Administration on Children Youth and Families

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families is the civilian federal agency responsible for administering grant programs supporting child welfare, foster care, family preservation, and related social services across states and territories. The Administration for Children and Families operates as a sub-agency within the Department of Health and Human Services and distributes federal funding to state human-services agencies, tribal organizations, and nonprofit service providers.

The Administration for Children and Families has obligated $272.93 billion in federal grant funding across 21,362 awards since 2005. Grant activity has remained steady over the last five years, with 1,796 awards in 2022, 1,708 in 2023, 1,734 in 2024, 1,263 in 2025, and 11 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award was closed on 2026-09-30. Over the portfolio lifetime, 1,586 distinct grant recipients have received funding.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. The top five recipients by award count account for only 5 percent of recent awards over the last five years, while the top five recipients by federal dollars obligated account for only 11 percent of federal dollars. Among recent awardees, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Human Services Colorado lead by award count with 64 awards each, obligating $4.13 billion and $1.98 billion in federal dollars respectively. By federal dollars obligated, the Children and Family Services New York Office of leads with 57 awards worth $7.92 billion federal dollars, followed by the Florida Department of Children and Families with 56 awards worth $6.53 billion. The remaining 1,581 recipients hold dispersed shares across the portfolio.

The grant portfolio is dominated by Formula Grants, which account for 15,159 awards or 71 percent of all grants obligated. Block Grants represent 3,098 awards (15 percent), Project Grants comprise 2,655 awards (12 percent), and Cooperative Agreements account for 450 awards (2 percent). The Formula Grant structure reflects the agency's primary mission of distributing federal entitlements to state child-welfare and family-services agencies on a formula basis rather than through competitive solicitation. Project and Cooperative Agreements represent a smaller but meaningful channel for time-limited initiatives, demonstration programs, and collaborative federal-state or federal-nonprofit arrangements.

No recent grant opportunities are recorded in the source data. Business development professionals should monitor the Administration for Children and Families website and Grants.gov for new notices of funding opportunity, which typically appear as states and organizations seek to compete for Project Grants and Cooperative Agreement funding aligned with new federal priorities or legislative requirements.