U.S. Department of Education outlines FY2026 Promise Neighborhoods competition, $65 million for new awards

On a public webinar, officials from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education and contractor Westat outlined the FY2026 Promise Neighborhoods grant competition and application guidance for prospective applicants.

Amy Amashiro, director of School Community and Improvement Programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the Promise Neighborhoods program "aims to improve academic and developmental outcomes for children and youth in the nation's most distressed communities by supporting cradle to career pathways." She emphasized the program's statutory authorization under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and urged applicants to review the statute to ensure proposals align with program requirements.

The department announced $65,000,000 in discretionary funding for new implementation awards in FY2026. Implementation grants may run up to five years (60 months), with an annual maximum of $6,000,000 and a total maximum of $30,000,000 over the award period; the presentation noted an average annual award of about $5,500,000.

Key deadlines listed in the webinar include the competition announcement on 05/08/2026, a strongly encouraged notice of intent to apply by 06/22/2026, and full applications due 08/06/2026. Amashiro said submitting an intent-to-apply helps the department plan reviewer numbers and that applicants should register early on Grants.gov and SAM.gov because Grants.gov applies a date-time stamp when an application is uploaded.

Andrea Garcia, deputy project director for place-based technical assistance at Westat, described Promise Neighborhoods as place-based strategies that transform how schools, youth-serving and family-serving organizations, and residents work together. "Promise Neighborhoods use evidence based approaches to improve outcomes from early childhood through adulthood," she said, and stressed that grantees must track population-level Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) indicators and report annually.

Amashiro explained eligibility and partnership requirements: eligible lead applicants include institutes of higher education, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, and nonprofit organizations (when partnered with at least one of a high-need local education agency, an institute of higher education, an office of a chief elected official of a local government, or an Indian tribe). She noted local education agencies are essential partners even when not serving as lead applicants in all cases.

The department described two sets of priorities. Absolute priorities determine eligibility (nonrural/nontribal communities, rural communities, and tribal communities), and applicants must identify one absolute priority in their application. Competitive preference priorities offer up to 15 additional points across three optional priorities. Amashiro discussed Competitive Preference Priority 1 (evidence-based literacy), which requires applicants to document citations on a new evidence form, and Competitive Preference Priorities 2 and 3, which address meaningful learning opportunities/family supports and career pathways/workforce readiness, respectively.

The webinar highlighted the new evidence form as a required standard document and directed applicants to consult the What Works Clearinghouse to understand evidence levels (strong, moderate, promising) and to identify publicly available citations that the U.S. Department of Education can access. Amashiro said all evidence citations must be publicly available and accessible to the department.

Officials emphasized the program's focus on systems change and sustainability: grantees are expected to serve as backbone organizations that convene partners, use data to guide decisions, and braid local, state, federal, and private resources rather than rely solely on the federal grant. The presentation also introduced the Advancing Conditions framework (originally published in 2014 and revised in 2025) as a tool to self-assess progress and inform annual reporting.

Amashiro closed by recapping resources (Grants.gov forms, ED program web pages with recordings and slides, technical assistance resources, and the Guidance Document, 3rd Edition) and provided a contact email spoken in the webinar as "rich wilsonpromisedneighborhoodsed dot gov" for questions and intent-to-apply notices. She announced additional webinars and office hours will be posted on the Department's Promise Neighborhoods website.