Tobacco-Use Prevention and Youth Engagement Grant (Cohort 2026–29)

Purpose

The purpose of this RFA is to help LEAs develop and implement effective tobacco prevention and education programs for students in grades six through twelve. This deviation is a result of declining tobacco tax revenues and a reduction in prevalence of youth tobacco use and vaping, which dropped from 10.5 percent in 2018 to 5.0 percent in 2024, per the California Youth Tobacco Survey results.

Description

TPYE Cohort 2026–29 grants will be funded using tobacco tax revenues allocated to the CDE from Propositions 56 and 99, as enacted in the state budget. The grant award period is from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2029. Grant Award Notifications (AO-400s) will be allocated for the three-year grant cycle. The number of grants awarded will depend on the number and quality of applications received, the number of students enrolled in districts and schools applying for funding, and the total amount of funding available This funding will be provided at a rate of $18 per student for the three-year grant cycle from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029. Funding will be based on the number the students the applicant proposes to serve in grades 6 through 12 as reported in their enrollment from the 2024–25 school year. Total funding requested cannot exceed $750,000 for each applicant. However, no award will be less than $75,000 for the three-year grant cycle; therefore, any applicant who would receive less than $75,000 based on the funding formula must submit a budget for $75,000. Prospective applicants must submit an Intent to Submit (ITS) form in TUPE GEMS by the specified deadline. School districts, direct-funded charter schools, and county offices of education (COEs) serving grades six through twelve in California are eligible to apply if they meet the eligibility requirements. Applications must be submitted online via TUPE GEMS. Applicants may submit no more than one application per lead agency. Applicants in urban and rural locales compete for funding against others in their respective locales. Applicants will no longer be divided into geographic categories (i.e., Northern, Central, and Southern). Twenty-five (25) percent of available funding will be awarded to rural grantees; the remaining funding will be awarded to urban grantees. This RFA requires applicants to propose services for their general population of students and strategies for engaging health disparity (HD) populations. At least 80 percent of the budget should be dedicated to student services, including services for both the general population of students and HD students, with no less than 20 percent dedicated to strategies that engage HD populations. The TUPE Office will host and record one live TA webinar after the release of the RFA. The webinar will provide guidance on program requirements for the TPYE Cohort 2026–29 Grant Application and on. The webinar recording, as well as a list of questions and answers compiled during the webinars, will be posted on the Resources page of TUPE GEMS approximately five days after the webinar. All application materials and the webinars will be available on the CDE TPYE Cohort 2026–29 RFA web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r29/tpyerfa2629.asp and on TUPE GEMS at https://tupegems.ucsd.edu.