Adoption grants???

I appplied for every grant I could find and I don't work and DH doesn't make a ton of money as a Sheriff's Deputy. So.....we were basically told that we make too much so we didn't qualify, or we already had a child. If we make too much, then I don't know, because trust me we don't. However, I know some grants you have to go through specific agencies to qualify for them, and I have heard of people getting those. Good luck!

We applied and nope didn't get any. I guess it is pretty hard. A lot of them require an application fee.

We have looked into this pretty thoroughly and the bottom line is that you have to make less than a certain amount of money per year in order to qualify. We found that if you made more than $50,000 a year then it was slim that you could qualify. There are, of course, many other qualifiers to grants, such as religion, etc... Anyhow, this is the information that we found. If you find anything else to share please post.

I applied for all I could find for my first adoption. Being single and a teacher I am not sure how I did not "qualify" but I did not have any luck.

we applied for lots and never even received notice that any were received. I was told, oh its so easy to get an adoption grant....right!

We also completed two adoptions in less than a year and believe you me....I know what a strain on the finances are....both of our girls are home but it will take us awhile before we are back on our feet financially. We also applied for a few grants, but didn't get any either.

We applied for grants and never heard back from any of them.

We did get several grants for our three adoptions. I don't think there are any rules across the board since each grant agency does things differently. But, there are a few patterns I have started to see as I've talked to other families who received grants. Again, this is just my experience not careful scientific research by any means! :) Grant organizations seem to look at: Income - The lower your income, the more likely you're going to be considered. I heard that around $80,000/year was the cap. At least it was for one grant organization I talked to. It's possible that some are higher. It may more depend on how many people you have living on that amount. If you make 80K and have 1 child in the home then that might be different from making 80K and having 5 kids in the home. Your Resources - They also look at where you could come up with money to put towards the adoption. Do you have equity in your home? Do you have a car that could be sold? Do you have relatives who can help you out? If so then they're less likely to pick you since there are other applicants who don't have any other resources and genuinely can't finish their adoption without a grant (we fell into that category). Child Being Adopted - This seems to be a big one. Most grant organizations want to support families who are adopting children that are harder to place. That means special needs, older, boys, etc. If you're adopting a young girl then you're probably less likely to be chosen because statistically most adoptive families want little girls and so they know that child would find a family. I'm NOT saying that it's wrong to adopt a young girl or that you can't get a grant for a young girl, just that they take all of that into consideration. How Much Family Has Already Paid for - Grants also seem to like to be "the last piece" that you need to get the child home. If you need $5K to pay for the last of your fees and travel then you're more likely to get it than if you need $5K for the first part of your agency fees. They prefer to finish adoptions that are already started rather than helping you at the beginning. They want to see what you can do with fund raising, loans, saving money, etc and then help you at the end. So, it makes more sense to apply for grants towards the end of the process rather than right at the beginning. Don't wait too long, though, because many of the grants take 3 months or more to process your application and consider you. I hope this helps. I know of exceptions to many of these points so please don't think I consider myself to be the only person who knows anything about adoption grants. :) Good luck and I hope that each of you finds a way to afford your adoption. P.S. Just for the record, we received several grants and we do fit into most of the above categories. Low income (met the USCIS guidelines but not much more), no additional resources (didn't own a house, etc), all three children were harder to place because of age or special needs or both. We did receive one matching grant towards the beginning of raising money for one of the adoptions but all of the others came at the end when we were almost ready to travel and couldn't because we didn't have the funds to finish the adoption.