Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2027: Afterschool & Out-of-School Time Subgrant (ASOST-S)

Fund Codes: 527S, 0528

Purpose:

The purpose of this federal and state competitive grant is to fund several regional or statewide non-profit entities with the ability to subgrant and provide wraparound support to afterschool and out-of-school time* (ASOST) programs. The overall goal of the grant is provide subgrants and support to ASOST programs, which will strengthen the quality of and increase access to learning and enrichment programming that improve academic, college and career readiness and social-emotional outcomes for youth.

*ASOST is inclusive of before-school, after-school, vacation and summer programming hours beyond school time.

Priorities:

For regional or statewide grantees to provide ongoing support, training, technical assistance, coaching, professional development, evaluation, fiscal management and oversight to ASOST subgrantee programs.

For regional or statewide grantees to make subgrant awards to ASOST programs to enhance quality criteria areas outlined in the Guidelines for Quality Enhancements in After-School and Out-of-School Time and increase access to high quality ASOST programs that meet the following criteria:

  • Programs that are operated by non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs) and school districts, including charter schools and collaboratives;

  • Programs in communities or schools/districts where at least 25% of students served are considered low-income and/or are in schools in the strategic transformation region;

  • Programs that specifically aim to welcome and serve students from all identities and backgrounds;

  • Programs that support the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE's or Department's) Educational Vision, including supporting the whole student, deeper learning, and culturally and linguistically sustaining practices that contribute to affirming environments where students have a sense of belonging;

  • Programs that engage and leverage knowledge and strengths of students, families, staff and community to inform programming design and decisions;

  • Programs that offer comprehensive programming at least 3–5 days a week and/or at least approximately 150 hours per year/summer;

  • Programs that are evidence/research-based; and

  • Programs that have or want to strengthen partnerships with local schools and/or other community-based organizations.

Eligibility:

Massachusetts based non-profit organizations. Applicants must demonstrate substantial experience working with and providing training and technical assistance to ASOST programs as well as demonstrate they are able to meet all federal/state funding requirements and fiscally manage a high volume of subgrants.

Please Note: All applicants must demonstrate the capacity to administer grant funding through:

  • Proven fiscal responsibility as demonstrated through an annual audit; and
  • Previous experience with funding from government (state/federal/local), foundation, or private grants
Funding Type:

State 7061-9814
State 7061-9611

The receipt of grant funds is contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act. Compliance with the MBTA Communities Act is determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Funding:

This RFP posting represents FY2027 Summer funds through 8/31/2026, which include approximately $3,000,000 through state line item 7061-9814 (Fund Code [FC] 527S), and $7,000,000 that is projected from state line item 7061-9611 (FC 0528) mainly for afterschool* (school year) funding for an approximate total of $10,000,000, pending appropriation.

*To allow access for a portion of 7061-9611 for the following summer (July 2027) spending (which will be FY2028 at that point), grantees must reduce their FY2027 School Year FC 0528 grants in the spring to free up funding, which will be rolled into FY2028. There will be a separate funding application to submit for the summer 7061-9611 portion. Applicants who do not free up funding by reducing their FY2027 award will not be allowed to extend 7061-9611 funding into the following summer months and applicants who do not reapply for the summer portion will not be able to get the funding.

In order to ensure geographic and program diversity, the Department anticipates total grant awards of approximately $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 to several entities depending on size and scope of region.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Each grantee must award at least 93% of funds must be awarded as subgrants to ASOST programs. The recommended range of yearly awards for each subgrant is $15,000-100,000, depending on size, scope of program and duration (e.g., if a summer component is included). Each grantee may use up to 7% of award may be used for overall administration and other costs, including indirect, as needed to provide support to awarded ASOST subgrant programs. If indirect is included, it must be part of the 7%, and cannot exceed the applicant's approved rate or 5%, whichever is greater.

Due to the ability to reduce and roll into the next FY/summer on these funds the subgrantees must provide the LEA with proper fiscal information for the awarded LEA to be able to successfully reduce school year and roll funds into the next fiscal year (summer) so please make sure both the LEA (DESE awardee) and the Subrecipients (LEAs awardees) understand the cadence and timing of when information needs to be provided so that action can be taken to move the funds properly.

