Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Communities of Practice (COP)

The Office of Community Services within the Administration for Children and Families is issuing a funding opportunity to establish six three-year cooperative agreements for Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Communities of Practice, each designed to deliver targeted training and technical assistance to CSBG-funded states, territories, tribes, state associations, and eligible entities. The initiative aims to build capacity across jurisdictions by implementing evidence-informed, scalable interventions that improve earned income, employment stability, and asset development for low-income families through coordinated service delivery and systems alignment. Technical assistance must be tailored to regional, state, tribal, and community-specific characteristics including demographic, socioeconomic, and resource disparities, and must advance community-level strategies to reduce barriers in education, workforce development, transportation, and housing—explicitly incorporating support for the A Home for Every Child priority. Each awardee will be responsible for fostering data-driven decision-making, enhancing reporting and compliance, and minimizing fraud, waste, and abuse within their assigned network through robust infrastructure and partnership development. The funding opportunity, identified as HHS-2026-ACF-OCS-ET-0029, opens on July 24, 2026, with submissions due by August 24, 2026, and performance expected to begin on September 30, 2026, concluding on September 29, 2029. Awards of up to $725,000 per year, totaling $2,175,000 per cooperative agreement, will be issued as non-competitive cooperative agreements under 2 CFR Part 200, not as FAR-based contracts. Applicants must demonstrate organizational capacity, identify key personnel with commitments, and provide legal proof of nonprofit, for-profit, or small business status as applicable, along with third-party agreements detailing roles, compensation, and timelines. Evaluation focuses primarily on impact through measurable outcomes and scalability, followed by organizational resources and alignment with ACF priorities, with bonus points awarded for integrating Substance Use Disorder prevention. All awardees must comply with data privacy requirements, participate annually in a national TTA conference, and submit standardized forms including SF-424, SF-424A, and SF-P/PSL. Funding is contingent upon annual appropriations and demonstrated progress, and no cost-sharing is required, though voluntary commitments become binding. The project operates without contract line items or FOB terms, and oversight is conducted by ACF-OCS with no formal COR or COTR assigned, relying