HHS Is More Than NIH
When people think of HHS grants, they think of NIH. That makes sense: NIH has 641 open opportunities and $47 billion in annual extramural funding. But the rest of HHS runs programs that fund very different work, and most guides either skip them entirely or give them a paragraph. We queried our database for HHS opportunities that are not from NIH. The result: 567 open opportunities across at least 10 sub-agencies. Of those, 237 are grants with a combined $339 million in listed award ceilings, and 330 are procurement contracts. The six agencies that matter most for grant seekers beyond NIH are HRSA (community health, rural health, workforce), CDC (disease prevention, public health infrastructure), ACF (child welfare, Head Start, family services), SAMHSA (behavioral health, substance use, crisis services), ACL (aging, disability, Alzheimer's), and AHRQ (health services research, patient safety). Each funds different types of organizations, and the application processes vary widely. If you already have our NIH guide bookmarked, this is its complement. Nonprofits looking for a broader view should also see our nonprofit grants guide, which covers eligibility across all federal agencies. Between those guides and this one, you have the full HHS picture.
HRSA: Community Health and Rural Programs
The Health Resources and Services Administration funds programs focused on expanding healthcare access, particularly in underserved and rural communities. We track 31 open HRSA opportunities right now. HRSA's biggest program is the Health Center Program (Section 330), which funds Federally Qualified Health Centers serving over 30 million patients annually. Community health center mandatory funding has been a subject of recurring congressional debate, with short-term extensions rather than long-term reauthorization. Other notable open opportunities: FY2026 National Technical Assistance Programs (NTAP) cooperative agreements, with awards up to $8 million, due March 31, 2026. This funds organizations that provide technical assistance to health centers. Telehealth Centers of Excellence, with awards up to $4.25 million, due April 24, 2026. Eligibility is limited to academic medical centers. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part D (Women, Infants, Children, and Youth), with awards from $115,000 to $2 million, due May 19, 2026. HRSA announced in October 2025 that the Ryan White program would transition to a new allocation formula starting FY2026, which will shift funding between jurisdictions over a five-year period. Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), with planning grants up to $100,000 (due April 6) and impact grants up to $750,000 (due April 22). Women's Initiative for Screening and Health (WISH), up to $1 million, due April 4, 2026. HRSA grants typically require applicants to serve medically underserved populations or operate in Health Professional Shortage Areas. Geographic eligibility matters. Check HRSA's shortage area designations before applying.
🔍 Search related opportunities now
CDC: Disease Prevention and Public Health Infrastructure
CDC is the most prolific HHS grant-maker outside NIH in our data, with about 115 open opportunities. These split into two distinct categories. Domestic public health programs (about 62 opportunities) fund disease surveillance, injury prevention, environmental health, occupational safety, and public health infrastructure. CDC's Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), awarded in December 2024, distributed over $5 billion to 107 state, local, and territorial health departments for core infrastructure capacity. Global health programs (53 opportunities) are almost entirely PEPFAR-related, covering HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in more than 20 countries. Most of these shared a February 17, 2026 deadline that has now passed. New PEPFAR cycles may post later in the fiscal year. Specific domestic opportunities with upcoming deadlines: Centers of Excellence in Healthcare Quality: Detecting and Responding to Threats to Healthcare Safety, with awards from $2.5 million to $15 million, due June 5, 2026. Extension of the World Trade Center Health Registry, up to $9.48 million, due February 20, 2026. Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Centers, $4.5 million to $9 million, with a rolling deadline through October 2028. Public Health Crisis Response Cooperative Agreement, from $50,000 to $5 million (estimated total: $1 billion), due February 11, 2027. CDC grants generally go to state and local health departments, universities, and public health nonprofits. Eligibility varies by program: some are restricted to government entities, others open to universities and nonprofits. Some CDC programs are cooperative agreements, meaning CDC staff work actively alongside grantees rather than providing hands-off funding.
