Adoption Opportunities

The purpose of this program is to eliminate barriers, including geographic barriers, to adoption and to provide permanent, loving home environments for children who would benefit from adoption from foster care, particularly children with special need

The purpose of this program is to eliminate barriers, including geographic barriers, to adoption and to provide permanent, loving home environments for children who would benefit from adoption from foster care, particularly children with special needs.

State, local government entities, public or private licensed child welfare or adoption agencies or community based organizations are eligible. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for information on eligibility. 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 to receive awards under this funding opportunity.

Children who are in foster care with the goal of adoption, especially children with special needs, that is, children who are older and infants and toddlers with disabilities who have a life-threatening condition.

Required activities under the Adoption Opportunities program include: (1) conducting an education and training program on adoption and prepare, publish and disseminate information and education and training materials regarding adoption, adoption assistance and post-legal adoption services; (2) conducting extensive recruitment efforts on a national level to promote the adoption of children with special needs and develop a national public awareness effort to unite children in need of adoption with appropriate adoptive parents; (3) operating a national adoption information exchange system; (4) providing technical assistance to programs related to the adoption of special needs children and promote professional leadership training of minorities in the adoption field; (5) encouraging corporations and small businesses to establish adoption benefit programs for employees who adopt children; (6) supporting placement of children in kinship care arrangements, pre-adoptive or adoptive homes; (7) increasing the effective use of public or private agencies for the recruitment of potential adoptive and foster families and to provide assistance in the placement of children for adoption, especially special needs children; (8) consulting with other appropriate Federal departments and agencies to promote the maximum coordination of services relating to adoption; (9) maintaining a National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption; (10) providing programs to increase the numbers of minority children placed in adoptive families with a special emphasis on recruitment of minority families; and (11) providing programs to increase the number of older children placed in adoptive families. Project funds may not be used for construction. Grants shall supplement, not supplant, services provided using any other funds made available for the same general purposes.

Awards may extend from 3 to 5 years. Average duration is expected to be 5 years.

Pre-application assistance may be available. Applicants may refer to the NOFO on Grants.gov for further information.

The criteria for selecting proposals will be published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Each application is reviewed against four factors: eligibility, the application deadline, required electronic submission or waiver requested and approved, and the Award Ceiling. If the application does not meet all of these factors, then it is disqualified from the merit review process. After the initial review, applications are reviewed and evaluated by merit review panels using only the criteria described in the Application Review section of the NOFO. Each panel is composed of experts with knowledge and experience in the area under review. Generally, review panels include three reviewers and one chairperson. While merit review scores and their ranking are not binding, ACF does consider them when selecting projects for funding. Scores and rankings are only one element used in the award decision-making process. Other criteria are explained in the Program Description section and in the Application Review section of the NOFO. For example, ACF may reserve the right to consider preferences to fund organizations serving emerging, unserved, or under-served populations, including those populations located in pockets of poverty. In addition, ACF reserves the right to evaluate applications in the larger context of the overall portfolio by considering the geographic distribution of federal funds (e.g., ensuring coverage of states, counties, or service areas) in its pre-award decisions. ACF may elect not to fund applicants with management or financial problems that would indicate an inability to successfully complete the proposed project. In addition, ACF may elect to not allow a prime recipient to subaward if there is any indication that they are unable to properly monitor and manage subrecipients. Applications may be funded in whole or in part. Successful applicants may be funded at an amount lower than requested.

The deadline for applications is listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

The range for approval/disapproval is 90 to 180 days.

Multi-year projects are funded on an annual basis through submission of a non-competing continuation application. Non-competing continuations will be issued based on availability of funds, satisfactory progress, compliance with award terms and conditions and a determination that continuation funding is in the best interest of the federal government.

There is no appeal process for unsuccessful applicants. For existing recipients, appeals may take place in accordance with 45 CFR Part 16, subject to the limitations of Appendix A.