Applications are open. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families is seeking proposals to develop community-based primary support and family preservation services for African American and other disproportionately represented children and families in Minnesota’s child welfare system.
Funding: Approximately $1,000,000 annually statewide, with about 10 awards expected. The estimated maximum award is $100,000 per year, there is no minimum, and the project period is 36 months.
Deadline: October 23, 2026 at 4:00 PM Central Time. Written RFP questions are due October 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM Central Time.
Eligibility: Eligible nonprofit and for-profit responders must satisfy the RFP’s statutory owned-or-led requirement. For nonprofits, the organization must be led by a primary or majority of senior and/or executive leaders from African American or other communities disproportionately represented in Minnesota’s child welfare system. Atlas will not infer this qualification from names, photos, or other indirect information.
Eligible services: The RFP encompasses community-based child and family preservation activities and identifies physical health providers, mental and behavioral health providers, substance-use programs, disability services, youth development, early childhood, education, housing, parenting/fatherhood supports, and other health and human-service organizations as potential service providers. Technology is allowable when directly related to eligible child-abuse-prevention or family-preservation services.
Match: No matching funds or cost sharing are required.
Application requirements: Proposals require an implementation/work plan, evaluation plan, budget and budget justification, UEI-related funding disclosure, and the required statements/forms. A financial and capacity review applies to grants of $50,000 or more. Submission is by email to the designated DCYF contact in the RFP.
Atlas Opportunity Score: 87/100. This is a substantial Minnesota health and human-services opportunity with explicit mental/behavioral-health and physical-health relevance, no match requirement, and multi-year funding. The principal gating issue is the narrow owned-or-led eligibility requirement.
N9+ Fit: 48/100 conditional. Technology may be funded only when it is integral to an eligible family-preservation or child-abuse-prevention service model. Atlas does not treat the N9+ as a default or standalone fit for this program.
Dr. Miltie direct-applicant fit: 0/100. The current RFP is for eligible family-preservation service providers meeting the statutory owned-or-led requirement, not a general technology vendor procurement.
Official source: Minnesota DCYF RFP and application materials.