Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2013 ACF ACYF CT 0596
Apply for HHS 2013 ACF ACYF CT 0596
- The Administration for Children and Families ACYF/CB in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Child Welfare Training The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.648 Child Welfare Research Training or Demonstration.
- This funding opportunity was created on May 6, 2013 and posted on May 6, 2013.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 5, 2013 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.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $4,100,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $4,100,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Private institutions of higher education.
- Under the funding legislation, eligible applicants are public or other nonprofit institutions of higher learning. Consortia of the eligible institutions of higher education described above are encouraged to apply, and Collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts are encouraged, but applications must identify a primary applicant responsible for administering the grant. The primary applicant must be one of the entities listed under Eligible Applicants, above. Individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorship organizations are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement.
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Opportunity Summary:
This grant opportunity, titled "Child Welfare Training: The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute" (Funding Opportunity Number HHS-2013-ACF-ACYF-CT-0596), was issued by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) through the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) and the Children’s Bureau. It is a discretionary, five-year cooperative agreement intended to create a national "center of excellence" focused on strengthening the child welfare workforce nationwide. The core aim is to improve how child welfare agencies and their partners respond to children and families affected by maltreatment, violence exposure, and trauma, with a strong emphasis on supporting healing, recovery, and social and emotional well-being. In practical terms, the institute is meant to help agencies improve outcomes tied to safety, permanency, and well-being by building a better-prepared, better-supported, and more stable workforce.
The announcement is framed around the reality that child welfare agencies have faced a long-running workforce crisis, including high turnover, recruitment challenges, and the difficulty of maintaining consistent quality in practice under high stress and complex caseload conditions. This FOA positions workforce development as a systems issue, not just an individual training need. It calls for creative, comprehensive organizational interventions alongside professional development opportunities for staff at every level, from frontline workers to supervisors and executive leadership. The institute is expected to build on lessons learned from the prior decade of federally funded child welfare training and evaluation efforts, using research and evidence to address current workforce pressures with an integrated strategy.
A major thrust of the institute’s work is leadership development and change management in service of broader systems change. Rather than focusing only on training content, the project is intended to strengthen the infrastructure agencies use to recruit, select, train, supervise, manage, and retain staff. The goal is to improve organizational effectiveness and create conditions where evidence-based, trauma-informed practice can be consistently implemented. The FOA explicitly highlights the importance of trauma-informed approaches and evidence-based practice, with curriculum and training to be provided to both pre-service and in-service child welfare staff, signaling an end-to-end workforce pipeline approach.
The required components are extensive and designed to connect higher education, agency practice, and organizational development. The FOA includes BSW and MSW traineeships and Child Welfare Scholars programs, reinforcing a workforce pipeline that prepares social work students for public child welfare careers. It also requires an organizational intervention component that clearly links Schools of Social Work with public child welfare agencies, suggesting the institute should not operate as a standalone training provider but as a structured partnership builder that aligns education with real-world agency needs. Another major element is a suite of Leadership Academies tailored to distinct leadership roles: one for Deans and Directors (likely in schools of social work), one for State Child Welfare Agency Directors, and separate academies for middle managers and supervisors. This tiered model reflects an understanding that sustainable reform depends on aligned leadership and shared competencies across organizational levels.
Beyond training and leadership development, the institute is also expected to deliver technical assistance to states, voluntary agencies, and tribes on best practices in workforce recruitment, selection, retention, and organizational effectiveness. This makes the institute a national resource that supports implementation in a variety of jurisdictions and administrative structures, including tribal child welfare systems and private or nonprofit partners. The FOA further calls for the development of a workforce development framework and the identification of core competencies for child welfare staff, which implies the creation of standardized guidance that agencies and schools can use to define expectations, build curricula, and assess readiness for practice.
Knowledge building and dissemination are central expectations. The institute must conduct knowledge assessment, knowledge building, and knowledge management related to best practices in workforce development, and it must demonstrate national expertise in dissemination strategies. In other words, the awardee is expected not only to identify and validate what works, but also to package and spread that information effectively across the field, likely through toolkits, learning collaboratives, technical assistance products, training modules, and other scalable formats. Finally, the FOA requires rigorous evaluation of the training and technical assistance effort, making evaluation a core deliverable rather than an add-on. The evaluation component is intended to produce credible evidence about what the institute’s approaches achieve and how they can be improved or replicated.
From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity anticipated a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an estimated total funding amount of $4,100,000. The award ceiling was $4,100,000 and the award floor was $2,000,000, and there was no cost sharing or matching requirement. The activity category is listed under Income Security and Social Services, and the CFDA number is 93.648 (Child Welfare Research, Training, or Demonstration). Applications were due July 5, 2013, submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. ET, and the opportunity was archived on August 5, 2013.
Eligibility was limited to public or other nonprofit institutions of higher learning, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private nonprofit institutions of higher education. Consortia were encouraged, as were collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts, but the application had to name a primary applicant responsible for administering the grant, and that primary applicant had to be an eligible higher education institution. Individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorships were explicitly not eligible.
Overall, this FOA describes a national-scale workforce initiative that combines education pipeline development (BSW/MSW traineeships and scholars), leadership training (multiple academies), organizational and systems interventions (recruitment, retention, supervision, and effectiveness), and field-wide infrastructure building (competency frameworks, knowledge management, dissemination), all anchored by rigorous evaluation. The design reflects a view that improving child welfare outcomes requires sustained investment in the people and organizations delivering services, with leadership capacity and trauma-informed, evidence-based practice at the center of that strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the title of this grant opportunity?
