Advertisements
Our 4 year old son is adopted and we recieve the Title IV-E adoption subsidy for him.There is some things that have been bothering me and I finally figured I would post on here to see if anyone knows about it,so here goes.We got Calvin in foster care in July 1999 when he was 7 months old,and we were told to have a blood lead test done when I took him for a physical.Ten days after getting him in care I took him to the dr. and they drew blood from him for the lead test.Several days later I got a call from the dr. that Calvin's lead level was 12 and that I needed to take him to the hospital for another lead test.We did that and the following week it came back with a level of 4.Now,I had no clue about the dangers of lead poisoning and after getting the results of the tests I called the County CYS and reported it to them.They never indicated that Calvin would need any kind of help or anything.As Calvin approached his 2nd birthday,I became increasingly concerned that he was not talking at a 2 year old level.So,once the TPR hearing was done I told the caseworker that I was going to contact the local Infant Stimulation dept. and I was told to go ahead.When Infant Stim. came to evaluate Calvin,they asked if he had ever been tested for lead poisoning,and of course,I said yes when he was 7 months old with a level of 12 for the first test and 4 for the second.The were shocked that the County CYS agency had not contacted them to begin services when Calvin was a baby.As it was,he did have a substantial speech delay,which made him eligible for the adoption subsidy.Since then I have done some investigating on lead poisoning and I have found out that even at a level of 12,that puts Calvin at risk for problems in the future.When we went in to request the subsidy for Calvin,we were told that we had to first prove there was something "wrong",and about a week later Infant Stim. did the evaluation.Another thing,Calvin's birth parents are both mentally challenged and the birth mother gets SSI.I have heard that if the birth parents have mental problems or recieve SSI then that should automatically qualify a child for the subsidy.According to our CYS,WE had to prove that there was a problem with the birth parents,when everything was right in their files.I also found out that a statement was made at the CYS office that Calvin nor 2 other babies coming up for adoption would get the subsidy if she could help it.Now,I am wondering if the reason that they did nothing about the lead levels is that they didn't want me to find out about the subsidy.Today Calvin is very impulsive,hyperactive,and has a short attention span-all which more than likely are because of the lead poisoning.He is also experiencing a lot of anxieties about changes in things,afraid to leave home and I am thinking that he "subconsciously" remembers being removed from the birth parents and going for visits and me having to leave him there with virtual strangers.Since adopting Calvin,we quit being foster parents because of the way that the CYS agency not only treats the foster parents but that they offer all kinds of services to the birth parents,but very little for the children or the foster parents.We have our Calvin and that is all that matters to me.If anyone out there knows the laws of the adoption subsidy and if Calvin qualified all along,please let me know.I just need to know for my own peace of mind.Thank you.
Like
Share
Every state sets their own rules for what issues qualify a child to receive a subsidy, and how to determine the level of that subsidy.
The website [url]www.fosterparents.com[/url] has some really good information - like state listings of qualifying conditions and typical foster care maintenance amounts (which are used to determine adoption subsidy amounts--adoptive subsidy rarely is more than the foster care subsidy). You'll want to click on "states", find yours, and find the appropriate information.
Its true that most workers don't want you to know about the subsidy. They try to place children without the subsidy as often as possible, and sometimes only offer the subsidy if there is no family willing to take the child without one.
In my state, to automatically receive a subsidy, the child has to:
be over age 8 (caucasian) or over age 2 (minority) at the time of adoption.
or be part of a sibling group that will be adopted together
or have a mental, learning, or physical disability at the time of adoption
or have a doctor say that as a result of the parents' issues, the child is at risk of developing a mental, learning, or physical disability.
A few more things, too, but I can't remember them offhand. The only thing that pops out at me as maybe being a reason he should have received subsidy is his parents' mental health. I don't know anyone receiving it for prior lead exposure, although I would hope that will one day make the list. I don't know if you can use that as a reason to go back and get the subsidy now or not. But check out that website and see what your state has to say about the rules and regs governing adoption subsidies. Should be some contact information there, too, in case you decide to pursue this.
Good luck!
Advertisements
Thank you for responding to my post.I live in PA. and the general rules for adoption subsidy are over 5 years old,sibling group being adopted together,mental physical or emotional handicap,or being at risk for developing problems in the future.I'm sorry if I was misleading about the caseworker,it was the director of the CYS that was making all of the problems and remarks,although I think that the caseworkers are instructed to not say anything to the foster parents about the subsidy.Our caseworker is a wonderful person and we still keep in contact with her-in fact she is our sons honorary aunt.We recieve the same amount in subsidy that we recieved for foster care.What bothers me is the fact that the director of the CYS tried to stop these kids from getting the subsidy,when they were all 3 at risk for problems in the future.I will check out the foster parent web-site and check into this some more,so I thank you very much.