The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently published a discretionary research funding announcements titled “Family Strengthening Scholars.” If you have questions regarding this grant announcement, please email the OPRE grant review team at FSScholars@icfi.com or call 1-877-350-5913.

The full announcement for “Family Strengthening Scholars” is available online at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2015-ACF-OPRE-PD-0977. OPRE intends to award up to three grants to support dissertation research on healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood policy issues (HMRF).  These grants are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus research on questions that have direct implications for HMRF policy decision-making and program administration, and to foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and high-quality doctoral students. These grants are intended to address issues of significance to inform policy decisions and solutions, particularly for underserved/understudied populations (e.g., low-income families, minority populations), utilize rigorous research methodology (both primary data collection and secondary data analysis), and help inform the development of future intervention research. Applicants may apply for project periods up to 24 months with two 12-month budget periods.  Up to $25,000 may be awarded for each budget period.  Letters of intent are due by May 8, 2015 and applications are due by June 8, 2015.