Eligibility and Benefits for Federal Adoption Assistance

If you are thinking about or are in the process of adopting a child with special needs from the United States, you may have heard about adoption assistance (also known as adoption subsidy) and may wonder what the eligibility guidelines are for a child to receive adoption assistance. There are federal and state adoption assistance programs that are designed to ensure that adopted children with special needs are given the financial resources and services to meet their varied, and often costly, needs. The state is required to enter into an agreement with the adoptive parents if the adopted child qualifies for assistance. Families can be awarded federally funded adoption assistance through Title IV-E or state adoption assistance, which is sometimes referred to as non-IV-E adoption assistance.

Children can qualify for federal Title IV-E adoption assistance or state assistance, but not both. A child’s determination for either federal or state benefits is not up to an individual agency worker.  The child’s “story” or how that child came into the care of the agency dictates what type of funds will be used to support that child’s out-of-home placement.  If a child is IV-E eligible, the federal government reimburses the state between 50 to 76 percent of the subsidy cost, depending on the state.

It is worth investigating whether a child you hope to adopt is eligible to receive adoption assistance because your child may be entitled to monthly maintenance payments, medical assistance, social services, and nonrecurring adoption expenses often until age 18.

Below we explain the factors that define a child with special needs based on section 473(c) of the Social Security Act, outline the four different ways an adopted child can qualify for Title IV-E assistance, and offer a brief description of benefits available to qualifying children.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance, the child must meet all three of the eligibility requirements to qualify as a child with special needs, and able to access one of four doors to Title IV-E eligibility.

Special Needs Determinations

To be considered a child with special needs, a child must meet all three of the criteria below:

• The state has determined that the child cannot or should not be returned to the home of his (birth) parents; [Section 473 (c)(1)]

• The state has found a specific factor or condition (or combination of factors and conditions) that make it reasonable to conclude that the child cannot be placed with adoptive parents without providing Title IV-E adoption assistance. Factors and conditions vary from state to state and may include the child’s ethnic background; age; sibling group status; the presence of a medical condition; or physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.  Each state has the right to determine and define what makes a child hard-to-place or “special needs.” (Children need only meet one factor or condition to be considered special needs.)

• The state has made a reasonable, but unsuccessful, effort to place the child without providing adoption assistance. Making “a reasonable effort” may mean the adoption agency has asked for the assistance of an adoption exchange to help find a family for the child or referred the child to an adoption agency that specializes in placing children with special needs. One exception to this requirement is if making this kind of effort to locate a family is not in the best interest of the child. For example, if the child has a significant emotional bond with foster parents who are able and interested in adopting him, it is not in that child’s best interest to look for other adoptive parents. [Section 473 (c)(2)(B)] Likewise, if there are relatives who are able and interested in adopting, it is often not in the child’s best interest to look for another adoptive family.

The state must document the specific factors that make the child difficult to place and describe the efforts to place the child for adoption without providing assistance. However, the agency cannot shop around for a family while the child remains in foster care. Once the agency has found a family that meets the best interest of the child, it should give that prospective adoptive family full disclosure about the child’s background. If the agency has already determined that the child is not returning home and has qualifying special needs, the agency can then ask the prospective parents whether they are willing to adopt the child without assistance. If the family simply states that they cannot adopt the child without assistance, the requirement for a reasonable effort will be met.

Four Ways for a Child to be Eligible for Title IV-E Adoption Assistance

Once the above criteria are met, there are the four doors through which a child can walk in order to be eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance. The child needs only qualify in one of the following ways:

1. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Income Guidelines

One way a child can qualify for federal Title IV-E adoption assistance is if the child’s birth family’s income meets the AFDC* income guidelines during the month in which the child was removed from the family and placed in foster care.  For instance, receipt of welfare benefits and/or eligibility for Woman, Infant and Children (WIC) may be indicators that the birth family’s income was low enough to qualify for AFDC.

In two cases, the circumstances surrounding the child’s removal from home affect the AFDC eligibility criteria:

• If the child was removed from home based on a judge’s ruling (which is called a judicial determination), the judge must also have determined that it was contrary to the child’s welfare to remain in the home and done so in the first court order sanctioning the child’s removal, or

• If the child was removed from home based on the birth parents’ voluntary placement agreement, the child must have been already receiving Title IV-E foster care payments to be eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance.

