The following are basic principles that should inform any negotiation of Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Agreements.
1. 1. In accordance with federal and state law, Title IV-E adoption assistance payments are determined through negotiated agreements based on a through discussion and consideration of the needs of each child and the individual circumstances of the adopting parents.
2. In accordance with federal and state law, the needs of the child and circumstances of the family are to be considered together in any negotiation for adoption assistance. The adjustments and sacrifices parents must make to incorporate the child into a nurturing, permanent family affect the parents capacity to address the full range of the child's care needs.
2.
3 3. In accordance with federal and state law,
Title IV-E adoption assistance is intended to be combined with the resources
of the adopting parents to provide for the overall needs of the children, ordinary
as well as special needs, current and anticipated needs. See federal Child Welfare Policy Manual, Section 8.2D.4, Questions 1, 2 and 3.
4.
Adoption assistance is intended to supplement the family budget, to
enable the parents to address the child's special needs without
sacrificing the ordinary needs essential to providing a stable, healthy
home.
3. 5. Unlike other federal programs, there are no itemized lists of allowable and unallowable costs they may be considered in the negotiation of adoption assistance agreements. The goal is the healthy integration of special needs children in permanent families.
6. The task of negotiation is to arrive at adoption
assistance agreements that provide needed supplemental support without exceeding the IV-E Foster Care Maintenance
payments the child is receiving or would receive.
7. The Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Agreement must be completed before the final decree of adoption. There are exceptions, which we will discuss later.
NOTE:
Since the very beginning, federal law has at 42 U.S.C. 673(a)(3) has stated,
The amount of the payments to be made in any case under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(B) shall be determined through agreement between the adoptive parents and the State or local agency administering the program under this section, which shall take into consideration the circumstances of the adopting parents and the needs of the child being adopted, and may be readjusted periodically, with the concurrence of the adopting parents (which may be specified in the adoption assistance agreement), depending upon changes in such circumstances. (42 U.S/C. 673(a)(3))
See federal Child Welfare Policy Manual, Section 8.2D.4, Questions 1, 2 and 4 at
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cwpm/public_html/programs/cb/laws_policies/laws/cwpm/policy_dsp.jsp?citID=54
See also, Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rules 5101:2-49-05 and 5101:2-49-12 at
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-5101:2-49-05
Question
Do county agencies consistently implement these principles in negotiating Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Agreements?
No, the degree of adherence to these principles varies from county to county.
