Unaccompanied Children Lived Experience and Youth Engagement Program – US

Deadline: 20-Dec-2024

Applications are now open for the Unaccompanied Children Lived Experience and Youth Engagement Program.

The Unaccompanied Children Lived Experience and Youth Engagement Program (LEYEP) is forecasted to provide funding to establish, manage, and evaluate a Lived Experience Council and Youth Leadership Academy (as a subgroup of the Council) comprised of former unaccompanied children and individuals who sponsored children from ORR care.

Goals 

• The LEYEP’s goal are twofold:
  • to improve through research and reporting public programs that serve unaccompanied children, thereby helping better protect them from traffickers and other persons seeking to victimize or otherwise engage such children in criminal, harmful, or exploitative activity, and
  • to provide unaccompanied children with ongoing assistance through a trauma-informed, life skills curriculum.

Objectives 

• The LEYEP’s objectives are to establish, develop, and maintain a Lived Experience Council that will:
  • Collect feedback from former unaccompanied children and reunified families about their firsthand experience while in ORR care, post-release outcomes, and integrating to the United States.
  • Contribute to research and reporting, in consultation with individuals with lived experience, on how to keep unaccompanied children protected from traffickers and other persons seeking to victimize or otherwise engage such children in criminal, harmful, or exploitative activity.
  • Provide educational or professional development opportunities for program participants by partnering with ORR, its residential and PRS recipient networks, state/local government agencies, school districts, health care providers, and social services providers on the provision of training, technical assistance, and other special projects.
  • Run a subgroup of the Lived Experience Council, called the Youth Leadership Academy (“Leadership Academy”), whose membership will be limited to unaccompanied children and/or former unaccompanied children, ages 14-21. The Leadership Academy will develop leadership and life skills through a trauma-informed curriculum. Youth will receive additional training and skills development on advocacy, research, and writing, in order to best contribute to the work of the Lived Experience Council. Upon graduation from the Leadership Academy, youth may continue to participate in the full Lived Experience Council.
• The LEYEP will foster inclusivity, and program participants will reflect the diversity, demographics, needs, and viewpoints of unaccompanied children, sponsors, and reunified families. The LEYEP shall include participants who reside in communities throughout the United States and will not seek consensus advice from program participants.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Funding: $1,800,000
• Award Ceiling: $1,800,000 Per Budget Period
• Award Floor: $1,000,000 Per Budget Period
• Length of Project Periods: 36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods
• Expected Number of Awards: 1
• Anticipated Project Start Date: 02/20/2025

Providing Equitable Services 

• To ensure that the program is fully and equally accessible to all former unaccompanied children and individuals who had successfully sponsored children from ORR care, the recipient will:
  • Engage program participants and individuals with lived experience in the co-design of the implementation plan, reporting framework, and the curriculum. The reporting framework is subject to ORR and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval and due no later than 60 days from award.
  • Implement activities that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.
  • Provide flexible scheduling for participants who may be working full-time or during nontraditional work hours.
  • Provide direct training, mentorship, and support to participants that fit each participant’s background and professional development plan. Program participants may have varying levels of education and experience.
  • Help participants overcome potential barriers to participation, such as insufficient access to Wi-Fi or child care responsibilities.

Program Activities 

• The award recipient will be required to do the following activities in support of the LEYEP’s goal and objectives.
  • Design the Program 
    • The recipient must develop a plan for creating the LEYEP that outlines how they will establish and manage the Lived Experience Council each year. The recipient will:
      • Propose topics for training sessions and meetings. The recipient will base these on their knowledge of strengths and challenges that unaccompanied children and reunified families encounter. Topics shall be rooted in principles of trauma-informed care, integration best practices, and supported by research-based evidence. They may include civic engagement, leadership, educational or professional development, and strategic sharing, among others.
      • Identify the best way to cover costs so LEYEP participants can overcome barriers that would prevent them from participating in the program. Barriers could include, but not limited to, needing to take time off work, taking a break from seeking employment, or needing to secure child care to fully participate in the program.
  • Launch and Implement the Council 
    • The recipient must launch and implement a Lived Experience Council within the first year of this award. To launch, the recipient will need to:
      • Develop eligibility criteria, an application, interview questions, and public guidance about the requirements. Requirements include having been admitted into ORR care or successfully sponsoring an unaccompanied child from ORR care within the last 5 years. For the Leadership Academy, program participants must meet the definition of an unaccompanied child.
      • Recruit, interview, and select 10 to 15 former unaccompanied children and sponsors for the Lived Experience Council and an additional 10 to 15 unaccompanied children for the Leadership Academy subgroup. In total, the LEYEP should have 20 – 30 lived experience participants.
  • Evaluate the Program 
    • The recipient will conduct the following evaluation activities:
      • Evaluate how well the LEYEP develops critical life skills among participants and fulfills the participants’ goals and personalized educational or professional development plans.
      • Develop an evaluation plan measuring progress toward the goal and objectives
  • Promote the Program and Disseminate Results 
    • The recipient will conduct the following activities to promote the program and disseminate the results of the Lived Experience Council’s and the Leadership Academy’s activities:
      • Create marketing tools, such as a website and social media platforms, to:
        • Recruit LEYEP participants.
        • Highlight LEYEP activities.
        • Share data and research findings with ORR’s residential and PRS grantee networks, state/local governments, school districts, health care providers, and social services providers, among others.
        • Amplify the educational, professional, and civic profile of all LEYEP participants to advance their leadership opportunities.
      • Prepare and facilitate at least one annual webinar for the ORR residential and PRS grantee networks, state/local governments, school districts, health care providers, and social services providers, among others. LEYEP participants shall facilitate the webinar, and the webinar shall center youth voice and lived experience. The webinar shall highlight best practices and interventions for keeping unaccompanied children protected from trafficking and other forms of exploitation and maltreatment. The webinar shall also include post-release outcomes and the most significant integration challenges as well as useful services and recommendations for improved support from ORR, its residential and PRS grantee networks, state/local governments, school districts, health care providers, and social services providers.

Eligibility Criteria

• LEYEP participants must have previously been in ORR custody as an unaccompanied child or been approved by ORR to sponsor an unaccompanied child in ORR custody, within the past 5 years.
• The recipient must comply with applicable civil rights laws to ensure that ORR-eligible populations receive fair treatment, access, and opportunity to participate in ORR-funded programs without discrimination based on age, disability, race, color, religion, or nationality.
• 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.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.