NIDILRR's $35.8 Million in New FY2026 Grants: What Was Funded After 36 Competitions Disappeared, and How to Plan for FY2027
October 29, 2026 · 8 min read
Granted Research Team · Editorial policy
On October 28, 2026, HHS and the Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced $35,763,912 in FY2026 funding for new grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The awards cover disability research, technology development, training and technical assistance. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said the investments would be measured by "whether they make a real difference in people's everyday lives." Acting NIDILRR Director Kristi Hill, PhD, said much the same.
On its face it reads like an annual awards release. For the disability and rehabilitation research community, it is the end of a difficult fiscal year. In August, the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Coalition (DRRC) told ACL that 36 planned FY2026 competitions, about 45% of NIDILRR's forecasted competitions, had been removed from grants.gov. The coalition said it "seriously question[ed]" whether the institute could obligate its full appropriation before September 30.
The October list answers part of that question and leaves the rest open. Here is what got funded, what did not, and what it means for anyone planning an FY2027 NIDILRR application.
The award list
ACL released this breakdown, with amounts recorded as FY2026 obligations and verified October 6, 2026:
| Program | Awards | FY2026 funding | Approx. average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems | 14 | $8,445,498 | $603,000 |
| Regional ADA National Network centers | 10 | $11,074,444 | $1.1 million |
| ADA National Network Knowledge Translation Center | 1 | $850,000 | n/a |
| Field-Initiated Projects | 12 | $3,991,978 | $333,000 |
| SBIR Phase I | 7 | $699,984 | $100,000 |
| SBIR Phase II | 6 | $1,577,150 | $263,000 |
| RERC on Artificial Intelligence | 1 | $975,000 | n/a |
| RRTC on Community Living and Participation | 1 | $925,000 | n/a |
| RRTC on Employment | 1 | $925,000 | n/a |
| DRRP on Burn Injury | 1 | $699,999 | n/a |
| DRRP on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Employment | 1 | $700,000 | n/a |
| Spinal Cord Injury Resilience | 1 | $699,950 | n/a |
| DRRPs on Community Living and Participation | 2 | $999,993 | $500,000 |
| Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training | 3 | $749,917 | $250,000 |
| SCI Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center | 1 | $800,000 | n/a |
| TBI Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center | 1 | $799,999 | n/a |
| Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center | 1 | $850,000 | n/a |
The dollar column adds up exactly to $35,763,912. The award column does not. The rows sum to 64, but the release says 68 grants. The release text also mentions 16 Field-Initiated Projects, while the table lists 12. If 16 is the correct FIP count, the total comes to 68, so the table row is probably the error. Applicants checking their competition's results should use USAspending.gov or HHS TAGGS, not the press table.
These are new awards only. NIDILRR's full appropriation also pays continuation years of existing multiyear grants, so $35.8 million is not the institute's total FY2026 spending. Advocates have cited about $119 million as the full-funding level, and in a May 2026 letter the DRRC said Congress "fully fund[ed] NIDILRR in FY 2026."
Where the money went
Infrastructure took the largest share. The 10 regional ADA National Network centers and their knowledge translation center received $11.9 million, a third of all new money. The 14 Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems plus the SCI and TBI data centers and the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center received another $10.9 million. Together that is about 63% of the new awards. These networks are competed on long cycles, and FY2026 happened to be the year both came up.
Named SCI Model Systems awardees include Craig Hospital (arm recovery and fatigue), Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (home-based spinal stimulation), the University of Miami (nerve pain) and MedStar Health Research Institute (urinary tract infection prevention).
The Center awards reflect the administration's priorities. The release frames them around "whole-person health, employment, caregiving, connecting people to services, and economic security." Examples:
- University of Central Florida: $975,000 Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on AI for people with limb differences
- Virginia Commonwealth University: $925,000 RRTC on employer practices and technology in hiring, accommodation and advancement
- Temple University: $925,000 RRTC on peer-led community living
- University of Texas at Austin: $700,000 for career exploration and job readiness for deaf high school students
- Medical University of South Carolina: $699,950 for resilience and mental health after spinal cord injury
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Georgia Tech: $999,993 combined for a wheelchair-mounted robotic arm and an online assistive technology assessment platform
Three themes run through the list: employment, AI and assistive technology, and community living. Applicants writing FY2027 proposals should take that as a signal.
What is missing
The DRRC's August 10 letter to ACL Principal Deputy Administrator Mary Lazare listed what appeared to have been cut: every unrestricted Field-Initiated Project competition, every Mary E. Switzer fellowship competition, the SBIR competitions, and the RRTC on Parents with Disabilities, totaling more than $6.8 million in planned FY2026 research.
Compare that with the October list:
- Switzer fellowships: none appear. That matches the reported cancellation.
- RRTC on Parents with Disabilities: not on the list.
