Special Needs Adoption - 8 Frequently Asked Questions
Part 2: Eight frequently asked questions From the book
"Adopting and Advocating for the Special Needs Child", by L. Anne Babb and Rita Laws, 1997, Bergin & Garvey, Westport, CT, copyright (c) 1997 by L. Anne Babb, Ph.D, and Rita Laws, Ph.D. Reprinted by permission
On the Internet, discussion and information sites called newsgroups have FAQs, or computerized files listing all of the "Frequently Asked Questions" that people have about that topic. Borrowing from this concept, here is a special needs adoption FAQ, and some brief answers. See corresponding topics throughout the book for more detail.
1. Are there any babies available for adoption?Yes, there are
adoptable infants with special needs. They are usually of mixed and minority race. Many have challenges associated with
pre-natal drug exposure. Some of them are at risk of developing disabilities later, or have been exposed to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Unlike adopting healthy or low-risk babies, adopting infants with special needs usually requires a shorter wait, modest or no cost, and includes financial assistance programs for both the adoption, and for the cost of raising the child. Healthy U.S.-born Caucasian toddlers, pre-schoolers and small pre-school aged sibling groups of two members are just as rare as healthy Caucasian infants and are usually not considered to have "special needs."
2. Can I adopt transracially? Yes. Ideally, children are placed with same-race parents, but until recruitment of minority families improves, transracial adoption will remain an option for those children who would not otherwise have found permanency.
Transracial adoption is not illegal anywhere in the U.S. In fact, it is illegal to use race as the only factor in matching. When reasonable efforts to obtain a same race family have failed, transracial placement may be considered. Prospective adoptive parents who know of a child of a race different from theirs who has been waiting for a family should be sure to inquire of the social worker when transracial placement can be considered.
3. Can I adopt an American Indian child? The federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) requires adoption agencies to try to place children with American Indian blood within their extended family and tribes first, within other tribes next, and then with non-Indian families who would raise the child in a culturally aware environment. Tribes may elect to be involved in adoptions involving their children, or they may choose to allow the adoption agency a "free hand." Either way, the tribes must be given the opportunity to have involvement.
Waiting American Indian babies are rare. Most of the American Indian children in photolisting books who are able to be adopted transracially are older, have siblings who must be placed with them, or have significant disabilities.
When a waiting Native American child has special needs, the tribe to which an adopting parent and the amount of Indian blood he or she has are less important than in situations where young and healthy children need families. If a person has even one Indian ancestor, he or she should try to obtain documentation of that fact, and then contact the appropriate tribe for more information about waiting children.
4. Will the birth parents change their minds? Many adoptive parents are concerned about placement reversals in light of all the publicity some overturned independent adoptions have received. However, it is very rare that special needs adoptions entail significant legal risk. Unlike healthy infant placements, children with special needs have usually been in the child welfare system for months or years, and their birthparents' rights are already terminated or can be quickly terminated. Custody battles, when they do occur, are resolved before the child's availability becomes known and the photolisting is made.
There is less ongoing birth parent-adoptive parent contact in special needs adoption because many waiting children were removed from their birth parents due to abuse or neglect, and ongoing contact would not be in the child's best interests. When birth family contact is mandated or sought in special needs adoption, it usually occurs when foster parents have adopted the child, and involves birth family relatives other than the birth parents, such as grandparents, siblings, aunts, or uncles.
5. What will an adoption cost? The cost varies from place to place but the good news is that with careful planning, special needs adoption can be a low-cost or no-cost process. Most expenses involved in most of the authors' domestic special needs adoptions were reimbursed to them.
State or public adoption agencies do not usually charge for any special needs adoption service. Fees at private adoption agencies for adoption services vary widely from no charge at all to several thousand dollars, or more.
When a domestic special needs adoption takes place in a state offering "Purchase of Services", the state with custody of the child may pay some or all of the private adoption expenses for the adoptive parent or parents. This is how a private agency can afford to operate without charging the family a homestudy or placement fee. Adoptive parents should be sure and ask a private agency about "Purchase of Service adoptions."
In the U.S., up to $2,000 of a family's one-time special needs adoption expenses are refundable for children who meet the requirements under the federal law. States may allow up to $2,000 per child, or less, but not more. The expenses are reimbursed after the adoption has been completed. Adoptive parents should keep receipts for all expenses from the homestudy to the cost of photolisting book subscriptions. They should be sure their agency participates in this refund program, and then be sure and request the necessary forms after placement has occurred but before the adoption is legally finalized. State and federal programs are also available to help parents with the cost of raising adopted children with special needs. Such assistance is discussed in the chapter about Finances.
6. How long will an adoption take? The time involved differs from place to place, and adoption to adoption. The authors have both had adoptions that took only 40 days from application to matching. Anne experienced the equivalent of a one day adoption when she and her husband legally adopted their 18-year-old former foster daughter. Rita's adoptions averaged three months each after she understood the process. The first adoption application for Rita, though, did not bear fruit for several years. Anne's first adoption took over 18 months.
The important thing to remember is that special needs adoption is not a passive process. A person who sits by the phone and waits can sit there for a very long time. There are concrete things a person can do to hasten the process. (see
previous page)
7. Why does the adoption process take so long? Another way of asking this question is, "If so many kids are waiting, why is adoption so difficult?" The answer is simple and two-fold: Agencies must screen people who want to adopt children. This takes time and requires paperwork. The homestudy is designed to protect the child from adults who would abuse children. A second reason is that we don't have enough social workers, and the ones we do have tend to be overworked.
Everyone agrees that adoption generally takes too long and can be immensely frustrating and complex. But there are ways to successfully work within the system. This book is designed to help streamline the adoption process and minimize frustration. There are many ways to make the process an easier one.
8. What is a subsidy? An
adoption subsidy, also known as an Adoption Assistance Payment (AAP), is a monthly check that is paid to adoptive parents until their adopted child with special needs is grown. The AAP is intended to help parents with the expenses of raising the child. The idea behind subsidies is that no child should be denied permanency because of money, and no family should have to sacrifice their standard of living or face bankruptcy to adopt a waiting child with expensive special needs.
The national average basic AAP rate is $350 per child. Subsidies have made special needs adoption affordable for tens of thousands of Americans who otherwise could not have adopted a waiting child. Since subsidized adoptions are less costly than long-term foster care, AAP has saved the American taxpayers a great deal of money, too.
A helpful book is:
"Adoption Assistance: Tools for Navigating the Bureaucracy" by Tim O'Hanlon and Rita Laws.
Next page >
Special Needs Adoption Advocacy Resources > Page
1,
2,
3Best ResourcesIn addition to free information at
NACAC and
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC), the
AdoptNet Encyclopedia has many free articles to download or print.
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