NEW HAMPSHIRE
RATES UPDATED DECEMBER 2005
ALL COUNTIES ARE PAYING SAME STATE RATE
NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
6 HAZEN DRIVE
CONCORD NEW HAMPSHIRE 03301
603-271-4708
FAX: 603-271-4729
ICPC CONTACT: LINDA BOMBACI
REGULAR DAILY RATES
AGE DAILY RATE
0-5YRS 12.87
6-11 14.02
12-17 16.55
Max of 10 days: Max of 5 days:
SPECIALIZED FOSTER CARE EMERGENCY FOSTER CARE CRISIS FOSTER CARE
AGE DAILY RATE DAILY RATE DAILY RATE
0-5YRS 19.32 33.08 38.08
6-11 21.03 33.08 38.08
12-17 24.81 33.08 38.08
SUPPLEMENTAL FOSTER CARE
DAILY RATE
LEVEL 1 7.01
LEVEL 2 14.02
LEVEL 3 21.03
LEVEL 4 35.95
ANNUAL CLOTHING INITIAL CLOTHING
ALL AGES $.85 daily rate ALL AGES $50. First time in placement
SPECIAL OCCASION ALLOWANCES
(1) In addition to the daily board and care rate, a child in foster care receives funds for his or her birthday, back to school in August, and holiday celebrations in December.
(2) The special occasion allowances are paid to the foster parents to purchase gifts, toys, or extra clothing for the child.
(3) The following table reflects the payment amounts:
Birth - 5 years 6 - 10 years 11 - 13 years 14 - 18 years
Birthday $50.00 $75.00 $75.00 $75.00
Back to School $50.00 $50.00 $75.00 $ 100.00
Holiday $50.00 $50.00 $50.00 $50.00
Nationwide Foster Care Rates: http://dcfs.co.la.ca.us/policy/hndbook%20fce/E070/NationalRates.htm
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
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Adoption Incentive Payments
BROWSE FEDERAL GRANTS
Adoption Incentive Payments (93.603)
Program
93.603 Adoption Incentive Payments
Federal Agency
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Administration for Children and Families
Authorization
Social Security Act, Title IV-E, Section 473A; as amended.
Program Number
93.603
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
To provide incentives to States to increase annually the number of foster child adoptions, special needs adoptions, and older child adoptions.
Types of Assistance
FORMULA GRANTS
Uses and Use Restrictions
A State shall not expend an amount paid to the State under this grant except to provide to children of families any activity or service (including post-adoption services) that may be provided under Part B or E of Title IV of the Social Security Act. Amounts expended by a State in accordance with the preceding sentence shall be disregarded in determining State expenditures for purposes of Federal matching payments under Sections 423, 434, and 474 of the Social Security Act.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
Applications are not required. The States, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, may receive payments. The Children's Bureau shall determine the numbers of foster child adoptions, the special needs adoptions, and the older child adoption in a State on the basis of AFCARS data as reported by each State and accepted by the Children's Bureau no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions were finalized (i.e., the "earning year").
Beneficiary Eligibility
Beneficiaries are those children and families eligible under Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, as amended.
Credentials/Documentation
The Children's bureau shall determine the numbers of foster child adoptions, the special needs adoptions, and the older child adoptions, as well as the highest ever foster child adoption rate in a State on the basis of data reported by each State to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data and accepted by the Children's Bureau no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions were finalized (i.e., the "earning year"). OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure
OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. States are automatic applicants.
Award Procedure
Incentive payments will be issued annually, in the fiscal year subsequent to the earning year. Payment will be based on AFCARS data submitted no later than May 15 of the fiscal year following the earning year. AFCARS data must be accepted and approved by the Children's Bureau.
Deadlines
Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
AFCARS reports must be received no later than May 15 of subsequent fiscal years in order to be considered for incentive payments.
Appeals
Not Applicable.
Renewals
Each "earning year" (fiscal years 2008 - 2012), State adoption data received through AFCARS will be considered on its own merit.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
Statutory Formula:
Matching Requirements: The adoption incentive payment payable to a State for a fiscal year shall be equal to the sum of (a) $4,000, multiplied by the number of foster child adoptions in the State during the fiscal year which exceeds the base number of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year; (b) $8,000 multiplied by the number of foster child adoptions of children age 9 or older in the State during the fiscal year in which exceeds the base number of foster child adoption of children age 9 or older for the State for the fiscal year; and (c) $4,000, multiplied by the number of special needs adoptions of children under age nine in the State during the fiscal year which exceeds the base number of special needs adoptions of children under age 9 for the State for the fiscal year, if the state receives a bonus under (a) or (b). Awards are pro-rated if insufficient funds are available to make the full awards. In addition, if funds remain available after making the above awards, a State is eligible to earn an additional incentive award by exceeding the highest ever foster child adoption rate in the State between FY 2002 and the immediately preceding fiscal year. The incentive is calculated by multiplying the State's highest ever foster child adoption rate times the number of children in foster care on the last day of the preceding fiscal year and subtracting that number from the number of foster child adoptions in the State in that fiscal year. That number is rounded to the nearest whole number and then multiplied by $1,000. There are no matching requirements for these funds.
This program does not have MOE requirements.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Payments to a State in a fiscal year shall remain available for use by the State through the end of the succeeding fiscal year. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: lump sum.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
States must identify in the Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) or Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) as applicable (due June 30 of each year), the services they have provided to children and families as a result of the expenditure of adoption incentive payments. Should more than one fiscal year's incentive funds be expended during a given reporting period, the report should reflect the services provided and identify the fiscal year's funds expended. PSC-272. No progress reports are required. Actual expenditures of incentive funds must be reported annually on Form SF- 269, Financial Status Report. Performance monitoring is not applicable.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. In accordance with 45 CFR 92.
Records
None.
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: Number of States to receive incentive awards is unknown. Fiscal Year 2011: No Current Data Available
Financial Information
Account Identification
75-1536-0-1-506.
Obligations
(Formula Grants) FY 08 $9,323,132; FY 09 est $36,500,000; FY 10 est $39,500,000
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
FY 08: For the FY 2007 earning year, 21 States earned incentive payments totaling $11.1 million, which $9.3 million paid in FY 08 and $1.8 million paid in FY 09. The awards ranged from $12,000 to $3,612,000 with an average award amount of $527,905 for qualifying States.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
ACYF-CB-PI-04-03, issued 03/23/04; ACYF-CB-PI-08-03, issued October 3, 2008.
Related Programs
93.556 Promoting Safe and Stable Families; 93.645 Child Welfare Services_State Grants; 93.658 Foster Care_Title IV-E; 93.659 Adoption Assistance
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
See Regional Agency Offices. ACF Children's Bureau Regional Child Welfare Program Managers.
Headquarters Office
Gail Collins Division of Program Implementation, Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 1250 Maryland Ave, SW, 8th Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20024 Phone: 202-205-8552
Web Site Address
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb.
Examples of Funded Projects
Not Applicable.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
All State Agencies are considered if the number of adoptions exceed the baseline number of adoptions.
Related Adoption Incentive Payments Federal Grants
Child Welfare Services-State Grants
Services to Victims of a Severe Form of Trafficking
Adoption Assistance
Education and Prevention to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless and Street Youth
Refugee and Entrant Assistance-Wilson/Fish Program
Other Department of Health and Human Services Agencies
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Aging
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Food and Drug Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration
Indian Health Service
National Institutes of Health
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office of Minority Health
Office of Population Affairs
Office of the Secretary
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
© 2004-2010 Federal Grants Wire, All Rights
http://www.federalgrantswire.com/adoption-incentive-payments.html
Adoption Incentive Payments (93.603)
Program
93.603 Adoption Incentive Payments
Federal Agency
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Administration for Children and Families
Authorization
Social Security Act, Title IV-E, Section 473A; as amended.
Program Number
93.603
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
To provide incentives to States to increase annually the number of foster child adoptions, special needs adoptions, and older child adoptions.
Types of Assistance
FORMULA GRANTS
Uses and Use Restrictions
A State shall not expend an amount paid to the State under this grant except to provide to children of families any activity or service (including post-adoption services) that may be provided under Part B or E of Title IV of the Social Security Act. Amounts expended by a State in accordance with the preceding sentence shall be disregarded in determining State expenditures for purposes of Federal matching payments under Sections 423, 434, and 474 of the Social Security Act.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
Applications are not required. The States, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, may receive payments. The Children's Bureau shall determine the numbers of foster child adoptions, the special needs adoptions, and the older child adoption in a State on the basis of AFCARS data as reported by each State and accepted by the Children's Bureau no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions were finalized (i.e., the "earning year").
Beneficiary Eligibility
Beneficiaries are those children and families eligible under Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, as amended.
Credentials/Documentation
The Children's bureau shall determine the numbers of foster child adoptions, the special needs adoptions, and the older child adoptions, as well as the highest ever foster child adoption rate in a State on the basis of data reported by each State to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data and accepted by the Children's Bureau no later than May 15 of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the adoptions were finalized (i.e., the "earning year"). OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure
OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. States are automatic applicants.
Award Procedure
Incentive payments will be issued annually, in the fiscal year subsequent to the earning year. Payment will be based on AFCARS data submitted no later than May 15 of the fiscal year following the earning year. AFCARS data must be accepted and approved by the Children's Bureau.
Deadlines
Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
AFCARS reports must be received no later than May 15 of subsequent fiscal years in order to be considered for incentive payments.
