The Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act seeks to significantly enhance support for adopted children and their families by amending the Social Security Act. It expands the definition of "adoption promotion and support services" to explicitly include a wide range of pre- and post-adoption support services. These services are designed to ensure the well-being of adopted children and their families, and to promote efforts to prevent children from entering the foster care system.

Pre-adoption support services encompass direct training, educational support, counseling for adoptive parents, and peer-to-peer mentoring. Post-adoption services build upon these, adding accessible respite care, direct counseling for adopted children addressing emotional and developmental needs, and specialized treatment services. States are required to spend a significant portion of any savings from certain federal expenditures on these crucial pre- and post-adoption support services.

The bill establishes a new federal grant program, reserving $20 million annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2029, for post-adoption and post-legal guardianship mental health services. These grants will fund the development of statewide or tribal mental health programs, support public and private nonprofit organizations, and provide training for professionals on the unique mental health needs of adopted children and their families. The program also aims to develop informational materials for prospective parents and support research into promising practices, with at least 85% of funds dedicated to direct services.

Furthermore, the legislation mandates the collection and analysis of data on adoption disruption and dissolution, specifically for children who enter state custody after such events. This data will help identify effective support services, improve research, and develop evidence-based strategies to prevent disruptions. An advisory committee will also be established to study methods for collecting data on disruptions and dissolutions that do not result in state custody, including temporary displacements for treatment.