ADOPTION SUBSIDIES EXPOSED
A mere 'bag of shells' compared to American Standards by Kerry Semon, Pound Pup Legacy - http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/18618#comment-4124
Over the past few years, I have been weaned into the TRUE stories behind adoption-practices. The incentives given to everyone BUT the child is staggering. Allow me to introduce what takes place in the USA:
After the adoption is finalized, the State and federal subsidies continue. The adoptive parents may collect cash subsidies until the child is 18. If the child stays in school, subsidies continue to the age of 22. There are State funded subsidies as well as federal funds through the Title IV-E section of the Social Security Act. The daily rate for State funds is the same as the foster care payments, which range from $410-$486 per month per child. Unless the child can be designated "special needs," which of course, they all can.
According to the NAATRIN State Subsidy profile from DSS, "special needs" may be defined as: "Physical disability, mental disability, emotional disturbance; a significant emotional tie with the foster parents where the child has resided with the foster parents for one or more years and separation would adversely affect the child’s development if not adopted by them." [But their significant emotional ties with their parents, since birth, never enter the equation.]
Additional "special needs" designations are: a child twelve years of age or older; racial or ethnic factors; child having siblings or half-siblings. In their report on the State of the Children, Boston’s Institute for Children says: "In part because the States can garner extra federal funds for special needs children the designation has been broadened so far as to become meaningless." "Special needs" children may also get an additional Social Security check.
The adoptive parents also receive Medicaid for the child, a clothing allowance and reimbursement for adoption costs such as adoption fees, court and attorney fees, cost of adoption home study, and "reasonable costs of food and lodging for the child and adoptive parents when necessary to complete the adoption process." Under Title XX of the Social Security Act adoptive parents are also entitled to post adoption services "that may be helpful in keeping the family intact," including "daycare, specialized daycare, respite care, in-house support services such as housekeeping, and personal care, counseling, and other child welfare services". [Wow! Everything short of being knighted by the Queen!]
The subsidy profile actually states that it does not include money to remodel the home to accommodate the child. But, as subsidies can be negotiated, remodeling could possibly be accomplished under the "innovative incentives to remove barriers to adoption" section. The subsidy regulations read that "adoption assistance is based solely on the needs of the child without regard to the income of the family." What an interesting government policy when compared to the welfare program that the same child’s mother may have been on before losing her children, and in which she may not own anything, must prove that she has no money in the bank; no boats, real estate, stocks or bonds; and cannot even own a car that is safe to drive worth over $1000. This is all so she can collect $539 per month for herself and two children. The foster parent who gets her children gets $820 plus. We spit on the mother on welfare as a parasite who is bleeding the taxpayers, yet we hold the foster and adoptive parents [who are bleeding ten times as much from the taxpayers] up as saints. The adoptive and foster parents aren’t subjected to psychological evaluations, ink blot tests, MMPI’s, drug & alcohol evaluations, or urine screens as the parents are.
Adoption subsidies may be negotiated on a case by case basis. [ Anyone ever tried to "negotiate" with the Welfare Department?] There are many e-mail lists and books published to teach adoptive parents how to negotiate to maximize their subsidies. As one pro writes on an e-mail list: "We receive a subsidy for our kids of $1,900 per month plus another $500 from the State of Florida. We are trying to adopt three more teens and we will get subsidies for them, too. It sure helps out with the bills."
I can’t help but wonder why we don’t give this same level of support to the children’s parents in the first place? According to Cornell University, about 68% of all child protective cases "do not involve child maltreatment." The largest percentage of CPS/DSS cases are for "deprivation of necessities" due to poverty. So, if the natural parents were given the incredible incentives and services listed above that are provided to the adoptive parents, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the causes for removing children in the first place would be eliminated? How many less children would enter foster care in the first place? The child protective budget would be reduced from $12 billion to around $4 billion. Granted, tens of thousands of social workers, administrators, lawyers, juvenile court personnel, therapists, and foster parents would be out of business, but we would have safe, healthy, intact families, which are the foundation of any society. http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
More disturbing is the discussion found here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080514145940AAf41hl, as it discusses the Child Tax Credit used by "qualified individuals".
