Opportunity Information: Apply for EP U3R 26 001
The Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence (PEDs COEs) Program Cooperative Agreement is a federal funding opportunity from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) designed to strengthen how the health care system prepares for and delivers disaster care to children. Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), ASPR plans to support four Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence that will serve as regional leaders in building coordinated pediatric disaster capabilities, improving planning and readiness, and helping hospitals and partners manage pediatric medical surge during emergencies. The overall intent is to make pediatric disaster response more organized, more scalable, and more consistent across states and regions, with a clear emphasis on improving real-world clinical readiness for high-impact threats affecting children.
The NOFO’s core purpose is to develop a coordinated capability for pediatric patient care during disasters, meaning the funded centers are expected to help align pediatric disaster clinical care across multiple facilities and systems rather than operating as stand-alone islands of expertise. A major theme is strengthening pediatric disaster preparedness plans and health care system coordination specifically tied to pediatric medical surge, including how children will be triaged, stabilized, transferred, and treated when local capacity is overwhelmed. The program also aims to enhance statewide and regional surge capacity for pediatric patients, which typically includes planning for staffing, beds, supplies, transport, referral pathways, and specialty consultation when normal pediatric resources are disrupted or inundated.
A significant required outcome is building and sustaining workforce competency. The NOFO calls for increasing and maintaining health care professional competency through the development and delivery of a standardized training program. In practice, this suggests that the centers will not only provide training but also help standardize what “pediatric disaster-ready” looks like across different settings, potentially spanning emergency departments, inpatient units, intensive care, transport teams, trauma services, and other relevant specialties. The intent is to reduce variability in readiness by ensuring the people who will actually deliver care have access to common, structured training that can be maintained over time rather than delivered as a one-time effort.
Another central goal is improving situational awareness of pediatric disaster care capabilities and capacity, along with assessing regional pediatric readiness. This typically involves being able to answer, quickly and reliably, what pediatric resources exist, what is available at any given moment, where the bottlenecks are, and how patients can be routed to appropriate care. It also implies that the centers will support or develop tools, methods, and coordination practices that help decision-makers understand pediatric capability across a region during an incident, including the ability to identify gaps and prioritize improvement efforts.
Clinically, the NOFO highlights a specific focus on the management of pediatric care related to trauma and infectious diseases, among other threats implied by the truncated text. This focus signals that the funded centers should be ready to address both sudden-onset mass casualty events (where pediatric trauma systems, surgical capacity, and critical care coordination may be stressed) and outbreaks or infectious threats (where isolation, pediatric-appropriate protocols, staffing protections, and specialized pediatric clinical pathways may be critical). The emphasis on these areas reflects high-consequence scenarios where children have distinct needs from adults and where the health system often faces uneven pediatric capability.
Eligibility is limited to one or more public or private hospitals and/or corporate health systems. The NOFO defines a corporate health system as an organized, coordinated network of providers linked through ownership or contract across economic, noneconomic, and clinical integration, delivering a coordinated continuum of services for a population or community and being accountable for both clinical outcomes and financial performance, with systems in place to manage and improve them. Practically, this means applicants are expected to have the organizational structure and reach to coordinate across multiple sites and partners, not just within a single facility, and to be able to manage complex regional readiness activities.
From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number: EP U3R 26 001; Assistance Listing/CFDA: 93.889). A cooperative agreement generally indicates substantial federal involvement compared with a standard grant, so awardees should expect ongoing collaboration with ASPR on planning, deliverables, and program direction. The agency anticipates making four awards. The posting lists an award ceiling of 0, which typically signals that the ceiling is not specified in the summary and applicants need to consult the full NOFO for budget limits, allowable costs, and funding levels. The opportunity was created on 2026-07-30, and the original application closing date is 2026-08-31.
In short, this program is aimed at building four regional centers that can lead pediatric disaster readiness: improving coordination and planning for pediatric surge, standardizing and delivering workforce training, strengthening statewide and regional pediatric capacity, and improving the ability to track and assess pediatric readiness and capability during emergencies, with particular attention to pediatric trauma and infectious disease scenarios.Apply for EP U3R 26 001
- The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence Program Cooperative Agreement" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.889.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2026-07-30.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-08-31. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is the Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence (PEDs COEs) Program?
The Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence (PEDs COEs) Program is a federal cooperative agreement funding opportunity from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). It is designed to strengthen how the health care system prepares for and delivers disaster care to children by establishing regional leaders focused on coordinated pediatric disaster capabilities and pediatric medical surge readiness.
2) What is the main goal of this funding opportunity?
The main goal is to make pediatric disaster response more organized, scalable, and consistent across states and regions. The program emphasizes real-world clinical readiness for high-impact threats affecting children and seeks to align pediatric disaster clinical care across multiple facilities and systems.
