Grants to USA Nonprofits for Research to Address Inequality for Children and Youth is sponsored by Various Foundations (listed on GrantWatch, but funder is the original foundation). Grants to USA nonprofit institutions for research to improve the lives of American children and youth up to age 25. Funding is intended to support the effective exploration of policies and activities that address inequality for young people.

Four New Rapid Response Research Grants to Address Pressing Issues Facing Young People in the U.S. - William T. Grant Foundation Four New Rapid Response Research Grants to Address Pressing Issues Facing Young People in the U.S. Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images The William T.

Grant Foundation is pleased to announce four new Rapid Response Research Grants to support collaborations between researchers and policymakers, with the central goal of reducing inequality in youth outcomes in the United States. We are delighted that three of the awards are co-funded by the Spencer Foundation.

The Foundation developed the Rapid Response Research Grants program in 2017 to foster agile uses of research to respond to the needs of young people growing up in an uncertain and turbulent social climate.

The grants build on an emerging or established relationship between a research institution and a public agency or nonprofit organization to produce and use research in an effort to improve the lives of young people when there is a clear policy window.

Researchers commit to synthesizing the relevant literature within an abbreviated timeframe of six to eight weeks, and both the policy and research partners develop an engagement plan to ensure that the research yields action. The swift, systematic review of existing research is jointly designed by both partners to ensure that the questions guiding the synthesis are responsive to real information needs of decision makers.

In a moment of increased hostility toward immigrant children and their families, three of the four grants will review and use research to inform policy on behalf of this group.

The first grant will bring together the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity and Healthy Development, the Center for Poverty and Social Policy, and Children’s Health Watch to review and collate evidence to inform efforts to expand the inclusion of children in immigrant families in state-level tax credits.

The second will support a collaboration between researchers at the University of Connecticut and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration to identify institutional policies and practices to mitigate disruptions in the educational pathways of undocumented or students. In the third, William T.

Grant Scholar Sophia Rodriguez will partner with the National Immigration Law Center to examine the consequences of undoing the constitutional rights protected by Plyler v. Doe for undocumented students. The fourth grant will support a collaboration between the Education Law Center, Research for Action, and Evidence Use in Action to study the role of the U.S. Department of Education in delivering educational opportunity.

“Collaborations between research and policy partners—like the ones forged by these grantees—have a critical role to play in advancing policies that can reduce inequality in youth outcomes. We are proud to support these four grantees as they put research to action to address some of the most pressing challenges facing young people today,” said Adam Gamoran, president of the William T. Grant Foundation.

“We are pleased to support these rapid response grants, which address urgent challenges facing the nation’s young people during a period of profound instability, particularly for immigrant families. These research syntheses have the potential to strengthen the evidence base for policies that better protect and serve children. ” said Na’ilah Nasir, president of the Spencer Foundation.

Co-funded by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation: The Education Law Center, Research for Action, and Evidence Use in Action will partner to examine what role the U.S. Department of Education has played in the delivery of education opportunity.

How Federal K-12 Education Programs May Reduce Inequality and Improve Student Outcomes Robert Kim and Danielle Farrie, Education Law Center; Cara Jackson, Evidence Use in Education; Alyn Turner, Research for Action A team at the University of Connecticut will collaborate with the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration to identify institutional policies and practices to mitigate disruptions in the educational pathways of undocumented and international students.

Uninterrupted Higher Education: Identifying Approaches to Supporting Students with Precarious Immigration Statuses H. Kenny Nienhusser, Milagros Castillo-Montoya, Jillian Ives, Adam McCready, Saran Stewart, and Frank Tuitt, University of Connecticut Students who are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities and do not hold U.S. citizenship or permanent residency are vulnerable to shifts in federal policies.

Recent mass deportations of undocumented migrants, revoking previously afforded protections, revoking visas of some international students, and the threatened elimination of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program have significantly impacted undocumented and international college students.

With leadership from Nienhusser, a team from the University of Connecticut will partner with the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration to identify institutional policies and practices to mitigate disruptions in the educational pathways of undocumented and international college students.

Nienhusser and colleagues are rapidly synthesizing research and engaging in focus groups and interviews to ensure institutions can minimize disruptions, implement supportive student-centered policies and practices, and maintain strong persistence and graduation rates for these students and their institutions.

