Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program-Competing Continuation (Year 6) | CDC RFA CE20 200406CONT24

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA CE20 200406CONT24

The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program - Competing Continuation (Year 6) is a federal discretionary grant opportunity (CDC RFA-CE20-200406CONT24; CFDA 93.276) administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), in partnership with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). It is rooted in the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-20) and is designed to keep effective, community-driven prevention coalitions moving forward after an initial funding period. In practice, this is the continuation pathway for coalitions that have already built a foundation with DFC support and are now competing to sustain and deepen that work in Year 6 and beyond.

At its core, the program funds community coalitions whose mission is preventing and reducing substance use among youth age 18 and under, with the longer-term expectation that youth-focused prevention will also reduce adult substance use over time. The statutory goals are twofold: first, to establish and strengthen collaboration across a community by bringing together public and private nonprofit agencies along with federal, state, local, and tribal partners in a coordinated prevention effort; and second, to reduce youth substance use by addressing local conditions that drive risk (risk factors) while strengthening the local conditions that protect young people (protective factors). The emphasis is not just on running isolated programs, but on community-level change through shared planning, coordinated strategies, and sustained cross-sector cooperation aimed at making the community safer, healthier, and more drug-free.

This specific notice targets coalitions that have already been in the DFC pipeline. Eligibility is primarily for community-based coalitions that previously received DFC funding during Years 1 through 5 and are now seeking support for a second five-year cycle (beginning with Year 6), as well as coalitions that previously held a DFC award but experienced a lapse in funding and are seeking to re-engage. A key concept in the announcement is the role of the "DFC legal applicant," meaning the formal entity that applies on behalf of the coalition (which may be the coalition itself or an organization representing it). That legal applicant must be based in the United States or U.S. territories.

A broad range of entity types can serve as eligible applicants, as long as they meet the program requirements and are tied to an established, legally recognized domestic organization. The notice lists common eligible categories including 501(c)(3) nonprofits (and, in the full eligibility list, nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status in some cases), state and local governments and their bona fide agents (including the District of Columbia), territorial governments and their agents (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Guam, as well as certain Freely Associated States named in the notice), federally recognized and state-recognized tribal governments, tribally designated organizations, and institutions of higher education (public/state-controlled and other IHE categories appear in the source listing). The announcement also clarifies that an applicant may be a nonprofit under IRS rules or another entity the Administrator deems appropriate, including examples such as urban Indian organizations, community- and faith-based organizations, professional associations, and other constituency or service-oriented groups, so long as the application is tied to a qualifying coalition and the DFC continuation context.

The notice also provides a clear definition of what counts as a coalition for DFC purposes: a community-based, formal arrangement for cooperation and collaboration among multiple community sectors, where each sector retains its own identity but agrees to work together toward the shared goal of building a safe, healthy, and drug-free community. This definition matters because the grant is not intended for a single organization acting alone; it is meant to support a structured partnership that organizes local stakeholders into a coordinated prevention effort.

For FY 2024, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $125,000 per award and anticipates making about 100 awards. The application deadline shown in the source data is April 17, 2024, and the opportunity was created February 15, 2024. Overall, this funding is best understood as competitive continuation support for established DFC coalitions: it helps them maintain and expand proven collaboration-driven prevention work, continue addressing local drivers of youth substance use, and reinforce protective community conditions so prevention impact can persist over time.

• The Centers for Disease Control - NCIPC in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program-Competing Continuation (Year 6)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.276.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $125,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others, Unrestricted.

Apply for CDC RFA CE20 200406CONT24

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