§ Federal grant opportunity · HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0055
Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs
Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB is accepting applications for Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs. The deadline is August 26, 2026 and the published award range is $1.5M – $2.1M.
Key facts
- Funder
- Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB
- Application deadline
- August 26, 2026
- Award range
- $1.5M – $2.1M
- Eligibility
- 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.
- Geography
- United States
- Focus areas
- Human Services
- Opportunity number
- HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0055
Program overview
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.
How to apply
- Confirm your organization meets the eligibility criteria above.
- Read the full funding opportunity announcement from Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB.
- Draft your narrative against the funder's stated priorities and review criteria.
- Submit before August 26, 2026, allowing time for registration and validation.
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