New Jersey Department Of Human Services

The New Jersey Department of Human Services, a division of the State of New Jersey, functions as a federal grant recipient administering approximately 779 prime federal awards spanning health, nutrition, child welfare, vocational rehabilitation, and aging services, with combined obligated dollars exceeding $628 billion. The department operates as a pass-through entity, distributing sub-awards to county-level agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community-based service providers statewide; it holds no contracts and acts as a recipient on grant programs only, with 99% of awards positioned as prime recipient work and 1% as sub-recipient.

Customer concentration reflects the department's role as the state's designated administrator for federal entitlement programs. The top five funding agencies by award count account for 53% of recent awards: the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living leads with 108 awards covering aging services, family caregiver support, elder abuse prevention, and Medicare enrollment assistance; the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service carries 82 awards in SNAP administration, child nutrition programs, and summer EBT initiatives; the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services holds 74 awards for vocational rehabilitation and independent living services; and the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families manages 63 awards for child support services, child care development, refugee assistance, and TANF. The department also serves the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Administration on Aging, SAMHSA, and state law enforcement agencies (receiving pass-through VOCA and VAWA funding). This customer footprint is stable—the source shows consistent annual award volume around 47 awards per year from 2022 through 2025—but 38 awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure across aging, nutrition, and child welfare programs.

Representative prime recipient work includes a $441.752 million cooperative agreement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Rural Health Transformation Program (CFDA 93.798), awarded December 29, 2025, to strengthen healthcare delivery across eleven rural New Jersey counties through provider recruitment, training, retention, community health center funding, telehealth expansion, and preventive health initiatives through October 30, 2030. A $82.724 billion block grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Grants to States for Medicaid program (CFDA 93.778), awarded October 1, 2025, funds medical assistance payments for low-income populations including cash assistance recipients, children, pregnant women, and the aged, with the department distributing funds to county-level agencies statewide. A $143.164 million block grant from SAMHSA under the Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.959), awarded October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027, supports youth prevention programs, maternal wraparound services for pregnant women with opioid use disorder, opioid overdose recovery initiatives, peer recovery support services, and intensive treatment, with sub-awards to over 40 nonprofits and community entities. A $76.485 million formula grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families under the Child Care and Development Fund (CFDA 93.575), awarded October 1, 2025, supports child care assistance, early care quality improvement, and workforce development, with sub-awards to Montclair State University (Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health), Rutgers University (educational support and training), Rowan University (early childhood apprenticeship), and regional technical assistance centers. The department also holds formula grants for vocational rehabilitation services ($17.555 million, CFDA 84.126), summer EBT nutrition benefits ($94.468 million in benefits plus $2.420751 million in administration, CFDA 10.646), SNAP state administrative expenses (approximately $157.378 million, CFDA 10.561), and Older Americans Act Title III programs (Supportive Services $25.5 million, Congregate Meals $34.689 million, Home-Delivered Meals $23.588 million, Family Caregiver Support $11.99 million, CFDA 93.044–93.053). The department also administers cooperative agreements including a $1.3 million Medicaid pre- and post-release service initiative for incarcerated youth (awarded August 11, 2025, through June 30, 2029) and ongoing 988 suicide and crisis lifeline expansion projects.

In its sub-recipient role, the New Jersey Department of Human Services has received sub-awards from the New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety under the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Formula Grant Program and the STOP Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) formula grant program for victim services and domestic violence intervention, though these represent a minimal portion of its overall portfolio. The department's grant administration spans 32 distinct federal agencies but operates predominantly within HHS (Administration for Community Living, Administration for Children and Families, SAMHSA, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Education, and the Department of Justice. The source notes the department administers approximately 770 unique federal grant awards and carries over 163 combined awards from the Food and Nutrition Service alone, reflecting heavy concentration in nutrition and social services delivery. Performance occurs statewide across New Jersey, with administrative oversight at 222 S Warren Street, Trenton, New Jersey. As a state government entity without contracting authority for this portfolio, the New Jersey Department of Human Services does not compete for federal contracts and does not hold seats on GWACs, IDIQs, or schedule vehicles.