Rigorously Evaluating Approaches to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Problematic Sexual Behavior among Youth

Q: When is the deadline for Rigorously Evaluating Approaches to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Problematic Sexual Behavior among Youth?

This is a forecast opportunity; the agency expects applications to close December 1, 2026.

Q: Who is eligible for Rigorously Evaluating Approaches to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Problematic Sexual Behavior among Youth?

Eligible applicants: Open to all applicant types.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA

Federal

Funding Amount

Up to $400K

Deadline

Forecast — expected December 1, 2026

Forecast by the agency; not yet open

Number of Awards

Grant Type

Federal

Deadline history & next window

Cycle: Not stated
Next expected: December 1, 2026
Tracked since: September 2026

Forecast: expected to post October 1, 2026; applications expected due December 1, 2026.

Source: Grants.gov forecast for this opportunity.

Can we apply?

Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.

Eligible organizations

Open to all applicant types

Other requirements

Additional information to be provided in the NOFO.

Overview

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) is soliciting investigator-initiated gold standard research proposals to rigorously evaluate programs and policies for their impact on primary prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA) or problematic sexual behavior (PSB) among youth. For the purposes of this NOFO:

CSA is defined as sexual victimization during childhood (younger than 18 years of age) perpetrated by an adult.
PSB is defined as sexual behaviors among children (younger than 18 years of age) that are not developmentally appropriate and have the potential to cause harm to the child or children involved (including behaviors that are unintentionally harmful or inappropriate as well as behaviors intended to cause harm).

Research funded under this announcement will strengthen the evidence base for primary prevention of CSA and PSB.

Applicants must propose to rigorously evaluate a program or policy for primary prevention of CSA or PSB that addresses one of the following three research priorities:

Programs or policies focused on primary prevention of CSA or PSB in digital spaces (e.g., downloading or possession of illegal images of children, nonconsensual image sharing, use of artificial intelligence to create fake explicit images of children);
Programs or policies addressing the use of digital spaces for commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) or sex trafficking (e.g., online recruitment of minors for sexual content creation, online advertisements soliciting minors for commercial sex acts, using technology to facilitate in-person meetings with minors for the purpose of sex);
Organizational policy approaches focused on primary prevention of CSA or PSB in youth-serving organizations (e.g., community centers, youth development organizations, juvenile residential care facilities, faith-based organizations, group foster care).