health · HHS-OPHS

Medical Forensic Access Initiative

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health · WH-AST-26-004

Closed

Award Range

$500K – $1.0M

Total Program Funding

$1.0M

Expected Awards

Deadline

August 5, 2026

GRANTQUICK SUMMARYPlain-English Overview

HHS is funding 5 projects ($500K-$1M each) to improve access to medical forensic examinations for women and girl survivors of sexual assault. This is a DATA and SYSTEMS grant — you're not providing direct victim services, you're identifying barriers, service gaps, workforce shortages, and geographic gaps in forensic healthcare access, then developing scalable solutions. Think: mapping where SANE nurses exist vs. where sexual assaults occur, measuring wait times, and proposing systemic fixes.

Who Should Apply

State health departments, universities with public health or forensic nursing programs, hospital systems, tribal health organizations, or nonprofits focused on sexual assault response systems. Must have capacity for data collection and systems analysis.

Who Should NOT Apply

Direct service rape crisis centers (this is about systems, not individual services), advocacy-only organizations, law enforcement agencies, or groups without research/data analysis capacity.

Key Requirements (Plain English)

•Must focus on medical forensic examination access for sexual assault survivors
•Must collect, analyze, and report data on barriers and gaps
•Must identify workforce shortages, geographic gaps, and wait times
•Must develop practical, scalable solutions
•Must focus specifically on women and girl survivors
•No cost-sharing required

💡 GrantQuick Tip

5 awards means there's room for different approaches — one could map geographic gaps, another could address workforce pipelines, another could tackle rural access. The strongest applications will combine data analysis with actionable recommendations. If you can show that your state has 50 counties but only 12 have SANE-certified examiners, and you have a plan to measure wait times and propose telemedicine solutions, that's exactly what they want. Don't just document the problem — propose a scalable fix.

Competitiveness: Moderate — 5 awards in a field with limited applicants (forensic healthcare is specialized). Organizations already in this space have strong advantages.

What This Grant Funds

This notice solicits applications for practical, data-driven, and scalable projects that support States, Tribal communities, healthcare systems, or community-based organizations in collecting, analyzing, and reporting information related to access to medical forensic examinations for women and girl survivors of sexual assault. Projects funded under this initiative should identify barriers, service gaps, workforce shortages, geographic gaps, wait times, and system-level challenges impacting women and girl survivor access to timely, forensic healthcare services.

Attachments

PDF

WH-AST-26-004 Medical Forensic Access Initiative.pdf

WH-AST-26-004_Medical_Forensic_Access_Initiative.pdf

Who Can Apply

Eligible Applicant Types

Nonprofits without 501(c)(3)Other Tribal OrganizationsSmall BusinessesFor-Profit OrganizationsCity/Township GovernmentsFederally Recognized Tribal GovernmentsPrivate Colleges & UniversitiesPublic And Indian Housing AuthoritiesPublic Colleges & UniversitiesIndependent School DistrictsState GovernmentsCounty GovernmentsSpecial District Governments501(c)(3) Nonprofits

Funding Details

Minimum Award: $500K
Maximum Award: $1.0M
Total Program Funding: $1.0M
Expected Number of Awards: 5
Cost Sharing Required?: No
Funding Instrument: grant

Key Dates

Posted: June 25, 2026

Application Deadline: August 5, 2026 (0 days remaining)

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Agency Contact

Gage Dalton Gage.Dalton@hhs.gov

Gage.Dalton@hhs.gov

Ready to apply?

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