Kinship Navigator Programs: Evaluations

The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to:promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness;provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, States, Indian Tribes or Tribally Designated Housing Entities [as defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103) (TDHEs)], and local governments to quickly rehouse individuals and families experiencing homelessness, persons experiencing trauma or a lack of safety related to, or fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and youth experiencing homelessness while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness;promote access to, and effective utilization of, mainstream programs and programs funded with State or local resources; andoptimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.The goal of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is to support the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness and sharing that experience with and mobilizing communities around the country toward the same end. The population to be served by the demonstration program is youth ages 24 and younger who are experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth.

The Wilson Fish Bridge to Employment Program (WF B2E) provides funds to ensure recipients of Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) can access required employment services as outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act. ORR"s primary strategy for ensuring access to these required services in most states is through the Refugee Support Services (RSS) program. Beginning in FY 2027, RSS will no longer be available in select states. The WF B2E program provides required employment training and placement services, as well as English language training, to recipients of RCA in the states where RSS will no longer operate. Services provided under this program are only available to individuals within the first 36 months after they either arrive in the United States or within the first 36 months they receive an ORR-eligible status. Approved projects will fund required services either directly or through subawards. Details on the states in which this program will operate will be available in the forthcoming NOFO.

1. NOFO HighlightsThe Youth Homelessness NOFO provides competitive awards to eligible applicants under two different programs-Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) grants- Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 14.277Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP)- ALN 14.276Under the YHSI grants, HUD will make awards to selected communities to support them in establishing and implementing a response system for youth homelessness or for improving their existing response system. HUD will select approximately 49 communities for YHSI grants.Under the YHDP, HUD will provide funding to communities to implement housing and supportive services projects. HUD anticipates selecting between 26 and 50 communities, with a priority for communities with substantial rural populations in up to sixteen locations.Separate from this NOFO, technical assistance will be available to assist selected communities implement and improve their YHSI and YHDP projects. HUD expects communities to fully participate in any evaluation activities conducted by HUD beginning no earlier than the award announcement.See Section III for additional information about this NOFO.

As President Trump said in his Executive Order on Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction (March 13, 2026), The American dream of homeownership depends on a dynamic housing market in which a varied inventory of new homes is built and renovated each year. Layers of unnecessary regulatory barriers, slow permitting processes, and onerous mandates at all levels of government have delayed construction, restricted development, and driven up the costs of new housing. These constraints have made housing less affordable for many Americans.It is the policy of my Administration to reduce regulatory barriers to building homes and to steward taxpayer dollars in a manner that promotes housing affordability.HUD's PRO Housing program rewards communities that have taken steps to remove regulatory barriers to building and preserving homes by providing funding to further expand affordable housing, particularly homeownership opportunities and housing located in Opportunity Zones and rural communities.HUD is issuing this Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) PRO Housing NOFO under the authority of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which provided $50 million for competitive grant funding for state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and multijurisdictional entities. The Appropriations Act requires HUD to award grants using the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) framework. As with all CDBG assistance, the priority is to serve low- and moderate-income people and households. HUD shall select applicants that demonstrate: (1) progress and a commitment to eliminating local barriers to facilitate the increase in affordable housing production and preservation, through enactment or implementation of less restrictive zoning, land use, or permitting laws and regulations; (2) an acute need for housing affordable to households with incomes below 100 percent of the area median income; and (3) a commitment to create new homeownership units before the expiration of the funding performance period.Applicants and grantees are reminded of the President's Executive Orders on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (January 221, 2025) and Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences (January 20, 2025) and their applicability to PRO Housing funding. PRO Housing funding may not be used to fund "illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.'"In addition to thoroughly reviewing this NOFO, applicants are strongly encouraged to monitor HUD's PRO Housing website for information about general updates, Frequently Asked Questions, and PRO Housing webinars.HUD has four goals for this competition:Decrease the cost and increase the supply of affordable housing, especially in Opportunity Zones and rural communities.Remove barriers to affordable housing, removal of which will lead to constructing or rehabilitating more units, reducing time to produce units, and unlocking land that can be used for affordable housing units.Reward jurisdictions that have enacted laws and regulations that will lead to more affordable housing production and preservation.Increase opportunities for affordable homeownership by reducing administrative and structural barriers.

