Summary: The State's Work Group to "Strengthen and Standardize" the Negotiation of Adoption Assistance
Modest Outcomes
Major Issues Remain to Be Addressed
As we noted a few posts ago, the work group convened by the state to “strengthen and stabilize” the negotiation of Title IV-E Adoption Assistance is on hiatus. In retrospect, tackling such a huge and multifaceted task proved to be decidedly premature. Developing a new model for negotiating adoption assistance in Ohio rests on other major decisions that have not been made, involving foster care and state and county financing of Title IV-E Adoption Assistance and Foster Care.
Should There Be Statewide Foster Care Payment Categories?
No decisions have been made regarding the county-by-county variations in Ohio’s foster care categories and foster care payment rates. Any attempt to establish more standardized adoption assistance rates must reckon with foster care rate schedules across Ohio.
Will Ohio move toward statewide “tiered” foster care categories based on a child’s level of care and the caregiver’s responsibilities?
Will statewide foster care payment standards be based on the foster care category that applies to the child? For example: Let’s imagine all children in “Category 4 would receive foster care payments of $1,200 per month.
Should There Be Changes in State and County Funding for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Payments?
No decisions have been made regarding changes in the state’s and counties’ financial participation rates for foster care and adoption assistance payments.
For the remainder of this Federal Fiscal Year (September 30, 2024), federal funding will cover 64.30% of each Title IV-E Adoption Assistance and Foster Care Maintenance payment.
The state covers the non-federal portion (35.70%) of the first $350 of each adoption assistance payment, or $124.95.
County agencies are responsible for the non-federal portion (35.70%) of the remainder of each adoption assistance payment over $350.
County agencies cover the entire non-federal portion of IV-E Foster Care Maintenance payments.
Will the state assume more financial responsibility for the non-federal portion of adoption assistance and/or foster care?
Will the state raise its share of the non-federal portion of adoption assistance payments from the first $350 to the first $500 or higher?
Establishing “tiered” foster care and adoption assistance rates without increasing the state’s financial participation seems a highly unlikely prospect.
In Summary, What Were the Outcomes of the Work Group’s Deliberations?
The recommendations of the work group were fairly modest. They included,
Adding a Rule Requiring “Good Faith” Negotiations of Adoption Assistance
The work group defined “Negotiating in Good Faith” as follows:
It means that the custodial agency and the prospective adoptive parents are collaborating in a way that recognizes them as equal partners in the adoption process, where both are attending scheduled meetings, returning calls and emails within five business days, completing and/or submitting any needed information or documentation timely, and requesting mediation, state hearings, and administrative appeals pursuant to the timeframes listed in the relevant sections of the Administrative Code.
Tim’s Comment: A very good recommendation. I suggested adding language emphasizing the requirement for a detailed discussion of the child’s needs and family circumstances as they pertain to the incorporation of the child into a permanent adoptive family. The absence of a dialogue with an agency decisionmaker is a widespread problem across many Ohio counties.
Recommendation: Increasing Reimbursement of Non-Recurring Costs to a maximum of $2,000
Tim’s Comment: I support this.
Recommendation: Develop a Guidance Document Containing Best Practices for Adoption Subsidy Disclosure and Negotiation Procedures
Tim’s Comment: A comprehensive guide could be quite helpful and help to encourage better practices in the negotiation of adoption assistance among Ohio counties. Any guide produced in the near future would have to be based on the adoption assistance program as it currently exists. I wouldn’t expect any publication until sometime in 2025.
Recommendation: Eliminate the “State Maximum” Adoption Assistance Payment of $1,160 per month
Tim’s Comment: I strongly agree. The so-called “State Maximum” is not actually in effect anyway. It might as well be eliminated. The foster care rate is the federal maximum.
Recommendation: Make $350 a Minimum Adoption Assistance Payment
Tim’s Comment: I agree, but I believe that the state must increase its financial participation in the adoption assistance program. As most of you know, county agencies pay $0 for any adoption assistance payment up to $350 a month. Agencies often use “we have to start at $0” as a tactic for using small $50 increments as a means of keeping adoption assistance as low as practically possible. Both parties should focus on the use of adoption assistance to help incorporate the children into a permanent families.
Both agencies and parents use more extreme numbers as a negotiation tactic because they don’t trust each other. In most cases, an adoption assistance payment of $350 a month would be hundreds of dollars less than the child’s foster care payment. Managing budgets by pressuring parents to accept inadequately low adoption assistance payments is hardly the basis for an exemplary adoption assistance program. If some county agencies are reluctant to agree with this recommendation, state and county funding for IV-E programs should re-examined.