Appeals
Not Applicable.
Renewals
Each "earning year" (fiscal years 2008 - 2012), State adoption data received through AFCARS will be considered on its own merit.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
Statutory Formula:
Matching Requirements: The adoption incentive payment payable to a State for a fiscal year shall be equal to the sum of (a) $4,000, multiplied by the number of foster child adoptions in the State during the fiscal year which exceeds the base number of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year; (b) $8,000 multiplied by the number of foster child adoptions of children age 9 or older in the State during the fiscal year in which exceeds the base number of foster child adoption of children age 9 or older for the State for the fiscal year; and (c) $4,000, multiplied by the number of special needs adoptions of children under age nine in the State during the fiscal year which exceeds the base number of special needs adoptions of children under age 9 for the State for the fiscal year, if the state receives a bonus under (a) or (b). Awards are pro-rated if insufficient funds are available to make the full awards. In addition, if funds remain available after making the above awards, a State is eligible to earn an additional incentive award by exceeding the highest ever foster child adoption rate in the State between FY 2002 and the immediately preceding fiscal year. The incentive is calculated by multiplying the State's highest ever foster child adoption rate times the number of children in foster care on the last day of the preceding fiscal year and subtracting that number from the number of foster child adoptions in the State in that fiscal year. That number is rounded to the nearest whole number and then multiplied by $1,000. There are no matching requirements for these funds.
This program does not have MOE requirements.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Payments to a State in a fiscal year shall remain available for use by the State through the end of the succeeding fiscal year. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: lump sum.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
States must identify in the Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) or Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) as applicable (due June 30 of each year), the services they have provided to children and families as a result of the expenditure of adoption incentive payments. Should more than one fiscal year's incentive funds be expended during a given reporting period, the report should reflect the services provided and identify the fiscal year's funds expended. PSC-272. No progress reports are required. Actual expenditures of incentive funds must be reported annually on Form SF- 269, Financial Status Report. Performance monitoring is not applicable.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. In accordance with 45 CFR 92.
Records
None.
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: Number of States to receive incentive awards is unknown. Fiscal Year 2011: No Current Data Available
Financial Information
Account Identification
75-1536-0-1-506.
Obligations
(Formula Grants) FY 08 $9,323,132; FY 09 est $36,500,000; FY 10 est $39,500,000
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
FY 08: For the FY 2007 earning year, 21 States earned incentive payments totaling $11.1 million, which $9.3 million paid in FY 08 and $1.8 million paid in FY 09. The awards ranged from $12,000 to $3,612,000 with an average award amount of $527,905 for qualifying States.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
ACYF-CB-PI-04-03, issued 03/23/04; ACYF-CB-PI-08-03, issued October 3, 2008.
Related Programs
93.556 Promoting Safe and Stable Families; 93.645 Child Welfare Services_State Grants; 93.658 Foster Care_Title IV-E; 93.659 Adoption Assistance
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
See Regional Agency Offices. ACF Children's Bureau Regional Child Welfare Program Managers.
Headquarters Office
Gail Collins Division of Program Implementation, Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 1250 Maryland Ave, SW, 8th Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20024 Phone: 202-205-8552
Web Site Address
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb.
Examples of Funded Projects
Not Applicable.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
All State Agencies are considered if the number of adoptions exceed the baseline number of adoptions.
Related Adoption Incentive Payments Federal Grants
Child Welfare Services-State Grants
Services to Victims of a Severe Form of Trafficking
Adoption Assistance
Education and Prevention to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless and Street Youth
Refugee and Entrant Assistance-Wilson/Fish Program
Other Department of Health and Human Services Agencies
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Aging
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Food and Drug Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration
Indian Health Service
National Institutes of Health
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office of Minority Health
Office of Population Affairs
Office of the Secretary
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
© 2004-2010 Federal Grants Wire, All Rights
http://www.federalgrantswire.com/adoption-incentive-payments.html
HHS Awards $35 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 14, 2009
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401 9215
HHS Awards $35 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded $35 million to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. States use the funds from the adoption incentive award to enhance their programs for abused and neglected children.
“Adopting a child from foster care is a wonderful way to enrich any family’s life,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “We congratulate the states that performed so well this year and we thank the parents who are providing loving and permanent homes.”
The Adoption Incentives program was created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The original program authorized incentive funds to states that increased the number of children adopted from foster care. In order to get payments, states had to increase the number of children adopted relative to baseline data.
Under the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), the adoption incentives were revamped to provide stronger incentives for states to redouble their efforts to find children – particularly older children and children with special needs – loving adoptive homes. In addition, the law introduced the concept of an adoption rate, which is derived from comparing current year adoptions to the number of children in care at the end of the previous year. States receive additional money if they exceed their highest foster child adoption rate for previous years back to 2002. The Adoption Incentive program gives states $4,000 for every foster child adopted above their 2007 baseline, plus a payment of $8,000 for every foster child age nine and older and $4,000 for every other special needs child adopted above the respective baselines. In addition, states receive $1,000 for every foster child adopted over and above the level of the state’s highest foster child adoption rate for previous years.
“We are pleased with the positive results states have achieved under the new adoption incentive guidelines,” said David Hansell, acting assistant secretary for children and families. “Older children with special needs are the hardest to find homes for, but they are especially deserving of the safety and stability of an adoptive family.”
States receiving today’s funding are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Puerto Rico also qualified for an incentive award.
A list of each state’s adoption incentive award amount can be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/fy09_adoption_incentive_awards.htm.
###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Last revised: November 17, 2009
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/09/20090914a.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 14, 2009
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401 9215
HHS Awards $35 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded $35 million to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. States use the funds from the adoption incentive award to enhance their programs for abused and neglected children.
“Adopting a child from foster care is a wonderful way to enrich any family’s life,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “We congratulate the states that performed so well this year and we thank the parents who are providing loving and permanent homes.”
The Adoption Incentives program was created as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The original program authorized incentive funds to states that increased the number of children adopted from foster care. In order to get payments, states had to increase the number of children adopted relative to baseline data.
Under the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), the adoption incentives were revamped to provide stronger incentives for states to redouble their efforts to find children – particularly older children and children with special needs – loving adoptive homes. In addition, the law introduced the concept of an adoption rate, which is derived from comparing current year adoptions to the number of children in care at the end of the previous year. States receive additional money if they exceed their highest foster child adoption rate for previous years back to 2002. The Adoption Incentive program gives states $4,000 for every foster child adopted above their 2007 baseline, plus a payment of $8,000 for every foster child age nine and older and $4,000 for every other special needs child adopted above the respective baselines. In addition, states receive $1,000 for every foster child adopted over and above the level of the state’s highest foster child adoption rate for previous years.
“We are pleased with the positive results states have achieved under the new adoption incentive guidelines,” said David Hansell, acting assistant secretary for children and families. “Older children with special needs are the hardest to find homes for, but they are especially deserving of the safety and stability of an adoptive family.”
States receiving today’s funding are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Puerto Rico also qualified for an incentive award.
A list of each state’s adoption incentive award amount can be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/fy09_adoption_incentive_awards.htm.
###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Last revised: November 17, 2009
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/09/20090914a.html
Detailed Information on the Adoption Incentives Assessment
Detailed Information on the
Adoption Incentives Assessment
View this program’s assessment summary.
Visit ExpectMore.gov to learn more about how Federal Government programs are assessed and their plans for improvement.
Learn more about detailed assessments.
Program Code 10003500
Program Title Adoption Incentives
Department Name Dept of Health & Human Service
Agency/Bureau Name Administration for Children and Families
Program Type(s) Block/Formula Grant
Assessment Year 2005
Assessment Rating Adequate
Assessment Section Scores Section Score
Program Purpose & Design 100%
Strategic Planning 62%
Program Management 78%
Program Results/Accountability 16%
Program Funding Level
(in millions) FY2008 $4
FY2009 $4
Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Program Performance Measures
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009. Milestone to be completed September 2009.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
2006 Developing an efficiency measure, which ties more closely to the program's goals.
Completed OMB approved the following efficiency measure in May 2006: "Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child."
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Encourage more timely adoptions, resulting in reduced adoption assistance administrative costs, by incorporating into the new Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) composite measures components addressing "Progress Toward Adoption of Children Who Are Legally Free for Adoption" and "Exits to Permanency for Children with TPR" (termination of parental rights), and begin using composites in second round of CFSRs.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Report FY05 adoption numbers/rate and assess whether current adoption targets are appropriate.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Complete 2nd round of Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR) in 14 states.
Completed Milestone completed September 2007.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Launch Spanish-language component of the national adoption PSA campaign to promote the adoption of children nine and older.
Completed Milestone completed December 2007.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008.
Completed Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008. Milestone to be completed September 2008.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
Program Performance Measures
Term Type
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Increase the adoption rate.
Explanation:The program will replace the absolute adoption measure with an adoption rate measure. Adoption rate is defined as the number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. Updated 11/7/05. Language of measure changed from "Increase adoption rate to 10% by FY 2008" to "Increase adoption rate from 9.4% in FY 2003 to 10% by FY 2008." based on the FY07 budget submission. This measure is currently under appeal with OMB; a decision is pending. Also, years were out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order.
Year Target Actual
2003 58,500 9.67% (50,000)
2004 53,0005 10.22% (52,000)
2005 Baseline 10.26% (52,000)
2006 9.85% 9.91%
2007 9.90% 10.00%
2008 10.00% Oct-09
2009 10.10% Oct-10
2010 10.20% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013 10.50% Oct-14
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Decrease the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015.
