Stipends

Children adopted from foster care must be considered to have some sort of "special need" in order for their parents to keep receiving the stipend after they adopt the children. Each state has a list of what makes a child adopted from foster care get that designation. Of course medical needs almost always count. But so do age, race, being adopted with siblings, in-utero drug/alcohol exposure, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, needing additional counseling, having a family history of medical/physical/mental issues that surface later in childhood, and a host of other issues. In the state I used to live in, a child was considered to have a special need if he received ongoing health care above what the "average" child needed (physical/mental/emotional all count) , if he was over 8 years old, if he was a minority over age 3, if he was part of a sibling group where either was over age 5, if he was part of a sibling group of 3 or more children no matter their ages, if he was otherwise unlikely to be adopted without a stipend, or if he had been with the foster family who wished to adopt him for more than a year and that moving the child would make him qualify for a stipend. Raising children that someone else has damaged early in their lives is expensive. Much more expensive than raising a child who was treated well in early life. Keeping those children in foster care is extremely expensive, and paying a stipend to the adoptive parents is much cheaper than keeping the children in foster care. And as JensBoys said, adopting from foster care should not be reserved only for those who can afford to pay out of pocket for the child's special needs. Without a subsidy, I can't afford to raise a child with special needs. But because I have the emotional ability and physical support to raise a child with some special needs, the subsidy that will pay for their extra care makes it possible for me to adopt from foster care. Hope that helps!