The opportunity is titled "Child Welfare Training: The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute".
What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON)?
The Funding Opportunity Number is HHS-2013-ACF-ACYF-CT-0596.
Which federal agency issued this funding opportunity?
This opportunity was issued by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) and the Children's Bureau.
What type of award is being offered?
This is a discretionary cooperative agreement with a five-year project period.
How many awards were expected?
The opportunity anticipated a single award (Expected Awards: 1).
What was the estimated total funding amount?
The estimated total funding amount was $4,100,000.
What were the award ceiling and award floor?
The award ceiling was $4,100,000 and the award floor was $2,000,000.
Was cost sharing or a match required?
No. The FOA states there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.
What is the main purpose of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute described in this FOA?
The institute is intended to serve as a national "center of excellence" focused on strengthening the child welfare workforce nationwide. The goal is to help child welfare agencies and partners improve how they respond to children and families affected by maltreatment, exposure to violence, and trauma, with an emphasis on healing, recovery, and social and emotional well-being.
What child welfare outcomes is the institute expected to improve?
The FOA links workforce strengthening to improved outcomes in safety, permanency, and well-being.
Why does the FOA emphasize workforce development?
The FOA is framed around a longstanding workforce crisis in child welfare, including high turnover, recruitment challenges, and difficulty maintaining consistent quality under high-stress, complex caseload conditions. It treats workforce development as a systems and organizational issue, not only an individual training need.
Is this opportunity focused only on training frontline staff?
No. The FOA calls for professional development and workforce supports for staff at every level, including frontline workers, supervisors, middle managers, and executive leadership.
What is the institute expected to do beyond providing training?
Beyond training, the institute is expected to support broader organizational interventions and strengthen agency infrastructure related to recruitment, selection, training, supervision, management, and retention, with the aim of improving organizational effectiveness and workforce stability.
Does the FOA emphasize trauma-informed and evidence-based practice?
Yes. The FOA explicitly highlights the importance of trauma-informed approaches and evidence-based practice, and it anticipates that agencies will be better positioned to implement these practices consistently when workforce systems are strengthened.
What does the FOA mean by an end-to-end workforce pipeline?
The FOA describes training for both pre-service and in-service staff, signaling support for the workforce from initial preparation through ongoing professional development once staff are employed in child welfare roles.
Are BSW and MSW traineeships required components?
Yes. The FOA includes BSW and MSW traineeships as required components, reinforcing a pipeline to prepare social work students for public child welfare careers.
What are Child Welfare Scholars programs in this FOA?
The FOA requires Child Welfare Scholars programs as part of the overall workforce pipeline approach that links social work education to careers in public child welfare.
Does the FOA require partnerships between universities and child welfare agencies?
Yes. The FOA requires an organizational intervention component that clearly links Schools of Social Work with public child welfare agencies, indicating the institute is meant to operate through structured partnerships rather than as a standalone training provider.
What are the Leadership Academies mentioned in the FOA?
The FOA calls for a suite of Leadership Academies tailored to distinct leadership roles, including an academy for Deans and Directors, one for State Child Welfare Agency Directors, and separate academies for middle managers and supervisors.
Why does the FOA place such a strong focus on leadership development?
The FOA positions leadership development and change management as central to achieving broader systems change, reflecting the idea that sustainable reform requires aligned leadership and shared competencies across organizational levels.
Who is expected to receive technical assistance from the institute?
The institute is expected to provide technical assistance to states, voluntary agencies, and tribes on best practices related to workforce recruitment, selection, retention, and organizational effectiveness.
Does the FOA include tribal child welfare systems?
Yes. The FOA explicitly includes support for a variety of jurisdictions, including tribal child welfare systems.
What kinds of workforce topics is the institute expected to address through technical assistance?
The FOA highlights workforce best practices in recruitment, selection, retention, and organizational effectiveness, alongside broader workforce development strategies.
Is the institute expected to create a workforce development framework?
Yes. The FOA calls for the development of a workforce development framework.
Is the institute expected to identify core competencies for child welfare staff?
Yes. The FOA calls for identifying core competencies for child welfare staff, implying standardized guidance that agencies and schools can use to define expectations, develop curricula, and assess readiness for practice.
What does the FOA require related to knowledge building and dissemination?
The institute must conduct knowledge assessment, knowledge building, and knowledge management on workforce development best practices, and it must demonstrate national expertise in dissemination strategies so that lessons learned can be packaged and shared broadly across the field.
Is evaluation a required part of this project?
Yes. The FOA requires rigorous evaluation of the training and technical assistance effort, treating evaluation as a core deliverable intended to produce credible evidence about results and replicability.
What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 93.648 (Child Welfare Research, Training, or Demonstration).
What is the activity category for this funding opportunity?
The activity category is Income Security and Social Services.
Who was eligible to apply?
Eligibility was limited to public or other nonprofit institutions of higher learning, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private nonprofit institutions of higher education.
Were consortia or collaborative applications allowed?
Yes. Consortia were encouraged, as were collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts, but the application had to name a primary applicant responsible for administering the grant.
Does the primary applicant have to be a higher education institution?
Yes. The primary applicant had to be an eligible higher education institution.
Who was explicitly not eligible to apply?
The FOA explicitly states that individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorships were not eligible.
When were applications due?
Applications were due July 5, 2013, submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. ET.
Is this funding opportunity still open?
No. The opportunity was archived on August 5, 2013.
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