Funds must be used in alignment with the purpose and priorities outlined and as described in a budget, budget narrative, and required program information that is submitted to the Department's Office of Student and Family Support.

Allowable uses of funds for grantees include but may not be limited to the following: staff costs for administration and oversight of subgrants, staff and/or contractual costs for professional development/training/technical assistance and evaluation activities, supplies/materials (including technology needed), and mileage reimbursement for staff for on-site visits.

Note the following include allowable costs for subgrantees: program coordination and programmatic staff costs (including increasing rates/incentives and costs for recruitment efforts as needed to fill staffing gaps), scholarships for economically disadvantaged students/families on voucher wait lists or unable to afford programming, transportation, materials/supplies for program activities, food/snacks for participants, mental/behavioral health services/counselors, social-emotional learning supports, school/community partner specialist, family engagement liaison and enrichment/extracurricular opportunities. Indirect costs for subgrantees cannot exceed 5%.

Project Duration:

Year 1: Upon Approval (Anticipated 7/1/2026) – June 30, 2027

  • FY27 527S Upon Approval (No Earlier than 7/1/2026) – 8/31/2026
  • FY27 0528 Upon Approval (No Earlier than 9/1/2026) – 6/30/2026

  • FY28 528S Upon Approval (No Earlier than 7/1/2027) – 8/31/2027*

    *To allow access for summer FY28 spending, grantees must reduce their School Year grants in the spring of 2026 to free up funding which will be rolled into FY28. There will be separate funding applications to submit for each portion of this grant.

Pending budget appropriation, continuation of funding will also be available for 07/01/2027–06/30/2028 (Year 2) and 07/01/2028–06/30/2029 (Year 3). Eligibility for funding in years 2 and 3 is based on meeting grant requirements and submission of year-end report, FER filings and continuation application.

Program Unit:

Student and Family Support

Contact:

Allison Smith

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3232

Date Due:

Thursday, January 29, 2027 by 5:00 p.m.

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. on the date due.

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP. Review the Competitive Grant Policy for more detailed information.

All responses must be submitted through proper steps and received by the due date/time listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.

Additional Information:

Due to the competitive nature of this grant program, all questions about the Funding Opportunity documents and process will be addressed during the Grant Information Webinar and Q & A session(s). To receive links to webinars and to send questions, please email asost@mass.gov .

Awarded recipients must also do the following as attested to in the assurances document:

  • Work with the Department to avoid overlapping of catchment areas and consistency when awarding subgrants to ensure broad and diverse geographical representation across the state;

  • Engage in periodic check-ins with the Department and collaborate with other ASOST-S recipients and broader ASOST field when applicable;

  • Work directly with Department's evaluation provider to develop a plan for data/evaluation activities utilizing a selection of Afterschool Program Assessment System (APAS) tools that best fit overall goals of grant recipient and subgrant ASOST programs as well as participate fully in any needed research activities to evaluate overall ASOST-S grant program;

  • Submit year-end data/evaluation reports and financial expenditure reports (FERs) for each fiscal year of funding (yearly/periodic data/evaluation reports must also be required of subgrants);

  • Award subgrants through a competitive, open-bid process following 2 CFR 200.333 requirements of pass-through entities (sample debarment form );

  • Maintain copies (available to the Department upon request) of subgrant applications, risk assessments, scoring rubrics, budget information, amendments and final reconciled budget information well as subgrant agreements (sample provided); and

  • Report to the Department on sub-awardees, sub-recipient monitoring and fiscal procedure.

Submission Instructions:

The FY27 FC 0527-0528 ASOST-Subgrant application will be submitted in our GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

New organizations that do not have an established LEA with DESE skip to Step 3.

Step 1: Establish and assign proper roles before the grant due date/time. Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off.

All roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Step 2: Submit the grant through all LEA steps in GEM$. There are three LEA steps a competitive grant must be submitted through by the due date and time to be considered for funding:

  • Grantwriter Submitted
  • LEA Fiscal Representative Approved
  • LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted once the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP. Please plan accordingly.

The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.

Step 3: (If applicable) New organizations request temporary organization access. New organizations are entities that have not been established as an LEA in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.

Temporary Access will need to be created by DESE before you can then assign the proper roles and submit the grant as outlined in Steps 1 and 2.

Last Updated: January 7, 2026

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