Adoption Subsidies Law and Legal Definition
Adoption Subsidies are Federal or state adoption benefits. Also known as adoption assistance. It is designed to help offset the short and long term costs associated with adopting children who need special services. To be eligible for the Federal IV-E subsidy program, children must meet each of the following characteristics: a court has ordered that the child cannot or should not be returned to the birth family; the child has special needs, as determined by the state's definition of special needs; a "reasonable effort" has been made to place the child without a subsidy; the child also must have been eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at the time of the adoption, or the child's birth family must have been receiving or eligible to receive Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).
Benefits available through subsidy programs vary by state, but commonly include: monthly cash payments , foster care medical assistance through the federal program (and some state programs); Medicaid benefits social services, post-adoption services such as respite care, counseling, day care;. Non recurring adoption expenses, a one-time reimbursement for costs such as adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, physical and psychological examinations and other expenses related to the legal adoption of a child with special needs.
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- Abandonment [Intercountry Adoption]
- Accredited Agency [Adoption]
- Accredited Body [Adoption]
- Accrediting Entity [Adoption]
- Adoption
- Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)
- Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)
- Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980
- Adoption Disruption
- Adoption Dissolution