3) How many awards does ASPR plan to make under this NOFO?
ASPR anticipates making four awards to support four Pediatric Disaster Care Centers of Excellence.
4) What role will the funded centers play in their regions?
The funded centers are expected to serve as regional leaders in building coordinated pediatric disaster capabilities. This includes improving planning and readiness, strengthening health care system coordination tied to pediatric surge, and helping hospitals and partners manage pediatric medical surge during emergencies.
5) Is this program focused on stand-alone pediatric expertise at one facility?
No. A core purpose of the NOFO is coordinated capability, meaning the funded centers are expected to help align pediatric disaster clinical care across multiple facilities and systems rather than operating as isolated, stand-alone centers of expertise.
6) What is meant by "pediatric medical surge" in this program context?
In this program, pediatric medical surge refers to situations where the demand for pediatric care exceeds local capacity during an emergency. The NOFO emphasizes planning for how children will be triaged, stabilized, transferred, and treated when local pediatric resources are overwhelmed, disrupted, or inundated.
7) What kinds of preparedness and coordination activities are expected?
The NOFO highlights strengthening pediatric disaster preparedness plans and health care system coordination specifically tied to pediatric surge. This typically includes planning for staffing, beds, supplies, transport, referral pathways, and specialty consultation, as well as coordination across hospitals and partners to route children to appropriate care during incidents.
8) What are the workforce and training expectations for awardees?
A significant required outcome is building and sustaining workforce competency. The NOFO calls for increasing and maintaining health care professional competency through development and delivery of a standardized training program, with the intent to reduce variability in readiness and support ongoing, maintainable training rather than one-time efforts.
9) Does the NOFO specify which clinical settings the training may cover?
The NOFO indicates the intent to standardize what "pediatric disaster-ready" looks like across different settings. This may span emergency departments, inpatient units, intensive care, transport teams, trauma services, and other relevant specialties involved in pediatric disaster care.
10) What does the NOFO mean by improving situational awareness?
Improving situational awareness refers to strengthening the ability to quickly and reliably understand pediatric disaster care capabilities and capacity across a region. This includes knowing what pediatric resources exist, what is available at any given moment, where bottlenecks are, and how patients can be routed to appropriate care during an incident.
11) Does the program include assessing pediatric readiness across a region?
Yes. A central goal is assessing regional pediatric readiness and improving understanding of pediatric capability across a region during emergencies. This also implies identifying gaps and prioritizing improvement efforts based on readiness assessments.
12) Are there specific clinical threat areas emphasized in the NOFO?
Yes. The NOFO highlights a clinical focus on managing pediatric care related to trauma and infectious diseases (among other implied threats). This points to readiness for sudden-onset mass casualty events that stress trauma and critical care coordination, as well as outbreaks where isolation, pediatric-appropriate protocols, staffing protections, and specialized pediatric clinical pathways may be important.
13) Who is eligible to apply for this cooperative agreement?
Eligibility is limited to one or more public or private hospitals and/or corporate health systems.
14) How does the NOFO define a "corporate health system" for eligibility purposes?
The NOFO defines a corporate health system as an organized, coordinated network of providers linked through ownership or contract across economic, noneconomic, and clinical integration. It delivers a coordinated continuum of services for a population or community and is accountable for both clinical outcomes and financial performance, with systems in place to manage and improve them.
15) What does this eligibility requirement imply about the expected scale of applicants?
Based on the NOFO description, applicants are expected to have the organizational structure and reach to coordinate across multiple sites and partners, not only within a single facility, and to manage complex regional readiness activities.
16) What type of federal award is this (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?
This opportunity is a discretionary cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement generally indicates substantial federal involvement compared with a standard grant, so awardees should anticipate ongoing collaboration with ASPR on planning, deliverables, and program direction.
17) What is the Funding Opportunity Number and Assistance Listing (CFDA) for this program?
Funding Opportunity Number: EP U3R 26 001. Assistance Listing/CFDA: 93.889.
18) What are the key dates listed in the posting?
The opportunity was created on 2026-07-30, and the original application closing date is 2026-08-31.
19) Is there an award ceiling listed, and what does it mean?
The posting lists an award ceiling of 0. This typically indicates that the ceiling is not specified in the summary and that applicants need to consult the full NOFO for budget limits, allowable costs, and funding levels.
20) What does success look like for this program, based on the NOFO summary?
Success is framed as establishing four regional centers that can lead pediatric disaster readiness by improving coordination and planning for pediatric surge, standardizing and delivering workforce training, strengthening statewide and regional pediatric capacity, and improving the ability to track and assess pediatric readiness and capability during emergencies, with particular attention to pediatric trauma and infectious disease scenarios.
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