14101237D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1081
Offered January 9, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact §§63.2-1300 through 63.2-1303 of
the Code of Virginia, relating to adoption assistance.
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Patron-- Farrell
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Committee Referral Pending
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§63.2-1300 through 63.2-1303 of the Code of
Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§63.2-1300. Purpose and intent of adoption assistance.
A. The
purpose of adoption assistance is to facilitate adoptive placements and ensure
permanency for children with special needs. Adoption
assistance may include Title IV-E maintenance payments, state-funded
maintenance payments, state special services payments and nonrecurring expense
payments made pursuant to requirements set forth in this chapter.
B. A child with special needs is a child who is a citizen or legal
resident of the United States who meets the criteria
set forth in §473 of Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §673) and
(i) is
unlikely to be adopted within a reasonable period of time without the provision of adoption assistance due to one or more of the following
factors:
1. Physical, mental
or emotional condition existing prior to adoption;
2. Hereditary
tendency, congenital problem or birth injury leading to substantial risk of
future disability; or
3. Individual
circumstances of the child related to age, racial or ethnic background or close
relationship with one or more siblings.
A child with special
needs will be eligible for adoption assistance if (i) the child cannot or
should not be returned to the home of his parents and (ii) reasonable efforts
to place the child in an appropriate adoptive home without the provision of
adoption assistance have been unsuccessful. An exception may be made to the
requirement that efforts be made to place the child in an adoptive home without
the provision of adoption assistance when the child has developed significant
emotional ties with his foster parents while in their care and that the foster
parents wish to adopt the child a
physical, mental, or emotional
condition existing prior to adoption, a
hereditary tendency, congenital problem, or birth injury leading to substantial
risk of future disability,
or individual circumstances of
the child including the child's age,
ethnic background, or close relationship with one or more siblings or
(ii) has been adopted,
was in foster care immediately prior to the adoption,
and has been diagnosed as having a physical, mental, or
emotional problem or a hereditary tendency, congenital
problem, or birth injury
leading to substantial risk of
future disability that existed at the time of adoption but was not diagnosed at
the time of adoption and
that would have made it unlikely that the child would be adopted within a
reasonable period of time without the provision of
adoption assistance had it been diagnosed at the time of adoption,
provided that no more than one year has elapsed since the date of diagnosis.
§63.2-1301. Adoption assistance; types; eligibility; amount.
A. A
local board shall provide Title IV-E maintenance payments shall be made to the adoptive parents on behalf of an adopted child placed in accordance with
the requirements of Part E of Title IV of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §670 et seq.) if it is determined that
the child is a child with special needs and the child meets the requirements
set forth in §473 of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §673):
1.
The child is a child with special needs pursuant to subsection B of §
63.2-1300;
2. The
child is a citizen or legal resident of the United States;
3.
The child cannot or should not be returned to the home of his parents; and
4. Reasonable efforts
to place the child with appropriate
adoptive parents without providing adoption assistance have
been unsuccessful, except that in cases
in which a child with
special needs has developed significant
emotional ties with his foster parents
while in their care, the foster parents wish to adopt the child, and the
adoption of the child by
the foster parents would be in
the child's best
interests, such reasonable efforts shall not be required.
B. State-funded A local board may
provide state-funded maintenance
payments shall be
made to the adoptive parents
on behalf of an adopted child if it
is determined that the child who was in foster care immediately prior to the
adoption who does
not meet the requirements set forth in §473 of Title IV-E of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §673) but
the child is a child with special needs. For this purpose of
state-funded maintenance payments only, a child with special needs may include:
1. A child for whom
the factors set forth in subdivision 1 or 2 of §63.2-1300 are present at the
time of adoption but are not diagnosed until after the final order of adoption,
when no more than one year has elapsed from the date of diagnosis; or
2. A child who has
lived with his foster parents for at least 12 months and has developed
significant emotional ties with his foster parents while in their care, when
the foster parents wish to adopt the child and state-funded maintenance
payments are necessary to enable the adoption if:
1. The
child was in the custody of the
local board or a licensed child-placing agency at the time
the child was adopted:
2.
The child is a child with special needs pursuant to subsection B of §
63.2-1300;
3.
The child is a citizen or legal resident of the United States;
4.
The child cannot or should not be returned to the home of his parents; and
5.
Reasonable efforts to place the child with appropriate adoptive parents without
providing adoption assistance have been unsuccessful,
except that in cases in which a child with special needs has developed
significant emotional ties with his foster parents while in their care, the
foster parents wish to adopt the child, and the adoption of the child by the
foster parents would be in the child's best interests, such reasonable efforts
shall not be required.
C. State A local board shall
provide special services payments shall
be made to the adoptive
parents and other appropriate persons on behalf of a child in
the custody of the local board or in the custody of a
licensed child-placing agency and placed for adoption, pursuant to this
chapter, if it is determined that to
pay the cost of services directed
related to the child's special needs provided to
the child in accordance with the adoption assistance
agreement that the adoptive parents cannot afford and that
are not covered by insurance or other sources of assistance, including medical,
surgical, and dental care
services, hospitalization, individual remedial education services,
psychological and psychiatric treatment, speech and physical therapy, and
special equipment, treatment, and training for children with physical or mental
disabilities, if:
1. The child is a child with special needs
pursuant to subsection B of §63.2-1300;
2. The child is
receiving Title IV-E
maintenance payments pursuant to subsection A
or state-funded maintenance payments pursuant to subsection B; and
3. The
adoptive parents are capable of providing the permanent family relationships
needed by the child in all respects except financial.
