Office of Refugee Resettlement Announces Single-Source Cooperative Agreement for State Capacity Initiative

The Administration for Children and Families within the Department of Health and Human Services announced an intent to award a single-source cooperative agreement valued at up to three million five hundred thousand dollars to the Welcoming Initiative for Newcomers located in San Diego, California. Published in the Federal Register on November 6, 2026, the notice outlines the next phase of the State Capacity and Readiness Initiative. The proposed project period runs from November 1, 2026, through October 31, 2027. This initiative builds on baseline assessments and readiness products previously completed by the organization under an earlier cooperative agreement.

Objectives and Scope of Work

The funding targets the transition from baseline assessments to practical implementation support, pilot learning, and capacity building at state and local levels. Under the new agreement, the Welcoming Initiative for Newcomers will conduct a nationwide assessment of local resettlement partners. This assessment aims to identify support needed from state agencies, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and technical assistance providers. Additionally, the project updates previous evaluations of state capacity to reflect current infrastructure, staffing, and service-delivery capabilities.

Project activities include collaborating with designated training providers to create tools and templates that strengthen state implementation capacity. The organization will also support pilot activities by recommending information collection approaches, facilitating regular engagement with participating states, and synthesizing lessons learned. A national data dashboard will be developed to assist with capacity planning. For jurisdictions not participating directly in the pilots, the organization will assist federal regional staff with meeting coordination, briefing materials, and engagement activities.

Justification for Single-Source Award

The Office of Refugee Resettlement cited specific administrative justifications for issuing a single-source award rather than conducting a competitive bidding process. Because the Welcoming Initiative for Newcomers executed the prior phase, the agency possesses detailed institutional knowledge of the methodology, stakeholder relationships, and baseline data. Selecting the same recipient preserves continuity between the assessment and implementation phases. It prevents the need to reconstruct project history, eliminates duplicative data-gathering efforts, and ensures the timely application of findings from fiscal year 2027 to fiscal year 2028 program planning.

Federal involvement in the project will remain substantial. Officials from the Office of Refugee Resettlement will participate in refining the work plan, identifying priority questions, coordinating engagement with states, and reviewing assessment tools. Statutory authority for the action derives from section 8 U.S.C. 1522(b)(1) of the Refugee Act, which authorizes grants and contracts for initial refugee resettlement. The action also supports the statutory intent of 8 U.S.C. 1522(a)(2) by incorporating state recommendations into placement and capacity planning decisions.