The Kentucky Department for Local Government, Office of Federal Grants, is accepting Community Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) applications under Kentucky’s 2026 Community Development Block Grant program. CERF is a Kentucky-administered HUD pass-through for urgent disaster-related recovery needs.
Funding
The current DLG program page states that CERF awards are based on demonstrated need, with a maximum of $100,000 in CDBG funding per project. The 2026 CERF guidelines do not establish a separate universal minimum award or a standard match percentage; applicants must instead demonstrate that they cannot finance the project themselves and that no other funding is available to address the problem.
Who May Apply
Only eligible Kentucky communities affected by a disaster and supported by a current Governor’s emergency declaration may apply. The project must address conditions of recent origin, defined in the 2026 CERF guidelines as within 18 months of the Governor’s emergency declaration, and must alleviate a serious and immediate threat to community health and welfare. CERF generally will not fund public-facility failures resulting from neglected maintenance.
Application Window and Deadline
The controlling 2026 CERF guidelines state that complete original applications are accepted from April 1, 2026 through February 1, 2027. DLG’s summary CERF webpage separately lists April 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027. Because those two current official sources conflict by one day and neither publishes a cutoff clock time or time zone, Atlas will not infer which final deadline controls. This record remains in verification hold and no deadline-dependent applicant action or ORIGINAL outreach should proceed until DLG clarifies the controlling final date.
Required Application Elements
A complete application must include the standard CERF Project Application and must satisfy applicable CDBG national-objective requirements. The 2026 guidelines require, as applicable, reimbursement documentation and evidence of payment, citizen-participation documentation, an authorizing resolution signed and attested by the applicant’s chief executive, the Certification of Community Needs Having a Particular Urgency, the Governor’s Declaration of Emergency, funding commitment documentation, State eClearinghouse review, environmental compliance under 24 CFR Part 58, historic-preservation clearance where applicable, HUD-2880, and project-specific water, wastewater, building or planning approvals.
Review Standard
DLG reviews project need, whether the requested CDBG expenditure is necessary and reasonable, and overall project effectiveness. The state may reject a request when the local government has sufficient budgetary surplus or where other feasible public or private funding sources have not been adequately pursued. CERF applicants must also have current program-income reporting and audit requirements satisfied, when applicable.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 76/100. This is an active Kentucky-administered federal pass-through with a defined disaster-recovery use case, up to $100,000 per project, and strong relevance for eligible cities and counties facing urgent infrastructure or housing recovery needs. Fit is highly project-specific because the applicant must document a qualifying emergency declaration, an immediate health-and-welfare threat, recent origin, and lack of other available financing. N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100. The controlling CERF materials do not establish a legitimate clinical-device, remote-examination, telehealth, or healthcare-vendor procurement pathway.