Adoption Assistance

Thinking about adoption but not sure if you can afford all of the related expenses? The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has an adoption assistance program to help defray some of the costs associated with adoption of a child with special needs.

The purpose of adoption assistance is to facilitate adoption of children with special needs who might otherwise not be adopted. In providing adoption assistance, the law requires DFPS to try to find an adoptive home for the child without adoption assistance, except when doing so is not in the child’s best interest, such as the development of significant emotional ties between the child and the prospective adoptive parent. If a child is eligible for adoption assistance, the following types of benefits may be available.

Program Benefits

• Medical assistance for the adopted child, which is generally provided through Medicaid. This benefit assists with the child's medical and dental care, eye care, durable medical equipment and supplies, psychiatric/behavioral health care, and medical transportation.
• Reimbursement for certain one-time expenses relating to completing the adoption of an eligible child (non-recurring adoption expenses). This benefit provides reimbursement up to $1,200 per child for reasonable and necessary adoption expenses directly related to completing the adoption process. These expenses may include court costs, attorney fees, and other fees directly related to the legal completion of the adoption.
• Monthly payments. The monthly adoption assistance payments are determined based upon the child's needs and paid to an eligible caregiver (adoptive parent) to help a child after adoptive placement.

Sources of Adoption Assistance

DFPS provides adoption assistance from two sources:

• Federal Title IV-E of the Social Security Act; and
• Texas' own state adoption assistance.

Title IV-E Eligibility Requirements

For any child adopted from DFPS conservatorship to be eligible for adoption assistance (either Title IV-E or state paid), the following requirements must be met:

1. The child must qualify as "special needs" as described below at the time the adoptive placement agreement is signed.
2. Reasonable efforts must be made to place the child without adoption assistance, except when to do so is contrary to the child's best interest.
3. The home into which the child is placed for adoption must be approved as an adoptive home in accordance with the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies in Texas (or in accordance with applicable law, if the adoptive home is in another state). This includes a requirement that a home in Texas has an approved home screening and meets the Texas requirements about prohibited criminal and abuse or neglect history.
4. The child must be in an adoptive placement and meet one of the following four conditions:
   1. Prior to adoption, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has determined that the child meets all medical or disability requirements for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
   2. At the time the adoptive placement was made, the child is in the managing conservatorship of a public child welfare agency, applicable Tribe, or licensed child placing agency due to an involuntary removal where there was a judicial finding that it was contrary to the child’s welfare to remain in the home.
   3. DFPS determined that the child was eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance in a prior adoption.
   4. The child resides with the child’s minor parent, and the child’s parent was in foster care due to an involuntary removal where there was a judicial finding that it was contrary to the child’s welfare to remain in the home.

   State Adoption Assistance Requirements

   The following five requirements must be met for a child to be eligible for state adoption assistance:

   1. The child must not be eligible for Title IV-E adoption assistance.
   2. The child must qualify as "special needs" as described below at the time the adoptive placement agreement is signed.
   3. Reasonable efforts must have been made to place the child without adoption assistance, except when to do so was contrary to the child's best interest.
   4. The home into which the child is placed for adoption must be approved as an adoptive home in accordance with the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies in Texas (or in accordance with applicable law, if the adoptive home is in another state). This includes a requirement that a home in Texas has an approved home screening and meets the Texas requirements about prohibited criminal and abuse or neglect history.
   5. The adoption assistance agreement must be signed before the adoption is consummated.

   Requirements for Non-recurring Adoption Expenses

   These expenses may include fees paid directly to the attorney or adoptive parent for court costs, attorney fees, and other fees directly related to the legal completion of the adoption.

   Children who meet Title IV-E or state adoption assistance eligibility requirements are automatically considered for reimbursement of non-recurring adoption expenses, so a separate request for non-recurring adoption assistance expenses is not necessary.

   The adoptive family may seek up to $1,200 per child in reimbursement of expenses for reasonable and necessary adoption fees, which may include the following:

   • Fees paid to child-placing agencies.
   • Court costs.
   • Attorney’s fees.
   • Other fees directly related to legal completion of the adoption.

   DFPS reimburses the adoptive family after the adoption is consummated and when the family has provided DFPS with proof of payment for expenses, which have not been reimbursed from other sources of other funds.

   International Adoption

   Generally, a child adopted internationally will not meet the requirements to receive monthly adoption assistance as the program was designed to meet children within the child welfare system. An international adoption may qualify for non-recurring adoption expenses, if the child is a "special needs" child at the time of adoptive placement, the adoption assistance agreement is signed prior to consummation of the adoption, and any other applicable requirements are met.

   Definition of Special Needs

   At the time the adoptive placement agreement is signed, the child is less than 18 years old and meets at least one of the following conditions:

   1. The child is at least six years old.
   1. The child is at least two years old and a member of a racial or ethnic group that exits foster care at a slower pace than other racial or ethnic groups.
   2. The child is being adopted with a sibling or to join a sibling or for whom the parents already have permanent managing conservatorship or an equivalent arrangement in another state.
   3. The child has a verifiable physical, mental, or emotional disabling condition, as established by an appropriately qualified professional through a diagnosis that addresses: (a) what the condition is, and (b) that the condition is disabling.
   4. The child has been determined by the Social Security Administration to meet all the medical or disability requirements with respect to eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

   Children under DFPS Jurisdiction

   DFPS is responsible for determining eligibility and negotiating the adoption assistance agreements for children who are placed for adoption under varying circumstances. Foremost among these responsibilities are determinations for children who are in the managing conservatorship of DFPS, regardless of the location of the placement. These responsibilities also extend to children who are in the legal care of and placed for adoption by a licensed, non-profit child-placing agency when the child is placed with a family that resides in Texas. The child-placing agency need not be licensed in Texas but at least must be licensed/certified by another state to provide adoption placement services.

   DFPS also determines eligibility and negotiates agreements for children who previously received Title IV-E adoption assistance or state adoption assistance and whose adoption terminated because of the death of the adoptive parents or termination of their parental rights and at the same time are not in the care of another state's public child welfare agency. DFPS will also assume responsibility for children who have subsequent adoptive parents who resided in Texas at the time of the adoptive placement. If the child received prior state adoption assistance, DFPS will assume responsibility regardless of the adoptive parents' state of residence.

   Payment Ceilings for Adoption Assistance

   The payment ceiling (maximum) for monthly payments is based on the child’s authorized service level at the beginning of the adoptive placement, as follows:

   • $400 per month for Basic care.
   • $545 per month for Moderate, Specialized, or Intense care.

   There is a limit to the amount of a monthly payment that an adoptive parent can negotiate. If the adoptive parent is offered and agrees to receive the maximum monthly payment, the adoptive parent cannot request:
   (1) an increase in the adoption assistance payment amount, or
   (2) an appeal regarding the payment amount.

   Requests for Adoption Assistance

   Requests for adoption assistance are made through the regional adoption assistance eligibility units. Ask your caseworker for the Request for Adoption Assistance forms.

   Additional Medicaid Information

   All Medicaid benefits are provided through Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the Medicaid state agency for Texas. The adoptive parent will receive a Medicaid managed care enrollment packet with information about health plan(s) the child is eligible for and how to pick a plan.

   For more information, visit the Adoption Assistance or Permanency Care Assistance page on the HHS website.

   State Adoption Assistance Contact

   Latasha Henry
   Texas Department of Family & Protective Services
   

   4900 North Lamar M/C W-157
   Austin, Texas 78751
   Office voicemail: (713) 767-2651
   State cell phone: (512) 994-9418
   Fax: (512) 339-5927