Opioid Affected Youth Initiative

The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awards grants under the Opioid Affected Youth Initiative (CFDA 16.842) to states, local jurisdictions, and tribal governments implementing prevention, intervention, and treatment programs for children, youth, and families affected by opioid, stimulant, and other substance use disorders, with the most recent grant award disbursed on October 1, 2024.

The program funds concrete service delivery and coordination activities: evidence-based prevention curricula and youth leadership programming; school-based trauma-informed identification and support; community task forces and coordinated overdose response teams; case management and wraparound services; peer mentoring and support; family therapy and counseling; and training for providers and first responders. Recent awards show recipients operating at county and regional scales—Chicanos Por La Causa reaching 250 youth and 150 families in Maricopa County through Project TND and Active Parenting curricula; SRI International training staff across 23 schools in West Virginia counties on kinship care best practices; and the Richmond County District Attorney's Office sustaining the Ripples of Hope initiative linking substance-affected youth to community counseling services. The program also funds multi-generational and two-generational approaches addressing pregnant and postpartum women in recovery and their infants, and culturally responsive programming for Indigenous and Latinx youth.

Grant awards over the past six years total $63.1 million in federal dollars obligated across 76 awards. The program disburses approximately 10 to 13 awards per year; activity has remained steady at 13 awards annually from 2020 through 2023, with 10 awards in 2024. The portfolio is predominantly Project Grants (75 percent, 57 awards) with smaller shares of Cooperative Agreements (14 percent, 11 awards) and Block Grants (11 percent, 8 awards). The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is the sole funder under this listing, holding 100 percent of awards and federal dollars. Typical Project Grant awards range from $700 thousand to $750 thousand over three-year periods; a single $6 million Cooperative Agreement to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research provides training and technical assistance to grantees nationwide.

Two grant opportunities are currently open with near-term deadlines. The OJJDP FY 2026 Opioid Affected Youth Initiative (posted October 9, 2026) closes November 16, 2026 and funds prevention and intervention strategies addressing violent crime and overdose reduction; eligible applicants include state, local, and tribal governments, 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) nonprofits, and city and county governments. The OJJDP FY25 Opioid Affected Youth Initiative Training and Technical Assistance (originally posted January 21, 2025, with a Cooperative Agreement structure) supports nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and higher education institutions providing capacity-building assistance to initiative grantees and communities, with an original due date of March 13, 2025 that was extended to address Unique Entity Identifier issues in Grants.gov and a June 1, 2026 anticipated performance start date.