The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded $35 million to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. States use the funds from the adoption incentive award to enhance their programs for abused and neglected children.
“Adopting a child from foster care is a wonderful way to enrich any family’s life,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “We congratulate the states that performed so well this year and we thank the parents who are providing loving and permanent homes.”
The Adoption Incentives program was created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The original program authorized incentive funds to states that increased the number of children adopted from foster care. In order to get payments, states had to increase the number of children adopted relative to baseline data.