Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) On Employer Practices Leading to Successful Employment Outcomes Among People With Disabilities | HHS 2026 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0214

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2026 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0214

This funding opportunity, titled "Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employer Practices Leading to Successful Employment Outcomes Among People With Disabilities" (Opportunity Number: HHS 2026 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0214; CFDA/ALN: 93.433), is a discretionary grant competition run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Administration for Community Living (ACL), specifically the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). It falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category and is designed to support a single national center focused on improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities by building stronger evidence on what employers can do, in practical terms, to hire, retain, and advance disabled workers successfully.

At its core, the RRTC program exists to advance the goals of the Rehabilitation Act by improving the effectiveness of rehabilitation and related services through coordinated research, training, technical assistance, and wide dissemination of findings. In this competition, NIDILRR is looking for an RRTC that can generate new, usable knowledge about employer practices that are associated with successful employment outcomes for people with disabilities. In other words, the funded project is expected to move beyond general statements about inclusion and instead identify, test, and communicate which specific workplace policies, procedures, and management practices actually make a measurable difference in outcomes like hiring, job retention, job quality, performance, advancement, and overall employment stability for disabled employees.

NIDILRR plans to make one award under this announcement, so the competition is structured around selecting a single lead applicant (often working with partners) to serve as the center. The project period is 60 months (five years), divided into five 12-month budget periods. This structure typically signals that the funder expects a multi-year research agenda that can support planning, data collection, analysis, product development, and ongoing training and dissemination over time, rather than a short, one-off study. The award has a ceiling of $925,000, which generally indicates the maximum amount available per budget period (the notice lists the ceiling without specifying per-year versus total, but in RRTC-style announcements it is commonly framed on an annual budget period basis). The original application closing date is July 29, 2026, and the opportunity record was created June 22, 2026.

Eligibility is broad and includes a wide range of domestic entities that can credibly operate a national research and training center. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding higher education institutions when categorized separately); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other qualified domestic entities. Faith-based and community organizations are explicitly eligible as long as they meet the standard eligibility requirements. Foreign entities are not eligible to apply or receive an award under this announcement, which means applicants and the proposed center’s core operations must be U.S.-based and compliant with the program’s domestic eligibility rules.

In practical terms, applicants should read this opportunity as a request to stand up an integrated center that does three things at once: (1) conducts well-designed research that produces credible evidence about effective employer practices, (2) translates that evidence into training and technical assistance that employers, service providers, and workforce systems can actually use, and (3) disseminates findings broadly so that the knowledge reaches the field and influences real-world employment practices. Because only one award is expected, proposals are typically strengthened by clear national scope, strong partnerships (for example, employers and employer associations, disability organizations, VR and workforce entities, and researchers with relevant expertise), and a plan to produce outputs that are both scientifically solid and operationally practical for employers. The overall aim is straightforward: improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities by identifying and spreading the employer practices that reliably support success on the job.

• The Administration for Community Living in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) On Employer Practices Leading to Successful Employment Outcomes Among People With Disabilities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.433.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-06-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-07-29. (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 $925,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, 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, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for HHS 2026 ACL NIDILRR RTEM 0214

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