Community Economic Development Planning Grants

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will solicit applications to award approximately $1.5 million in Community Economic Development (CED) discretionary funds to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) to stimulate new CED project development through administrative capacity building.OCS aims to align this funding opportunity with the following priority areas: (1) Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and the Justice40 Initiative, which underscore funding support for energy communities, (2) increased equity in geographic distribution of CED funds, in accordance with the CED statute, and (3) breaking down service silos and leveraging existing partnerships across OCS programs to reduce poverty through a wraparound services model for communities with low incomes. The objective of the CED Planning Grants is to stimulate new projects in underserved and under resourced communities. OCS intends to center equity in this funding opportunity, focusing these resources in persistent high-poverty areas with struggling economies that have been unable to put forth a viable CED project in the past. The goal of this funding opportunity is to provide CDCs with financial assistance for administrative capacity building. The awards will be a crucial step in connecting CDCs with CED resources for social and revenue reinvestment in local communities to help spark economic growth. OCS is encouraging applications from CDCs that target urban and rural areas.OCS will provide bonus points for the following types of projects (1) projects located in states or trust territories without active CED grants, (2) projects located in energy communities that have experienced employment loss and/or economic dislocation events as a result of divestment in the fossil fuel industry, and/or have economies that are disproportionately reliant on fossil fuel energy production or distribution, (3) in communities that have current or recent partnerships with OCS program award recipients, (4) projects supporting Native American communities, and/or (5) projects aligned with the Justice40 initiative.