Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment Policy | HHS 2025 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0125

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2025 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0125

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment Policy is a discretionary federal grant opportunity from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). It is designed to strengthen the effectiveness of programs and services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by funding a single center to carry out high-quality research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination. The specific focus of this RRTC is employment policy: generating new, practical knowledge about how public policies and public programs shape employment outcomes for people with disabilities, and helping stakeholders use that knowledge to improve real-world results.

At its core, the opportunity supports a long-term, structured project that blends research with active outreach. The funded center is expected to study the impacts of policy choices and program designs on employment-related outcomes for people with disabilities, then translate those findings into usable guidance through training, technical assistance, and broad dissemination. In other words, the grant is not just for producing academic studies; it is meant to connect evidence to practice by informing policymakers, service systems, and practitioners who influence employment opportunities and supports.

NIDILRR expects to make one award under this announcement, meaning this will be a single, nationally focused RRTC. The project period is 60 months (five years), organized into five 12-month budget periods, which typically implies yearly budget approvals and performance expectations across the life of the project. The award ceiling is $925,000, and the opportunity lists one expected award, signaling a competitive process where applicants should propose a comprehensive, center-level agenda that can be executed over five years.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic entities that can carry out research and related capacity-building work. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible domestic entities as described in the notice. Faith-based and community organizations may apply as long as they meet the stated eligibility requirements. Foreign entities are explicitly not eligible to compete for or receive awards under this funding opportunity.

Administratively, this funding opportunity is identified as HHS 2025 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0125 and is listed under Assistance Listing (CFDA) number 93.433. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, reflecting its emphasis on generating evidence and applying it through training and technical assistance. The opportunity was created on 2024-12-20, and the original application closing date is 2025-04-25, which sets the main deadline for submission planning and proposal development.

Overall, this grant is aimed at building a national center that can rigorously examine how employment-related policies and programs affect people with disabilities, then actively share and operationalize that knowledge so it improves systems, services, and employment outcomes over time.

• The Administration for Community Living in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment Policy" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.433.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-25. (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 $925,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for HHS 2025 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0125

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