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

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0055

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) and the Children’s Bureau, is offering a discretionary cooperative agreement funding opportunity titled Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs (Funding Opportunity Number: HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0055; CFDA: 93.652). The purpose of the program is to spur and rigorously test innovations that help children and youth with complex or high-acuity needs achieve permanency through adoption. In practical terms, the opportunity is centered on building stronger, system-level approaches that can successfully recruit, prepare, support, and keep adoptive families who are able to meet the needs of children whose behavioral health, medical, developmental, or trauma-related needs make placement and permanency more challenging.

A defining feature of this grant is its emphasis on collaboration and on generating credible evidence that can be used beyond a single site. Funded projects are expected to identify promising models that involve coordinated work across child welfare and key partners, then evaluate both how those models are put into practice and whether they actually improve outcomes. The Children’s Bureau is especially interested in collaborations that include Medicaid Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Projects, private adoption agencies, and community-based or faith-based organizations, reflecting a priority on cross-system alignment and practical service capacity in the community. The overall intent is not simply to operate a program, but to learn what works, for whom, and under what conditions, and to contribute generalized knowledge that strengthens the broader evidence base around adoption permanency for children with high needs.

The research expectations are substantial. Applicants should plan to conduct an implementation study to document how the collaborative model functions in real-world settings, including factors such as partnership structure, service coordination processes, staffing and training approaches, recruitment strategies, family supports, barriers to adoption, fidelity to the intended model, and the practical adjustments made during rollout. Alongside implementation research, projects must also evaluate effectiveness, meaning they need to measure whether the approach improves adoption-related outcomes and related indicators. The funder expects applicants to use the most rigorous designs, methods, and analytic techniques that fit the research questions, which signals a preference for strong quasi-experimental or experimental designs where feasible, careful comparison strategies when randomization is not possible, and thoughtful measurement of child, family, and system outcomes.

Leadership and partnership requirements are also explicit. Projects must be led by researchers who either work within a child welfare agency or who have a close partnership with one or more child welfare agencies. The model is meant to be co-developed and evaluated by researchers and child welfare program staff working together to identify the approach, implement it, and study it. This structure reflects the cooperative agreement format, where federal involvement is typically more hands-on than in a standard grant and where ongoing coordination with the funding agency may be part of the award’s operating expectations.

On eligibility, a wide range of U.S.-based entities can apply, including state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other eligible tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); for-profit organizations (including small businesses); and other eligible entities. However, individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from merit review and funding. Faith-based and community organizations are explicitly eligible as long as they meet the standard eligibility requirements.

Funding is expected to be competitive and limited in scale. ACF anticipates making approximately three awards under this opportunity, with an award ceiling of $2,150,000 per award. The posted original closing date for applications is 2026-08-26, and the opportunity was created on 2026-07-27. Overall, the opportunity is geared toward applicants that can bring together child welfare leadership, rigorous research capacity, and credible cross-system partners to test collaborative strategies that increase adoption permanency and stability for children and youth whose needs have historically made permanency harder to achieve.

• The Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Collaborative Approaches to Adoption for Children with Complex Needs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.652.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-07-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-08-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0055

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: