Community Economic Development Projects | HHS 2025 ACF OCS EE 0118

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2025 ACF OCS EE 0118

The Community Economic Development Projects grant is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS), designed to help communities create jobs and grow businesses that benefit people with low income. OCS plans to award about $15.2 million total through this program, with an estimated 15 awards. Individual awards can be as large as $800,000. The overall goal is to support projects that are well planned, financially viable, and innovative, while contributing to broader public objectives like reducing long-term reliance on federal assistance, addressing chronic unemployment, and reversing community deterioration in both urban and rural areas.

At its core, the program funds community-based economic development efforts that lead to real, lasting employment outcomes. Applicants are expected to show how their project will create new positions connected to business startup, expansion, or similar development activity, and they must actively recruit people with low income to fill those jobs. Beyond hiring, projects are also expected to help those participants keep their jobs successfully, which means applicants should be thinking about retention supports and practical barriers to employment. A key requirement is sustainability: the businesses and the jobs created through the project should remain viable for at least one year after the project period ends, signaling that OCS is prioritizing projects that can stand on their own rather than short-lived activity.

CED projects may involve construction or may be entirely non-construction, but the program draws a clear line when counting job creation. Temporary construction positions that exist only to prepare a facility for a business launch or expansion do not count toward the program's job-creation totals because they are short-term by nature. In other words, the emphasis is on permanent or ongoing jobs tied to the operating business or enterprise, not one-time build-out work.

OCS is encouraging applicants to focus attention on rural and underserved areas, particularly in states where OCS already has current projects, and it is also nudging applicants to think bigger than a single standalone investment. Applicants are encouraged to align or integrate proposed CED projects with other OCS-funded programs and priorities, especially where communities are facing overlapping challenges such as high poverty and unemployment, substance use disorder, or persistent poverty. Persistent poverty is specifically referenced using the USDA Economic Research Service definition, which signals that applicants who can demonstrate they are working in those geographies and tailoring their strategy accordingly may be better positioned.

Eligibility is limited to organizations that meet the program definition of a Community Development Corporation (CDC). To qualify, an applicant must be a private, non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status. The organization must also have organizing documents (articles of incorporation or bylaws) showing that a principal purpose of the organization is planning, developing, or managing low-income housing or community economic development activities. Finally, the organization must have a governing board that includes representation from community residents, business leaders, and civic leaders. Importantly, the organization does not need to have the term "CDC" formally stated on its official paperwork as long as it satisfies these three conditions.

Applications from individuals, including sole proprietorships, are not eligible, and neither are foreign entities; those applications will be disqualified from merit review and funding consideration. Faith-based and community organizations are eligible as long as they meet the same CDC requirements, and ACF states it will not discriminate in selection based on an organization's religious character, affiliation, or exercise, consistent with applicable federal protections and regulations.

Key administrative details include the opportunity number HHS-2025-ACF-OCS-EE-0118 and CFDA 93.570. The closing date listed is September 8, 2025, and the funding instrument is a grant under the Income Security and Social Services activity area.

• The Administration for Children and Families - OCS in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community Economic Development Projects" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.570.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-08. (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 $800,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for HHS 2025 ACF OCS EE 0118

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