if you need to make any other submissions.

Required format Page limit for file one and file two combined: 100 pages

File format: Portable Document Format (PDF) is recommended but not required. ACF supports the following file formats when you attach files to the Project Narrative Attachment form and the Other Attachments form:

Accepted file formats

• Adobe PDF (.pdf).

• Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).

• Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx).

• Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt).

• Image formats (.JPG, .GIF, .TIFF, or .BMP only).

Document formats Paper size: 8 ½ inches x 11 inches Margins: 1 inch all around Language: English

If possible, include page numbers.

Do not include external links to information you want reviewers to assess because reviewers will score the application solely on information provided in the application.

Fonts Font: Times New Roman Color: Black Size: 12-point font

Footnotes and text in tables and graphics may be 10-point.

Step 3: Build Your Application 28

Spacing Table of contents: Must be single-spaced Project summary: Must be single-spaced Project narrative: Must be double-spaced Line-item budget and budget narrative: Can be single-spaced Attachments: Can be single-spaced Tables and footnotes throughout: Can be single-spaced

See disqualifying factors to understand what may disqualify your application from consideration.

File one: Narratives To submit file one, you will use the Project Narrative Attachment form found in the Grants.gov application package for this NOFO.

This file includes:

• Table of contents.

• Project summary, one page.

• Project narrative.

• Line-item budget and budget narrative.

Table of contents At the beginning of file one, insert a table of contents that guides a reader through the contents of both files in your application. If possible, include links to the relevant content in file one.

Project summary Provide a one-page summary of the project description. Do not cross-reference to other parts of your application. The summary must include:

• At the top, the project title, applicant name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, and any website URL.

• A brief description of the project, including the needs and population you will address, and your proposed services or research questions.

Step 3: Build Your Application 29

Project narrative The project narrative is where you address all your proposed activities. It is a critical section of your application, which we evaluate using merit review criteria and rank based on application scores.

Remember that substance and measurable outcomes are more important than length.

We are particularly interested in project narratives that convey strategies for achieving intended performance.

In it, you must:

• Explain how the project will meet the purpose of the NOFO, as described in the program description section.

• Make sure your narrative is clear, concise, and complete.

• Use cross-referencing rather than repetition.

• Be sure to include any required supporting documents noted. You generally provide these in your attachments.

• Use the headings and order of the sections that follow.

Response

Approach

Outline your action plan. Describe the scope of your proposed project and describe in detail how you will accomplish it. Account for all functions or activities you identify in your application.

Explain potential obstacles and challenges to accomplishing your project goals. Explain the strategies you will use to address them.

Your application must include all the following subsections.

Background and significance

Your application must:

• Describe the strategy specific to improving child care program integrity and preventing fraud that you will evaluate, including:

◦ How the strategy is implemented.

◦ The goals and intended outcomes of the strategy.

◦ Any relevant background information on the strategy.

◦ Evidence that the strategy is ready for a rigorous evaluation.

• Explain what is already known about the policy issues being studied and link this to the goals and questions you’re aiming to answer.

Step 3: Build Your Application 30

• Include a logic model that clearly outlines the project’s stated theory of change and shows the link between inputs, the identified strategy, outputs, and expected outcomes. For the purposes of this funding opportunity, the logic model should include connections between the following items:

◦ The resources needed to implement the strategy (inputs).

◦ Activities that the strategy requires.

◦ Outputs or benchmarks that indicate how well the strategy is implemented.

◦ Outcomes the strategy is intended to impact.

• The key questions of interest and initial hypotheses that demonstrate understanding of the critical policy issues and research needs of the partnering CCDF Lead Agency.

◦ Explain why your hypotheses make sense based on current theory and empirical evidence, citing relevant literature.

• Describe how the project will inform specific programmatic or policy decisions of the CCDF Lead Agency.

◦ Explain how it will contribute to future policy, practice, and research more broadly. Include practical applications as well as longer-term benefits that might result from the project’s activities or findings.

Research partnership

Your application must:

• Describe all the organizations that will be part of the partnership team and provide evidence that each partner is willing to participate in the partnership.

◦ This can be done through formal letters of specific commitment or support from each partner.

◦ Include these letters of support in your attachments.

• Describe the stage of the partnership (that is, whether it is a new partnership or a mature one) and past experiences working with the proposed partners.

◦ Partnerships at any stage are acceptable, but it is important to show that the partnership team is prepared to carry out the proposed evaluation.

• Explain how the partnership’s stage and past experiences will affect your proposed work, the roles of the partners, and the expectations for the results of the project.

◦ Include both the research produced and the future of the partnership’s ability to carry out collaborative research.

• If relevant, describe your plans to solidify your partnership in Phase 1 of the project and increase the partnership team’s capacity for implementing rigorous evaluations to inform decision-making.

Step 3: Build Your Application 31

• Describe how the partnership team:

◦ Collaboratively identified the strategy you are proposing to evaluate.

◦ Defined the key research questions.

◦ Designed the evaluation.

• Describe how all partners will be engaged in the work throughout the entire project period and all phases of the evaluation study.

• Discuss the partnership team’s decision-making process.

◦ Include how it will determine research direction, release of research results, and future research plans.

◦ Discuss potential challenges and how the partnership team will resolve them.

• Describe how the work funded under this opportunity will advance each partner’s capacity to conduct and use data and research for evidence-informed child care policymaking.

◦ Include a plan to strengthen the CCDF Lead Agency’s evaluation and research capacity, and to use its administrative data in innovative ways.

Research design and methods

Your application must describe in detail your rigorous evaluation design and methods.

Include the following in your description:

• Detailed, appropriate, rigorous, and feasible research design and methods (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) that will be used to address the proposed research questions.

• Discuss the strengths and limitations of each aspect of your proposed design.

◦ Include any technical or logistical challenges that may occur and how you might solve them.

• As you describe your research design and methods, if relevant, please indicate how you plan to use Phase 1 (Year 1 of the project period) to refine the proposed research design and methods. Your plan might include activities such as:

◦ Learning more about rigorous research and evaluation approaches.

◦ Assessing data systems.

◦ Conducting preliminary analyses.

◦ Conducting pilot studies.

Be sure to include the following information:

• Research questions: List the research questions and hypotheses.

• Data sources: Identify and describe the data sources you will use and how the data is appropriate for the proposed evaluation.

Step 3: Build Your Application 32

◦ You may propose to collect and analyze primary data, use existing data, or link multiple data sources.

If you plan to use administrative, program, or other existing data:

• Describe the data, sample characteristics, and the original objectives.

• Include their appropriateness and limitations for this study.

• Describe the data characteristics (including data quality), variables, or data elements you will use and how they fit into the research plan.

• Provide proof that the research team has the authority to access the data.

◦ Proof can include written permissions or agreements from the offices or agencies that authorize access (this can be included in the attachments).

◦ If you don’t need permission to access the data, describe your plan and timeline for accessing it.

If the proposed research involves linking data from sources other than the CCDF Lead Agency with data used or obtained by the CCDF Lead Agency, explain how the data will be linked to address the…