ACF: Child Welfare, Head Start, and Family Services
The Administration for Children and Families runs some of the largest social services programs in the federal government, including Head Start, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and TANF. We track 13 open ACF grant opportunities. Head Start is ACF's flagship. Congress provided $12.357 billion for Head Start in the FY2026 appropriations signed in early 2026, an increase of $85 million over FY2025. Despite early uncertainty about funding levels, the program continues to serve about 800,000 children, though that represents only 26% of eligible preschool-age children. Specific open opportunities include: Support for a National Electronic Interstate Records Exchange System, with awards from $1.45 million to $1.6 million, due March 16, 2026. Head Start/Early Head Start recipient competitions for specific service areas (deadlines vary by region). Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), funding state-level early childhood coordination. ACF's operations have changed. In 2025, five of the ten Office of Head Start regional offices were closed, and about 18% of ACF staff were reduced, including grants management personnel. Applicants should expect longer processing times for applications and awards than in previous years.
SAMHSA: Behavioral Health and Crisis Services
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funds behavioral health programs through a combination of block grants and competitive grants. We track 24 open SAMHSA opportunities. The single largest HHS grant opportunity in our database outside NIH is SAMHSA's: the FY2026 Cooperative Agreement for 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Administrator, with an award ceiling of $231.5 million from a $1 billion total program, due February 27, 2026. SAMHSA's block grants, which flow to every state by formula, include the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (SUPTRS) and the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG). These are currently accepting FFY 2026-2027 combined applications. Other open competitive programs include Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) planning, development, and implementation grants; Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention grants; Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education); National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative centers; and State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention programs. Many of these have rolling or open-ended deadlines. SAMHSA experienced a major grant disruption in January 2026. On January 13, the agency terminated about 2,800 grants totaling an estimated $2 billion. Funding was restored within days. Block grants, CCBHCs, 988 funding, and State Opioid Response grants were not affected by the termination. As of late January, these programs are again accepting applications. The FY2026 presidential budget proposed consolidating SAMHSA's block grants and State Opioid Response grants into a single Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant at $4 billion, down from the current combined total of $7.37 billion. Congress has not adopted this consolidation and continues to fund existing programs separately.
ACL: Aging Services, Disability, and Alzheimer's Programs
The Administration for Community Living is the smallest of the six agencies covered here but funds work that few other federal sources support: aging services, disability research, Alzheimer's disease programs, elder justice, and assistive technology. We track 34 open ACL grants. ACL grants tend to be mid-size, with award ceilings ranging from $250,000 to $4.7 million. The largest currently open opportunities focus on aging and health: Falls Prevention through Clinical-Community Partnerships (Demonstration), up to $4.7 million, due May 31, 2026. Advancing Whole-Person Health: Enhancing Networks of Community-Based Aging and Disability Organizations, $3.3 million to $3.8 million, also due May 31, 2026. Advancing Strategies to Enhance Preventative Health to Older Adults in the Senior Nutrition Program, $500,000 to $1.23 million, due April 1, 2026. ACL also funds disease-specific and technology-focused work. The Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative (ADPI) State and Community Grant Program offers $850,000 to $1 million, due March 17, 2026. The RERC on AI-Driven Assistive and Rehabilitation Technologies, up to $975,000, is due March 12, 2026. Elder Justice Innovation Grants FY2026, up to $500,000, are due May 5, 2026. ACL grants are well-suited for Area Agencies on Aging, Centers for Independent Living, state units on aging, disability organizations, and universities with rehabilitation or gerontology programs. ACL is consistently under-covered in grant guides, which means less competition for qualified applicants.
AHRQ: Health Services Research
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is the smallest HHS research agency, with an annual budget of about $380 million. AHRQ funds health services research, patient safety, and healthcare quality improvement rather than biomedical research. AHRQ is distinct from NIH in important ways. Its research focuses on how healthcare is delivered, organized, and paid for, rather than on the biology of disease. If your work involves reducing medical errors, improving care coordination, studying healthcare disparities, or evaluating clinical decision support systems, AHRQ is a more natural fit than NIH. AHRQ implemented the HHS transition to 2 CFR Part 200 in October 2024 (notice NOT-HS-25-007), which affects all active and new grants. Key changes include the single audit threshold increasing to $1 million and the de minimis indirect cost rate moving to 15%. The FY2026 presidential budget proposed folding AHRQ's programs into NIH, which would eliminate AHRQ as a standalone agency. Congress has previously rejected similar proposals, and the outcome depends on the appropriations process. Applicants should check AHRQ's current funding announcements on Grants.gov, as the transition status may affect which mechanisms are available.
