Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements (CKC) 2025 | CMS 3Y3 25 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for CMS 3Y3 25 001

The Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements (CKC) 2025 opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that focuses on helping children get and keep health coverage through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The core purpose is practical and results-driven: applicants are expected to find children who are eligible but not enrolled, help families complete enrollment, and also strengthen renewal and retention so eligible children do not lose coverage because of paperwork barriers, missed notices, or other administrative hurdles. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means CMS anticipates a more active partnership role than a standard grant, with closer coordination, oversight, and performance monitoring tied to the project goals.

Funding under CKC 2025 can be used for two main categories of work. First, outreach and enrollment efforts aimed at eligible, unenrolled children, which can include community-based outreach, partnerships with schools and local organizations, navigation assistance, application support, and other hands-on strategies that move families from awareness to successful enrollment. Second, retention and renewal improvements for children who already have Medicaid or CHIP, which often involves helping families understand renewal requirements, supporting completion of renewal forms, addressing documentation issues, and reducing avoidable coverage gaps. The emphasis is on outcomes for children specifically, not general coverage expansion across all age groups.

Eligibility is restricted by statute (42 USC 1397mm(f)(1)), so only certain organization types can apply. Eligible government applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and Native American tribal governments (federally recognized), as well as Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. The statute also recognizes Indian tribes or tribal consortia, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations receiving funds under Title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), and Indian Health Service providers. Education organizations are also eligible, including independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and private institutions of higher education. In addition, nonprofits may apply, including 501(c)(3) organizations (excluding institutions of higher education), nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education), and other community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups. Applicants should read this list as limiting, not illustrative: if an organization does not fit one of these categories, it is not eligible under this program.

Prior CKC awardees are not automatically excluded, but CMS sets clear conditions for returning applicants. If an organization previously received a CKC cooperative agreement funded under Section 2113 of the Social Security Act, it may apply again if it proposes either (1) a new and distinct project from what was previously funded, or (2) a continuation of activities that are currently underway or were previously conducted, as long as those activities were successful in enrolling and/or retaining eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP. For continuation proposals, applicants must provide data showing that success. CMS also states it will not consider previous recipients who failed to meet at least 40 percent of their combined annual goals for new child enrollments plus child renewals in each budget year, which effectively creates a minimum performance threshold for repeat participation.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include the funding opportunity number CMS-3Y3-25-001 and the CFDA number 93.767, with CMS as the sponsoring agency. The application closing date is March 7, 2025. The award ceiling is $3,000,000, and CMS expects to make about 22 awards. The opportunity was created (posted) on January 13, 2025. Overall, CKC 2025 is designed for organizations with the capacity to run measurable, community-connected enrollment and renewal support efforts and to report performance data that demonstrates real enrollment and retention gains for children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP.

• The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements (CKC) 2025" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.767.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 22 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for CMS 3Y3 25 001

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: