Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching
Closed Posted
- Opportunity number
- HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0040
- Agency
-
Administration for Children and Families
Department of Health and Human Services
- Applications due
- Award size
- $1,500,000 to $2,674,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
-
- 93.652 Adoption Opportunities
- Funding instrument
- Cooperative Agreement
- Category
-
- Income Security and Social Services
- Eligible applicants
-
- State Governments
- Higher Education Inst. (Private)
- For Profit Organizations
- City/Township Governments
- County Governments
- Higher Education Inst. (Public)
- Tribal Organizations (Not Federally Recognized)
- Other
- 501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Points of contact
-
- Kathleen Dwyer, Ph.D. cb@grantreview.org (888) 203-6161
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Administration for Children and Families is soliciting applications for Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching, a cooperative agreement program, with applications due August 21, 2026; ACF will award exactly three regional cooperative agreements (Eastern, Central, and Western regions), one per region, totaling $10 million across the five-year project period.
Eligible applicants include state, territorial, tribal, and local government child welfare agencies; tribal organizations; licensed child-placing agencies; nonprofits and for-profits with demonstrated child welfare or technology expertise; community-based organizations; and institutions of higher education (both public and private). Applicants must demonstrate both technology expertise and child welfare practice expertise, identify at least one committed pilot jurisdiction at application time, and develop a plan to secure a second pilot jurisdiction within six months of award.
First-year award floor is $3 million and ceiling is $3,333,333 per region; years 2–5 carry a maximum ceiling of $4 million per year. The expected project start date is September 30, 2026.
Projects must design, implement, and evaluate technology-enabled strategies that improve adoptive matching, placement, and permanency for children in foster care with an adoption permanency goal or who are legally free for adoption. Proposed solutions must be interoperable with existing systems and may include data-informed recruitment support, AI-assisted matching, and predictive analytics. Centers will partner with state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts, strengthen data infrastructure, support continuous quality improvement, and develop scalable resources for nationwide adoption. Applicants must demonstrate measurable improvements in match timeliness, placement stability, and adoption finalization outcomes.
Merit review employs six criteria totaling 110 points: objective and need (5 points), approach (35 points), evaluation and continuous quality improvement (15 points), organizational capacity and partnerships (30 points), budget (15 points), and ACF priority alignment (10 points).
This opportunity operates under CFDA 93.652, Adoption Opportunities.
Synopsis
This program will fund projects focused on technology-enabled strategies that improve adoptive matching, placement, and permanency for children in foster care awaiting adoption. The funds, awarded to four regional centers, will be used to design, implement and evaluate these strategies.These centers will focus on children with an adoption permanency goal or who are legally free for adoption due to child welfare involvement. Centers will partner with state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts to develop secure, accessible technology solutions that improve how families are matched with children in need of permanent homes. Proposed solutions must be interoperable with existing systems and may include tools such as data-informed recruitment support, AI-assisted matching, and predictive analytics.Each center will strengthen data infrastructure, support continuous quality improvement, and develop scalable resources that jurisdictions nationwide can adopt. ACF will define four national service regions to ensure full U.S. coverage. Centers will provide regional innovation support, training, technical assistance, and dissemination of best practices while collaborating nationally on shared learning.Applicants will be expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in match timeliness, placement stability, and adoption finalization outcomes.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| hhs-2026-acf-acyf-co-0040 Full Announcement.pdf |
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