Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2023 ACF ACYF CW 0055
State-Tribal Partnerships to Implement Best Practices in Indian Child Welfare (HHS 2023 ACF ACYF CW 0055; CFDA 93.556) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (Children's Bureau/ACYF). It is built around a clear problem the federal government is trying to address: American Indian and Alaska Native children enter foster care at substantially higher rates than non-Native children (nearly three times as likely, as cited in the notice). The program funds multi-year demonstration projects meant to show, in practical and measurable ways, what it takes to implement culturally appropriate child welfare best practices for federally recognized AI/AN children and to strengthen "active efforts" to keep children safely with their families and communities whenever possible.
The central idea is that better outcomes for AI/AN children require state and tribal systems to work together in a coordinated, respectful, and operationally consistent way. Rather than funding isolated services, these five-year grants support intergovernmental partnership models where states and tribes jointly design and run implementation sites. These sites are expected to generate real-world evidence about what works, why it works, and what capacities (staffing, court processes, policies, data systems, and service arrays) need to be in place for best practices to take hold. Lessons learned are intended to be useful beyond the grantee communities, contributing to broader national efforts to preserve AI/AN families and maintain children's cultural and community connections.
Projects funded under this opportunity are meant to improve child welfare practice across the full pathway of an Indian child welfare case, not just at one point in time. The notice highlights a wide menu of possible focus areas: improving day-to-day child welfare practice, strengthening or modernizing Indian child welfare codes, refining legal and judicial processes, improving case monitoring and case planning, building stronger data collection and information sharing, expanding in-home family preservation services, and investing in infrastructure and systems change that make collaboration sustainable. In other words, grantees are expected to tackle long-standing implementation barriers, whether they show up as gaps in procedure, inconsistent application of law, limited access to services, weak documentation of active efforts, or fragmented communication between courts and agencies.
A defining requirement is the partnership structure. Applicants must form a collaboration that includes, at minimum, the state Court Improvement Program (CIP), the state child welfare agency, and one or more tribal governments or tribal consortia, along with the corresponding tribal court or courts. Where appropriate under tribal law or custom, the tribal government partner can be represented by a tribal child welfare agency. The notice emphasizes that effective, culturally appropriate best practice implementation depends on deep coordination between state and tribal courts and child welfare entities, so both sides are expected to identify and build the capacities needed to collaborate well. The intent is not only to improve processes, but also to create a practical framework for shared problem-solving and stronger working relationships, including rebuilding or strengthening trust where it has been strained.
The opportunity also leaves room for incorporating civil legal services as part of the demonstration model. Grantees may assess whether legal representation is needed or effective for parties in Indian child welfare cases, and they may include direct civil legal services if those services are a defined component of the pilot or practice approach being tested. This reflects an understanding that legal representation, legal advice, and court navigation can be a significant factor in how well families and children experience the system and whether the system meets its obligations, including active efforts requirements.
Funding is capped at up to $500,000 per award (award ceiling), with an expected total of about 9 awards. The original posting indicates a creation date of April 11, 2023, and an original application deadline of June 13, 2023, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date listed in the announcement. Eligibility is broad in the source listing (including various levels of government, tribal governments and tribal organizations, nonprofits, schools and universities, and some for-profit entities), but the required partnership composition effectively narrows viable applicants to those able to formally coordinate with the mandated state and tribal entities and courts.
Overall, the grant is designed to move beyond policy statements and into implementable, tested models that help keep AI/AN children safely connected to family, community, and culture. It treats family retention and reunification as the "gold standard" for best practice when safety can be maintained, and it invests in the relationships, governance structures, court-agency coordination, and evidence-building needed to make that standard real in everyday casework.Apply for HHS 2023 ACF ACYF CW 0055
- The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "State-Tribal Partnerships to Implement Best Practices in Indian Child Welfare" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.556.
- This funding opportunity was created on Apr 11, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 13, 2023 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 pm Eastern Standard Time 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 $500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 9 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.
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