Youth Engagement and Development | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Youth Engagement and Development opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P15AS00001) is a National Park Service (NPS) notice of intent to award, meaning it is not an open call for applications and is not seeking proposals from the public. NPS publicly states its plan to make a single cooperative agreement award to YMCA of the USA for a five-year period of performance, with a total anticipated federal funding amount of $500,000 and a cost share/matching component. The award is associated with CFDA 15.931 (Youth Conservation Activities) and is categorized across community development, education, employment/labor training, environment/natural resources, and regional development. The listed NPS point of contact is June Zastrow (303-987-6718, junezastrow@nps.gov). The principal investigator/program manager on the recipient side is John Duntley.

At its core, the project is designed to connect young people to national parks and related sites in ways that are practical and sustained, not just one-time field trips. The partnership aims to provide recreational experiences, educational programming, volunteer service, and employment opportunities that help diverse youth and young adults build a lasting relationship with public lands and cultural sites. The stated target audience is broad, engaging people from ages 6 to 35, with an overarching goal of developing the next generation of natural and cultural resource conservation stewards. A key feature is that the agreement is meant to be a collaborative national partnership that leverages both organizations strengths, including shared expertise, existing program models, and pooled financial and intellectual resources.

The YMCA of the USA is expected to play the lead role in activating programming through its nationwide network. Specifically, it will create a multi-site activation approach where local YMCAs integrate a pre-selected curriculum into YMCA day camps and/or resident camps in coordination with nearby NPS units and affiliated park or historic sites. YMCA will identify and recruit qualified local YMCA associations to participate, use its established day camp model to engage large numbers of youth, and support locally tailored combinations of structured and unstructured activities using an agreed curriculum (from NPS, YMCA, or jointly developed resources). YMCA of the USA and NPS will also co-develop marketing and media products to promote these camp-based and site-based experiences, including a toolkit to help local YMCAs integrate the curriculum with NPS partnerships, along with promotional efforts through local summer program guides and related outreach. At the end of the grant period, YMCA will produce a closeout report for NPS that captures lessons learned, best practices, recommendations, youth experience outputs, and highlights from each participating YMCA and NPS site.

NPS anticipates substantial involvement, which is why the instrument is a cooperative agreement rather than a more hands-off grant. NPS responsibilities include providing financial assistance, collaborating with YMCA on program design and focus areas, and supplying curriculum resources tied to natural, historical, cultural, recreation, and heritage themes on NPS lands to strengthen participants environmental awareness. NPS will also assign staff to monitor progress and serve as liaisons, use internal communications to encourage park sites to collaborate with their local YMCAs, and host webinars to share information and promote local-level participation. The overall approach is designed to translate national partnership planning into coordinated local action where camps, parks, and communities can work together with a consistent framework.

This award is being made without full and open competition under the Department of the Interior single-source policy justification based on the criterion of “unique qualifications.” NPS argues the YMCA is uniquely positioned to deliver the scale and reach needed for the program, citing its national resource office role supporting roughly 2,700 semi-independent local chapters, its service reach to millions of people nationwide, and its extensive camp infrastructure (about 1,800 day camps and more than 300 resident camps serving over 1.3 million youth). The justification also emphasizes accessibility and distribution, noting that a large share of U.S. households live within a short distance of a YMCA, and that there is not another youth-serving nonprofit with comparable longevity, national footprint, and capacity to implement a formal day-camp model at scale while partnering with NPS for recreation, education, volunteerism, and employment pathways. The notice also references a planning conference intended to align goals and build an implementation strategy that incorporates key components of Secretarial Order 3331 (focused on engaging the next generation), with an expected annual reach of roughly 4,000 to 5,000 youth participants, alongside development of an educational curriculum and a marketing plan to support execution.

Finally, the legal authorities cited explain why NPS can structure this as a cooperative, jointly managed effort. The notice references 16 U.S.C. 1(g) (authority for NPS to enter cooperative agreements with nonprofits and other entities to carry out NPS programs), 16 U.S.C. 1f (Challenge Cost Share authority supporting shared-cost/shared-service agreements when NPS has substantial involvement), and 16 U.S.C. 1723(c) (Public Lands Corps authority enabling agreements for youth and conservation corps projects, including certain work on various lands and in disaster-related contexts). Together, these authorities support the concept of a sustained, co-developed youth engagement pipeline that blends education, stewardship, service, and workforce exposure within and around national park sites.

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