Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration | HHS 2023 ACF OCS EAH 0088

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2023 ACF OCS EAH 0088

The Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS). It is designed to strengthen the capacity of certain affordable housing owners to deliver high-quality, wraparound supportive services to residents, with an overall aim of improving housing stability and increasing economic mobility. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which generally signals a more hands-on federal role during the project period, especially around coordination, reporting, and participation in evaluation activities.

Funding for the demonstration totals approximately $2,000,000, with an expected eight awards and an award ceiling of $250,000 per project. Eligible applicants are limited to Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and tribes that were funded directly by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) in FY 2023 and that also own affordable housing units. A key requirement is that applicants are not only housing providers, but are already delivering (or are positioned to deliver) comprehensive supportive services to the residents living in those affordable units. In other words, this opportunity targets organizations with established infrastructure and experience at the intersection of affordable housing and human services, rather than entities seeking funding solely to acquire or develop housing.

The grant emphasizes wraparound supports that address whole-family and whole-person needs across the life course. Examples listed in the opportunity include educational opportunities for youth and adults, afterschool and summer programming for children and teens, early care and early education supports such as childcare, Head Start, and Early Head Start (including other early childhood education opportunities for children ages 0 to 5), services for older adults, mental health services, alcohol and addiction supports, disability services, and self-sufficiency resources. It also highlights practical mobility-building supports such as financial literacy training, transportation assistance, resources related to future homeownership, health care services, and referrals and connections that help residents meet concrete needs. The throughline is that housing stability is treated as inseparable from access to services that reduce crisis pressures, strengthen well-being, and expand economic opportunity.

Applicants are expected to demonstrate a long-standing ability in three core areas. First, they must show they can promote resident safety, stability, and economic mobility by strengthening the supportive services connected to their affordable housing. Second, they must show how their housing and services work advances equity, implying attention to disparities in access, outcomes, and service quality across different communities and resident populations. Third, they must show they can collect relevant data on resident services and use that information to evaluate efforts, improve implementation, and contribute to the learning goals of the demonstration.

A central feature of this opportunity is mandatory participation in a federal evaluation. Awardees must fully participate and comply with evaluation protocols set by ACF and/or its evaluation contractor(s). That participation may include meeting specific data collection requirements, sharing administrative data on program participation, and supporting other evaluation-related activities. The evaluation may also examine program implementation, meaning recipients should be prepared not only to report outcomes, but to document how services are delivered, how partnerships function, and what operational practices support or hinder success. This makes the award particularly suited for organizations that already have strong data practices, clear service models, and the staff capacity to engage with federal evaluators while still delivering resident-facing services.

Administratively, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number HHS-2023-ACF-OCS-EAH-0088, listed under Assistance Listing (CFDA) 93.647, and categorized under Income Security and Social Services. The original application deadline was August 18, 2023, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date. Overall, the demonstration is best understood as a targeted investment in proven CSBG-funded housing owners to deepen and formalize the supportive-service side of affordable housing, while generating evidence through structured, federally led evaluation about what approaches most effectively improve stability and upward mobility for residents.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families - OCS in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.647.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 14, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 18, 2023 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 pm Eastern Standard Time on the listed application due date.. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for HHS 2023 ACF OCS EAH 0088

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