Explanation:In FY 2003, the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted was 17 percentage points. An incentive to address this issue was added to the legislation as of the FY 2003 earning year. This measure will assess whether or not this new incentive is achieving its purpose. Updated 11/7/05. Years out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order. Data for FY 2006 will be available in October 2007. There are no results to report at this time.
Year Target Actual
2005 Baseline 15.7%
2006 16.7% 16.4%
2007 15.2% 16.8%
2008 13.7% Oct-09
2009 12.2% Oct-10
2010 10.7% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 1.4% Oct-16
Annual Efficiency Measure: Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child.
Explanation:This efficiency measure sets annual targets to demonstrate improved efficiency through a gradual reduction in the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child. This is calculated by total computable claims submitted by states on the IV-E-1 for administrative costs divided by the average monthly number of children receiving Adoption Assistance maintenance payments.
Year Target Actual
2001 Pre-baseline $1,951
2002 Pre-baseline $1,833
2003 Pre-baseline $1,678
2004 Baseline $1,627
2005 $1,598 $1,560
2006 $1,566 $1,674
2007 $1,535 $1,777
2008 $1,504 Oct-09
2009 -2% under prev actl Oct-10
2010 -2% under prev actl Oct-11
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design
Number Question Answer Score
1.1 Is the program purpose clear?
Explanation: The purpose of the Adoption Incentives Program is to encourage states to find permanent homes for children in the public foster care system through adoptions. The program provides financial incentives to states that increase the number of adoptions over the baselines in the following categories: 1) adoptions from the public foster care system ($4,000 per child), 2) adoptions of children with special needs under age nine ($2,000 per child), and 3) adoptions of older children, ages nine and older ($4,000 per child). While the number of adoptions in each of the three categories in FY 2002 served as the original baseline, the baseline has adjusted to reflect increases in the number of adoptions over the years.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.2 Does the program address a specific and existing problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: The program addresses the problem of "foster care drift," which describes children lingering in foster care without ever achieving permanency. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) the average length of stay in foster care was 22 months in FY 2003. Between FY 1998 and FY 2003, the proportion of children ages 9 and older waiting to be adopted increased from 39% to 49% while the proportion of children ages 9 and older who were adopted remained less than one third. Also, the average age of children waiting to be adopted increased from 7.8 to 8.7, and close to 8% of all children were emancipated from care and did not achieve permanency.
Evidence: Analysis of data available as of August 2004 from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 20%
1.3 Is the program designed so that it is not redundant or duplicative of any other Federal, state, local or private effort?
Explanation: This is the only Federal program that rewards adoptions with a bonus payment. The adoption incentives payments may be used toward allowable activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act, including the following: 1) recruiting adoptive families; 2) conducting home studies for foster care and adoptive families; 3) providing post-adoption services: and 4) promoting reunification through such services as mental health, parent training, and drug treatment. No such program exists with the adoption bonus design to incentivize more difficult adoptions at the state and local governments nor private and non-profit sectors,
Evidence: Social Security Act. Title IV-B: Child and Family Services and Title IV-E: Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance.
YES 20%
1.4 Is the program design free of major flaws that would limit the program's effectiveness or efficiency?
Explanation: There is no evidence that another approach or mechanism would be more efficient or effective to achieve the intended purpose. The adoption bonus payments serve as a strong incentive for states in encouraging adoptions and supp
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.5 Is the program design effectively targeted so that resources will address the program's purpose directly and will reach intended beneficiaries?
Explanation: States are required to reinvest the adoption incentives bonus in the child welfare program for any services and activities allowable under title IV-B and title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Annual Program and Services Report (APSR) requires states to identify how the incentive funds were spent. State primarily use the funds for activities related to recruiting adoptive parents, providing staff training on adoption related issues, and providing post-adoption services.
Evidence: PI 05-04. Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 20%
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design Score 100%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning
Number Question Answer Score
2.1 Does the program have a limited number of specific long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?
Explanation: The program has a clear purpose to increase the number of adoption, with a particular emphasis on older children (ages 9 and older) and children with special needs. Currently, the program has a long term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008, as published in the FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan. The program proposes to replace the current measure with the following adoption rate measure: Number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. The program also proposes a new measure for decreasing the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015, which meaningfully support the program's purpose. Finally, the program does not propose a measure for special needs children under age nine, because they are already adopted at a higher proportion than they appear in the waiting population.
Evidence: Final FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan, Final Revised FY 2004 Performance Plan, and FY 2003 Annual Performance Report.
YES 12%
2.2 Does the program have ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term measures?
Explanation: A decrease in the adoption gap of older children by 15% in FY 2015 is an ambitious long-term target. However, the proposed long-term targets for the adoption rate measures are not sufficiently ambitious because the minimal incremental increases will result in a decrease in the actual annual number of adoptions. The proposed revised targets also fall significantly short of the original published adoption targets.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.3 Does the program have a limited number of specific annual performance measures that can demonstrate progress toward achieving the program's long-term goals?
Explanation: The long term measures also serve as the program's annual measure, which assesses incremental gains made in achieving the long term goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
YES 12%
2.4 Does the program have baselines and ambitious targets for its annual measures?
Explanation: The annual targets for the adoption rate measure are not sufficiently ambitious, because the actual number of annual adoptions would decrease from FY 2003 to FY 2008. The measure for decreasing the adoption gap for children ages 9 and older has a FY 2006 target of 16.7% whereas the FY 2003 actual gap was 16.9%. This is not ambitious since the FY 2006 target would essentially maintain the FY 2003 level for four years from FY 2003 to FY 2006.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.5 Do all partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?
Explanation: The program's bonus design ensures that partners work toward the common goal of increasing adoptions, especially adoptions of children for whom it is difficult to find a placement. State partners support the overall goal of the program, as evidenced by their participation in the Children Bureau's AdoptusKids project, which promotes the adoption of children waiting to be adopted and emphasizes adoptions of older children. State activities include the following: 1) listing children available for adoption on www.AdoptusKids.org; 2) establishing a recruitment response team, which responds to families inquiring about adoptions; 3) participation in technical assistance on issues such as working with the faith-based communities for effective recruitment strategies. Also, state partners measure and report performance information by submitting adoption data on a bi-annual basis through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
Evidence: 1) Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.; 2) HHS ACF Children's Bureau. www.AdoptusKids.org
YES 12%
2.6 Are independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality conducted on a regular basis or as needed to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness and relevance to the problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentives Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
2.7 Are Budget requests explicitly tied to accomplishment of the annual and long-term performance goals, and are the resource needs presented in a complete and transparent manner in the program's budget?
Explanation: ACF includes the budget request for Adoption Incentives in the annual Congressional Justification (CJ.) ACF submitted a fully integrated performance budget for the FY 2006 budget request (Performance Budget) with program performance summary information and results along with the core budget request information and budget tables. The budget request includes a crosswalk table with a presentation of performance summary information. The FY 2006 budget projection of $31,846,000, is the same as the FY 2005 enacted budget and enables the program to cover the incentives it gives to states during the fiscal year. These incentives, in turn, help realize the long-term performance measure of increasing the number of adoptions, as expected by the performance
Evidence: FY 2006 Administration for Children and Families Budget Justification.
YES 12%
2.8 Has the program taken meaningful steps to correct its strategic planning deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is a data-driven program. In FY 2003, analyses of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data resulted in significant amendments to the program during re-authorization. One significant change was the provision of a new incentive for the adoption of older children. Also, states had substantially increased the number of adoptions during the early years of the program so that it became increasingly difficult to exceed the baseline. For example, only 26 states earned a total of $15 million in FY 2002 versus the program's all time high of 44 states earning $51 million in FY 1999. The baselines have been reset in all categories of adoption incentives to correspond to the number of adoptions finalized in FY 2002.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108--145.; 2) Adoption Incentives payment history data from Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 12%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning Score 62%
Section 3 - Program Management
Number Question Answer Score
3.1 Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?
Explanation: The program collects Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data from states on a semi-annual basis. The program analyzes the data to determine trends in adoption, as well as monitor state's progress in meeting the old long-term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. In fact, upon developing acceptable performance measures, the program will use AFCARS data to collect baseline data. Also, analysis of AFCARS data led to adjustment of program priorities and informed the program's reauthorization. This included a new incentive for adoptions of older children and re-setting the baseline for determining incentive payments.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108-145. < thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR03182:|TOM:/bss/d108query.html>; 2) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.2 Are Federal managers and program partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?
Explanation: Federal managers of the Adoption Incentives program are held accountable for achieving results, as evidenced by the individual performance plans where satisfactory ratings are dependent on the program achieving the adoption targets. The performance plans also contain performance goals for conducting quality data assessment and analyses, and accurate calculation of adoption bonus payments. In addition, states must submit Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data in the required format and within the specified time frame to be eligible to earn bonuses. Throughout the year, the program updates states with reports of where they stand with the number of overall adoptions, adoptions of older children, and adoptions of children with special needs. States are held accountable, as the adoption data are made available in the Annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress. Also, the program holds states accountable through the on-site Child and Family Services Review and develops Program Improvement Plans for states where areas of deficiencies have been identified.
