Ohio Department Of Youth Services

Ohio Department Of Youth Services, a U.S. local government entity based in Columbus, Ohio, receives formula and project grants from the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to fund juvenile justice delinquency prevention, positive youth development, sexual health education, and Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) compliance programming for Ohio youth ages 10–21. ODYS operates exclusively as a grant recipient (83% of recent awards as prime recipient) and does not hold federal contracts or compete on IDIQs, GWACs, or BPAs.

ODYS's federal grant portfolio centers on three concrete capability areas. The Administration for Children and Families funds comprehensive sexual health and abstinence education under the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP, CFDA 93.092), with a recent $2.41 million formula grant running through September 2028 that targets adolescents and pregnant or parenting youth under age 21, incorporating instruction on healthy relationships, financial literacy, and life skills while reaching vulnerable populations including youth in the juvenile justice system, foster care, and homeless or runaway populations. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awards formula grants under its Title II funding stream to support delinquency prevention and positive youth development, including a $1.531 million recent formula award (OJJDP CFDA 16.735) allocating funding to community providers delivering mentoring, job readiness, counseling, and family therapy targeting at-risk African American youth and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system; ODYS has maintained this RED (Racial and Ethnic Disparities) focus since 2007 across multiple continuation awards. The Bureau of Justice Assistance funded a project grant (October 2022 through September 2025) for PREA resident education deliverables—youth-centered intake videos, curricula, pamphlets, and mixed-media materials explaining sexual abuse zero-tolerance policies and youth reporting mechanisms within ODYS's three facilities housing over 400 youth total.

The top five customer agencies account for 91% of recent awards: the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (24 awards), the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (22 awards), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (14 awards), the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (5 awards), and the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (5 awards). ODYS also serves as a sub-recipient of federal education grants from the Ohio Department of Education, receiving Title I Part D, IDEA-B Special Education, Carl D. Perkins 1% Corrections, and Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) allocations passed through to the Buckeye United School District for educational services within ODYS facilities. Activity has remained flat at five awards per year from 2022 through 2025, with only one award recorded in 2026; recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal (one award completing). ODYS sub-awards portions of its grants to local community organizations and school districts delivering direct services, leveraging partnerships with the Ohio Department of Education to integrate comprehensive service delivery across the state's juvenile justice and youth service systems.