Adoption Assistance Grants Make Permanency Possible For More Children

At Creating a Family, we love connecting parents and caregivers with helpful information and resources that can make their journey a little easier. From time to time, we invite other organizations doing good work for adoptive, foster, and kinship families to share their insights with our community. The following article from Gift of Adoption highlights resources that may be useful to families exploring grants to help with adoption or kinship placement costs. We’re happy to share it as an informational resource, though its inclusion doesn’t represent an endorsement of any particular program or service.

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When families decide to adopt, love is rarely in short supply, but financial resources can be. The costs associated with completing an adoption can delay or even prevent a child from gaining a permanent, loving home. That’s where Gift of Adoption (GOA) steps in.

As the largest non-discriminatory provider of adoption assistance grants in the United States, Gift of Adoption offers grants of up to $15,000 to help finalize adoptions of children in vulnerable circumstances, regardless of race, religion, age, marital status, gender, or sexual orientation. Their mission is simple: to remove financial barriers that stand between waiting children and families ready to welcome them home.

Why Adoption Grants Matter

The cost of adoption varies widely depending on the circumstances. It can range from a few thousand dollars for relative adoptions to tens of thousands for private or international adoptions. Even with subsidies or reimbursements, many families still face out-of-pocket expenses for legal fees, home studies, travel, and agency fees.

Gift of Adoption bridges that financial gap. Their grants focus on finalizing adoptions that are already in progress when a child has been identified, and the family is struggling with remaining costs. There is no application deadline, and families can apply any time after completing a home study and before the adoption is finalized.

Who Is Eligible

Any U.S. citizen who has an approved home study, whether through a Hague-accredited agency (for international adoptions) or a licensed social worker (for domestic adoptions), is eligible to apply. If a home study is not required for relative adoptions, families may still be considered.

Each grant decision is made holistically, looking at the totality of circumstances, not just financial data.

What Types of Adoptions Are Funded

Gift of Adoption provides grants for domestic, international, and kinship adoptions. The funding includes several special programs to address specific barriers many families encounter, especially in foster and kinship care systems.

While not limited to these categories, Gift of Adoption’s most significant funding priorities encompass grants that:

  • Enable relatives to adopt children (relative/kinship adoptions), including moving from guardianship to adoption
  • Keep child(ren) from being placed in U.S. foster care or help child out of foster care
  • Keep biological siblings together or unite biological siblings in the same family
  • Complete adoptions of children with life-threatening or critical medical conditions
  • Prevent children from aging out of the country’s orphanage system

Each grant helps move a child from uncertainty into a family, and the impact can ripple for generations.

Let’s Talk About Adoption – a free guide

Specialized Grant Programs That Meet Families Where They Are

Adoption is not one-size-fits-all. Families often find themselves navigating unique challenges depending on the type of adoption and the child’s situation. Gift of Adoption recognizes this and has created several specialized grant programs that respond to real-world barriers families face.

1. Guardianship-to-Adoption Grants

For many relative caregivers, gaining guardianship is just the beginning of the journey. Legal adoption can provide greater stability, inheritance rights, and permanency, but the process can be expensive.

Families often face attorney fees, court filing costs, and, in some states, the requirement for a new or updated home study or background checks.

Gift of Adoption’s Guardianship-to-Adoption Grants help cover these costs, ensuring that caregivers who have already been serving as family do not have to walk away from adoption simply because of legal or financial barriers.

2. Private Adoptions from Foster Care

While foster care adoptions are typically handled by public child welfare systems, in some states, families can complete adoptions through private agencies or attorneys. These arrangements may come with fees not covered by state subsidies or reimbursements, especially when families hire private legal assistance to navigate the process.

Gift of Adoption can provide grants to offset legal, paperwork, agency, or finalization fees related to these adoptions. While GOA cannot fund contested adoptions, it can step in once the case is resolved and the financial need is documented.

This program ensures that families who open their homes to children in foster care are not left with unexpected financial burdens at the finish line.

3. Young Adult Adoption Grants (Ages 18–21)

Every year, thousands of youth age out of foster care or international orphanages without permanent families. Many of these young adults still want and need family connection and security.

Gift of Adoption’s Young Adult Adoption Grants help cover legal and court costs to complete adoptions for youth ages 18 to 21 when public funding is not available.

These grants can make the difference between entering adulthood alone or stepping into life with the lasting support of family.

4. Relative/Kinship Licensing Grants

When relatives or close family friends (known as “fictive kin”) step forward to adopt a child in foster care, they often face home licensing requirements that come with real costs, such as home repairs, safety modifications, or even relocation.

Gift of Adoption’s Relative/Kinship Licensing Grants can help cover these specific expenses when they are the only remaining barrier to approval. Eligible costs may include:

  • Home improvements required for safety (like adding a window or pool fencing)
  • Mold remediation
  • Pest control
  • Relocation expenses, such as moving costs, security deposits, or the first month’s rent

In each case, the family’s caseworker will identify what the family needs to pass the home inspection. GOA funding ensures that no family is disqualified simply because they cannot afford a required home modification.

How Does an Average Joe (or Jo) Afford Adoption?

The Heart Behind the Grant

Gift of Adoption has a thoughtful, human-centered review process. They look beyond paperwork to see the story: the perseverance of parents in the adoption process, the resilience of children waiting in care, and the impact a single grant can have on uniting a family.

Their funding priorities reflect the belief that every child deserves permanency, stability, and love. Awarded grants will be applied toward completing the last step of a journey that has already been emotionally and financially challenging for everyone involved.

How Families Can Apply

Families can apply anytime through the online application portal at giftofadoption.org/apply-for-a-grant.

For those unsure about eligibility or with unique circumstances, GOA encourages reaching out directly to their Outreach and Case Manager, Leah Brandon-Akannam (email: lbrandonakannam@giftofadoption.org) for guidance.

The Broader Impact

Gift of Adoption has awarded thousands of grants totaling millions of dollars, helping complete adoptions for children across the U.S. and in more than 60 countries. But the impact is far more than financial; it is generational.

Every grant represents a child who gains the stability of a permanent family. They may also represent the reunification of siblings or young adults finally having a place to call home. For adoptive, foster, and kinship families, these grants mean one less barrier to giving a child what every child deserves: belonging.

You Can Get Involved!

If you believe every child deserves the love and security of a family, there are meaningful ways to join Gift of Adoption’s mission. Donations of any size directly fund adoption grants that bring children home. Individuals can join a local chapter board to help raise awareness and funds within their own communities. These volunteer leaders play a vital role in connecting donors, families, and advocates to expand this mission’s nationwide reach.

Whether you contribute financially, serve on a chapter board, or share the organization’s story with others, you can help change a child’s trajectory. 

Opening Doors and Removing Obstacles

The path to adoption is filled with hope and determination, but it can also be filled with obstacles. Gift of Adoption exists to ensure that money is not one of them.

Their programs stand as a reminder that the community around adoption (foundations, donors, and families alike) can work together to create lasting change, one child and one family at a time.

To learn more, apply, donate, or get involved, visit giftofadoption.org.

Thank you, Gift of Adoption, for working to remove barriers to permanency for children and the families who wait for them.

Creating a Family Resources that Can Help You Afford Adoption:

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