Opportunity Overview
Open on a rolling basis. The Illinois Department on Aging has published the APS FY27 Pathways Program, CSFA 402-05-3438, to strengthen the Adult Protective Services workforce through college-student internships and provider-agency mentoring. The program is designed to build a pipeline of students who can qualify for future APS caseworker employment while supporting elder-abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention.
Funding
The current Euna/AmpliFund opportunity lists $500,000 in total opportunity funding, an award floor of $15,000, and an award ceiling of $75,000. The published rate structure provides a $10,000 mentorship grant per intern per semester plus an intern stipend of $5,000 for one semester or $10,000 for two semesters. Interns must log at least 120 hours per semester. Indirect costs are not allowed.
Submission Timing
The opportunity uses a rolling submission timeline. The State states that soliciting and applying for internship funding may begin at any time. The Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters are being treated as a pilot, with additional Spring and Summer 2027 solicitation activity contemplated. Because the current official opportunity does not publish a single closing date or clock-time deadline, Atlas does not invent one.
Eligibility
The current AmpliFund opportunity lists government organizations and nonprofit organizations as eligible applicant types and states that all interns must complete the entire internship with either an existing Adult Protective Services Provider Agency or an existing Regional Administrative Agency (RAA). The broader CSFA program page also describes eligible public and private nonprofit entities, including government, faith-based and community organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education, subject to the controlling award requirements.
The proposed intern must be enrolled in an educational pathway that would qualify for APS caseworker employment. Published qualifying pathways include relevant graduate study, nursing credentials, bachelor’s or associate-level study in health, nursing, social services, social work, health care administration, gerontology, disability studies, criminal justice, or public administration together with the specified experience where applicable, or qualifying law-enforcement/criminal-investigation experience. An educational waiver may be requested before application when the proposed intern is outside the listed educational pathways, and an approved waiver must accompany the internship application.
Application and Administration
Applications are submitted through the Illinois AmpliFund system. The award type is listed as noncompetitive. The current opportunity permits multiple applications. Funds for the mentorship grant and intern stipend are paid to the provider agency, which must provide the stipend to the intern through payroll. Reporting uses the APS Pathways Internship Program Grant Reporting Portal and includes programmatic and financial reporting tied to internship activity and hours.
The current AmpliFund opportunity does not separately publish a numeric match or cost-share requirement. Atlas therefore does not infer that a match is either required or waived; applicants should rely on the controlling application and award terms.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 82/100. This is a strong Illinois aging-services and workforce-development opportunity because it directly supports Adult Protective Services staffing capacity, mentoring, and training pathways in health and human-services fields.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. The opportunity funds internships, mentorship, and workforce development rather than remote clinical examination technology or diagnostic equipment. Atlas will not force the N9+ into this program.
Next Action
Identify current Illinois APS Provider Agencies and Regional Administrative Agencies with a verified business contact and a qualifying intern pathway. Before any outreach, verify the applicant’s current APS/RAA status, the proposed internship fit, recipient identity and business email, Email Opt Out status, and actual sent history. Because the opportunity is rolling and has no single published closing date, the normal 48-hour new-outreach cutoff must be applied only if the State later posts an applicant-specific or cycle-specific deadline.
Official sources: Illinois Euna/AmpliFund APS FY27 Pathways Program and Illinois GATA/CSFA 402-05-3438.