In addition to the income guidelines of AFDC, a child  must satisfy the requirements of being a child deprived of parental support. For many children, this means there is only one birth parent in the home when the child is removed and taken into state care.

2. Supplemental Security Income

A child is eligible for adoption assistance if, at the time the adoption petition is filed, the child meets the requirements for Title XVI Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, and prior to the finalization of the adoption, the child is determined by the state to be a child with special needs. SSI is a needs-based program through the Social Security Administration that provides cash assistance to individuals who have a limited income and are disabled. In most cases, an eligibility finding through SSI is based on a child’s physical disability.  There are income guidelines for SSI benefits, but if the child is in the custody of an agency, the child is considered to have no income (except the rare case where a child has a trust fund).  Unlike AFDC eligibility, it makes no difference how the child is removed from the home or who has care/custody of the child.

3. A Child of a Minor Parent in Foster Care

In this case, eligibility for federal adoption assistance is available for infants born to foster youth or teenagers.  A child is eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance if:

• the minor parent is in foster care and receiving Title IV-E foster care maintenance payments that cover both the minor parent and the infant at the time the adoption petition is initiated, and

• prior to the finalization of the adoption, the infant of the minor parent is determined by the state to meet the definition of a child with special needs.

If the infant and the minor parent have been separated in foster care before the adoption petition, the infant’s eligibility for Title IV-E assistance must be determined based on his or her current and individual circumstances. Nearly 40 states include a “high risk” or “adverse parental background” criterion in their legal definition of special needs to meet the needs of babies born to foster youth.

4. Dissolution of a Prior Adoption

If a child is adopted and receives Title IV-E adoption assistance, but later the adoption dissolves or the adoptive parents die, the child may continue to be eligible for  assistance in a subsequent adoption. If, for instance, the child is readopted by an aunt or uncle, the family could finalize the new adoption with an attorney and would only have to go back to the state agency to turn or “continue” the assistance. The state would then certify the child as a child with special needs and begin the assistance with the new adoptive parents. The manner in which the child was removed from the adoptive home is irrelevant.

Benefits

The benefits available through adoption subsidy programs are negotiated on a case by case basis, differ for each child, and vary among states, but may include the following:

Monthly Maintenance Payments

Monthly maintenance payments may be any amount up to the amount the state would have paid for the child in family foster care, including higher, specialized rates. The payment ceiling may vary from child to child and may vary for an individual child over time. For example, some states provide a higher foster care rate (sometimes called a difficulty-of-care rate) for children who require special care. If the child qualified for a specialized rate while in family foster care, that specialized rate should be the ceiling for the child’s adoption assistant payment.  If, over time, the child’s care needs increase, parents may go back to the agency to negotiate a new rate for the child. See NACAC’s Renegotiation fact sheet.

Medical Assistance

Children who are eligible for federal Title IV-E adoption assistance are automatically eligible for Medicaid benefits. Medicaid benefits do transfer across state lines, and children who are IV-E eligible will be automatically eligible for Medicaid in other states. Families planning to move or adopt a child from another state should plan ahead and reapply for Medicaid benefits for their child in the state where the family will live.  This is done by contacting your state’s Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA) contact person.

Wrap Around or other Services

Many states provide one-time or on-going post adoption services to families who adopt children with histories of abuse or neglect. These services are a way of helping the family stay together through times when the child is in need of therapies or experiencing emotional pit falls.

Some of the types of services available include day care, respite care services, in-home supportive services, referral and assistance for community services, and other child welfare services. In some states there are no services available. Look to your state’s adoption subsidy profile for more information.

Nonrecurring Adoption Expenses

Adoptive parents who adopt children with special needs are eligible for a one-time reimbursement.  The maximum reimbursement amount can be up to $2,000, but each state sets their own maximum rate and many states have a lower rate. The reimbursement can be used to cover the costs of adoption fees, agency supervision of the adoptive placement, court costs, attorney fees, travel, food, and lodging expenses, physical and psychological exams, birth certificate fees, and other expenses directly related to the legal adoption of a child with special needs.

Families should check with their adoption worker to determine which expenses are covered in their state, and how to process claims for reimbursement. Some states require paperwork to be filed prior to adoption finalization, while others accept it up to two years after the fact. In some cases, states may pay certain expenses such as agency fees up-front for families.

Footnotes

* To qualify, the child's birth family must meet income guidelines based on the formula that determined whether a child qualified for Aid to Families of Dependent Childre (AFDC) assistance, a welfare program that ended in 1996.

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