The Children's Bureau uses a competitive peer review process to award discretionary grants to State, Tribal, and local agencies; universities; faith- and community-based organizations; and other nonprofit and for-profit groups to support innovation and progress in research, capacity building, and program improvement efforts.
For more information about the Children’s Bureau’s discretionary grants programs, visit the Children's Bureau website.
Discretionary Grants Library
Search the Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants Library for information, products, and tools from a specific grant or view grantee resources by topic, document type, or State.
For recent grantee publications developed by Information Gateway, visit the Grantee Lessons Learned Series. For Information Gateway grantee publications prior to 2019, browse the collection from the library.
Featured Grantee Spotlights
Updates and resources from select Children’s Bureau discretionary grantees are highlighted below. Subscribe to The Grantee Connection newsletter for quarterly features sent right to your inbox.
The Children's Bureau issued awards in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to develop, implement, and evaluate primary prevention strategies to improve the safety, stability, and well-being of all families through a continuum of community-based services and supports.
IM-18-05: Strengthening Families Through Primary Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Unnecessary Parent-Child Separation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (2018)
Provides a call-to-action for the child welfare field and Children's Bureau grantees to focus on primary prevention to improve outcomes for children and their families. The Information Memorandum identifies key partners in primary prevention, major components of prevention and family strengthening programs, and State and local examples of promising programs.
Jerry Milner: Time to Ask Tough Questions About Child Welfare [Video]
National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center (2019)
Presents a brief discussion by Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau, about the need for child welfare agencies, communities, and service providers to refocus on preventing child maltreatment.
| Series Title | Grantee Lessons Learned |
| Author(s) | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
| Availability | View Download (PDF - 198KB) |
| Year Published | 2020 |
What If? 21st NCCAN Opening Video [Video]
National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center (2019)
Shows an informational video on the call-to-action to refocus the child welfare system from one that responds to child abuse and neglect to one that prevents maltreatment in order to strengthen and preserve families.
In fiscal year 2014, the Children's Bureau awarded one 5-year grant, which was extended to fiscal year 2020, to strengthen the capacity of child welfare staff and mental health practitioners serving children and youth moving toward or maintaining permanency in adoptive or guardianship homes.
The National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI) provides two standardized web-based trainings developed by NTI to build the capacity of child welfare and mental health professionals to understand and address the needs of children, youth, and families moving toward or having achieved permanency through adoption or guardianship. The trainings also aim to improve collaboration between service systems with shared language and aligned curricula. The following are the training videos for each audience:
Child Welfare Professionals
- Introductory video
- Training benefits and features
- Training demo and curriculum modules listing
- Training resources
Mental Health Professionals
The Children's Bureau awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement to build the capacity of child welfare professionals and improve the organizations that recruit, train, supervise, manage, and retain them.
The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) provides information, resources, and webinars to help develop and support the child welfare workforce.
We Are Child Welfare Campaign
Presents information on a campaign to raise awareness of the important role child welfare professionals play in children's and family’s lives, as well as how others can support their work.
Workforce Excellence Sites
Describes NCWWI's selection of four jurisdictions and three Tribal child welfare programs across the country to evaluate and improve the outcomes of their child welfare workforce.
In fiscal year 2014, the Children's Bureau awarded one 5-year grant, which was extended to fiscal year 2020, to develop supports and interventions to achieve permanency and stability in adoptive and guardianship homes.
The National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption and Guardianship Support and Preservation (QIC-AG) offers resources, information on the QIC-AG Permanency Continuum Framework, and lessons learned from the following seven partner sites:
QIC-AG Permanency Continuum Framework
Implementation Lessons Learned [Webinar]
QIC-AG (2019)
Provides insights on what partner site staff learned throughout their grant period related to recruitment and retention, cost and sustainability, stakeholder collaboration, and logistics.
Since 2007, the Children’s Bureau has awarded Regional Partnership Grants to develop interagency collaborations to improve outcomes for children affected by a caregiver's substance use.
Regional Partnership Grant Program
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
Provides information on Regional Partnership Grant projects, including an interactive map, grant reports, related webinars, and presentations.
Regional Partnership Grants Cross-Site Design Report
D'Angelo, Henke, Bess, Xue, Avellar, Burnett, Jacobs Johnson, et al. (2019)
Mathematica
Details the cross-site evaluation design for the fourth cohort of Regional Partnership Grant projects, including research questions, collection methods, a conceptual framework, and data sources.
Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants Tools and Information:
- Discretionary Grant Awards
- How to Apply for a Grant
- Discretionary Grant Management Tools
- Discretionary Grant Reviewer Application Process