D. Nonrecurring A local board shall
provide nonrecurring adoption expense
payments shall be made to the adoptive parents for expenses related to the
adoption including reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs,
attorney fees and other legal service fees, as well as any other expenses that
are directly related to the legal adoption of a child with special needs
including costs related to the adoption study, any health and psychological
examinations, supervision of the placement prior to adoption, and any transportation costs
and reasonable costs of lodging and food for the child and the adoptive parents
when necessary to complete the placement or adoption process for which the
adoptive parents carry ultimate liability for payment and that have not been
reimbursed from any other source, as set forth in 45 C.F.R. §1356.41. However,
the total amount of nonrecurring expense payments made to adoptive parents for
the adoption of a child shall not exceed $2,000 or an amount established by
federal law.
E. The total amount
of adoption assistance provided to
the adoptive parents on behalf of the child in accordance with subsection A or
B shall not exceed the total amount of the foster care payment
that would have been paid for the provision of foster care services
for the child at the time the agreement for adoption assistance was
signed.
F.
The amount of Title IV-E maintenance
payments made pursuant to subsection
A shall be changed only in accordance with the
provisions of §473 of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §673). The
amount of state-funded maintenance payments paid in accordance with subsection
B shall be changed only in accordance with regulations of the
Board, which shall be consistent with requirements for changing the amount of
Title IV-E maintenance payments.
G. Adoption
assistance provided to adoptive parents on behalf of a child
pursuant to this section shall
cease when the child reaches 18 years of age.
However, if the child is diagnosed as having a mental or physical disability, or
an educational delay
resulting from such disability, adoption assistance
may be provided until the child reaches 21 years of age.
§63.2-1302. Adoption assistance agreement; procedural
requirements.
A. Adoption
assistance payments may include:
1. Title IV-E or
state-funded maintenance payments that shall be payable monthly to provide for
the support and care of the child; however, Title IV-E or state-funded
maintenance payments shall not exceed the foster care payment that would
otherwise be made for the child; and
2. State special
services payments to provide special services to the child that the adoptive
parents cannot afford and that are not covered by insurance or otherwise,
including, but not limited to:
a. Medical, surgical
and dental care;
b. Hospitalization;
c. Individual
remedial educational services;
d. Psychological and
psychiatric treatment;
e. Speech and
physical therapy; and
f. Special services,
equipment, treatment and training for physical and mental handicaps.
State special
services payments may be paid to the vendor of the goods or services directly
or to the adoptive parents.
B. Adoption
assistance payments shall cease when the child with special needs reaches the
age of 18 years. If it is determined that the child has a mental or physical
handicap, or an educational delay resulting from such handicap, warranting the
continuation of assistance, adoption assistance payments may be made until the
child reaches the age of 21 years.
C. Adoptive parents who wish to receive adoption
assistance on behalf of
a child shall submit an application for adoption assistance to the local
board, and the local board shall determine eligibility for
adoption assistance in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board.
B. Adoption
assistance payments shall be made
on the basis of in
accordance with an adoption assistance agreement entered
into by the local board and the adoptive parents or, in cases in which the
child is in the custody of a licensed child-placing agency at
the time of adoption, an agreement between the local board,
the licensed child-placing agency,
and the adoptive parents.
Prior to entering into an adoption assistance agreement, the
local board or licensed child-placing agency shall ensure that adoptive parents
have received information about their the
child's eligibility for adoption assistance; about their child's special needs
and, to the extent possible, the current and potential impact of those special
needs. The local board or licensed child-placing agency shall also ensure that
adoptive parents receive information about the process for appeal in the event
of a disagreement between the adoptive parent and the local board or the
adoptive parent and the child-placing agency and information about the
procedures for revising the adoption assistance agreement.
C. Adoptive
parents shall submit annually to the local board within
thirty 30
days of the anniversary date of the approved agreement an affidavit which that
certifies that (i) that
the child on whose behalf they are receiving adoption assistance payments remains in their care, (ii) that
the child's condition requiring adoption assistance continues to exist, and
(iii) whether or not changes to the adoption assistance agreement are
requested.
Title IV-E and
state-funded maintenance payments made pursuant to this section shall be
changed only in accordance with the provisions of §473 of Title IV-E of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §673).
D. Responsibility
for adoption assistance payments for a child placed for adoption shall be
continued by the local board that initiated the agreement in the event that the
adoptive parents live in or move to another jurisdiction.
E. Payments may be
made under this chapter from appropriations for foster care services for the
maintenance and medical or other services for children who have special needs
in accordance with §63.2-1301. Within the limitations of the appropriations to
the Department, the Commissioner shall reimburse any agency making payments
under this chapter. Any such agency may seek and accept funds from other
sources, including federal, state, local, and private sources, to carry out the
purposes of this chapter A
local board that enters into an agreement with adoptive parents, or with a
child-placing agency and
adoptive parents, for the provision of
adoption assistance on behalf of a child shall continue to be responsible for
the provision of adoption assistance in accordance with the agreement until
the child ceases to be eligible for adoption assistance,
regardless of the jurisdiction in
which the adoptive parents reside during the duration
of the agreement.
§63.2-1303. Funding for adoption assistance
Qualification for
adoption assistance payments shall be determined by the local board in response
to an application for adoption assistance submitted in accordance with
regulations adopted by the Board. Payments may be made in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter from
appropriations for adoption subsidy payments for
the maintenance of and medical or other
services for children with special needs
pursuant to subsection B of §63.2-1300. Within
the limitations of the appropriation to the Department, the Commissioner shall
reimburse any agency making payments in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter. Any
such agency may seek and accept funds from other sources, including federal,
state, local, and private sources, to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
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