The Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program provides financial assistance to organizations and entities working to preserve historic Japanese American confinement sites and their history. Administered by the National Park Service, the program supports projects that identify, research, evaluate, interpret, protect, restore, repair, and acquire these sites so that present and future generations may learn and gain inspiration from them. The authorizing legislation identifies up to $38 million for the entire life of the grant program.

Overview

The program funds projects that benefit one or more historic Japanese American confinement sites. These sites include the ten War Relocation Authority locations (Gila River, Granada, Heart Mountain, Jerome, Manzanar, Minidoka, Poston, Rohwer, Topaz, and Tule Lake) as well as other historically significant locations determined by the Secretary of the Interior where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. A full list is available in the publication Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites (1999).

Funding and Benefits

• Program Funding: $4,604,000
• Expected Awards: 20
• Award Minimum: $5,000
• Award Maximum: $500,000
• Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes
• Funding Instrument Type: Grant
• Opportunity Category: Discretionary
• Category of Funding Activity: Environment

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include:

• Education: Public and state institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and independent school districts.
• Nonprofit: Nonprofits not classified as higher education with 501(c)(3) status.
• Government: Federally recognized Native American tribal governments, state governments, county governments, and city or township governments.

Each applicant may submit up to three applications annually (for three separate projects) but may receive only two grants per fiscal year grant cycle. Funding is not available to foreign entities or for projects conducted outside the United States.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 PM Mountain Time on the application due date. Applicants may view the opportunity and track application status on Grants.gov.

Application site: View on Grants.gov

Deadline and Timeline

• Closing Date: June 15, 2026
• Posted Date: April 30, 2026
• Archive Date: September 30, 2026
• Last Updated: May 15, 2026

Contact Information

Grantor Contact: Katie Gaertner

Email: katie_gaertner@nps.gov

Additional program documents are available on the opportunity page. For technical support with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Support Center at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.