This program will fund projects focused on technology-enabled strategies that improve adoptive matching, placement, and permanency for children in foster care awaiting adoption. The funds, awarded to four regional centers, will be used to design, implement and evaluate these strategies.These centers will focus on children with an adoption permanency goal or who are legally free for adoption due to child welfare involvement. Centers will partner with state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts to develop secure, accessible technology solutions that improve how families are matched with children in need of permanent homes. Proposed solutions must be interoperable with existing systems and may include tools such as data-informed recruitment support, AI-assisted matching, and predictive analytics.Each center will strengthen data infrastructure, support continuous quality improvement, and develop scalable resources that jurisdictions nationwide can adopt. ACF will define four national service regions to ensure full U.S. coverage. Centers will provide regional innovation support, training, technical assistance, and dissemination of best practices while collaborating nationally on shared learning.Applicants will be expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in match timeliness, placement stability, and adoption finalization outcomes.

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.

To support the Administration for Children and Families" initiative, A Home for Every Child, the Children"s Bureau will award one grant to establish the Foster Parents Network Analytics Hub (HUB) to achieve a foster home-to-child ratio of more than 1:1 in every state by 2029. The HUB will advance the goal by providing states with advanced analytics tools and intensive technical assistance to optimize their foster parent networks.This national demonstration project under Section 426 of the Social Security Act, the HUB will develop a secure, accessible analytics platform integrated with state Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System and Comprehensive Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS/CCWIS). It will also deliver rapid technical assistance to help states analyze foster home dynamics, identify capacity gaps, develop targeted retention strategies, and improve placement matching. This initiative exemplifies ACF's commitment to results and evidence by focusing on measurable outcomes, using data and proven practices to improve performance, and ensuring efficient use of taxpayer dollars through rigorous performance monitoring.This five-year cooperative agreement will establish the HUB, prioritizing immediate deployment, measurable impact, and sustainable capacity building.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Children's Bureau, will fund a cooperative agreement to develop, implement, and evaluate a demonstration program of post-adoption support services for birth parents who have voluntarily placed their children for private domestic adoption. This initiative is founded on the recognition that the well-being of all parties in an adoption is essential. Birth parents often benefit from access to support and resources following their placement for adoption.This demonstration program will provide services including, but not limited to, support groups and supportive services and resources. The goal is to identify and promote effective models of support that contribute to the positive adjustment and well-being of birth parents. A central component of this project is a rigorous evaluation to measure the effectiveness of the services provided and to develop a model that can be replicated by other organizations nationally. This work directly supports ACF's mission to promote the social well-being of families and individuals.

Despite expanded authority under the Family First Prevention Services Act, title IV-E prevention services account for less than 2% of total program claims. Many title IV-E agencies face implementation barriers including limited infrastructure, provider readiness, evaluation capacity, and complex claiming requirements.To overcome these barriers, the Children's Bureau will fund projects to accelerate and sustain implementation of the title IV-E prevention services program.Funded projects will develop the infrastructure and readiness to implement one or more title IV-E eligible prevention services. Services implemented must include at least one title IV-E eligible prevention service that is either new or not yet fully operationalized within their current title IV-E prevention plans or statewide service array. Core activities include but are not limited to: (1) Building title IV-E claiming and reimbursement systems; (2) Developing provider capacity and referral pathways; (3) Establishing data and reporting infrastructure. Title IV-E agencies must demonstrate how services and infrastructure will transition to title IV-E claiming within 18 months. Award recipients will work with an internal or external evaluator to provide rapid and real-time feedback as they prepare to implement the program(s) and share lessons learned with the field.

The Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) Program supports regional partnerships between child welfare, substance abuse treatment and juvenile or state courts. The goal is to support family-centered treatment programs and services for children who are in an out-of-home placement or are at risk of being placed in an out-of-home placement due to caregiver's substance abuse. Projects will also work to expand the scope of evidence-based services for families impacted by substance-use disorders. Projects are required to have regional partnerships with legislatively required partners, including a planning and implementation phase, to provide a cost-sharing match, and report on performance indicators. RPG funds may support family-based, comprehensive, long-term substance-use disorder treatment, including medication-assisted treatment and in-home substance-use disorder treatment and recovery services, as well as early intervention and prevention services, children and family counseling, mental health services, parenting skills training, and the replication of successful models for delivering family-based, comprehensive, long-term substance use disorder treatment services. This project is for one 60-month project period, comprised of five 12-month budget periods. It includes a Planning Phase and an Implementation Phase.