Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0040
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through ACYF/Children's Bureau, is offering a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity titled "Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching" (HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0040). The program is designed to fund technology-enabled approaches that make it easier, faster, and more reliable to match children in foster care who are waiting for adoption with prospective adoptive families, with the larger goal of improving permanency outcomes. ACF plans to make four awards that will establish four regional centers, with ACF defining the service regions to ensure full national coverage across the United States and its jurisdictions.
The funded regional centers are expected to design, implement, and evaluate secure and accessible technology solutions that improve adoptive recruiting, matching, placement, and permanency. The focus population is children involved with child welfare who either have an adoption permanency goal or are already legally free for adoption. The intent is practical and operational: build tools and processes that help jurisdictions identify and engage prospective families, use data more effectively to support matching decisions, and ultimately move children into stable adoptive placements that can be finalized more consistently.
A central requirement is that these technology solutions must work in real-world child welfare environments. Proposed tools need to be interoperable with existing systems used by agencies and courts, rather than operating as stand-alone products that cannot connect to current data or workflows. Examples of the kinds of approaches ACF is signaling interest in include data-informed recruitment supports, AI-assisted matching tools, and predictive analytics that can help agencies target recruitment efforts, anticipate barriers to permanency, or flag cases that may need additional support. Alongside the technology build, each center is also expected to strengthen underlying data infrastructure and use continuous quality improvement methods so that the solutions are tested, refined, and improved based on measurable performance and user feedback.
In addition to building and evaluating tools, the centers will serve as regional hubs for innovation support, training, and technical assistance. That includes helping state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts adopt the solutions, improve practice and data capacity, and share best practices. While each center serves its defined region, the program also emphasizes national collaboration across the four centers, including shared learning and broad dissemination of scalable resources that other jurisdictions around the country can adopt or adapt.
Applicants will be expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in outcomes that matter to child welfare systems and families, including timeliness of matching, stability of placements, and adoption finalization results. ACF is also explicit that successful applicants must show both technology expertise and child welfare practice expertise at the organizational level, meaning applicants should have credible capacity to develop and maintain secure technology and to implement it in ways that align with child welfare policy, practice realities, and court processes.
The award structure includes an award ceiling of $2,674,000, with four expected awards. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; 501(c)(3) nonprofits (other than universities); and for-profit organizations that are not small businesses, as well as other eligible entities listed in the notice. Individuals, including sole proprietorships, and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from merit review and funding. The original application closing date is 2026-08-21, and the funding activity category is Income Security and Social Services under CFDA 93.652.Apply for HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0040
- The Administration for Children and Families - ACYF/CB in the income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.652.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2026-07-22.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-08-21. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,674,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Others.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching (HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0040)
What is this funding opportunity?
This is a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), through ACYF/Children's Bureau, titled "Technology Enhanced Adoptive Family Recruiting and Matching" (HHS 2026 ACF ACYF CO 0040). It funds technology-enabled approaches that improve how children in foster care who are waiting for adoption are recruited for and matched with prospective adoptive families, with the broader aim of improving permanency outcomes.
What is the primary goal of the program?
The goal is to make matching easier, faster, and more reliable so that children waiting for adoption move into stable adoptive placements and can reach adoption finalization more consistently. The program is intended to produce practical, operational tools and processes that work in real-world child welfare environments.
How many awards will be made?
ACF plans to make four awards.
What will the awards support (what is being funded)?
The awards will establish four regional centers expected to design, implement, and evaluate secure and accessible technology solutions that improve adoptive recruiting, matching, placement, and permanency. The centers will also provide regional innovation support, training, and technical assistance to help agencies and courts adopt the solutions and strengthen practice and data capacity.
What are the "regional centers" and how are regions determined?
Each awardee will operate a regional center. ACF will define the service regions, and the regions are structured so that, collectively, the four centers provide full national coverage across the United States and its jurisdictions.
Who is the focus population for the technology solutions?
The focus population is children involved with child welfare who either have an adoption permanency goal or are already legally free for adoption.
What kinds of technology approaches does ACF seem interested in supporting?
Examples mentioned include data-informed recruitment supports, AI-assisted matching tools, and predictive analytics that help agencies target recruitment efforts, anticipate barriers to permanency, or flag cases needing additional support. In general, the emphasis is on technology-enabled approaches that improve recruiting and matching and support better permanency outcomes.
Do solutions need to connect to existing child welfare and court systems?
Yes. A central requirement is that proposed tools must be interoperable with existing systems used by agencies and courts. The program signals that stand-alone products that cannot connect to current data or workflows are not the intended approach.
Are security and accessibility requirements explicitly part of the program?
Yes. The regional centers are expected to design, implement, and evaluate technology solutions that are secure and accessible.
Is evaluation required, or is this only a technology build?
Evaluation is an expected part of the work. The centers are expected to design, implement, and evaluate their solutions, and to refine and improve them using continuous quality improvement methods informed by measurable performance and user feedback.
What is meant by "continuous quality improvement" in this program?
Based on the description, it means testing solutions in practice, measuring performance, collecting user feedback, and making iterative refinements so the tools and processes improve over time and remain practical for real-world child welfare settings.
What role do data infrastructure improvements play in this opportunity?
Alongside building and evaluating tools, each center is expected to strengthen underlying data infrastructure to support better use of data for recruitment and matching decisions.
What is the expected role of training and technical assistance?
Each regional center will serve as a hub for innovation support, training, and technical assistance. This includes helping state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts adopt the solutions, improve practice and data capacity, and share best practices.
Is there an expectation of collaboration across the four centers?
Yes. The program emphasizes national collaboration across the four centers, including shared learning and broad dissemination of scalable resources that other jurisdictions can adopt or adapt.
What outcomes are applicants expected to improve?
Applicants are expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in outcomes such as timeliness of matching, stability of placements, and adoption finalization results.
What capabilities must an applicant demonstrate to be competitive?
ACF is explicit that successful applicants must show both technology expertise and child welfare practice expertise at the organizational level. That includes credible capacity to develop and maintain secure technology and to implement it in ways that align with child welfare policy, practice realities, and court processes.
What is the maximum award amount?
The award ceiling is $2,674,000.
What type of funding mechanism is this?
This opportunity is a discretionary cooperative agreement.
What is the application deadline?
The original application closing date is 2026-08-21.
What is the funding activity category and CFDA number?
The funding activity category is Income Security and Social Services. The CFDA number is 93.652.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; 501(c)(3) nonprofits (other than universities); and for-profit organizations that are not small businesses, as well as other eligible entities listed in the notice.
Who is not eligible to apply?
Individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from merit review and funding.
Are courts included as intended partners or users of the solutions?
Yes. The program repeatedly references agencies and courts, and it requires interoperability with systems used by agencies and courts. It also includes technical assistance to help child welfare agencies and courts adopt the solutions and improve practice and data capacity.
Is the program only regional, or will it have national impact?
While each center serves a defined region, ACF is designing the program so the four centers provide full national coverage, and it emphasizes national collaboration, shared learning, and dissemination of scalable resources nationwide.
Does the program require that tools be usable in day-to-day operations?
Yes. The intent is explicitly practical and operational, and the opportunity states that solutions must work in real-world child welfare environments and align with existing workflows and systems.
Does the opportunity specifically mention AI?
Yes. ACF signals interest in AI-assisted matching tools as one example of a technology-enabled approach, along with predictive analytics and data-informed recruitment supports.
What jurisdictions are intended to be served by the regional centers?
The centers are expected to support adoption of solutions and improvements in practice and data capacity for state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts.
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