Federal grant programs / Department of Health and Human Services

Refugee and Entrant Assistance Discretionary Grants (93.576)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$1.1 billion
• Grant awards309
• Typical award$500,000
• Awarded in FY 2025-$1.1 million
• Size rank250 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• It is the 250th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 90% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 33 states and territories.

What the program funds

The goal of this listing is to provide assistance to refugees by: 1. Assisting refugees in obtaining the skills which are necessary for economic self-sufficiency, including projects for job training, employment services, day care, professional refresher training, and other recertification services; 2. Providing training in English where necessary (regardless of whether the refugees are employed or receiving cash or other assistance); and 3. Providing where specific needs have been shown and recognized by the Director, health (including mental health) services, social services, educational and other services. Funded discretionary programs under this listing include: Refugee Individual Development Accounts (IDA), Refugee Agricultural Partnership Project (RAPP), Refugee Family Child Care Microenterprise Development (RFCCMED), Refugee Career Pathways (RCP), Refugee Microenterprise Development (MED), Preferred Communities (PC), Ethnic Community Self-Help (ECSH), Refugee Technical Assistance Program (RTAP), Services for Afghan Survivors Impacted by Combat (SASIC), Support for Trauma-Affected Refugees (STAR), Employer Engagement Program (EEP), National Refugee Children and Youth Resilience (NRCYR) Program, and National Refugee Leadership and Lived Experience Council (NRLLEC) Program.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Public and private nonprofit agencies may apply for these awards. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Income Security/Social Service/Welfare Funds are used for the administration of programs and to provide services as outlined in each Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Funds may be used only for purposes set forth in the NOFO and in the notice of award. Services provided must not supplant services that may be available through existing federal, state, or local programs. Costs of organized fund raising, including financial campaigns, endowment drives, solicitation of gifts and bequests, and similar expenses incurred to raise capital or obtain contributions are unallowable. Fund raising costs for the purposes of meeting the Federal program objectives are allowable with prior written approval from the Federal awarding agency. (45 CFR §75.442) Proposal costs are the costs of preparing bids, proposals, or applications on potential Federal and non-Federal awards or projects, including the development of data necessary to support the non-Federal entity's bids or proposals. Proposal costs of the current accounting period of both successful and unsuccessful bids and proposals normally should be treated as indirect (F&A) costs and allocated currently to all activities of the non-Federal entity. No proposal costs of past accounting periods will be allocable to the current period. (45 CFR §75.460) Awards will not allow reimbursement of pre-award costs. Construction is not an allowable activity or expenditure under this award.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

In FY 24, PC awards ranged from $2,555,173-$4,500,000; RAPP awards ranged from $80,000-$100,000; ECSH awards serving Ukrainians ranged from $300,000-$600,000 and from $150,000-$200,000 for the regular program; MED awards ranged from $150,000-$250,000; RFCCMED awards ranged from $174,310-$187,500; RCP awards ranged from $245,000-$250,000; IDA awards ranged from $150,000-$250,000; EEP awards ranged from $600,000-$900,000; SASIC awards ranged from $1,500,000-$3,000,000 for a single budget period of 36 months; and STAR awards ranged from $400,000-$600,000. RTAP, NRCYR and NRLLEC are each issued to one recipient. In FY 24 and FY 25 ORR issued supplements in the PC Program to expand services to Afghan and Ukrainian parolees, provide additional capacity to serve high numbers of refugee and Cuban/Haitian arrivals, and support housing costs. In FY 25, PC awards ranged from $1,201,000-$23,000,000; RAPP awards ranged from $99,000-$100,000; ECSH awards ranged from $60,000-$260,000 for the regular program; MED awards ranged from $175,000-$250,000; RFCCMED awards ranged from $160,000-$250,000; RCP awards ranged from $98,000-$325,000; IDA awards ranged from $230,000-$350,000; EEP awards ranged from $260,000-$350,000; STAR awards ranged from $284,000-$360,000. RTAP, NRCYR and NRLLEC are each issued to one recipient.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Nonprofits received 90% of the money, businesses 8.9% and colleges and universities 0.5%.

By state

28 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.