Home Study and Post-Release Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children​​

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement, is soliciting cooperative agreements under solicitation HHS-2026-ACF-ORR-ZU-0019 to provide Home Study and Post-Release Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children. The program aims to ensure the safety and well-being of children under 18 who arrive in the U.S. without legal permission or a guardian. The scope of work includes conducting thorough home studies to assess the safety of potential placement homes and providing voluntary post-release services such as legal assistance, health and education support, youth community services, and family stabilization. These services must be trauma-informed, evidence-based, and delivered in the child's preferred language. The agency intends to award up to 20 recipients over a five-year project period, with individual awards for the first budget period ranging from 1 million to 100 million dollars, contributing to an expected total funding of 555 million dollars. Applicants must demonstrate organizational capacity and a nationwide service model, utilizing either a multi-regional office approach with at least four offices in different states or a remote workforce model across eight regions. Evaluation is based on a 125-point scale focusing on purpose and need, response quality, resources, impact, and alignment with agency priorities. Strict compliance is required regarding personnel and security, including mandatory FBI fingerprint checks, child protective services checks, and ORR Central Registry clearances for all staff and volunteers. Direct service staff must complete at least 20 hours of training before working with children. Additionally, providers must maintain rigorous confidentiality standards and retain all case records for 50 years. Applications are due by October 1, 2026, for FY27, and must be submitted via Grants.gov with a combined page limit of 200 pages for narratives and attachments.