Other HHS Sub-Agencies
Several other HHS components offer grants or contracts worth knowing about. Indian Health Service (IHS) has 29 open procurement opportunities for healthcare facilities serving Native American and Alaska Native communities. These are contracts rather than grants, covering facility construction, medical equipment, and health services. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has 16 opportunities including the FY26 FDA Broad Agency Announcement for Advanced Research and Development of Regulatory Science (due February 24, 2026) and conference support grants. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has a notable Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) grant with an award ceiling of $7.5 million, due June 3, 2026. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, maintains open-ended BAAs for biomedical countermeasure development with deadlines extending to 2027 and 2028.
Policy Changes Affecting HHS Grants in 2026
Three policy changes affect all HHS grant applicants in 2026. First, HHS completed its transition from 45 CFR Part 75 to 2 CFR Part 200, the government-wide Uniform Guidance, effective October 1, 2025. HHS retains 12 agency-specific provisions at 2 CFR Part 300. Practically, this means HHS grants now follow the same administrative rules as grants from other federal agencies. Key thresholds: the single audit requirement now applies at $1 million (up from $750,000), the de minimis indirect cost rate is 15%, and the subaward exclusion threshold for modified total direct costs increased from $25,000 to $50,000. Second, Executive Order 14332, "Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking" (August 7, 2025), requires all agencies to designate senior political appointees to review and approve discretionary grant opportunities and awards. Peer review recommendations are now advisory rather than binding. The order also directs OMB to revise the Uniform Grant Guidance to require termination-for-convenience clauses in all discretionary grants. Third, the FY2026 presidential budget proposed reorganizing HHS by merging HRSA, SAMHSA, and select CDC programs into a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). This proposal requires congressional approval and has not been enacted as of January 2026. In the interim, existing agencies continue to accept applications and make awards under their current structures.
Which Agency Fits Your Organization
Each agency serves a distinct audience. Here's a quick decision framework. Primary healthcare in underserved areas goes to HRSA. Health centers, rural clinics, and telehealth programs are HRSA's core portfolio. Population-level public health work belongs with CDC. Disease surveillance, injury prevention, environmental health, and public health workforce development are CDC's territory. SAMHSA covers behavioral health and substance use treatment: crisis services, community behavioral health clinics, opioid response, and suicide prevention programs. Child and family social services fall under ACF. Head Start, child welfare, family violence prevention, and refugee services are ACF programs. Organizations serving older adults or people with disabilities should look at ACL. Aging services, Alzheimer's programs, assistive technology, and elder justice are ACL's focus. AHRQ is for researchers studying how healthcare is delivered and can be improved. Health services research, patient safety, and quality improvement are AHRQ's niche. A concrete example: a community health center in rural Appalachia that also runs a substance use treatment program could apply to HRSA (for health center operations and telehealth), SAMHSA (for substance use treatment funding), and potentially ACF (if they serve families through Head Start partnerships). Organizations whose work spans multiple agencies should search across all of them rather than limiting to one.
How to Search for HHS Opportunities
On Funding Landscape, search by agency name (e.g., "HRSA" or "CDC") to see open opportunities from each sub-agency. You can also search by topic ("behavioral health," "community health center," "falls prevention") and filter to show only grant opportunities. All HHS grant opportunities also appear on Grants.gov. Since December 2025, HHS agencies including NIH post exclusively to Grants.gov rather than maintaining separate announcement systems. For SAMHSA specifically, the SAMHSA Grants Dashboard and FY2026 NOFO Forecast show upcoming and open competitive grant opportunities. For HRSA, the Find Funding page at hrsa.gov organizes opportunities by program area. For block grant programs (SAMHSA SUPTRS, SAMHSA MHBG, HRSA Title V MCH), the application process is different from competitive grants. Block grants flow to states by formula, and states then distribute funds. If your organization provides services funded through block grants, contact your state agency rather than applying directly to the federal government. Our federal funding search guide covers additional strategies for searching across Grants.gov and SAM.gov. Small businesses pursuing HHS contracts should also see our small business funding guide for information on set-asides and certifications. Save searches for agencies relevant to your work and check regularly. HHS agencies post new opportunities throughout the year, and some programs have rolling deadlines.