Adoption Subsidies and Benefits When Adopting from Foster Care

Most children adopted from US foster care are eligible for an monthly adoption subsidy and other benefits from the state. What benefits are available? College tuition, medical insurance, monthly stipend? What is reasonable? Our guests are Josh Kroll, Project Coordinator with the Adoption Subsidy Resource Center at the North American Council on Adoptable Children and Julie Mondroski and Judith Ungar-Neuenkirch, case workers with Clark County Nevada—otherwise known as Las Vegas.

Listen

Hit the Highlights

What type of benefits, other than monetary monthly adoption assistance, are available for foster care adoptions?
Are adoption subsidies usually the same as monthly foster care payments?
How are adoption assistance awards determined? What factors go into deciding how much each child will get each month?
What type of medical coverage is available for children adopted from waiting children in foster care?
Is Medicaid always available for foster children?
Will the college tuition of children adopted from the state be covered?
What evidence do you need to present to get a higher adoption subsidy for foster care adoptions?
What makes a foster child eligible for adoption assistance grants from the state?
What if the child has no documented special need at the time of adoption, but the family anticipates that the child may need assistance in the future?
Is it possible to go back and renegotiate an adoption subsidy agreement with the county after the adoption is finalized?
Who is responsible to pay for residential treatment for a child that was adopted from foster care?
What is considered a special need for waiting US children?
What expenses of the adoptive family will the state cover when adopting a child from foster care?
Are international special needs adoptions eligible for adoption subsidies from the US?
Are adoption subsidy payments treated as income on federal income taxes? Are they counted when calculating eligibility for free school lunches, government housing, food stamps, or on the FAFSA college form?
Is adoption assistance available for families who adopt a relative’s child? Must the child have first entered foster care for relatives to be eligible for adoption subsidies?
What happens to the adoption subsidy if the adoptive parent dies? Will the subsidy follow the child and be available to the child’s guardian?