Accordingly, a State may negotiate an adoption assistance agreement that automatically allows for adjustments to the adoption assistance payment when there is an increase in the foster care board rate. Alternatively, a State may renegotiate an adoption assistance agreement if the adoptive parents request an increase in payment due to a change in their circumstance and a higher foster care rate would have been paid on behalf of the child if the child had still been in foster care. However, special allowances that may be made on behalf of an individual child in certain situations in foster care, such as child care or clothing allowances, are not permitted as an allowable additional reimbursement in the adoption assistance program. Special allowances for individual children that are over and above the State's foster care payment standard cannot be included in the amount negotiated in the adoption assistance agreement since the adoption assistance payment cannot exceed the foster care maintenance payment rate for the child. Differences between States There is quite a bit of difference in amounts and policy regarding adoption subsidy levels from state to state.
Some states have many tiers of payment rates, some have two.
Some have adequate rates, some are low. Some tie the amounts directly to foster care rates, and some do not. In other words, states cannot modify or add to federal eligibility requirements. This is fine because states can write their own definition. This is not one of the federal requirements so it cannot be a state requirement when it comes to Title IV-E adoption assistance.