Sickle Cell Disease Regional Care Excellence (SoRCE) Program

The Sickle Cell Disease Regional Care Excellence (SoRCE) Program, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is designed to enhance health outcomes for individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD) across the United States. SCD affects approximately 100,000 Americans, disproportionately impacting African American communities. Despite universal newborn screening, many affected children fail to receive consistent, high-quality care, and access often diminishes during the critical transition to adulthood. This grant initiative aims to address these care gaps by supporting regional infrastructure, expanding access to services, and improving quality of care delivery through evidence-based approaches. The SoRCE Program adopts a regional hub model in which seven award recipients will each function as a Regional Coordinating Hub (RCH). These hubs are responsible for building and maintaining clinical and community-based partnerships to drive continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiatives throughout their service regions. These efforts will include increasing the identification and use of disease-modifying therapies, enhancing care coordination, and tracking quality-of-life indicators among people with SCD. Through this networked model, the program seeks to create consistency in service delivery and expand the reach of effective interventions. Eligible applicants for this opportunity include hospitals, health centers, and higher education institutions—both public and private—with at least five years of experience in working directly with individuals affected by SCD. This experiential requirement ensures that funded organizations possess both the clinical and administrative capacity to implement complex regional coordination initiatives. Documentation of experience will be required at the time of application. The cooperative agreement mechanism reflects HRSA’s intention to be actively involved in the oversight and implementation of funded projects. Award recipients will be expected to collaborate closely with HRSA and other awardees, participate in CQI learning sessions, and contribute to the shared evaluation framework. This partnership-oriented approach underlines the program’s emphasis on systems-level transformation and knowledge-sharing across geographic regions. The forecast anticipates that the funding opportunity will be formally posted on April 1, 2026, with a final application due date of May 31, 2026. Awards are expected to be announced by August 1, 2026, and funded projects will begin on September 1, 2026. The total program funding is estimated at $6,650,000, with individual award ceilings up to $950,000. No cost-sharing or matching funds are required. Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Potential applicants seeking further clarification or support can contact the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) via phone at 240-438-6795 or email at [email protected]. The program does not list any pre-application or concept paper requirements, but given the regional coordination complexity, early preparation is advised.