The Adoption Assistance Program provides funds to states and participating territories and tribes to facilitate the timely placement of children, whose special needs or circumstances would otherwise make them difficult to place with adoptive families. The program is annually appropriated and funding is awarded as an open-ended entitlement grant. Funding is contingent upon an approved title IV-E plan to administer or supervise the administration of the program.  The program operates in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and federally recognized Tribes with approved title IV-E plans.

Matching funds are provided based on the expenditures made on behalf of children determined eligible for the program.  Funds are available for a one-time payment to assist with the costs of adopting a child as well as for monthly subsidies to adoptive families who enter into an adoption assistance agreement to assist with the care of the eligible child.  The program provides federal matching funds at the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, ranging from 50 to 83 percent, for adoption assistance payments, depending on the per capita income of the state or Tribe. Additionally, funds are available for: administrative costs to manage the program; training staff and adoptive parents; adoptive parent recruitment; and other related expenses. Allowable administrative activities are matched at 50 percent and allowable training costs at 75 percent.  The Title IV-E agency must submit quarterly reports of estimated and actual program expenditures and the average monthly number of children served.

FY 2024: $4.7 billion

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