What kind of assistance do you receive after you adopt a child from foster care?

Question

What kind of assistance do you receive after you adopt a child from foster care?

Answer 1

In Texas, it depends greatly on the conditions and situation of the adoption.  The general rule is, the harder it is to get the child adopted, the more benefits you receive.

So, if you adopt minority, older, or special needs kids, or siblings, you will get benefits after they are adopted.  Examples include Medicaid, stipend, college scholarships, etc.  If you adopt a white infant with no known special needs, you will get very little.

Answer 2

it largely depends on the needs of the child and the state regulations....not enough to take care of all of their needs...but health insurance and specialized therapy are usually covered until 18.

Answer 3

I'm sure it depends on the state, but in Illinois you receive a monthly stipend until the child is 18 and they are eligible for medicaid.

Answer 4

In our province, we get anything extra related to special needs.  There is an annual assessment.  For example:

the child may need extra therapy to cover some issues from being adopted, family of origin issues or whatever.  First my work covers what it can, then they look at how much extra we put out.  AFter that they look at our income and if they feel that extra $$ was too much they reimburse percentage.  I was already told we make too much to receive this at this time, and we are general boring middle class (grr, still consider myself working class, but I guess I have to accept aging) so we don't qualify but if anytihg chnaged until the child is 18 they can assist us.

Answer 5

You get:

Food stamps

Money

clothes

and like extra stuff.

Answer 6

Some children receive a monthly stipend and some do not.  It depends on the situation.  If the child is in good health, not in any kind of therapy, etc. there's no stipend.  Once you adopt them, they are covered by your own health insurance for any normal medical expenses.  But children who are on medication or in therapy generally receive some kind of monthly stipend until they are 18.  The amount and circumstances vary from state to state.

Answer 7

It depends on several things....

Most Children adopted from Foster Care will recieve Medicaid or State Medical insurance until the age of 18 or in some cases 21.

Some states offer Tuition Free for State University and Community Colleges for children who were ever in Foster Care.

Some Children being adopted from Foster Care will be Identified as "Special Needs" each state defines the basic criteria that qualified a child as special needs. When a child is special needs there may be some Adoption Assistance or an Adoption Subsidy. This can range from $50.00 to the general base Foster Parent Pay Rate...

Also when children from foster care are identified as Special Needs the adoptive parents can take an Aprox: $10,000 Tax Credit (Credit) from their federal taxes.

All 50 states are mandated to provide Post Adoption Support for families adopting children from Foster Care and these services include support groups, resources, training classes, counseling and other post adoption assistance.

****ETA:  We do not get food stamps unless our family qualifies just as any other family--the fact the children are Adopted Foster Children does not qualify our family for Food Stamps---Head Start or Free Lunch programs.....

The Adoption Assistance Subsidy is reviewed annually and may not include Medical (covered by medicaid) or Educational services... It does cover things such as Respite (when we can find it) Additional Services not covered by Medicaid or Public School... The specifics of the Subsidy are directly related to the needs of the child...

For Example:

Our little boy has a terrible sleep disorder and our home has needed to be "Wired" with Alarms. We live in a place that we don't need a security alarm and frankly don't even have a service that offers monthly monitoring--We live in the Hills! But, we had a little boy with sleep disorders who was going outside of the house in the middle of the night--he would climb chairs or find A s***w driver and remove hinges to get out... he would break a window to get out--So we have used the subsidy to make the house secure and place an alarm so that we can at least be sure we won't sleep through his Exits...  We have also needed to make other areas of our home secure beyond the typical ChildProofing... As these measures may work with a 2- year old but a 10 year old who is developmentally 5 yrs old can DO THINGS an ordinary 5 yr old cannot--so we have had to make several expensive adaptations in a variety of ways to our home.

**** ETA #2:  Warrior Mom  That is a huge issue and let me tell you that you are not alone.... Everyone will be seeing Me on a huge news story exposing the issues you point out within the next year or sooner--The Mandate to Offer these things are Certainly not to say they are being properly delivered if at all... Just watch the newworks and listen for the huge story being done about the Truth in what is happening with ALL children needing special Therapy and Emotional Servicies--espectially our Adopted Foster Children.... Can't wait to make the public announcement and share the details but lets just say this is one of those 2-yr investigation stories that will have a 1-2 hour long expose'

Answer 8

It depends on where you live.  Different states in the U.S. have different guidelines and laws.  In Alabama, the child has to meet certain criteria before they can qualify for an adoption subsidy.  Basically, it is based on the potential for on-going medical problems.  I am no expert, so I can't tell you exactly what the criteria includes.  However, I have adopted two children through foster care, and both qualified for a subsidy because of the medical problems in their birth family history.

In response to Happymom:  "Support" may be mandated, but let's be clear about what that includes.  In Alabama we do have a Post Adoption Agency.  They offer counseling sessions at certain locations, not necessarily close to where you live.  They offer support groups, which are difficult to participate in if you are paddling as hard as you can to keep your head above the water raising kids.  They offer "advice" about where to go for help.  However, Support, in the form of paying for therapy sessions for the children is NOT mandated.  Nor do they provide specialized therapists who will treat the children.  They may say that adoptive parents have support "mandated" in every state, but the reality is that we have felt very much alone in our search for ways to help our children find the healing they need.

Answer 9

It really depends on the needs of the child...

These are what we can have / not necessarily taking...

a small stipend check once a month till he is 19 (not taking)

health insurance till the age of 19 (taking)

Obviously if the child has more issues (medical...etc) then nurses can be available / special care givers for working parents and larger stipend checks.

Answer 10

I live in Los Angeles. After adoption, you continue to receive a monthly stipend of about  $460. (unless it is a special needs child and the rate goes up) until your child is eighteen. The child can use medi-cal (medical insurance) until they are eighteen. If the child is put on the families private insurance than the Medi-cal will cover co-pays and anything the insurance does not cover. The child will receive financial assistance for college and special college and job/life skills counseling. There are also post-adoption services lie counseling, referrals, etc.