Administration for Children & Families - ACYF/FYSB grants

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center (RHYTTAC) provides direct training and technical assistance to existing RHY award recipients and subrecipients to enhance their efforts to successfully implement FYSB-funded projects. FYSB expects to award one cooperative agreement to strengthen and build the capacity of runaway and homeless youth and other youth-serving professionals and service providers across the nation by:Developing relevant and interactive training products for in-person and virtual adaptation.Disseminating evidenced-based, evidence-informed, and best practices related to issues impacting youth who have runaway from home, youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, and youth and young adults at risk of becoming homeless.Providing targeted technical assistance to RHY award recipients and youth-serving organizations to address current and potential needs.Leading coordination activities among RHY award recipients and other RHY funded partner organizations.

​​The Division of Runaway and Homeless Youth will award one cooperative agreement on a competitive basis for a period of three years to operate the National Communication System (NCS) for Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. The NCS is a dedicated toll-free, US national communication system that provides information, referral services, crisis intervention, prevention approaches, and other supportive services to vulnerable, at-risk, and runaway and homeless youth, and their families or legal guardians. The purpose of the NCS is to a) prevent youth from running away and becoming homeless, b) link youth with a family member or guardian, and/or an available resource that can provide and/or assist the youth in acquiring needed services, and c) increase prevention education to reduce runaway incidents and youth homelessness.​

The Personal Responsibility Education Program-Innovative Strategies (PREIS) builds the evidence base for adolescent pregnancy prevention interventions that are effective with high risk and vulnerable youth populations and addresses gaps with new promising program models. PREIS funds rigorous impact evaluations of innovative youth pregnancy prevention interventions that target services to high-risk, vulnerable, and culturally under-represented youth populations, including youth in foster care/child welfare settings, juvenile justice, victims of trafficking, youth who have runaway or experience homelessness, youth with HIV/AIDS, expectant youth who are under 21 years of age and their partners, parenting youth who are under 21 years of age and their partners, and youth residing in areas with high birth rates for youth. Projects must implement at least three of the six congressionally mandated adulthood preparation subjects (APS) which include: 1) healthy relationships, 2) adolescent development, 3) financial literacy, 4) parent-child communication, 5) educational and career success, and 6) healthy life skills. Projects are required to conduct rigorous impact evaluations (randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental design studies with assignment to treatment or control group). PREIS evaluations must be conducted by an independent, third-party evaluator.Interventions to be evaluated under this funding opportunity are expected to have compelling, positive preliminary evidence from previous research, but have not been evaluated through a randomized control trial or quasi-experimental design. Interventions must have a well-described theory of change, with intervention materials already developed.

The Title V Competitive SRAE program competitively funds projects to implement sexual risk avoidance education that teaches youth ages 10-19 how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. Projects must: 1) use medically accurate information referencing peer-reviewed publications by educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations; 2) implement an evidence-based approach integrating research findings with practical strategies that align with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; 3) teach the benefits associated with personal responsibility, self-regulation, goal setting, healthy decision making, and a focus on the future; 4) discourage sexual coercion, dating violence, and other youth risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use; 5) be culturally appropriate, recognizing the experiences of youth from diverse communities, backgrounds, and experiences; 6) normalize avoiding non-marital sexual activity; and 7) be age-appropriate. This opportunity supports the development and implementation of such projects in states that do not accept FY 2026 allocations for Title V State SRAE.

The Primary Prevention Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program provides funding to identify and implement strategies and services for youth and young adults between ages 12 and 26 in order to prevent homelessness, including strategies designed to serve youth and young adult populations with a high likelihood of experiencing homelessness, housing instability, particularly among youth at risk of human trafficking; struggling with substance abuse or mental health concerns; or transitioning out of foster care, the juvenile justice system, or a residential behavioral health system. Primary prevention efforts should focus on reasons youth become homeless, such as a lack of affordable housing, poverty, and family dynamics.Grant recipients must also work with youth who have experienced homelessness, are self-sufficient, and can assist with helping design and implement their projects. This includes establishing local youth advisory boards. In addition, grant recipients awarded under this funding opportunity must participate in a federally sponsored evaluation.

The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau announces the availability of funds under the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) Program. The purpose of the SRAE Program is to fund projects to implement sexual risk avoidance education that teach participants how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. The services are targeted to participants that reside in areas with high rates of teen births and/or are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The goals of SRAE are to empower participants to make healthy decisions, and provide tools and resources to prevent pregnancy, STIs, and youth engagement in other risky behaviors. Successful applicants are expected to submit program plans that agree to: 1) use medically accurate information referenced to peer-reviewed publications by education, scientific, governmental or health organizations; 2) implement sexual risk avoidance curricula and/or strategies with an evidence-based approach to integrate research findings with practical implementation that aligns with the needs and desired outcomes for the intended audience; and 3) teach the benefits associated with self-regulation, success sequencing for poverty prevention, healthy relationships, goal setting, and resisting sexual coercion, dating violence, and other youth risk behaviors such as underage drinking or illicit drug use without normalizing teen sexual activity.

The Family and Youth Services Bureau will be accepting applications for the development and implementation of the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) in states that do not accept FY2026 allocations for State PREP. This program supports educational projects for youth ages 10–19 and for pregnant and parenting youth under age 21, focusing on abstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. Projects are also required to implement at least three of the following six adulthood preparation subjects: healthy relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy, parent-child communication, educational and career success, and healthy life skills.

The Basic Center Program (BCP) provides temporary, emergency shelter; and counseling services to youth who have left home without permission of their parents or guardians, have been forced to leave home, or other homeless youth who might otherwise end up in the law enforcement or in the child welfare, mental health, or juvenile justice systems. BCPs work to establish or strengthen community-based programs that meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their families. BCPs provide youth under 18 years of age with food, clothing, counseling and referrals for health care. BCPs can provide up to 21 days of shelter for youth and seeks to reunite young people with their families, whenever possible, or to locate appropriate alternative placements.

The Street Outreach Program (SOP) provides street-based services to runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, prostitution, sexual exploitation, and severe forms of human trafficking in persons. These services, targeted in areas where street youth congregate, are designed to assist such youth in making healthy choices and providing them access to shelter or stable housing, as well as basic needs, including food, hygiene packages, and information on a range of available services.