FORGE Fatherhood: Family, Opportunity, Resilience, Grit, Engagement Program (US)

Deadline: 29-Jul-2025

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF’s) Responsible Fatherhood (RF) funding supports organizations across the country in developing or expanding programs aimed at building and enhancing services for fathers and families.

These programs have affected thousands of fathers, including low income, noncustodial, reentering, and recently released fathers, and helped establish and strengthen relationships, improve long-term economic stability, and overcome obstacles and barriers to support these fathers in being stable, supportive, and effective fathers.

Categories

• The FORGE Fatherhood—Family, Opportunity, Resilience, Grit, Engagement program will provide funding for projects that promote responsible fatherhood under three broad categories:
  • Promoting or sustaining marriage.
  • Promoting responsible parenting.
  • Fostering economic stability.

Objectives

• This project will help ACF to continuously improve programming and increase positive outcomes for fathers, couples, families, and children.
• The objectives of this program include:
  • Case management includes designed, individualized service plans for participant fathers.
  • Fathers gain skills and tools that allow them to healthily parent and co-parent.
  • Fathers are more engaged with their children.
  • Fathers are provided economic stability supports and gainful employment opportunities.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $ 55,000,000
  • Award Ceiling: $1,250,000
  • Award Floor: $400,000

Duration

• They plan to fund a 5-year project period. The project period has 5 one-year budget periods.

Outcomes

• The short-term outcomes of this program include:
  • Increased financial responsibility of fathers.
  • Improved healthy relationship and marriage skills.
  • Progress toward greater economic stability, including developing skills and finding employment.
  • Improved parenting and co-parenting skills.
  • Improved quality of father-child engagement.
  • Increased frequency of father-child engagement.
  • Reduced recidivism (if applicable).
• The long-term outcomes of this program include:
  • Increased economic stability and mobility.
  • Improved family functioning, including:
    • Improved couple relationships, including marriage.
    • Improved family stability.
    • Improved parenting and co-parenting.
  • Improved adult and child well-being.
  • Increased economic stability and mobility.

Eligibility Criteria

• These types of organizations are eligible for an award:
  • State, county, city, and township governments.
  • Special district governments.
  • Independent school districts.
  • Public- and state-controlled institutions of higher education.
  • Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations.
  • Public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities.
  • Nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.