Quechan Indian Tribe

Quechan Indian Tribe Grants & Contracts Department Division, operating as Fort Yuma Quechan Paradise Casino, is a federally recognized American Indian tribal government that serves as a prime recipient of federal grants across workforce development, nutrition services, child care, environmental management, and tribal infrastructure programs, with no federal prime contracts and minimal subcontracting activity. The tribe operates through its Grants & Contracts Department and is headquartered on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation spanning California and Arizona, serving approximately 3,956 enrolled members.

The tribe's federal footprint centers on formula and project grants rather than contracts. Across recent awards, the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families leads by award count (29 awards), followed by the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (27 awards each). The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education (25 awards) and the Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration (21 awards) round out the top customer set. These five agencies account for 31 percent of the tribe's 422 total awards. When measured by potential dollar value, the General Services Administration Public Buildings Service accounts for $11.4 million across 15 awards — a consequence of a single basic ordering agreement (GS09B92402) under which the tribe holds 95 task orders worth $26.9 million combined potential value, likely related to facility leasing or real estate management. The Indian Health Service (11 awards, $848 thousand) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (8 awards, $242 thousand) follow in dollar concentration.

The tribe operates grant programs in workforce development and training under the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime programs. Representative grants include employment and training services to unemployed and underemployed American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Department of Labor, multiple awards from 2022 onward); victim services for crime survivors under the VOCA Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program (CFDA 16.841, $410,246 for the period April 1, 2023 through March 31, 2026, and $257,025 for January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027). In health and nutrition, the tribe operates the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR, CFDA 10.567) administered by the Department of Agriculture, with a $298,409 project grant for October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027 to support administrative and nutritional services in the Yuma service area. The tribe also holds formula grants under the Nutrition Services Incentive Program (CFDA 93.053) and the Older Americans Act Title VI programs from the Administration on Aging, effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2029, delivering supportive and nutrition services to tribal elders aged 60 and older.

Environmental and water-resource programming rounds out the portfolio. The tribe holds cooperative agreements and project grants from EPA Region 9 for pesticide compliance and enforcement, water quality monitoring, nonpoint source management, and environmental capacity building. The Bureau of Reclamation funded a $900 thousand-plus irrigation infrastructure project (March 1, 2024 through March 31, 2027) to construct a pump station and solar power system serving 443 acres of tribally owned agricultural land, and awarded grants for flow measurement device installation to improve water efficiency during Colorado River drought conditions. Child care and community services funding flows through the Office of Child Care (Child Care and Development Block Grant and Fund awards) and the Office of Community Services (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Community Services Block Grant). The tribe also received federal transit grants from the Federal Transit Administration for local and regional transit service operations (Blue Route 5 and Turquoise Route 10 serving the reservation and Winterhaven, California).

From the Federal Contracts section, the tribe holds a $545,434.56 firm fixed-price contract with the Indian Health Service for facility utilities (FYHC utilities, June 8, 2023 through June 30, 2028, place of performance Winterhaven, California). The tribe also holds recurring $30,000 to $33,000 definitive contracts with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to support the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance (TERO) program, promoting employment opportunities and workforce development within the reservation community (fiscal years 2022 through 2026, October 1 award dates, September 30 completion dates). These contracts carry no set-aside designation.

Activity shows stability with 18 awards in 2022, 22 in 2023, and 24 in 2024, declining to 18 in 2025 and 3 in 2026 year-to-date. The combined potential value across all 422 awards is $30.3 million, though obligated dollars total $76.6 million (253 percent of combined potential), indicating substantial prior funding and reobligations across rolling grant cycles. Twenty-seven awards face completion within the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $578 thousand, representing modest recompete activity given the formula-grant predominance of the portfolio. The tribe operates as a prime recipient on 97 percent of awards, with 14 sub-awards (3 percent) primarily under Arizona Department of Economic Security and California Department of Social Services for workforce and nutrition programs. The category concentration reflects the real-estate management component — 96 awards under NAICS 926110 (Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings) — alongside 25 awards for direct tribal government support services and 8 awards for human rights and legal advocacy services.