Adoption Opportunities

What this funds

The Adoption Opportunities program was authorized by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act (P.L. 95-266) in 1978 and funds competitive grants and contracts to public and private organizations to remove barriers to adoption and to provide permanent homes for children who would benefit from adoption, particularly children with special needs. The Adoption Opportunities program was reauthorized through FY 2015 by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Estimates from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System indicate that, at the end of FY 2024, there were just under 329,000 children in the public foster care system. Of these, 36,411 children were both legally free for adoption and had a primary permanency plan of adoption. This group represents children whose parental rights have been terminated and who are actively awaiting adoptive placements. These children waiting for adoption are typically school-aged, in sibling groups, have experienced neglect or abuse, or have a physical, mental, or emotional disability. Demonstration grants are awarded through a competitive process to public and private agencies, including state and local governments, universities, and private non-profit and for-profit agencies. These demonstration grants test new models of service delivery to address and eliminate barriers to adoption, including inter-jurisdictional adoptions, and to help find permanent families for children who would benefit from adoption, particularly children with special needs. Currently funded projects include AdoptUSkids, the National Center for Enhanced Post Adoption Supports, the National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services, and the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Starting in FY 2022, and every year since, Congress has included a General Provision to expand funding flexibility for research projects in ACFC. All research funding provided for in the Appropriations Act can remain available for five years following appropriation. This has allowed for additional time for research and evaluation projects within the Adoption Opportunities program. Funding for the program - net of any authorized changes such as transfers or reprogramming - for five Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 87 million. For FY 2026, it is estimated that eight awards will be made with an average award of $4,162,500 Funding for this program is also used to pay information technology support, grants paneling, and other The FY 2027 request for the Adoption Opportunities program is $53.0 million, the same as the FY 2026 level. The funding will be used to continue efforts in diligent recruitment, youth engagement, training for resource families, and national technical assistance on mental health and post adoptions support. For FY 2027, it is estimated that eight grants will be made with an average award of $4.0 million and a Note: Given annual fluctuations, ACFC cannot reliably identify targets for measure 7vi. Result / Target for Recent Target Target FY 2026 Target 7J Percentage of Result / (Summary of Maintain 7iii Number of children Prior Result + N/A Administration for Children, Families, and Communities Page 88

Extracted from Administration for Children, Families, and Communities, p. 10. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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