SCHEDULE
Below is the 2025 Aging Out (AO) Awards Program schedule.

CATEGORIES
Below are the 2025 AO Awards categories. For all categories, applicants must represent a program or organization that supports youth aging out of foster care. Scroll down to find out more about this year’s exciting awards program!

PRIZES
We are again excited to be able to provide monetary prizes for the winners of our awards program! The amount for each program/organization size category was selected to be commensurate to general budget size. The larger amount for the Youth Impact category reflects the importance of applying strategies that actually make a difference in youths’ lives, as well as incorporating a solid process for identifying, measuring, and tracking the impact you are having.

ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible to participate in the 2025 AO Awards Program…

  • The applicant must be a representative of a 501(c)(3) organization (nonprofit or educational institution) in the United States.

  • The organization or program must provide services to youth aging out of foster care (either preparing youth to age out or supporting them after aging out).

  • To be eligible in October 2025, the program or service that supports youth aging out of care must have been implemented for at least three years, with a starting date of October 2022 at the latest.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS
Starting October 1, 2025, applicants can click the button below to go to the online awards platform where you can create an account and start the application process. You will not have to complete the application in one sitting. You can start it, save it, and then come back to it.

There are five steps to the application process:

  1. Create an application file.

  2. Confirm that you understand the awards program rules.

  3. Provide basic information about the applicant.

  4. Provide information about your organization or program’s services.

  5. Upload any supporting materials.

You will see these as five tabs after you log in to the awards program platform. (Applicants who applied in 2021 or after will be able to access their previous application so that they can copy and paste previous responses into this year’s application.)

We highly recommend watching or reading the information provided in the 2024 Awards Application Tips & Tricks webinar, held on May 22, 2024, before starting your application.

Here are the links:
Application Tips & Tricks Webinar Video
Application Tips & Tricks Webinar Slides (PDF)

When the registration window is open, clicking the button below will direct you to the first tab in the application, where you can create and save an application on the platform. You complete all remaining steps in the awards program platform, not here on this website.