Evidence: 1) The ACF Assistant Secretary's performance contract; 2) Child Welfare Outcomes 2001 - Annual Report.; 3) Child and Family Services Reviews < www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/cwrp/>
YES 11%
3.3 Are funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner and spent for the intended purpose?
Explanation: Each year, adoption incentives funds are awarded prior to the end of the fiscal year. Upon receipt, states have up to two years to expend the funds and are required to submit Form 269, a financial status report, which shows the states' actual disbursements of funds. The first report is due to the ACF regional office 30 days after the end of the twelve-month budget period and the final report is due 90 days after the end of the fiscal year following the award year. Finally, states must spend the bonus for activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act and report this in the Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). To date, states have most commonly spent the incentives payments for activities pertaining to the recruitment of adoptive parents, staff training on adoption related issues, and post-adoption services.
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 11%
3.4 Does the program have procedures (e.g. competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements, appropriate incentives) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure for decreasing the subsequent submittals, or corrections of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) adoption data. States must submit AFCARS data by May 15 of the year following the earnings year. When states find errors in their data or fail to submit all of the adoptions that occurred during the earning year, they re-submit the data as subsequent submittals. This measure is weak, because it is process-oriented instead of outcome-oriented. Further, the efficiency measure does not tie to the program's goals of increasing adoptions and decreasing the adoption gap in older children. In other words, a decrease in subsequent submittals will not result in increased adoptions. Also, while the program may not have regular procedures such as competitive sourcing and IT consolidations, the program's design allows for efficiency. This is evidenced by less than 1 FTE dedicated to analyzing and making adoption incentives payments.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
3.5 Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs?
Explanation: All Federal adoption programs work together and each has a specific role in achieving the overarching goal of moving children to permanency through adoption. For example, the Adoption Opportunities program develops and tests innovative approaches to removing barriers to adoption. This includes demonstration projects for recruiting families for children awaiting adoption and recruitment strategies for adopting older children. On the other hand, Adoption Assistance provides one time and on-going financial assistance to families who adopt children from the foster care system. This program assures that adequate resources will be available to maintain the adopted child in the adoptive family, thereby removing the financial barriers to adoption. States are able to move children to successful adoptions by employing the innovative strategies developed by the Adoption Opportunities Program and by supporting families through the Adoption Assistance Program. Such innovations are disseminated through technical assistance resource centers, information clearinghouses, and AdoptUsKids. States who employ these innovations and result in increased adoptions, are awarded with the adoption incentives bonus. Also, the Children's Bureau management staff meet on a regular basis to ensure systematic coordination of the adoption activities and meetings are held several times a year with relevant grantees and contractors to facilitate the coordination. Finally, the actual number of adoptions is evidence of the results achieved by this collaboration.
Evidence: HHS ACF Children's Bureau. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act as Amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003.
YES 11%
3.6 Does the program use strong financial management practices?
Explanation: The program has financial management practices in place, as evidenced by the following: states that submit the financial status report, form #269, on an annual basis; a desk review of states' expenditures documents; and an on-site review by a regional financial management specialist. However, the program lacks evidence to certify that it has minimal erroneous payments, and did not have examples to demonstrated how it integrates financial and performance systems to support day-to-day operations. The program also pointed to a CFO audit where material weaknesses were identified for the Program Support Center, which provides services to the Adoption Incentives Program. The weakness was related to grant advance reporting, reconciliation and analysis, which has since been downgraded to a reportable condition.
Evidence: Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269
NO 0%
3.7 Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is heavily data driven, with bonuses determined solely from the AFCARS data that states submit electronically. The program identifies data quality-related issues as a key management challenge. For example, there are states that miss the May 15 deadline for submitting finalized adoptions, because they await the court documents for adoptions that actually occurred prior to May 15. Hence, states under-report the number of finalized adoption and do not receive the true bonus payments on a timely basis. While this may be out of the program's control, the program works to ensure high data quality by conducting a quality review to identify data inconsistencies, anomalies, and other issues upon receiving the initial state submissions. This includes detecting submission of duplicate adoptions with a de-duplication software and the state's finalized adoptions are adjusted downward. The program notifies states of the results of the data quality review and the Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology provides technical assistance in correcting data deficiencies.
Evidence: 1) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.BF1 Does the program have oversight practices that provide sufficient knowledge of grantee activities?
Explanation: The program oversees the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data system and the states' submission of the data. Data submitted by states are evaluated for duplication, inconsistencies, anomalies, completeness, and other quality issues. The program also provides oversight by collecting and analyzing Form #269 for states' disbursement of bonus funds and the Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) for states' use of the funds. Also, the ACF regional office conducts site visits and on-site reviews of case level data from the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004.; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). CITE LINK.; 4) Information on Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) reviews.; 5) Information on Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) reviews.
YES 11%
3.BF2 Does the program collect grantee performance data on an annual basis and make it available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner?
Explanation: The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) is the only data system that can be used to calculate bonuses. The AFCARS data, collected semi-annually, is used to determine bonuses to states. The program notifies states of bonus awards and HHS also makes a public announcement in a press release. As for the AFCARS data and report, they are disseminated through the Child Welfare Outcomes Report and are posted on the ACF website. AFCARS data is made available to the public at national child welfare conferences, and Cornell University's National Data Archives on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Evidence: 1) HHS Press Release. "HHS Awards $17,896,000 in Adoption Bonuses." Released October 14, 2004.; 2) HHS ACF Children's Bureau. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) ; 3) HHC ACF Children's Bureau. Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Report. ; 4) National Data Archives on Child Abuse and Neglect. Cornell University.
YES 11%
Section 3 - Program Management Score 78%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability
Number Question Answer Score
4.1 Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term performance goals?
Explanation: The adoption rate measure is another way of measuring the number of successful adoptions, in a ratio form. Hence, program can demonstrate progress by examining the absolute number of adoptions. The program's original long-term goal, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was to complete 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. However, the program proposes to revise this measure to 292,000 adoptions. While the proposed revised target is less ambitious than the original published long-term target, the program can demonstrate some progress made in achieving long-term goals by completing about 50,000 adoptions in FY 2003.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.2 Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?
Explanation: The program's original FY 2003 adoption target, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was 58,500. However, the program proposes to revise the target to 50,000, which the program achieved based on preliminary FY 2003 adoption data. While the program can demonstrate progress made in its annual target, it met the less ambitious revised annual goal and did not meet the original ambitious goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.3 Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure and at this time, it is not possible to assess improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
4.4 Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs, including government, private, etc., with similar purpose and goals?
Explanation: There are no comparable federal, state, local government, or private sector programs, which provide bonuses for successful adoptions.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentives.
NA 0%
4.5 Do independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentive Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability Score 16%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this program’s assessment summary.
Visit ExpectMore.gov to learn more about program assessment and improvement by the Federal Government.
Learn more about detailed assessments.
Last updated: 01092009.2005FALL
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/detail/10003500.2005.html
Adoption Incentives Assessment
View this program’s assessment summary.
Visit ExpectMore.gov to learn more about how Federal Government programs are assessed and their plans for improvement.
Learn more about detailed assessments.
Program Code 10003500
Program Title Adoption Incentives
Department Name Dept of Health & Human Service
Agency/Bureau Name Administration for Children and Families
Program Type(s) Block/Formula Grant
Assessment Year 2005
Assessment Rating Adequate
Assessment Section Scores Section Score
Program Purpose & Design 100%
Strategic Planning 62%
Program Management 78%
Program Results/Accountability 16%
Program Funding Level
(in millions) FY2008 $4
FY2009 $4
Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Program Performance Measures
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009. Milestone to be completed September 2009.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
2006 Developing an efficiency measure, which ties more closely to the program's goals.
Completed OMB approved the following efficiency measure in May 2006: "Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child."
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Encourage more timely adoptions, resulting in reduced adoption assistance administrative costs, by incorporating into the new Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) composite measures components addressing "Progress Toward Adoption of Children Who Are Legally Free for Adoption" and "Exits to Permanency for Children with TPR" (termination of parental rights), and begin using composites in second round of CFSRs.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Report FY05 adoption numbers/rate and assess whether current adoption targets are appropriate.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Complete 2nd round of Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR) in 14 states.
Completed Milestone completed September 2007.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Launch Spanish-language component of the national adoption PSA campaign to promote the adoption of children nine and older.
Completed Milestone completed December 2007.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008.
Completed Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008. Milestone to be completed September 2008.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
Program Performance Measures
Term Type
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Increase the adoption rate.
Explanation:The program will replace the absolute adoption measure with an adoption rate measure. Adoption rate is defined as the number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. Updated 11/7/05. Language of measure changed from "Increase adoption rate to 10% by FY 2008" to "Increase adoption rate from 9.4% in FY 2003 to 10% by FY 2008." based on the FY07 budget submission. This measure is currently under appeal with OMB; a decision is pending. Also, years were out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order.
Year Target Actual
2003 58,500 9.67% (50,000)
2004 53,0005 10.22% (52,000)
2005 Baseline 10.26% (52,000)
2006 9.85% 9.91%
2007 9.90% 10.00%
2008 10.00% Oct-09
2009 10.10% Oct-10
2010 10.20% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013 10.50% Oct-14
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Decrease the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015.
Explanation:In FY 2003, the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted was 17 percentage points. An incentive to address this issue was added to the legislation as of the FY 2003 earning year. This measure will assess whether or not this new incentive is achieving its purpose. Updated 11/7/05. Years out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order. Data for FY 2006 will be available in October 2007. There are no results to report at this time.
