Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families is a civilian sub-agency within HHS that funds cooperative agreements supporting child welfare, family services, and related social-services programming through state and nonprofit partners.

The Administration for Children and Families has obligated $34.7 million in federal grant funding across 21 cooperative agreement awards since 2016. Grant activity has accelerated in recent years: 1 award in 2016, 4 awards in 2021, 7 awards in 2022, 7 awards in 2025, and 2 awards so far in 2026, with the most recent award closing on March 6, 2026. The agency transacts exclusively through cooperative agreements, which require active collaboration between the federal agency and recipient in program design and execution rather than pass-through funding.

Grant recipient concentration is concentrated, with the top five recipients holding 63 percent of recent awards by count and 63 percent of recent federal dollars. By award frequency, the Department of Social & Health Services, Virginia Department of Social Services, Department of Social Services California, Arizona Department of Economic Security, and South Carolina Department of Social Services each hold 2 awards. By federal dollars, International Social Service United States of America Branch Inc. dominates with $17.7 million obligated across a single award, followed by Virginia Department of Social Services at $1.3 million across 2 awards, Arizona Department of Economic Security and Department of Social & Health Services at $1 million each, and Oregon Department of Human Services at $799 thousand. The 13 distinct recipients in the portfolio indicate a moderately concentrated funding base anchored by a few large-dollar recipients and state-level social-services departments.

The cooperative-agreement structure signals that pursuing this funding requires demonstrated capacity to partner actively with federal program staff on implementation, evaluation, and policy alignment rather than to execute independently. State social-services departments and national nonprofits specializing in international adoption, foster care, kinship support, or family preservation programs are the primary recipients. The recent cadence and growing award volume in 2022 and 2025 suggest active program expansion or renewal cycles, but no recent grant opportunities are recorded against the agency.