The Role of Foster Care Payment Rates in Adoption Assistance Agreements in Four States

Wisconsin, Kentucky, New York and Washington

The enormous gap between family foster care payments and adoption assistance in Ohio, has existed for decades both within counties and between counties across the state. A number of individual families, through well-informed persistence and use of mediation, have managed to narrow the disparity, but it remains a systemic problem.

As the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ (ODJFS) recently constituted Adoption Assistance Negotiation Process Work Group investigates ways of addressing the myriad inconsistencies in the operation of the adoption assistance program, the disparity between foster care and adoption assistance payments immediately comes to mind.

It appears that several states have moved in the direction of greater parity between foster care payments and adoption assistance. These states use different procedures and instruments, but one common denominator is establishing different categories of foster payments based on levels of care and parental responsibility. The foster care payment rate schedules directly effect adoption assistance payments. Here are some examples.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has three statewide foster care categories and corresponding payment schedules: regular, supplemental and exceptional. The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment or CANS instrument is used to identify specialized foster care categories. The initial Adoption Assistance Agreement is then based on the child’s foster care payment. The maximum monthly foster care rate is $2,000, which, of course, is also the maximum adoption assistance payment rate.

Kentucky

Kentucky has statewide foster care categories and corresponding foster care payment schedules. Adoption assistance payments reflect the child’s foster care payments, including the two higher level of care categories: care plus and medically fragile.

New York

New York has three foster care placement categories: hard to place, handicapped and exceptional and, as of the Summer of 2023, was developing an extraordinary foster care category. Each foster care category had its corresponding payment schedule and children’s initial adoption assistance payments reflected what they received in foster care. New York’s “Metro” foster care payment schedules for New York City are somewhat higher than its “Upstate” rates.

Washington

The State of Washington’s monthly adoption assistance payments are negotiated. The adoption assistance payment is capped at a percentage of the child’s foster care payment rate. Beginning in July, 2017, adoption assistance payment schedules broke down as follows.

Ages 0 – 4 years old, up to 80% of the foster care rate

Ages 5 – 9 years old, up to 90% of the foster care rate

Ages 10 – 18 years old, up to 95% of the foster care rate.

At this point, I don’t know if a Washington child’s initial adoption assistance agreement typically matches the maximum percentage of their foster care payments.

NOTE: All states, in accordance with federal law must have provisions for amending initial adoption assistance agreements. The use of the term “initial” adoption assistance agreement here is used to emphasize how the state’s adoption assistance payment rates are based on its foster care payment categories. I have not gotten into the amendment process.

Once again, in an effort to make the negotiation of adoption assistance more consistent and to bring adoption assistance into parity with foster care payments, Ohio must address the lack of uniformity among its county agencies.

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