Year Target Actual
2005 Baseline 15.7%
2006 16.7% 16.4%
2007 15.2% 16.8%
2008 13.7% Oct-09
2009 12.2% Oct-10
2010 10.7% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 1.4% Oct-16
Annual Efficiency Measure: Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child.
Explanation:This efficiency measure sets annual targets to demonstrate improved efficiency through a gradual reduction in the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child. This is calculated by total computable claims submitted by states on the IV-E-1 for administrative costs divided by the average monthly number of children receiving Adoption Assistance maintenance payments.
Year Target Actual
2001 Pre-baseline $1,951
2002 Pre-baseline $1,833
2003 Pre-baseline $1,678
2004 Baseline $1,627
2005 $1,598 $1,560
2006 $1,566 $1,674
2007 $1,535 $1,777
2008 $1,504 Oct-09
2009 -2% under prev actl Oct-10
2010 -2% under prev actl Oct-11
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design
Number Question Answer Score
1.1 Is the program purpose clear?
Explanation: The purpose of the Adoption Incentives Program is to encourage states to find permanent homes for children in the public foster care system through adoptions. The program provides financial incentives to states that increase the number of adoptions over the baselines in the following categories: 1) adoptions from the public foster care system ($4,000 per child), 2) adoptions of children with special needs under age nine ($2,000 per child), and 3) adoptions of older children, ages nine and older ($4,000 per child). While the number of adoptions in each of the three categories in FY 2002 served as the original baseline, the baseline has adjusted to reflect increases in the number of adoptions over the years.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.2 Does the program address a specific and existing problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: The program addresses the problem of "foster care drift," which describes children lingering in foster care without ever achieving permanency. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) the average length of stay in foster care was 22 months in FY 2003. Between FY 1998 and FY 2003, the proportion of children ages 9 and older waiting to be adopted increased from 39% to 49% while the proportion of children ages 9 and older who were adopted remained less than one third. Also, the average age of children waiting to be adopted increased from 7.8 to 8.7, and close to 8% of all children were emancipated from care and did not achieve permanency.
Evidence: Analysis of data available as of August 2004 from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 20%
1.3 Is the program designed so that it is not redundant or duplicative of any other Federal, state, local or private effort?
Explanation: This is the only Federal program that rewards adoptions with a bonus payment. The adoption incentives payments may be used toward allowable activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act, including the following: 1) recruiting adoptive families; 2) conducting home studies for foster care and adoptive families; 3) providing post-adoption services: and 4) promoting reunification through such services as mental health, parent training, and drug treatment. No such program exists with the adoption bonus design to incentivize more difficult adoptions at the state and local governments nor private and non-profit sectors,
Evidence: Social Security Act. Title IV-B: Child and Family Services and Title IV-E: Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance.
YES 20%
1.4 Is the program design free of major flaws that would limit the program's effectiveness or efficiency?
Explanation: There is no evidence that another approach or mechanism would be more efficient or effective to achieve the intended purpose. The adoption bonus payments serve as a strong incentive for states in encouraging adoptions and supp
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.5 Is the program design effectively targeted so that resources will address the program's purpose directly and will reach intended beneficiaries?
Explanation: States are required to reinvest the adoption incentives bonus in the child welfare program for any services and activities allowable under title IV-B and title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Annual Program and Services Report (APSR) requires states to identify how the incentive funds were spent. State primarily use the funds for activities related to recruiting adoptive parents, providing staff training on adoption related issues, and providing post-adoption services.
Evidence: PI 05-04. Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 20%
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design Score 100%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning
Number Question Answer Score
2.1 Does the program have a limited number of specific long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?
Explanation: The program has a clear purpose to increase the number of adoption, with a particular emphasis on older children (ages 9 and older) and children with special needs. Currently, the program has a long term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008, as published in the FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan. The program proposes to replace the current measure with the following adoption rate measure: Number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. The program also proposes a new measure for decreasing the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015, which meaningfully support the program's purpose. Finally, the program does not propose a measure for special needs children under age nine, because they are already adopted at a higher proportion than they appear in the waiting population.
Evidence: Final FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan, Final Revised FY 2004 Performance Plan, and FY 2003 Annual Performance Report.
YES 12%
2.2 Does the program have ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term measures?
Explanation: A decrease in the adoption gap of older children by 15% in FY 2015 is an ambitious long-term target. However, the proposed long-term targets for the adoption rate measures are not sufficiently ambitious because the minimal incremental increases will result in a decrease in the actual annual number of adoptions. The proposed revised targets also fall significantly short of the original published adoption targets.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.3 Does the program have a limited number of specific annual performance measures that can demonstrate progress toward achieving the program's long-term goals?
Explanation: The long term measures also serve as the program's annual measure, which assesses incremental gains made in achieving the long term goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
YES 12%
2.4 Does the program have baselines and ambitious targets for its annual measures?
Explanation: The annual targets for the adoption rate measure are not sufficiently ambitious, because the actual number of annual adoptions would decrease from FY 2003 to FY 2008. The measure for decreasing the adoption gap for children ages 9 and older has a FY 2006 target of 16.7% whereas the FY 2003 actual gap was 16.9%. This is not ambitious since the FY 2006 target would essentially maintain the FY 2003 level for four years from FY 2003 to FY 2006.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.5 Do all partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?
Explanation: The program's bonus design ensures that partners work toward the common goal of increasing adoptions, especially adoptions of children for whom it is difficult to find a placement. State partners support the overall goal of the program, as evidenced by their participation in the Children Bureau's AdoptusKids project, which promotes the adoption of children waiting to be adopted and emphasizes adoptions of older children. State activities include the following: 1) listing children available for adoption on www.AdoptusKids.org; 2) establishing a recruitment response team, which responds to families inquiring about adoptions; 3) participation in technical assistance on issues such as working with the faith-based communities for effective recruitment strategies. Also, state partners measure and report performance information by submitting adoption data on a bi-annual basis through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
Evidence: 1) Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 12%
2.6 Are independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality conducted on a regular basis or as needed to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness and relevance to the problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentives Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
2.7 Are Budget requests explicitly tied to accomplishment of the annual and long-term performance goals, and are the resource needs presented in a complete and transparent manner in the program's budget?
Explanation: ACF includes the budget request for Adoption Incentives in the annual Congressional Justification (CJ.) ACF submitted a fully integrated performance budget for the FY 2006 budget request (Performance Budget) with program performance summary information and results along with the core budget request information and budget tables. The budget request includes a crosswalk table with a presentation of performance summary information. The FY 2006 budget projection of $31,846,000, is the same as the FY 2005 enacted budget and enables the program to cover the incentives it gives to states during the fiscal year. These incentives, in turn, help realize the long-term performance measure of increasing the number of adoptions, as expected by the performance
Evidence: FY 2006 Administration for Children and Families Budget Justification.
YES 12%
2.8 Has the program taken meaningful steps to correct its strategic planning deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is a data-driven program. In FY 2003, analyses of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data resulted in significant amendments to the program during re-authorization. One significant change was the provision of a new incentive for the adoption of older children. Also, states had substantially increased the number of adoptions during the early years of the program so that it became increasingly difficult to exceed the baseline. For example, only 26 states earned a total of $15 million in FY 2002 versus the program's all time high of 44 states earning $51 million in FY 1999. The baselines have been reset in all categories of adoption incentives to correspond to the number of adoptions finalized in FY 2002.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108--145.
YES 12%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning Score 62%
Section 3 - Program Management
Number Question Answer Score
3.1 Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?
Explanation: The program collects Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data from states on a semi-annual basis. The program analyzes the data to determine trends in adoption, as well as monitor state's progress in meeting the old long-term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. In fact, upon developing acceptable performance measures, the program will use AFCARS data to collect baseline data. Also, analysis of AFCARS data led to adjustment of program priorities and informed the program's reauthorization. This included a new incentive for adoptions of older children and re-setting the baseline for determining incentive payments.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108-145. < thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR03182:|TOM:/bss/d108query.html>; 2) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.2 Are Federal managers and program partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?
Explanation: Federal managers of the Adoption Incentives program are held accountable for achieving results, as evidenced by the individual performance plans where satisfactory ratings are dependent on the program achieving the adoption targets. The performance plans also contain performance goals for conducting quality data assessment and analyses, and accurate calculation of adoption bonus payments. In addition, states must submit Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data in the required format and within the specified time frame to be eligible to earn bonuses. Throughout the year, the program updates states with reports of where they stand with the number of overall adoptions, adoptions of older children, and adoptions of children with special needs. States are held accountable, as the adoption data are made available in the Annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress. Also, the program holds states accountable through the on-site Child and Family Services Review and develops Program Improvement Plans for states where areas of deficiencies have been identified.
Evidence: 1) The ACF Assistant Secretary's performance contract; 2) Child Welfare Outcomes 2001 - Annual Report.
YES 11%
3.3 Are funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner and spent for the intended purpose?
Explanation: Each year, adoption incentives funds are awarded prior to the end of the fiscal year. Upon receipt, states have up to two years to expend the funds and are required to submit Form 269, a financial status report, which shows the states' actual disbursements of funds. The first report is due to the ACF regional office 30 days after the end of the twelve-month budget period and the final report is due 90 days after the end of the fiscal year following the award year. Finally, states must spend the bonus for activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act and report this in the Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). To date, states have most commonly spent the incentives payments for activities pertaining to the recruitment of adoptive parents, staff training on adoption related issues, and post-adoption services.