This research will guide the development of a suite of resources about campus preparedness plans, which will be disseminated through webinars, campus visits, and at Alliance meetings. Sophia Rodriguez will partner with the National Immigration Law Center to examine the consequences of undoing the constitutional rights protected by Plyler v. Doe for undocumented students.

Assessing the Impacts of Plyler v. Doe on Immigrant Students Sophia Rodriguez, New York University; Subha Varadarajan, National Immigration Law Center The economic, social, and educational opportunities of undocumented and unaccompanied youth are at risk given threats to the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which provides access to K-12 education regardless of immigration status.

Actions range from bills that require undocumented children to pay tuition to attend K-12 public schools to states and districts requiring families to declare a child’s immigration status when they register for school to cooperating with immigrant enforcement agencies.

In partnership with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Rodriguez will review research relevant to the educational, health, and mental impacts of Plyler on immigrant students to demonstrate the consequences of education for immigrants and the extent to which those who completed their education contributed to the nation’s social and economic well-being and explore the relationship between school resource officers’ presence and engagement with immigration enforcement.

The partnership aims to deepen policymakers’ and advocates’ understanding of the benefits of Plyler to students, and the potential consequences of overturning Plyler for students, school funding, and broader public economic goals.

The partnership will also provide opportunities for NILC and their coalition partners to use research evidence in their campaigns to minimize chilling effects on immigrant youth and children, and reduce police regimes in schools. Funded by the William T.

Grant Foundation: The Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development (IECOHD), the Center for Poverty and Social Policy, and Children’s Health Watch seek to leverage a policy window to extend public benefit eligibility requirements to immigrant families.

Immigrant Inclusion in the U.S. Tax and Transfer System: Reviewing Evidence to Inform State Policy Action Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Stephanie Ettinger De Cuba, Pamela K.

Joshi, Boston University; Christopher Wimer, Columbia University The well-being of children in immigrant families, who account for more than one quarter of the U.S. child population, is currently threatened by exclusionary policies that weaken economic, health, and social safety nets.

And while the federal administration and some states are restricting access and making it risky for immigrant families to claim tax credits, community-based advocates and an emerging policy window in Massachusetts offer an opportunity to advance a tax credit system that is ready and accessible for immigrant families.

With this grant, The Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development (IECOHD) at the Boston University School of Social Work, and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy (CPSP) at the Columbia University School of Social Work are partnering with Children’s HealthWatch to review and collate evidence to inform efforts to expand the inclusion of children in immigrant families in state-level tax credits.

The evidence review will evaluate three key themes: 1) effectiveness of tax credits on improving child outcomes and positive effects of including children in immigrant families, 2) state-level support for inclusive tax credits, and 3) outreach and administrative systems to facilitate claiming tax credits.

HealthWatch will lead the development and deployment of an evidence-based advocacy strategy to build support for the expansion of the Massachusetts Earned Income Tax Credit and Child and Family Tax Credit. Key strategies include testifying, creating accessible one-pagers about the impact of tax credit expansions on immigrant children and families, cultivating legislative champions, and holding educational meetings.

Grant Announcements News Reducing Inequality 2026 What Higher Education Leaders are Doing in Times of Escalating Immigration Enforcement: Study Insights and Directions for Research Federal actions in the second Trump administration have placed higher education institutions at a critical crossroads as they navigate how best to support undocumented and international students (Streitwieser et al. , 2020), ...

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Board of Education, many U.S. school districts remain divided by race and class. Segregation is often particularly prevalent in large, urban school districts like ... Early-Career Reviewer Program Research Grants on Reducing Inequality Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence William T.

Grant Scholars Program Institutional Challenge Grant Youth Service Capacity-Building Grants Youth Service Improvement Grants Improving the use of Research Evidence conceptual use of research The William T. Grant Foundation invests in high-quality research focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States. 60 E.

42nd Street, 43rd Fl. Research Grants on Reducing Inequality Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence William T. Grant Scholars Program Institutional Challenge Grant Youth Service Capacity-Building Grants Youth Service Improvement Grants Improving the Use of Research Evidence Research-Practice Partnerships Resource Site Optimal Design with Empirical Information (OD+)