Residential (Group Home, Shelter, Transitional Foster Care) Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children | HHS 2025 ACF ORR ZU 0042

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2025 ACF ORR ZU 0042

This funding opportunity, titled Residential (Group Home, Shelter, Transitional Foster Care) Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children (HHS 2025 ACF ORR ZU 0042), is a discretionary cooperative agreement program run by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), under CFDA 93.676 (Income Security and Social Services). The central purpose is to fund organizations that can provide high-quality, child-centered residential care for unaccompanied alien children in ORR custody, with a clear emphasis on safety, well-being, and around-the-clock supervision and support. Although these children are in the legal custody of the federal government while in ORR care, the day-to-day, physical care is delivered by the funded provider (referred to in the announcement as the "care provider," meaning the prime recipient and any subrecipients involved).

The program is designed for residential service models that include shelters, group homes, and Transitional Foster Care (TFC). A key operational requirement is 24/7 service availability and the ability to accept children at any time, provided doing so is consistent with state licensing requirements and can be done safely. In practical terms, applicants need to demonstrate they can operate continuously, manage intakes outside normal business hours, and maintain staffing, supervision, and safety protocols that support emergency or time-sensitive placements.

Licensing is treated as a firm pre-condition for actually serving children, but not a barrier to applying. Applicants do not need to already hold the relevant state license at the time of application to provide shelter, group home, or foster care services. However, they must be fully licensed before they accept children for placement, and they must meet the licensing timelines laid out in the funding opportunity. This structure allows organizations that are preparing new programs or facilities to compete, while still requiring full regulatory compliance before services begin.

The announcement includes specific rules for current ORR-funded recipients. Organizations in the final year of their current project period are instructed to check their project end date; if that end date lines up with the projected award date for this opportunity and they want to keep providing the same services, they must apply under this solicitation to continue. Current recipients who are not in the final year may still apply, but only if they propose services in a new facility and a new location from where they are currently funded. ORR states it does not fund multiple projects offering the same type of service in the same location, which effectively prevents duplicative awards and pushes expansions into new geographic areas or new sites.

Eligibility is broad across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, but it has clear exclusions. Individuals, including sole proprietorships, and foreign entities are not eligible; applications from those groups will be disqualified from merit review and funding consideration. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education in those specific nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. Faith-based and community organizations are explicitly eligible if they meet the general eligibility requirements, and ORR/ACF notes that selection will not discriminate based on religious character or affiliation, consistent with 45 CFR Part 87 and 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.

On funding scale, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of up to $500,000,000 and anticipates around 100 awards, signaling that ORR expects a sizable network of residential providers and that awards may vary widely depending on program model, capacity, and regional needs. The original application closing date is October 14, 2025, and the opportunity was created on August 15, 2025. Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, recipients should expect more substantial federal involvement than in a standard grant, typically meaning closer coordination with ORR on performance expectations, compliance, reporting, and program operations tied to ORR policies and child welfare standards.

Overall, this opportunity is about building and sustaining a licensed, always-available continuum of residential placements for unaccompanied children, with applicants expected to show readiness to operate safely at all times, meet licensing and child welfare requirements before intake begins, and avoid duplicating existing ORR-funded services in the same location.

• The Administration for Children and Families - ORR in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Residential (Group Home, Shelter, Transitional Foster Care) Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.676.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-14. (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 $500,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for HHS 2025 ACF ORR ZU 0042

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