Behavioral Interventions Scholars
Agency: Administration for Children and Families - OPRE
Posted: 2024-03-28 | Closing date: 2024-06-07
Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on the listed application due date.
Estimated total program funding: 100000
Award ceiling: 25000
Award floor: 20000
Expected number of awards: 4
Cost sharing or matching requirement: Yes

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) anticipates soliciting applications for Behavioral Interventions Scholars awards to support dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are using approaches grounded in behavioral science or behavioral economics to examine research questions of relevance to social services programs and policies. These awards are meant to build capacity in the research field to apply a behavioral science or behavioral economics lens to issues facing families with low incomes in the United States, and to foster faculty mentorship of high-quality doctoral students. Applicants are required to demonstrate how their research is grounded in behavioral economics/behavioral science and the applicability of their research to practices or policies serving children, adults, and families with low incomes, especially those that seek to improve their well-being. For information about OPRE, please go to https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre. For information about related work ongoing within OPRE, please go to https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/behavioral-interventions-to-advance-self-sufficiency-bias-research-portfolio.SAM .gov System Alert - Entity Validation Delays:All applicants must be registered at SAM.gov and establish a Unique Entity Identifier. Due to high demand, SAM.gov is experiencing a considerable delay in processing entity legal business name and address validation tickets. As needed, please start the process early to avoid interruptions in application submissions. You can find SAM resources related to this process here - https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0058422&sys_kb_id=7bb8810ddba05990060d5425f3961912&spa=1. Interested in this announcement? Create an account at Grants.gov and subscribe to this forecast to receive notifications of updates and publication.

Eligibility: Under section 1110(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act, eligibility is open to “...States and public and other organizations and agencies for paying part of the cost of research or demonstration projects such as those...which will help improve the administration and effectiveness of programs carried on or assisted under the Social Security Act and programs related thereto...”. Eligible U.S. entities are the universities at which a graduate student scholar is enrolled.Applicants will be required to submit a letter of support from the graduate student's mentor, acting as the project's Principal Investigator, that approves the application and provides a description of how the mentor will regularly monitor the student's work. Applications that do not include this letter will be disqualified from review and funding. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible to receive awards under this funding opportunity. Faith-based organizations may apply for this award on the same basis as any other organization, as set forth at and, subject to the protections and requirements of 45 CFR Part 87 and 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq., ACF will not, in the selection of recipients, discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization's religious character, affiliation, or exercise.