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 11%
3.4 Does the program have procedures (e.g. competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements, appropriate incentives) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure for decreasing the subsequent submittals, or corrections of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) adoption data. States must submit AFCARS data by May 15 of the year following the earnings year. When states find errors in their data or fail to submit all of the adoptions that occurred during the earning year, they re-submit the data as subsequent submittals. This measure is weak, because it is process-oriented instead of outcome-oriented. Further, the efficiency measure does not tie to the program's goals of increasing adoptions and decreasing the adoption gap in older children. In other words, a decrease in subsequent submittals will not result in increased adoptions. Also, while the program may not have regular procedures such as competitive sourcing and IT consolidations, the program's design allows for efficiency. This is evidenced by less than 1 FTE dedicated to analyzing and making adoption incentives payments.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
3.5 Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs?
Explanation: All Federal adoption programs work together and each has a specific role in achieving the overarching goal of moving children to permanency through adoption. For example, the Adoption Opportunities program develops and tests innovative approaches to removing barriers to adoption. This includes demonstration projects for recruiting families for children awaiting adoption and recruitment strategies for adopting older children. On the other hand, Adoption Assistance provides one time and on-going financial assistance to families who adopt children from the foster care system. This program assures that adequate resources will be available to maintain the adopted child in the adoptive family, thereby removing the financial barriers to adoption. States are able to move children to successful adoptions by employing the innovative strategies developed by the Adoption Opportunities Program and by supporting families through the Adoption Assistance Program. Such innovations are disseminated through technical assistance resource centers, information clearinghouses, and AdoptUsKids. States who employ these innovations and result in increased adoptions, are awarded with the adoption incentives bonus. Also, the Children's Bureau management staff meet on a regular basis to ensure systematic coordination of the adoption activities and meetings are held several times a year with relevant grantees and contractors to facilitate the coordination. Finally, the actual number of adoptions is evidence of the results achieved by this collaboration.
Evidence: HHS ACF Children's Bureau. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act as Amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003.
YES 11%
3.6 Does the program use strong financial management practices?
Explanation: The program has financial management practices in place, as evidenced by the following: states that submit the financial status report, form #269, on an annual basis; a desk review of states' expenditures documents; and an on-site review by a regional financial management specialist. However, the program lacks evidence to certify that it has minimal erroneous payments, and did not have examples to demonstrated how it integrates financial and performance systems to support day-to-day operations. The program also pointed to a CFO audit where material weaknesses were identified for the Program Support Center, which provides services to the Adoption Incentives Program. The weakness was related to grant advance reporting, reconciliation and analysis, which has since been downgraded to a reportable condition.
Evidence: Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269
NO 0%
3.7 Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is heavily data driven, with bonuses determined solely from the AFCARS data that states submit electronically. The program identifies data quality-related issues as a key management challenge. For example, there are states that miss the May 15 deadline for submitting finalized adoptions, because they await the court documents for adoptions that actually occurred prior to May 15. Hence, states under-report the number of finalized adoption and do not receive the true bonus payments on a timely basis. While this may be out of the program's control, the program works to ensure high data quality by conducting a quality review to identify data inconsistencies, anomalies, and other issues upon receiving the initial state submissions. This includes detecting submission of duplicate adoptions with a de-duplication software and the state's finalized adoptions are adjusted downward. The program notifies states of the results of the data quality review and the Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology provides technical assistance in correcting data deficiencies.
Evidence: 1) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.BF1 Does the program have oversight practices that provide sufficient knowledge of grantee activities?
Explanation: The program oversees the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data system and the states' submission of the data. Data submitted by states are evaluated for duplication, inconsistencies, anomalies, completeness, and other quality issues. The program also provides oversight by collecting and analyzing Form #269 for states' disbursement of bonus funds and the Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) for states' use of the funds. Also, the ACF regional office conducts site visits and on-site reviews of case level data from the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004.; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). CITE LINK.; 4) Information on Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) reviews.
YES 11%
3.BF2 Does the program collect grantee performance data on an annual basis and make it available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner?
Explanation: The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) is the only data system that can be used to calculate bonuses. The AFCARS data, collected semi-annually, is used to determine bonuses to states. The program notifies states of bonus awards and HHS also makes a public announcement in a press release. As for the AFCARS data and report, they are disseminated through the Child Welfare Outcomes Report and are posted on the ACF website. AFCARS data is made available to the public at national child welfare conferences, and Cornell University's National Data Archives on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Evidence: 1) HHS Press Release. "HHS Awards $17,896,000 in Adoption Bonuses." Released October 14, 2004.
YES 11%
Section 3 - Program Management Score 78%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability
Number Question Answer Score
4.1 Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term performance goals?
Explanation: The adoption rate measure is another way of measuring the number of successful adoptions, in a ratio form. Hence, program can demonstrate progress by examining the absolute number of adoptions. The program's original long-term goal, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was to complete 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. However, the program proposes to revise this measure to 292,000 adoptions. While the proposed revised target is less ambitious than the original published long-term target, the program can demonstrate some progress made in achieving long-term goals by completing about 50,000 adoptions in FY 2003.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.2 Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?
Explanation: The program's original FY 2003 adoption target, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was 58,500. However, the program proposes to revise the target to 50,000, which the program achieved based on preliminary FY 2003 adoption data. While the program can demonstrate progress made in its annual target, it met the less ambitious revised annual goal and did not meet the original ambitious goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.3 Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure and at this time, it is not possible to assess improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
4.4 Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs, including government, private, etc., with similar purpose and goals?
Explanation: There are no comparable federal, state, local government, or private sector programs, which provide bonuses for successful adoptions.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentives.
NA 0%
4.5 Do independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentive Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability Score 16%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this program’s assessment summary.
Visit ExpectMore.gov to learn more about program assessment and improvement by the Federal Government.
Learn more about detailed assessments.
Last updated: 01092009.2005FALL
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/detail/10003500.2005.html
FY 2009 Adoption Incentive Awards for the Kidnapping of our Children
FY 2009 Adoption Incentive Awards
Based on FY 2008 Earning Year State Award
Alabama $412,000
Alaska $224,000
Arizona $499,197
Arkansas $822,078
California $1,504,944
Colorado $0 !!!!
Connecticut $511,354
Delaware $0 !!!!
Dist of Columbia $0 !!!!
Florida $9,754,990
Georgia $288,635
Hawaii $204,000
Idaho $356,800
Illinois $236,000
Indiana $1,623,350
Iowa $0!!!!
Kansas $72,000
Kentucky $764,000
Louisiana $1,206,559
Maine $5,280
Maryland $196,000
Massachusetts $0!!!!
Michigan $856,000
Minnesota $1,329,276
Mississippi $0!!!!
Missouri $488,000
Montana $7,679
Nebraska $569,917
Nevada $24,000
New Hampshire $280,319
New Jersey $0!!!!
New Mexico $534,558
New York $0!!!!
North Carolina $1,388,312
North Dakota $80,320
Ohio $0!!!!
Oklahoma $1,504,000
Oregon $220,000
Pennsylvania $1,264,154
Rhode Island $208,000
South Carolina $721,757
South Dakota $112,800
Tennessee $2,400
Texas $4,969,734
Utah $788,000
Vermont $0!!!!
Virginia $0!!!!
Washington $0!!!!
West Virginia $523,359
Wisconsin $0!!!!
Wyoming $131,360
Puerto Rico $52,000
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/fy09_adoption_incentive_awards.htm
Based on FY 2008 Earning Year State Award
Alabama $412,000
Alaska $224,000
Arizona $499,197
Arkansas $822,078
California $1,504,944
Colorado $0 !!!!
Connecticut $511,354
Delaware $0 !!!!
Dist of Columbia $0 !!!!
Florida $9,754,990
Georgia $288,635
Hawaii $204,000
Idaho $356,800
Illinois $236,000
Indiana $1,623,350
Iowa $0!!!!
Kansas $72,000
Kentucky $764,000
Louisiana $1,206,559
Maine $5,280
Maryland $196,000
Massachusetts $0!!!!
Michigan $856,000
Minnesota $1,329,276
Mississippi $0!!!!
Missouri $488,000
Montana $7,679
Nebraska $569,917
Nevada $24,000
New Hampshire $280,319
New Jersey $0!!!!
New Mexico $534,558
New York $0!!!!
North Carolina $1,388,312
North Dakota $80,320
Ohio $0!!!!
Oklahoma $1,504,000
Oregon $220,000
Pennsylvania $1,264,154
Rhode Island $208,000
South Carolina $721,757
South Dakota $112,800
Tennessee $2,400
Texas $4,969,734
Utah $788,000
Vermont $0!!!!
Virginia $0!!!!
Washington $0!!!!
West Virginia $523,359
Wisconsin $0!!!!
Wyoming $131,360
Puerto Rico $52,000
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/fy09_adoption_incentive_awards.htm
THE MONEY BEHIND STATE ADOPTIONS
Posted by innerpeace5 on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8:26:14 AM
THE MONEY BEHIND STATE ADOPTIONS
A Harsh Reality!
