Opportunity Overview
The Kansas Department of Commerce 2026 CDBG Youth Job Training Grant supports workforce training and skills development for Kansas youth ages 12-19. The 2026 program has $500,000 available and provides awards of up to $100,000.
Deadline
Applications are due October 16, 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Time. Applications are accepted from March 2 through October 16, 2026.
Eligible Applicants
Only eligible Kansas cities and counties, as units of local government, may apply through the State CDBG program. Kansas City, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Overland Park, Topeka, Wichita, and all of Johnson County are entitlement communities and are not eligible through the State CDBG program. Communities with an open CDBG project that is currently in a time extension are not eligible until that project has been successfully closed.
Program Requirements
All proposed activities must meet the CDBG national objective of benefiting low- and moderate-income persons through the Limited Clientele pathway. At least 51% of participating students must meet the applicable LMI requirement. The 2026 pre-application deadline was September 15, 2026. Only applicants that submitted a pre-application by that deadline and received CDBG approval may proceed to the full application. Local governments must also satisfy the public-hearing and citizen-participation requirements in the 2026 guidelines.
Funding and Match
The maximum award is $100,000, with a required match equal to 10% of the CDBG grant request. The 2026 Youth Job Training guidelines state that at least 5% of the matching funds must be cash from a local source, while the current Commerce program webpage states 10% of the matching funds must be local cash. Because those two current official sources differ on that subcomponent, applicants should confirm the cash-composition requirement with CDBG before final submission. The overall 10% match requirement is consistent across both sources.
Eligible Uses
Eligible costs include participant training, instruction and certification; software and instructional materials; books and supplies; equipment and vocational training machines directly tied to skills development; participant stipends when cost would otherwise be a barrier; post-award grant administration; and other documented program costs allowed by the controlling guidelines. Equipment must be reasonable, essential to training, and procured in compliance with Commerce requirements.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 68/100. N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 0/100. N9+ Applicant-Project Fit: low and conditional. This is primarily a youth workforce-development opportunity. A healthcare-skills project could create a defensible training-technology pathway only if an eligible city or county sponsors the project and the equipment is essential, reasonable, allowable, and properly procured. N9+ should not be introduced in ordinary initial outreach or forced into non-healthcare training projects.
Official source: Kansas Department of Commerce – Youth Job Training.