Grants / Department of Health and Human Services / Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB

HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0055: Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs

Closed Closed August 26, 2026 Opportunity HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0055 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB notices from 2026.

• Award ceiling$2.1 million
• Award floor$1.5 million
• Total funding$6.5 million
• Expected awards3
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses.

N/A Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible for awards under this funding opportunity.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Adoption Opportunities awards averaged $7.9 million; this notice allows up to $2.1 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (89% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

This funding opportunity aims to support innovations that build evidence on how to help children and youth with complex or high-acuity needs achieve permanency through adoption. The projects will focus on collaborative, system-level efforts to recruit, train, support, and retain families who can meet these children's needs. Projects must be led by researchers who work within a child welfare agency or work in close partnership with one or more child welfare agencies. Together, researchers and child welfare program staff will identify and evaluate promising collaborative approaches. Collaborations that include Medicaid Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Projects, private adoption agencies, or community- or faith-based organizations are of particular interest. You'll be expected to: (1) Study how the model works in practice (i.e., implementation study). (2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. (3) Use the most rigorous research designs, methods, and analytic techniques that are appropriate and sufficient to address the research questions of interest. Projects are expected to build on the existing research evidence and contribute generalized knowledge.

Category: Income Security and Social Services.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

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