The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will award $4.275 million in grants to programs that work to prevent child abandonment or serve children abandoned because their families were impacted by substance abuse or HIV/AIDS.

The Abandoned Infants Assistance: Comprehensive Support Services for Families Affected by Substance Abuse and/or HIV/AIDS program will award up to nine grant of $475,000 each to grantees who provide community-based support services to prevent child abandonment, evaluate program outcomes, and establish model programs that can be replicated elsewhere. Services may include foster family care, case management, family support, respite and crisis intervention, counseling, and group residential home services.

"The services needed by these infants and their families are many," the grant announcement noted. "The needed services are likely to be provided by many different community-based agencies. Applicants must utilize an existing consortium of community-based service providers or develop a consortium for the purpose of implementing this demonstration project."

"In developing its consortium of community-based service providers, the applicant could include the following entities: child welfare, legal services, substance abuse treatment, mental health, parent support programs, caregiver support programs, in-home visiting, respite care, housing assistance, and quality childcare support," the announcement continued. "In providing the necessary services to this client population, the applicant may also consider the provision of caregiver support services to those relatives who are the caretakers for the children of a substance-abusing and/or HIV/AIDS affected mother. Applicants may also consider the provision of therapeutic recreational services for the young children and their families impacted by HIV/AIDS. Projects should demonstrate shared responsibility for case management (e.g., joint social services-medical case management) and integration of case plans for multiple agencies."

Nonprofits and government agencies are eligible to apply.

Application deadline is May 27. For more information, see the full grant announcement online.