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Special Needs Adoption
Is It for You? By Margot Poss
, the National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption.
However, while there is little or no cost upfront, there can be extensive costs associated with raising a child who has special needs. Parents may face extensive medical bills, psychological counseling and the list goes on. Much has been done in recent years, though, to make special needs adoption more feasible for potential adopting parents.
The Federal Children's Bureau has published a Child Welfare Policy Manual (CWPM) where parents can access updated, accurate information about adoption subsidy issues for financial aid.
There are primarily two sources of financial assistance:
- Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Program under the Social Security Act and the State Adoption Subsidy Program according to Federal IV-E, payments to the parents of an eligible child are available for the ordinary and special needs of a child. These funds are to be used for any identifiable need of the child. A child who is eligible for Title IV-E assistance is automatically eligible for assistance under Medicaid and for social services in each state as though he/she were an aid to families with dependent children. These payments can continue until the child reaches age 18 or until age 21 if the state determines continuation is warranted, and they continue in the event the family moves to another state. There is a financial eligibility criteria for assistance under Title IV-E.
- Public Law 96-272 was put in place to make adoption from foster care affordable. With P.L. 96-272, parents sign a legal contract that states that they will parent the child, and the state will make that parenting possible by subsidizing some of the day-to-day costs until the child is grown.