Services to Afghan Survivors Impacted by Combat

Background
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is inviting eligible entities to submit competitive grant applications for the Fiscal Year 2022 new, one-time Services for Afghan Survivors Impacted by Combat (SASIC) Program. The SASIC Program’s goals are to help newly arrived Afghans eligible under the Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations Act overcome severe, pervasive, and long-lasting combat-related trauma and to facilitate their achievement of sustained physical, social, emotional, and economic well-being. ORR intends to achieve these goals through increasing Afghan combat survivors’ access to and engagement with effective, holistic, strengths-based, and trauma-informed services.

Grant Details
Under the SASIC Program, recipients will provide holistic and integrated services, including medical, psychological, and social work services either directly and/or through referrals to partners or affiliates, to Afghans who experienced combat-related trauma and arrived in the United States under Operation Allies Refuge/Operation Allies Welcome. The program requires a service model that includes culturally and linguistically appropriate core services for the client population. Recipients must provide core services for adult, adolescent, and pediatric clients with options for telehealth and remote delivery.

The program also emphasizes community engagement and education activities such as conducting outreach to Afghan refugee and immigrant communities, providing educational workshops to increase community awareness of survivors' needs, working with community health workers for home visits, and training staff at community health centers in cultural competency.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible populations include citizens or nationals of Afghanistan paroled into the United States between specific dates as well as their spouses, children, parents or legal guardians. Additionally, citizens and nationals of Afghanistan for whom refugee and entrant assistance activities are authorized are eligible. Afghan nationals who experienced combat or served alongside U.S. military forces in Afghanistan are prioritized for service under the SASIC Program. Recipients must ensure compliance with staffing requirements including appropriate professional credentials and licensures for key staff addressing medical and mental health needs.

Period of Performance
This is a fully funded multi-year project with one 36-month budget/project period starting on December 15, 2022.

Grant Value
$106,000,000 is the estimated total funding available for this opportunity. The expected number of awards is 50 with an award ceiling of $3,000,000 per project period and an award floor of $1,500,000 per project period. The average projected award amount is $1,800,000 per project period.