Adoption Bonuses
The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore
Massachusetts News
Child "protection" is one of the biggest businesses in the country. We spend $12 billion a year on it. The money goes to tens of thousands of a) state employees, b) collateral professionals, such as lawyers, court personnel, court investigators, evaluators and guardians, judges, and c) DSS contracted vendors such as counselors, therapists, more "evaluators" , junk psychologists, residential facilities, foster parents, adoptive parents, MSPCC, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, YMCA, etc. This newspaper is not big enough to list all of the people in this state who have a job, draw a paycheck, or make their profits off the kids in DSS custody. In this article I explain the financial infrastructure that provides the motivation for DSS to take people’s children – and not give them back.
In 1974 Walter Mondale promoted the Child Abuse and Prevention Act which began feeding massive amounts of federal funding to states to set up programs to combat child abuse and neglect. From that came Child "Protective" Services, as we know it today. After the bill passed, Mondale himself expressed concerns that it could be misused. He worried that it could lead states to create a "business" in dealing with children.
Then in 1997 President Clinton passed the "Adoption and Safe Families Act." The public relations campaign promoted it as a way to help abused and neglected children who languished in foster care for years, often being shuffled among dozens of foster homes, never having a real home and family. In a press release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services dated November 24, 1999, it refers to "President Clinton’s initiative to double by 2002 the number of children in foster care who are adopted or otherwise permanently placed."
It all sounded so heartwarming. We, the American public, are so easily led. We love to buy stereotypes; we just eat them up, no questions asked. But, my mother, bless her heart, taught me from the time I was young to "consider the source." In the stereotype that we’ve been sold about kids in foster care, we picture a forlorn, hollow-eyed child, thin and pale, looking up at us beseechingly through a dirt streaked face. Unconsciously, we pull up old pictures from Life magazine of children in Appalachia in the 1930s. We think of orphans and children abandoned by parents who look like Manson family members. We play a nostalgic movie in our heads of the little fellow shyly walking across an emerald green, manicured lawn to meet Ward and June Cleaver, his new adoptive parents, who lead him into their lovely suburban home. We imagine the little tyke’s eyes growing as big as saucers as the Cleavers show him his very own room, full of toys and sports gear. And we just feel so gosh darn good about ourselves. Now it’s time to wake up to the reality of the adoption business.
Very few children who are being used to supply the adoption market are hollow-eyed tykes from Appalachia. Very few are crack babies from the projects. [Oh… you thought those were the children they were saving? Think again]. When you are marketing a product you have to provide a desirable product that sells. In the adoption business that would be nice kids with reasonably good genetics who clean up good. An interesting point is that the Cape Cod & Islands office leads the state in terms of processing kids into the system and having them adopted out. More than the inner city areas, the projects, Mission Hill, Brockton, Lynn, etc . Interesting…
With the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, President Clinton tried to make himself look like a humanitarian who is responsible for saving the abused and neglected children. The drive of this initiative is to offer cash "bonuses" to states for every child they have adopted out of foster care, with the goal of doubling their adoptions by 2002, and sustaining that for each subsequent year. They actually call them "adoption incentive bonuses," to promote the adoption of children.
Where to Find the Children
A whole new industry was put into motion. A sweet marketing scheme that even Bill Gates could envy. Now, if you have a basket of apples, and people start giving you $100 per apple, what are you going to do? Make sure that you have an unlimited supply of apples, right?
The United States Department of Health & Human Services administers Child Protective Services. To accompany the ASF Act, the President requested, by executive memorandum, an initiative entitled Adoption 2002, to be implemented and managed by Health & Human Services. The initiative not only gives the cash adoption bonuses to the states, it also provides cash adoption subsidies to adoptive parents until the children turn eighteen.
Everybody makes money. If anyone really believes that these people are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, then I’ve got some bad news for you. The fact that this program is run by HHS, ordered from the very top, explains why the citizens who are victims of DSS get no response from their legislators. It explains why no one in the Administration cares about the abuse and fatalities of children in the "care" of DSS, and no one wants to hear about the broken arms, verbal abuse, or rapes. They are just business casualties. It explains why the legislators I’ve talked to for the past three years look at me with pity. Because I’m preaching to the already damned. The legislators have forgotten who funds their paychecks and who they need to account to, as has the Governor. Because it isn’t the President. It’s us.
How DSS Is Helped
The way that the adoption bonuses work is that each state is given a baseline number of expected adoptions based on population. For every child that DSS can get adopted, there is a bonus of $4,000 to $6,000. But that is just the starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.] The bill reads: "$4,000 to $6,000 will be multiplied by the amount (if any) by which the number of foster child adoptions in the State exceeds the base number of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year." In the "technical assistance" section of the bill it states that, "the Secretary [of HHS] may, directly or through grants or contracts, provide technical assistance to assist states and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions for children in foster care." The technical assistance is to support "the goal of encouraging more adoptions out of the foster care system; the development of best practice guidelines for expediting the termination of parental rights; the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained 1 year of age into pre-adoptive placements; and the development of programs that place children into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights."
In the November press release from HHS it continues, " HHS awarded the first ever adoption bonuses to States for increases in the adoption of children from the public foster care system." Some of the other incentives offered are "innovative grants" to reduce barriers to adoption [i.e., parents], more State support for adoptive families, making adoption affordable for families by providing cash subsides and tax credits.
A report from a private think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis, reads: "The way the federal government reimburses States rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children." Another incentive being promoted is the use of the Internet to make adoption easier. Clinton directed HHS to develop an Internet site to "link children in foster care with adoptive families." So we will be able to window shop for children on a government web site. If you don’t find anything you like there, you can surf on over to the "Adopt Shoppe." If you prefer to actually be able to kick tires instead of just looking at pictures you could attend one of DSS’s quaint "Adoption Fairs," where live children are put on display and you can walk around and browse. Like a flea market to sell kids. If one of them begs you to take him home you can always say, "Sorry. Just looking." The incentives for government child snatching are so good that I’m surprised we don’t have government agents breaking down people’s doors and just shooting the parents in the heads and grabbing the kids. But then, if you need more apples you don’t chop down your apple trees.
Benefits for Foster Parents
That covers the goodies the State gets. Now let’s have a look at how the Cleavers make out financially after the adoption is finalized. 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.
That’s just a fantasy, of course. The reality is that maybe we will see Kathleen Crowley’s children on the government home-shopping- for-children web site and some one out there can buy them.
by State Senator Pam Roach
http://pas.blogtownhall.com/?tag=THE MONEY BEHIND STATE ADOPTIONS
THE MONEY BEHIND STATE ADOPTIONS
A Harsh Reality!
Adoption Bonuses
The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore
Massachusetts News
Child "protection" is one of the biggest businesses in the country. We spend $12 billion a year on it. The money goes to tens of thousands of a) state employees, b) collateral professionals, such as lawyers, court personnel, court investigators, evaluators and guardians, judges, and c) DSS contracted vendors such as counselors, therapists, more "evaluators" , junk psychologists, residential facilities, foster parents, adoptive parents, MSPCC, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, YMCA, etc. This newspaper is not big enough to list all of the people in this state who have a job, draw a paycheck, or make their profits off the kids in DSS custody. In this article I explain the financial infrastructure that provides the motivation for DSS to take people’s children – and not give them back.
In 1974 Walter Mondale promoted the Child Abuse and Prevention Act which began feeding massive amounts of federal funding to states to set up programs to combat child abuse and neglect. From that came Child "Protective" Services, as we know it today. After the bill passed, Mondale himself expressed concerns that it could be misused. He worried that it could lead states to create a "business" in dealing with children.
Then in 1997 President Clinton passed the "Adoption and Safe Families Act." The public relations campaign promoted it as a way to help abused and neglected children who languished in foster care for years, often being shuffled among dozens of foster homes, never having a real home and family. In a press release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services dated November 24, 1999, it refers to "President Clinton’s initiative to double by 2002 the number of children in foster care who are adopted or otherwise permanently placed."
It all sounded so heartwarming. We, the American public, are so easily led. We love to buy stereotypes; we just eat them up, no questions asked. But, my mother, bless her heart, taught me from the time I was young to "consider the source." In the stereotype that we’ve been sold about kids in foster care, we picture a forlorn, hollow-eyed child, thin and pale, looking up at us beseechingly through a dirt streaked face. Unconsciously, we pull up old pictures from Life magazine of children in Appalachia in the 1930s. We think of orphans and children abandoned by parents who look like Manson family members. We play a nostalgic movie in our heads of the little fellow shyly walking across an emerald green, manicured lawn to meet Ward and June Cleaver, his new adoptive parents, who lead him into their lovely suburban home. We imagine the little tyke’s eyes growing as big as saucers as the Cleavers show him his very own room, full of toys and sports gear. And we just feel so gosh darn good about ourselves. Now it’s time to wake up to the reality of the adoption business.
Very few children who are being used to supply the adoption market are hollow-eyed tykes from Appalachia. Very few are crack babies from the projects. [Oh… you thought those were the children they were saving? Think again]. When you are marketing a product you have to provide a desirable product that sells. In the adoption business that would be nice kids with reasonably good genetics who clean up good. An interesting point is that the Cape Cod & Islands office leads the state in terms of processing kids into the system and having them adopted out. More than the inner city areas, the projects, Mission Hill, Brockton, Lynn, etc . Interesting…
With the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, President Clinton tried to make himself look like a humanitarian who is responsible for saving the abused and neglected children. The drive of this initiative is to offer cash "bonuses" to states for every child they have adopted out of foster care, with the goal of doubling their adoptions by 2002, and sustaining that for each subsequent year. They actually call them "adoption incentive bonuses," to promote the adoption of children.
