Are Private Agency Children Being Treated Unequally in the Negotiation of Adoption Assistance?
Cases of Discrimination?
Recently, I have encountered three examples of county agencies essentially refusing to negotiate Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Agreements with parents who are adopting special needs children in the care and custody of private adoption agencies. In one case, the agency set a payment limit of $350 per month and refused to consider a higher payment regardless of the child’s needs and the circumstances of the adoptive family.
As you recall, adoption assistance payments of $350 or less are covered entirely with federal and state funds. The county agencies in these cases recognized that special needs children adopted through private agencies were eligible for adoption assistance, but resisted the commitment of county matching funds to children who were not in their care. At this writing, I don’t know if this practice is unfortunately becoming a multi-county trend.
County agencies have always harbored some resentment against having to negotiate adoption assistance agreements for children who were not in their care and custody. Parents adopting children through private agencies must apply for adoption assistance in their county of residence. In some instances, the child may be from another county.
Private agency adoptions involve fees that make them significantly more expensive than public agency adoptions. This may give rise to the notion that parents adopting through public agencies are generally affluent and therefore less in need of support through adoption assistance.
Do federal and state law permit county agencies to discriminate against private agency adoptions in the negotiation of adoption assistance agreements?
No, if a child is eligible, federal and state law make no distinctions between children adopted through public and private agencies. In both cases, negotiation of adoption assistance is to be based on a consideration of the child’s needs and the circumstances of the adoptive parents.
Section 8.2D.4, the federal Child Welfare Policy Manual applies to all eligible children. Question 1 of Section 8.2D.4 explains,
. . . the amount of the adoption assistance payment is determined through the discussion and negotiation process between the adoptive parents and a representative of the title IV-E agency based upon the needs of the child and the circumstances of the family. The payment that is agreed upon should combine with the parents' resources to cover the ordinary and special needs of the child projected over an extended period of time and should cover anticipated needs, e.g., child care. Anticipation and discussion of these needs are part of the negotiation of the amount of the adoption assistance payment.”
This comprehensive view of needs reflects the overriding goal of integrating the child into a permanent family. Parents are naturally concerned with providing food, shelter and clothing as well as any therapy a child might need. But needs must not be discussed in a vacuum.
Federal law and Section 8.2D.4, Question 3 of the federal Child Welfare Policy Manual emphasize the inclusion of the adoptive parents’ (family’s) overall circumstances as part of the negotiation of an agreement for a monthly adoption assistance payment. Question 3 states,
during the negotiation of an adoption assistance agreement, it is important to keep in mind that the circumstances of the adopting parents and the needs of the child must be considered together. The overall ability of a singular family to incorporate an individual child into the household is the objective.
The term family circumstances includes any factor or situation that affects the parents’ capacity to meet the child’s needs and to provide a permanent family. Examples include such things as:
Quitting a job in order to provide for a child’s extensive care needs.
Impending retirement and a fixed income
The need for specialized child care, especially in single parent adoptions.
Adjustments to accommodate the integration of additional children into a household.
Is discrimination against children being adopted through private agencies a legitimate issue for mediation and state administrative hearings?
Yes. The children in the cases I referred to above exhibit the same types of special needs profiles and extensive care needs as children in the permanent custody of county agencies. In those cases, however, the birthmother surrendered her children to a private agency instead of dealing with the public child welfare system.
Although it may not seem fair for a county agency to contribute some of its own funds to provide adoption assistance for children who are not in its care, discrimination against those innocent children is more unjust. As far as I know, private agency adoptions are still a tiny portion of the state’s adoption assistance caseload. Under Ohio’s adoption assistance program, parents adopting eligible special needs children have no choice but to negotiate adoption assistance payments through the public agency in their county of residence.