Funding Opportunities
Welcome to the Funding Opportunities section of ACL’s web site. The Administration for Community Living (ACL), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the federal agency responsible for increasing access to community supports, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities, across the lifespan.
Each year, Congress appropriates funds for use by ACL and other federal agencies in carrying out their mission. Grants and cooperative agreements are the vehicles by which ACL transfers its appropriated funding resources to grantees. Visit the HHS Grants Forecast website and sort by the ACL operational division to view information about upcoming ACL Funding Opportunity Announcements.
The links below provide information for potential ACL grant applicants as well as current grantees:
There are two basic types of federal grants: discretionary (or competitive) grants and mandatory (or formula) grants.
Discretionary (competitive) grants allow ACL to exercise discretion in selecting the projects to be funded and determining the amount to be awarded. Because of the nature of these projects, substantial involvement on the part of the Agency is often necessary so, as a result, discretionary (competitive) grants are increasingly being administered as cooperative agreements. ACL administers discretionary (competitive) programs under several authorizing statutes including the Older Americans Act, the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, and the Public Health Services Act.
Reporting Requirements
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by some of the program offices within the agency. ACL plans to continue an existing approved collection of information for semi-annual and final reports pursuant to the requirements of its discretionary grant programs. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on the information collection requirements relating to the continuation of an existing collection for Performance Progress Reports previously approved for discretionary grants funded by ACL.
These Guidelines provide instructions for semi-annual and final performance reporting pursuant to requirements for some of ACL’s discretionary grant programs. To view the instructions, read the Updated Guidelines for Preparing Performance Reports for Grants (DOC, 66KB). While each program area may have individual reporting requirements, both financial and programmatic reporting is required by statute for all ACL grant programs.