Where to Find the Children
A whole new industry was put into motion. A sweet marketing scheme that even Bill Gates could envy. Now, if you have a basket of apples, and people start giving you $100 per apple, what are you going to do? Make sure that you have an unlimited supply of apples, right?
The United States Department of Health & Human Services administers Child Protective Services. To accompany the ASF Act, the President requested, by executive memorandum, an initiative entitled Adoption 2002, to be implemented and managed by Health & Human Services. The initiative not only gives the cash adoption bonuses to the states, it also provides cash adoption subsidies to adoptive parents until the children turn eighteen.
Everybody makes money. If anyone really believes that these people are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, then I’ve got some bad news for you. The fact that this program is run by HHS, ordered from the very top, explains why the citizens who are victims of DSS get no response from their legislators. It explains why no one in the Administration cares about the abuse and fatalities of children in the "care" of DSS, and no one wants to hear about the broken arms, verbal abuse, or rapes. They are just business casualties. It explains why the legislators I’ve talked to for the past three years look at me with pity. Because I’m preaching to the already damned. The legislators have forgotten who funds their paychecks and who they need to account to, as has the Governor. Because it isn’t the President. It’s us.
How DSS Is Helped
The way that the adoption bonuses work is that each state is given a baseline number of expected adoptions based on population. For every child that DSS can get adopted, there is a bonus of $4,000 to $6,000. But that is just the starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.] The bill reads: "$4,000 to $6,000 will be multiplied by the amount (if any) by which the number of foster child adoptions in the State exceeds the base number of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year." In the "technical assistance" section of the bill it states that, "the Secretary [of HHS] may, directly or through grants or contracts, provide technical assistance to assist states and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions for children in foster care." The technical assistance is to support "the goal of encouraging more adoptions out of the foster care system; the development of best practice guidelines for expediting the termination of parental rights; the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained 1 year of age into pre-adoptive placements; and the development of programs that place children into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights."
In the November press release from HHS it continues, " HHS awarded the first ever adoption bonuses to States for increases in the adoption of children from the public foster care system." Some of the other incentives offered are "innovative grants" to reduce barriers to adoption [i.e., parents], more State support for adoptive families, making adoption affordable for families by providing cash subsides and tax credits.
A report from a private think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis, reads: "The way the federal government reimburses States rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children." Another incentive being promoted is the use of the Internet to make adoption easier. Clinton directed HHS to develop an Internet site to "link children in foster care with adoptive families." So we will be able to window shop for children on a government web site. If you don’t find anything you like there, you can surf on over to the "Adopt Shoppe." If you prefer to actually be able to kick tires instead of just looking at pictures you could attend one of DSS’s quaint "Adoption Fairs," where live children are put on display and you can walk around and browse. Like a flea market to sell kids. If one of them begs you to take him home you can always say, "Sorry. Just looking." The incentives for government child snatching are so good that I’m surprised we don’t have government agents breaking down people’s doors and just shooting the parents in the heads and grabbing the kids. But then, if you need more apples you don’t chop down your apple trees.
Benefits for Foster Parents
That covers the goodies the State gets. Now let’s have a look at how the Cleavers make out financially after the adoption is finalized. 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.
That’s just a fantasy, of course. The reality is that maybe we will see Kathleen Crowley’s children on the government home-shopping- for-children web site and some one out there can buy them.
by State Senator Pam Roach
http://pas.blogtownhall.com/?tag=THE MONEY BEHIND STATE ADOPTIONS
The Official How List For Aquiring Federal and State Money When Children Taken By the State Are Adopted Out
Author Yvonne Mason
The Official How List For Aquiring Federal and State Money When Children Taken By the State Are Adopted Out
This is the official how to on how to aquire money when a family adopts a child who was taken by the state. As you can see the dollars go up as the needs go up.
You can go to the link below and see more of the atrocities the State of Georgia does.
http://www.wednesdayschildga.com/
“finding adoptive homes for children”
Financial Assistance
The Adoption Assistance program provides financial aid to all adopted children with Special Needs to help meet the needs of the child. As defined by the State of Georgia for the purpose of adoption, children with Special Needs include those who meet one of the following criteria at the time of placement:
•African-American children older than one year of age
•Three or more siblings placed together at the same time
•Children age eight and older
•Children with documented physical, emotional or mental disabilities
•Two siblings placed together and one child has a special need The Adoption Assistance agreement must occur prior to finalization of the adoption. If a child is not in the permanent custody of the state, assistance might be obtained when a child meets specific title IV-E and special needs criteria. In ALL cases, it must be documented that the adoption would not be possible without assistance.
Types of Assistance
1. Monthly Adoption Assistance Benefits – help to assist adoptive parent(s) in meeting the special needs of the child.
2. Special Services Adoption Assistance – provides a time-limited or one-time special service assistance and must relate to the special needs of the child (e.g., orthodontics, special medical equipment, or respite). There must be documentation that no other resources (community, family or otherwise) are available to meet the needs of the other child. Special Services benefits are reserved for children age 18 and under in the permanent custody of DHR.
3. Non-Recurring Adoption Assistance – covers reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees and other expenses directly related to the finalization of the adoption of a child with Special Needs.
4. Medicaid – available to any child who is eligible for monthly Adoption Assistance benefits.
Length of Eligibility
Under the following conditions a child may continue to receive State Funded Adoption Assistance beyond age 18:
Prior to the adoption, the child was in permanent custody of DHR or a child who was placed in the permanent custody of individuals for the purpose of adoption, child is attending high school on a full time basis and child remains financially dependent on his/her parents. Benefits may continue to age 21 or when the child finishes high school, whichever comes first.
Any child who was adopted at age 13 or older or who was placed for adoption prior to July 1998, may continue to receive adoption assistance benefits after age 18 if they are enrolled in high school, technical school or college on a full time basis. Adoption assistance payments will terminate at age 21, when the child finishes school/college or drops out of the educational program whichever comes first. School/College attendance will be verified on a quarterly/semester basis by the DFCS Case Manager.
Medicaid is available for a child until age 18 or until adoption assistance benefits terminate.
Applying for Assistance
Adoption Assistance is made available by the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) through the county Department of Family and Children Services where the adoptive family resides. In the event a family from another state adopts a child in the permanent custody of DHR, the county of legal responsibility would be responsible for completing the application.
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/about/the-official-how-list-for-aquiring-federal-and-state-money-when-children-taken-by-the-state-are-adopted-out/
The Official How List For Aquiring Federal and State Money When Children Taken By the State Are Adopted Out
This is the official how to on how to aquire money when a family adopts a child who was taken by the state. As you can see the dollars go up as the needs go up.
You can go to the link below and see more of the atrocities the State of Georgia does.
http://www.wednesdayschildga.com/
“finding adoptive homes for children”
Financial Assistance
The Adoption Assistance program provides financial aid to all adopted children with Special Needs to help meet the needs of the child. As defined by the State of Georgia for the purpose of adoption, children with Special Needs include those who meet one of the following criteria at the time of placement:
•African-American children older than one year of age
•Three or more siblings placed together at the same time
•Children age eight and older
•Children with documented physical, emotional or mental disabilities
•Two siblings placed together and one child has a special need The Adoption Assistance agreement must occur prior to finalization of the adoption. If a child is not in the permanent custody of the state, assistance might be obtained when a child meets specific title IV-E and special needs criteria. In ALL cases, it must be documented that the adoption would not be possible without assistance.
Types of Assistance
1. Monthly Adoption Assistance Benefits – help to assist adoptive parent(s) in meeting the special needs of the child.
2. Special Services Adoption Assistance – provides a time-limited or one-time special service assistance and must relate to the special needs of the child (e.g., orthodontics, special medical equipment, or respite). There must be documentation that no other resources (community, family or otherwise) are available to meet the needs of the other child. Special Services benefits are reserved for children age 18 and under in the permanent custody of DHR.
3. Non-Recurring Adoption Assistance – covers reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees and other expenses directly related to the finalization of the adoption of a child with Special Needs.
4. Medicaid – available to any child who is eligible for monthly Adoption Assistance benefits.
Length of Eligibility
Under the following conditions a child may continue to receive State Funded Adoption Assistance beyond age 18:
Prior to the adoption, the child was in permanent custody of DHR or a child who was placed in the permanent custody of individuals for the purpose of adoption, child is attending high school on a full time basis and child remains financially dependent on his/her parents. Benefits may continue to age 21 or when the child finishes high school, whichever comes first.
Any child who was adopted at age 13 or older or who was placed for adoption prior to July 1998, may continue to receive adoption assistance benefits after age 18 if they are enrolled in high school, technical school or college on a full time basis. Adoption assistance payments will terminate at age 21, when the child finishes school/college or drops out of the educational program whichever comes first. School/College attendance will be verified on a quarterly/semester basis by the DFCS Case Manager.
Medicaid is available for a child until age 18 or until adoption assistance benefits terminate.
Applying for Assistance
Adoption Assistance is made available by the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) through the county Department of Family and Children Services where the adoptive family resides. In the event a family from another state adopts a child in the permanent custody of DHR, the county of legal responsibility would be responsible for completing the application.
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/about/the-official-how-list-for-aquiring-federal-and-state-money-when-children-taken-by-the-state-are-adopted-out/
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)