Office of Research

Technology-Enhanced Adoption Recruitment and Matching Innovation Hubs (TE-ARM)

This program will fund projects focused on technology-enabled strategies that improve adoptive matching, placement, and permanency for children in foster care awaiting adoption. The funds, awarded to four regional centers, will be used to design, implement and evaluate these strategies. These centers will focus on children with an adoption permanency goal or who are legally free for adoption due to child welfare involvement. Centers will partner with state, territorial, tribal, and local child welfare agencies and courts to develop secure, accessible technology solutions that improve how families are matched with children in need of permanent homes. Proposed solutions must be interoperable with existing systems and may include tools such as data-informed recruitment support, AI-assisted matching, and predictive analytics. Each center will strengthen data infrastructure, support continuous quality improvement, and develop scalable resources that jurisdictions nationwide can adopt. ACF will define four national service regions to ensure full U.S. coverage. Centers will provide regional innovation support, training, technical assistance, and dissemination of best practices while collaborating nationally on shared learning. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate measurable improvements in match timeliness, placement stability, and adoption finalization outcomes.

Application Instructions

Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with PI’s Lastname, Firstname:

  1. A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach.
  2. If the final application requires a statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
  3. CV (not biosketch) of the PI including past grant funding.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, August 5, 2026. Late pre-proposals will not be considered. Proposals are due to the sponsor 8/21/2026 so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 8/12/2026 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.

Opportunity Details

Program web page

Program Announcement No.

HHS-2026-ACF-ACYF-CO-0040

Deadlines
08/05/2026 UW Internal Deadline Open
08/12/2026 OSP Deadline
08/21/2026 Sponsor Deadline
Sponsor

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Funding amount

$2,000,000

Maximum Number of Applications

1

Eligible groups
  • All campus

Inquiries and Contact Information

Investigators who identify a grant, award or fellowship program that restricts the number of applications that can be submitted from an Institution should immediately contact their Chairperson, Associate Dean for Research (or Dean, if no ADR) and the Office of Research (see below) if they intend to prepare a response. Failure to do so, or to meet the deadlines for submission of pre-proposal, will preclude submission of the application through the Office of Sponsored Programs.

For general inquiries, or to request a listing of a limited submission opportunity that should be but is not already listed, please email us at limitedsubs@uw.edu.