Yes, it takes money to keep money, doesn't it?
http://www.amfor.net/subsidies.html
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
This article is very one-sided; it paints all foster parents (sometimes called resource parents) as money-grubbing people, essentially stealing children from poor, innocent parents who've done nothing wrong except to be poor. It also seems to be using extreme dollar amounts that are garnered by the foster parents. Let me give you another view. I'm a divorced grandmother, in my 50's. I work 40+ hours a week and sometimes more. My adult daughter has taken her cues from her father, who conveniently is no longer anywhere to be found in the last ten years or so. Let's look at one such case in a little bit more detail. My daughter has fought alcohol-and-drug related emotional issues, including drug/alcohol issues, for years, refusing counseling and often lying to counseling when she reluctantly went. Every now and then, she starts to appear to pull herself together, but then she stops and goes even deeper into her addictions, worse than before. I had hopes when she got pregnant with a second child by a different man that the first child's father that she might start to settle down - but that settling down didn't last. She tested positive for drugs at the baby's birth and then restarted drinking worse than ever before - to the point that her new husband, the baby's father called CPS himself on her, claiming both neglect and abuse to the baby and to her other child. I had no idea, because up to the moment that he made the call, he'd been claiming she was doing much better, was in therapy, drinking was controlled, etc. Well, CPS came in, and found evidence that neither were capable parents. Neither had worked in more than two years (I had been suckered into paying their rent for two years while they had excuse after excuse of why neither could work at all), the nearly 8-year-old child had never been sent to school (they claimed they were homeschooling - but never had registered with the district - and the child tested at the pre-k level for skills), both were refusing therapy. I've watched the caseworker during this time offer every level of help possible.. my adult child will say no one is willing to help her, but when anyone offers help, such as getting insurance, getting housing (she's finally been evicted), getting into a job-training program or therapy, she refuses. As far as me, as a foster parent, getting rich off her child... I have to pay full-fare for day care and before/after school care - our county does not assist with that. The cost of daycare, just daycare alone, exceeds the monthly stipend I get. I drive her to weekly medical appointments as well as weekly therapy appointments, I've taken time off from work to get her the medical and dental care that her parents denied her. I take care of all kinds of miscellaneous expenses, such as new-school-year required supplies ($50), activity fees ($110/month for one), summer school fee ($250), camp ($375), an endless barrage of school, daycare and scouting fundraisers, where if I don't "chip in", she'd be left out, so I chip in. We just upgraded her bed from the older guest-bedroom mattress/box-spring ($700). While lunches at school are free for her, snacks are not, so she has an account to draw from at school for snacks - and that account is funded by me. When CPS started supervised visits, I was called and told that she had no way to the meeting place, which was a 20-minute walk from her home (and an hour's drive for me), so I had to pay her taxi-fare to get to/from the supervised visitation. She refuses to do case planning with the caseworker... and walks right by their office into the liquor store, several times a week. In the meantime, neither parent bothers to even send the child a birthday card, or a gift for Christmas. In fact, we put together a holiday gift basket for the child's half-sibling. We found out from the baby's father, my "poor innocent" adult child took the gifts, sold them for whatever she could, and went on another drinking binge with the money.
ReplyDeleteI am extremely happy that you are being allowed to raise your Grandchild. Many of us are never given the chance.
ReplyDeleteAs a Grandparent, I don't believe this article pertains to Grandparents raising Grandchildren. Grandparent's NEVER get the help Foster stranger's get. The Foster strangers are the "Chosen" by the State, can do no wrong, brown nosed and yes, many are money hungry. When children are placed with relatives, CPS loses money. Therefore grandparents aren't given the money and the perks the strangers get.
It is a breath of fresh air to me to read this blog. I was researching adoption subsidy programs and happened upon it. My children were taking from their father while I was incarcerated for 18 months over 2 grams of marijuana. Once I was released from prison I was give 7 months to have a stable home job and reintegrate. During these seven months I worked as a caregiver for my Grandfather who was the only father I have ever known. He passes away two months after my release and one month later the father of my children did from a drug overdose. I began a downward spiral of depression and regressing into my addiction again. After only 7 months of freedom from prison my rights were severed and my children were adopted. The adoptive family separated my children illegally into two different homes. The agency that covered the adoption obviously knew of this arrangement but because the perspective adoptive parents had the same exact charge I was sentenced to prison for on their record and could'nt adopt they manipulated the system and ended up with my daughter anyway. Now my children are in the same school district have the same last name but do not know they are siblings. Oh did I mention the worst part the adoptive father is currently facing charges for sodomizing my four year old son. Child Protective Service's??? Please what a joke while I will admit my lifestyle was not good my children were never put in harms way. Now they receive and adoption subsidy payment and SSI due to the loss of their father. My mother was not in the position nor did she try to become able to care for my children. I am allowed minimal contact with them from time to time depending on how much butt I kiss. Since I have moved out of this corrupt area and started over 2 years ago I am a junior in college with a 3.6 GPA have two more children who have never had so much as a sniffle and are testing in the 150th percentile for their ages. Families and friends should take more of an interest in the obvious corruption and money making profit of our children. I thank you for standing up and saying things that need to be said!
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