OJJDP FY 2022 Supporting Vulnerable At-Risk Youth and Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care | O OJJDP 2022 171387

Opportunity Information: Apply for O OJJDP 2022 171387

The OJJDP FY 2022 Supporting Vulnerable At-Risk Youth and Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care grant opportunity is a Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) discretionary funding program designed to help communities build and test better ways to support older youth who are at high risk of harm and system involvement, especially those preparing to leave foster care. The overall purpose is to launch pilot demonstration efforts that develop, implement, and produce replicable residential-based models of innovative care, treatment, and supportive services. The program sits within the broader Office of Justice Programs (OJP) priorities of advancing civil rights and racial equity, increasing access to justice, supporting victims and people impacted by the justice system, strengthening community safety, and building trust between law enforcement and communities. In OJJDPs framing, youth contact with the justice system should be rare, fair, and beneficial to young people, and the long-term goal is a nation where children are free from crime and violence.

The target population is explicitly defined as adolescents and youth transitioning out of foster care who have experienced serious and often overlapping challenges. This includes histories of foster care involvement, child poverty, child abuse or neglect, human trafficking, juvenile justice involvement, substance use or misuse, or gang involvement. A notable feature is that services may extend beyond the typical cutoff for youth programs: eligible applicants are allowed to serve youth and young adults up to and including age 25, which reflects the reality that many young people leaving foster care need continued supports as they move into adulthood.

A major policy thread running through the solicitation is alignment with the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 and the 2018 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Family First emphasizes keeping children safely with their families whenever possible to avoid the trauma of out-of-home placements and expands pathways for families to access mental health services, substance use treatment, and parenting supports. The solicitation underscores that these reforms have changed expectations for community providers, court decision-making, and the types of placements used when out-of-home care is necessary. In a similar spirit, the juvenile justice reauthorization reinforces prevention, reliance on evidence-based and promising practices, and prioritizing home- and family-based approaches over incarceration and unnecessary placement. Within that context, this grant recognizes that for youth who do experience placement and are now transitioning out of foster care, communities still need strong, high-quality treatment and supportive service options that can set them up for stability, education and workforce progress, and long-term success.

The funding structure is organized into two categories. Category 1, Project Sites, funds organizations that will develop or enhance their capacity to support vulnerable and at-risk youth transitioning out of foster care by implementing replicable residential-based innovative care, treatment, and service models. The emphasis is not simply on operating a facility, but on building a model that can be demonstrated, refined, and later replicated by other communities. An important limitation is that funds cannot be used to expand residential capacity through construction of additional units or creating new bed capacity. In other words, the program is aimed at improving approaches, services, and treatment models rather than financing bricks-and-mortar expansion. Category 2, Training and Technical Assistance, funds a provider to support the Category 1 project sites and to help spread awareness of innovative treatment models to other communities that may want to adopt similar approaches.

Administratively, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number O-OJJDP-2022-171387) is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates that OJJDP expects to have substantial involvement in the funded work compared to a more hands-off grant. The CFDA number is 16.049 and the activity category is Law, Justice, and Legal Services. The posted award ceiling is $825,000, with an expectation of 7 awards. The solicitation was created June 30, 2022, with an original closing date of August 15, 2022. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the solicitation, signaling that applicants likely include a range of nontraditional and community-based entities depending on the detailed eligibility language.

Overall, the grant opportunity is best understood as a pilot-and-learning investment: it supports communities and providers in building and demonstrating residential-based, service-rich models for some of the most vulnerable older youth, while staying consistent with national policy goals that prioritize prevention, family connections, equity, and evidence-informed practice. It focuses on improving the quality and replicability of care and treatment rather than increasing the number of residential beds, and it pairs local demonstration sites with a training and technical assistance component to accelerate learning and broader adoption.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OJJDP FY 2022 Supporting Vulnerable At-Risk Youth and Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 30, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 15, 2022. (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 $825,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for O OJJDP 2022 171387

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