Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life)

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), has announced the FY 2025 funding opportunity for the Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life) grant program under opportunity number HHS-2025-ACF-OFA-ZD-0013. This cooperative agreement initiative is designed to provide youth ages 14 to 24—including pregnant or parenting youth—with comprehensive services that support healthy relationships, socioemotional development, and successful transitions to adulthood. The program aims to build long-term relational stability and economic resilience by providing education on marriage, parenting skills, and financial management, in addition to optional employment and job advancement support. The READY4Life program is funded under statutory authority 42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2) and is part of a broader portfolio of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grants. It includes three scopes of service—Large, Small, and Emerging—each with designated funding levels and participant requirements. Large-scope projects may request up to $1,250,000 annually and must serve at least 200 individuals (or 100 couples) each year. Small-scope projects may request between $400,000 and $749,999 and must serve at least 120 individuals (or 60 couples) annually. Emerging-scope projects, which are limited to applicants without prior HMRF grant experience, also request between $400,000 and $749,999 but start with smaller service requirements and receive additional technical assistance. Funding is anticipated to total $22 million, with approximately 26 awards expected. The cooperative agreement will support a five-year project period, broken into one-year budget periods. Non-competitive continuation funding is contingent on availability of funds and satisfactory progress. Allowable activities include curriculum-based workshops (minimum 12 hours) focused on evidence-informed, skill-building curricula in topics such as healthy relationships, conflict resolution, and financial literacy. Optional components include career advancement, parenting skills, and public advertising for outreach, though all services must be delivered in conjunction with primary relationship education programming. Eligibility for READY4Life includes a wide range of entities: state, county, city, and township governments; school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; tribal governments and organizations; nonprofits; public housing authorities; and for-profit businesses, including small businesses. Individuals and foreign entities are not eligible. Faith-based and community organizations are also encouraged to apply. Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov no later than July 29, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. ET. Only one application is permitted per organization. There is no cost-sharing requirement, but if voluntary contributions are included, recipients are held accountable for those funds. Evaluation is based on merit review criteria including the project approach (45 points), organizational capacity (30 points), staffing (15 points), performance measurement and CQI (3 points), and budget justification (7 points). Successful applicants must collect and report performance data using the nFORM system, participate in federal research as requested, and adhere to ACF cooperative agreement requirements. Program integrity, alignment with federal Executive Orders, and evidence of past performance will influence award decisions. All applicants are required to maintain a physical presence in the service area and to demonstrate readiness to implement services following a planning period of 6 to 12 months depending on scope.

Plan for implementation readiness and data system setup (nFORM). Fidelity to curricula is key.