Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Implementation Research and Evaluation Planning Grants: Phase I/Cohort 2 | HHS 2017 ACF OPRE YE 1217

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2017 ACF OPRE YE 1217

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Implementation Research and Evaluation Planning Grants: Phase I/Cohort 2 opportunity is a discretionary funding competition run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). It uses a cooperative agreement model, meaning awardees should expect an active federal partnership and ongoing collaboration rather than a hands-off grant. The central purpose is to help Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies strengthen their ability to study what happens when they put key CCDBG Act of 2014 policy requirements into practice, by creating rigorous, high-quality research and evaluation plans focused on implementation.

These awards are planning grants, not full implementation or research-study grants. The work is aimed at designing strong evaluation and research approaches that can later be executed, and the notice makes clear that a second, future competitive funding opportunity may be offered to fund the actual studies described in these plans. In other words, Phase I supports the groundwork: defining clear research questions, selecting strong designs and methods, identifying data sources, establishing feasible analytic strategies, building timelines, and thinking through how results will be interpreted and used. A major emphasis is on using innovative methods to evaluate how policy changes are implemented, not simply whether a program exists on paper.

Projects must be led by CCDF Lead Agencies in states, territories, or tribes, and they are expected to be carried out in partnership with researchers. A helpful feature for applicants is flexibility on the partnership arrangement: the research partnership does not have to be formally finalized at the time of application, which can reduce barriers for Lead Agencies that are still selecting a research partner. Even so, applicants are expected to demonstrate real capacity during the performance period to produce high-quality research plans, which implies that the Lead Agency will need a practical strategy for engaging research expertise, accessing data, and completing a plan that meets OPRE standards.

The opportunity highlights several CCDBG Act of 2014 provisions that are especially relevant as potential evaluation topics. These include efforts to expand the supply of and access to family child care, increase availability of infant and toddler care, and improve child care options during non-traditional hours (such as evenings, nights, and weekends). It also points to building statewide support systems for career pathways and professional development for child care providers, including family child care providers. Another major focus area is fully implementing 12-month eligibility policies to promote continuity of care, which is often a core CCDBG objective tied to stability for children and families. The notice frames these as examples rather than an exhaustive list, giving Lead Agencies room to select the provisions that are most relevant to their own policy context and current implementation challenges.

A distinctive requirement of the cooperative agreement is participation in a cross-grantee consortium. Grantees are expected to meet by phone at least monthly and to attend an in-person meeting annually. This structure signals that OPRE wants shared learning across jurisdictions, with grantees comparing approaches, problem-solving common methodological issues, and building a body of knowledge that can be useful beyond any single state, territory, or tribe. The broader intent is capacity building: improving the ability of CCDF Lead Agencies to plan and ultimately conduct meaningful research and evaluation, with benefits intended for other Lead Agencies and for the general public through improved understanding of what works in implementing CCDBG reforms.

The funding details in the source information describe a maximum award (ceiling) of $75,000 and an expectation of about 8 awards. Eligible applicants are state governments and federally recognized Native American tribal governments, consistent with the CCDF Lead Agency model. The CFDA number is 93.575, and the activity category is Income Security and Social Services. The opportunity was created December 12, 2016, with an application due date of February 10, 2017, and electronic submissions were due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. As with many federal opportunities, awards are explicitly contingent on the availability of funds and on the federal government determining that awards are in its best interests.

In the larger policy and funding context, the notice notes that Congress has appropriated $10 million per year since 2000 from the discretionary portion of the Child Care and Development Fund for child care research and evaluation, and that the CCDBG Act of 2014 led to an additional $4 million being available in fiscal year 2017. This context reinforces why OPRE is investing in research planning capacity now: the field has dedicated evaluation resources, and the 2014 law created substantial new implementation expectations that benefit from careful, methodologically sound study. The notice also provides reference links for readers who want deeper background on CCDF law and OPRE-supported research.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families - OPRE in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Implementation Research and Evaluation Planning Grants: Phase I/Cohort 2" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.575.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 12, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 10, 2017 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $75,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for HHS 2017 ACF OPRE YE 1217

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