A New Series on the Negotiation of Adoption Assistance in Ohio, Part 2
Obstacles to Conformity with Federal Law.
Ohio has not established statewide procedures designed to ensure that the negotiation of adoption assistance conforms with federal law. State regulations spell out the federal policy requirements for negotiation, but there are no statewide practice standards on how to carry them out.
DO NOT DISPAIR. In my experience, when parents inform themselves, it makes a difference. The purpose of this section is not to discourage readers, but to discuss important important realities that impact the negotiation of adoption assistance in Ohio. Parents become more effective advocates when they understand how federal policy is actually applied, or not applied, in their state and county.
Ohio has no statewide foster care or adoption assistance rate categories or statewide payment rates.
States with state administered child welfare systems have various foster care classifications based on the child’s level of care and the qualifications of the child’s caregivers. For example, in addition to standard foster care categories based on age ranges, there are specialized, higher level of care categories with names such as therapeutic, medically fragile, or exceptional. Statewide foster care payment rates are based on statewide foster care classifications. A child in a therapeutic foster home for example in one county receives the same foster care payment as a child living in a county of the other side of the state.
In state administered child welfare systems, adoption assistance payment categories reflect the children’s foster care payment categories, although the adoption assistance payment rates may be less than foster care payments. In such state systems, the child’s foster care payment rate plays a significant role in the negotiation of adoption assistance. The foster care rate provides the context for negotiation of adoption assistance.
With no statewide foster care or adoption assistance payment categories, adoption assistance negotiations in Ohio are very much dependent on the engagement between the particular county agency and the individual adoptive parents. The child’s foster care payment rate is often not treated as an important factor in negotiating the child’s particular adoption assistance agreement. The absence of standardized negotiation procedures produces considerable inconsistency in adoption assistance payments across the state and even within Ohio counties.
The State has provided little or no guidance on proper procedures for negotiation of adoption assistance. Practice has been primarily up to the individual county agency.
The state has not clarified what is involved in the federal requirement to consider the child’s overall needs together with the family’s circumstances in the course of negotiating adoption assistance. As a result, the adopting parents cannot rely on standard criteria and practices in attempting to negotiate adoption assistance for their child. The lack of guidance places a heavy responsibility on the adoptive parents to inform themselves about federal policy and its application. Once parents become familiar with federal policy, they usually become more effective negotiators and participants in the state’s mediation procedures. Standardizing the meaning of the terms “child’s need” and “family circumstances” would lighten the burden of negotiation on adoptive parents and encourage more consistent practice.
The Public Children Services Association of Ohio (PCSAO) has done little to establish more uniform negotiation practices
Standardizing negotiation procedures for adoption assistance would create pressure for higher adoption assistance payment rates in a number of counties across Ohio. Higher adoption assistance payments means higher county expenditures.
Federal funding for Adoption Assistance is available for payments up to the foster care rate the child receives or would receive were the child placed in foster care. There is no requirement for adoption assistance to match the child’s foster care payment, and Ohio County agencies strongly resist doing so. In practical terms, the child’s appropriate foster care payment rate is the maximum adoption assistance payment may receive.
The federal share of IV-E Adoption Assistance varies slightly from year to year. In Ohio, for this Federal Fiscal Year (FFY 2025, Oct 1 – Sep 30), the federal share is 64.60% of each adoption assistance payment.
The state covers the non-federal portion (35.40%) of the first $350 of each adoption assistance payment, or $124.95.
County agencies are responsible for the non-federal portion (35.40%) of the remainder of an adoption assistance payment over $350.
Example: Adoption Assistance Payment $1,000
Federal Share 64.60% = $646
State Share 35.70% of the first $350 = $123.90
County Share 35.70% of the remaining $650 = $230.10
Higher adoption assistance payments would increase county agencies’ share of the cost. As a representative of Ohio’s county child welfare agencies, advocating for a more standardized negotiation process, under the current funding system, would create a conflict of interest for PCSAO.
Thank You....Good Information