NYS Office of Children and Family Services (NYS OCFS) Grant Funding

County Seeks Applications for Additional 2026 Youth Team Sports (YTS) Funding

Applications will only be accepted through the Dutchess County Grant Portal. Applications are due by Tuesday, December 23, 2025, by 1:00 pm.  Late applications will not be accepted for any reason.

Use this link to navigate to the Dutchess County Grant Portal where you can login to an existing account or create a new account: https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=dc. Please only create one account per organization. You should consider using your organization’s general email and a shared password to be used by anyone within your organization who might work on an application within the grant portal, now or in the future.

The Dutchess County Division of Youth Services administers reimbursable grants for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (NYS OCFS). There is an annual request for applications for Youth Team Sports funding. The program year for this funding runs from January 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026.  Programs must be free to all youth.

Funding is available in reimbursable grant awards from $5,000 to $25,000  for local, community-based organizations and nonprofit youth-serving organizations that provide free team sports opportunities to youth under age 18. For the purposes of this Youth Team Sports (YTS) funding opportunity, a "team sport is defined as an organized physical activity in which groups of two or more individuals compete with two or more opposing individuals.” 
Youth Team Sports funding is grounded in the principles of positive youth development. It is intended to provide support to local team sports programs across New York State in communities where such programs may be scarce or under-resourced. YTS has a sole focus on team sports. 

To be eligible for YTS funding, programs must meet the following criteria:

• Provide free team sports activities for Dutchess County youth under age 18 in under-resourced communities during the program year January 1, 2026—September 30, 2026.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and have staff trained in Positive Youth Development.
• Demonstrate basic competency in the areas of governance, monitoring and evaluation, partnership, and financial stewardship.
• Have a child protection policy in place that includes adherence to local city, agency, school district, and state child protections guidelines.
• Collect registration data, including participant demographic information as required by OCFS in a manner that allows for accurate reporting of anonymized aggregate data.

Agencies must use the following required OCFS Life Area and Services, Opportunities, and Supports (SOS) elections:

• Life area: 2PEH Physical and Emotional Health
• SOS: 0232 Year-round/seasonal activities
• Performance measures:
  • How much: 0232A.1—Number of youth participating (unduplicated)
  • How Well: 0232B.4—Percent of youth completing the program
  • Better Off: 0232C.2—Number of youth who attain or improve on a skill and/or report an increase in knowledge/awareness.

Funded programs are selected through a competitive request for applications process. The Dutchess County Youth Board and Coordinating Council is responsible for reviewing, scoring, and making allocation recommendations to the county executive for grant applications. 

   Applications will ONLY be accepted through the Dutchess County Grant Portal.

Grant Portal Instructions:

1. Use this link to navigate to the Dutchess County Grant Portal where you can login to an existing account or create a new account: https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=dc
2. Please only create one account per organization. You should consider using your organization’s general email and a shared password to be used by anyone within your organization who might work on an application within the grant portal, now or in the future.
3. Once at the Logon Page, follow instructions to “logon” or “create new account.”
4. After successfully creating an account, you will be brought to the “Apply” page where you can click on the “Apply” button that will bring you to the grant application. 
5. Once you begin an application, it will be saved as a draft. You can re-enter the portal any time prior to the submission deadline to complete the application. Your work will be saved as you go.

Additional 2026 Youth Team Sports Grant Application Process

Below is the list of documents needed for funding consideration:

• Additional 2026 NYS OCFS YTS Grant Application Checklist for Youth Services (.doc)
• Additional 2026 NYS OCFS YTS Grant Application Checklist for Youth Services (.pdf)
• NYS OCFS Grant FAQ's for Youth Services (.pdf) (.doc)
• Path to Promise Framework (.pdf) (.doc) and Path to Promise website
• OCFS-5001 Individual Program Application-Program Information (.doc) 
• OCFS -5002 Agency Program Profile (.doc)
• Helpful Hints list to be used with OCFS-5002 (.pdf) (.doc)
• OCFS-5003 Program Components (.doc) 
• Division of Youth Services 2026 YTS Attachment I, II, III, Logic Model, Outcomes, Board List  (.doc)
• Division of Youth Services 2026 YTS Attachment IV-Projected Program Budget (.xls)
• Division of Youth Services 2026 YTS Attachment V-Listed Additional Expenses (.xls) 
• Dutchess County Insurance Requirements Summary (.pdf)
• Positive Youth Development online resource 

For additional information about how to apply for 2026 YTS funding please contact: Doreen E. Clifford, Youth Programs Analyst at  doreen.clifford@dfa.state.ny.us.