The foundation is seeking proposals from nonprofit organizations working to bring hearing screening and diagnostic services closer to children and families facing barriers to care.
The Oberkotter Foundation has announced a new funding opportunity aimed at expanding access to pediatric hearing screening and diagnostic services across the US. Applications are being accepted from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, 2026, with successful applicants to be notified in March 2027.
The initiative targets a persistent gap in early hearing healthcare: only about 40% of children who fail a newborn hearing screening complete the recommended diagnostic testing by 3 months of age, according to CDC data. Geographic, socioeconomic, infant- and family-level factors, and health system constraints are among the barriers that can delay testing and intervention for families across the country.
“So many strides have been made in pediatric hearing healthcare, and the opportunities for children who are deaf or hard of hearing are limitless. Now, one of the biggest challenges that remains is how to help families access this care as early as possible,” says Teresa H. Caraway, PhD, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, CEO of the Oberkotter Foundation, in a release. “The expansion of service delivery models that make hearing screening and services more accessible provides an opportunity to meet families where they are and better support children in reaching their full potential.”
Eligible applicants include nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations located and operating within the US that have experience in early childhood hearing loss and social drivers of health access. The foundation intends to fund projects that establish or expand service delivery models making hearing screening and/or diagnostic services more accessible, with a focus on ensuring timely identification of hearing status for families facing obstacles to care.
Andrea Dunn, AuD, PhD, CCC-A, VP of programs of the Oberkotter Foundation, emphasized the value of moving care outside traditional clinical settings. “Evidence shows that approaches that bring healthcare outside of traditional clinical settings and closer to families can improve service utilization, reduce loss-to-follow-up, and enable earlier diagnosis when hearing loss is present,” says Dunn, in a release. “By bringing diagnostic and testing services into communities, more children who are deaf or hard of hearing will receive quality care as early as possible.”
The funding opportunity reflects the foundation’s broader strategic commitment to increasing nationwide access to pediatric hearing healthcare, Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) services, and family support. Since 1985, the Oberkotter Foundation has provided over $500 million in funding to improve listening, spoken language, and literacy outcomes for children with hearing loss and their families.
Organizations interested in applying can view the full Request for Proposals at oberkotterfoundation.org.
