Building Disaster-Ready Human Services Systems Challenge
A federal prize competition, in two tracks, for implementation-ready and scalable solutions that strengthen human services systems' disaster response capability. Cash prizes, no grant application cycle.
- Indicative award
- $200k–$400k (total award)Total purse $800,000: one winner receives $400,000 and two winners receive $200,000 each, per the federal challenge listing.
- Timing
- Periodic callsPeriodic calls · Jul, Aug, SepPublished deadline: 2026-09-04 — 21 days awayOpened July 6, 2026 at 9:00 AM ET; submissions close September 4, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET. This appears to be a one-time competition rather than an annual cycle, so there is no reliable recurring window to plan around.
- Who can apply
- Practitioner, Community organisation, Any faculty rank, Early-career faculty, Mid-career & senior
- Eligibility
- The federal listing does not publish eligibility criteria and points to ACF's own challenge page for full rules; that ACF page returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, so eligibility could not be verified here. Email Challenge@acf.hhs.gov to confirm whether universities, nonprofits, for-profits or individuals may enter, and any US incorporation or residency requirement, before investing effort.
- SSWR clusters
- Topics
- disaster preparedness · emergency response · human services systems · resilience · service continuity
- Apply at
- https://www.usa.gov/challenges/disaster-ready-human-services
- This entry
- Curated by the working group. Written 2026-08-07. The funder link has not yet been machine-checked.
Amounts and dates on this page are indicative and are maintained by people rather than scraped. Funders change ceilings, windows and eligibility without notice; confirm all details at the source above before applying.
Also on the Communities and Neighborhoods shelf
- Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIG)National Science Foundationup to $50k · Varies by programme
- Sociology ProgramNational Science Foundation$100k–$500k · Rolling / open
- Disability and aging research and demonstration grantsAdministration for Community Living$200k–$4M · Annual cycle
- Research grants and visiting scholarsRussell Sage Foundationup to $200k · Several times a year · Jan, May, Aug
- Active funding opportunitiesRobert Wood Johnson Foundation$100k–$1.5M · Periodic calls
- Faculty grant programLois and Samuel Silberman Fundup to $50k · Annual cycle