States that opt into the Trump administration’s A Home for Every Child initiative can now compete for up to $3 million in federal rewards, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced this month.
The move adds the lure of cash in tight fiscal times to the original incentive structure of the initiative. Essentially, states that opt in can forgo the fairly laborious and paperwork-heavy program improvement plans they usually produce for ACF, and instead choose a simpler plan aimed at moving toward a 1:1 ratio of foster homes and children in foster care.
So far, 20 states have elected to join A Home for Every Child, but states have about a month to opt in before the financial competition begins on June 30. The challenge period will begin on Oct. 1, 2026,and run through the end of September 2027.
“The introduction of performance-based bonus awards raises the stakes in the right way, aligning incentives with what we know works,” said Assistant Secretary for Family Support Alex Adams, in a statement. “May the best state win, and most importantly, let’s work together so that all children win nationwide.”
Following is the prize structure:
First Prize: $3 million to the state with the highest ratio of homes to children in foster care.
Second Prize: $2 million to the state with the second highest ratio.
Third Prize: $1 million each for the two states that improve their ratio the most during the challenge period.
On a recent interview with The Imprint Weekly Podcast, Adams said that a dashboard including all of the Home for Every Child states will be made public, with several metrics publicly reported on a monthly basis. He also said that ACF would be revealing its own calculation for the homes-to-children ratio, which becomes even more important now with a need to compare states against each other for a financial reward.
As of the issuance of the press release on this challenge funding, ACF was still referencing foster care capacity data from The Imprint’s Who Cares project, which was updated in 2025.