- Field-Initiated Projects: 12 (or 16) awards worth $3.99 million appear. NIDILRR also ran a separate FIP competition limited to Minority-Serving Institutions, which the DRRC letter did not list as canceled. ACL has not said whether the FIP awards came from that restricted track, a reinstated unrestricted competition, or applications already under review.
- SBIR: 13 awards worth $2.28 million appear, even though the coalition believed the SBIR competitions had been pulled. These could be awards from competitions that had already closed, a reinstatement, or something else. The release does not say.
The practical point: do not assume that FY2026's unrestricted FIP and SBIR pipeline will be rebuilt in FY2027 on the old schedule. Plan as though these competitions are discretionary, because the institute has shown it will treat them that way.
Three-year project periods are the bigger change
The DRRC letter flagged a second change that will outlast the cancellations. Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRPs) and Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) grants, historically five-year awards, were cut to three-year project periods in the FY2026 NOFOs.
For researchers, that means:
- More frequent recompetition. A DRRP awarded this fall comes up for renewal in FY2029, not FY2031. Teams will spend more time writing proposals and less time doing research.
- Less room for longitudinal designs. Multi-year follow-up cohorts, which are central to rehabilitation outcomes research, do not fit well in 36 months. The coalition warned that shorter periods "will necessarily reduce the scope, rigor, and long-term impact" of the work.
- Lower near-term obligations. Three years of commitments instead of five frees up future-year money. That gives NIDILRR more flexibility and gives grantees less security.
If you are planning an FY2027 DRRP or ARRT application, design for 36 months. Put a complete, publishable deliverable in year three, and make any longer follow-up a clearly separate future aim.
The policy backdrop
NIDILRR spent FY2026 under institutional uncertainty. The FY2026 President's budget proposed moving NIDILRR out of ACL into a new Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, one piece of a larger plan to dissolve ACL. According to DRRC's appropriations memo, neither chamber adopted the reorganization, and Congress funded NIDILRR at its full level.
That decided where NIDILRR sits and how much it gets. It did not decide how fast the money moves. Late NOFOs in June and July, the withdrawn competitions, and an awards release four weeks after fiscal year-end all show an institute running behind its own forecast. For FY2027, the DRRC has asked appropriators for $150 million, a 26% increase over the roughly $119 million level. Whatever Congress enacts, the FY2026 record shows that the appropriation alone does not determine how much gets competed.
Grantees should also watch the government-wide rules. OMB's proposed rewrite of 2 CFR 200, with its political pre-issuance review and termination-for-convenience language, would apply to NIDILRR awards like any others. We covered the congressional fight over that rule's timing separately.
Who should do what now
Model Systems and ADA Network applicants who did not win: These networks run on long cycles, and the next competition may be years away. Turn your proposal into DRRP or FIP applications, or partner with a funded center as a subsite or collaborator.
Investigator-initiated researchers: Field-Initiated Projects are still NIDILRR's main open-topic door, but FY2026 showed they can be cut. Check whether you qualify for the MSI-restricted FIP track, by your own institution or through a partner, and have a non-NIDILRR backup. Rehabilitation research also fits at NIH's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NICHD); see our analysis of NICHD's FY2028 center forecasts.
Assistive technology startups: NIDILRR's SBIR awards are small (about $100,000 for Phase I and $263,000 on average for Phase II in this round), and the competitions turned out to be unreliable this year. Under the 2026 reauthorization, agencies must also cap the number of proposals per company starting in FY2027 (see our SBIR reauthorization breakdown). Apply to NIDILRR, but also prepare for NIH and NSF SBIR solicitations, which are larger and more predictable.
Early-career researchers: With no Switzer fellowships in FY2026, the ARRT postdoctoral training grants (three awards here) are the remaining NIDILRR training route. Get in touch with ARRT host institutions now.
Everyone: NIDILRR posts forecasts on grants.gov under Assistance Listing 93.433. Last year, forecasted competitions disappeared without notice. Set saved-search alerts, check them every week, and keep at least a full draft ready, because FY2026 NOFOs came late and with short windows.
The bottom line
The October 28 awards show that NIDILRR obligated money in FY2026, mostly to the networks that anchor the field: SCI Model Systems, the ADA National Network and their data and knowledge translation centers. The parts that bring in new people and ideas, such as fellowships, open-topic research and small business innovation, either disappeared or came back in reduced and unexplained form. Shorter awards will put more of the field back into competition every three years.
Researchers who plan for FY2027 as if FY2026 never happened will be caught off guard. Plan for late NOFOs, three-year periods, competitions that can be canceled, and priority language that rewards employment, AI and assistive technology, and community living.
To find disability, rehabilitation and assistive technology funding beyond NIDILRR, including NIH, VA, state vocational rehabilitation and foundation programs, search Granted's database or ask our AI assistant to match your project to current opportunities.