Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs
🏛 Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB (HHS-ACF-CB)
Can you apply?
This grant is for organizations conducting research and implementation projects to improve adoption outcomes for children with complex or high-acuity needs. Applicants must include both researchers and child welfare program staff collaborating on system-level adoption initiatives. Projects must demonstrate ability to recruit, train, support, and retain specialized adoptive families for medically fragile, behaviorally challenged, or emotionally complex children.
Eligible applicants typically include child welfare agencies, research institutions, adoption service providers, and collaborative consortiums working within the child welfare system. Organizations should have experience with adoption services, foster care, or related child welfare programming. Multi-sector partnerships involving Medicaid, health agencies, education agencies, or private adoption agencies are encouraged.
Geographic scope is national. Funded projects will implement evidence-based models and conduct rigorous evaluation using implementation science methodologies. A strong theory of change is required to guide both implementation and research design.
Key dates
- Jun 18, 2026 Applications open
- Aug 17, 2026 Application deadline in 59 days
- Sep 29, 2026 Award announced
- Sep 30, 2026 Project start
Program description
The Children’s Bureau will fund projects that will test and build evidence for collaborative approaches to improving permanency through adoption for children and youth with complex or high-acuity needs, such as medically fragile children. The projects will focus on system-level efforts to recruit, train, support, and retain families who can meet these children’s behavioral, medical, or emotional needs.
Researchers and child welfare program staff will implement and evaluate promising collaborative approaches to achieving stable, permanent adoptive homes for children and youth with complex or high-acuity behavioral, medical, or emotional needs.
Collaborative approaches must include strategies to recruit, train, support, and retain specialized adoptive homes equipped to meet the needs of children and youth with complex or high-acuity needs. These approaches may also include a variety of additional strategies, such as specialized interventions for children and families; support services and respite care for families; training for caseworkers; collaborative, community-based services; and coordination with state and local health and education agencies. Of particular interest are collaborations that include Medicaid Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Projects to support potential adoptive families, including foster and kinship caregivers who may be interested in adoption, as well as collaborations that include private adoption agencies.
Award recipients will be expected to study how the model works in practice (i.e., implementation study) and evaluate the effectiveness of the approach, using the most rigorous research designs, methods, and analytic techniques that are appropriate and sufficient to address the research questions of interest. Applicants will be required to submit a strong theory of change to guide all aspects of implementation and the research design.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
- 501(c)(3) Public Charity
- City / Municipal Government
- County Government
- Nonprofits
- Private University
- Public Authority
- Public K-12 School
- Public University
- Small Business (SBA-defined)
- Special District
- State Government
- Tribal Nation
- Tribal Organization
Demographic focus
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project Narrative
- Theory of Change document
- Evaluation plan with research methodology
- Budget and Budget Narrative
- Organizational capacity documentation
- Letters of commitment from collaborative partners
- Organizational background/capabilities statement
Program contact
- 👤 Kathleen Dwyer
- 📧 cb@grantreview.org
- 📞 888-203-6161
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 93.652 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$42,100,000
-
$28,841,696
-
$24,645,000
-
$20,553,500
-
$12,399,999
-
$12,392,000
-
$12,000,000
-
$12,000,000
-
$11,754,734
-
$9,341,400
Top States by Funding
- MD 5 awards $102.7M
- MI 4 awards $50.3M
- CO 1 awards $20.6M
- DC 1 awards $12.4M
- ME 1 awards $9.3M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.652). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $33,299,999 | |
| 2025 | $31,299,999 | |
| 2026 est. | $31,299,999 |
FAQ
Who can apply for this grant?
Child welfare agencies, research institutions, adoption service providers, and collaborative consortiums. Your team must include both researchers and child welfare program staff working together.
What is the typical award amount?
Awards generally range from $1,500,000 to $2,150,000. This is a cooperative agreement, meaning the funder expects significant collaboration throughout the project.
What activities does this grant support?
System-level adoption initiatives including recruitment and training of specialized adoptive families, family support services, caseworker training, and implementation research with rigorous evaluation designs.
Do I need to match funding?
No cost sharing or matching funds are required for this grant.
What is the deadline?
The fixed deadline is August 17, 2026. This is a firm date with no rolling applications.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Develop a compelling theory of change upfront that clearly connects your collaborative strategies to outcomes for children with complex needs.
- Build a strong partnership team that genuinely integrates researchers with child welfare practitioners. Siloed teams are weak applications.
- Design your evaluation using the most rigorous methods available (randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental designs, or strong quasi-experimental approaches).
- Clearly describe how your model will recruit and retain families willing to adopt children with behavioral, medical, or emotional challenges.
- Consider including Medicaid partnerships or private adoption agencies in your collaboration; these are explicitly encouraged by the funder.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Weak theory of change that doesn't clearly connect collaborative strategies to adoption outcomes. Applications focusing primarily on recruitment without comprehensive family support and retention strategies. Underestimating the research rigor expected—the funder requires robust evaluation designs, not just program monitoring.
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