Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 340 - Department of Human Services › Chapter 75 - Licensing Services › Subchapter 15 - Adoptions › Part 14 - POST-ADOPTION SERVICES › Section 340:75-15-128.1 - Adoption assistance benefits

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a)
Adoption assistance benefits.
Adoption assistance benefits may
				  include Medicaid Medical coverage, a monthly assistance payment, child care,
				  reimbursement of non-recurring adoption expenses, or any combination thereof.
				  Children eligible for Title IV-E assistance are also eligible for available
				  Title XX services.
(1)
Medicaid.
The Title IV-E child may be eligible for the Oklahoma Medicaid program or the
				  Medicaid program in the state of his or her residence. All necessary medical
				  and dental care under the scope of the Title IV-E program is compensable at
				  usual and customary charges, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC)
				  340:75-15-129.
(2)
Monthly adoption assistance
				  payments.
A child who is considered difficult to place may be eligible
				  for a monthly adoption assistance payment. The standard monthly adoption
				  assistance payments set out in Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) Appendix C-20,
				  Child Welfare Services Rates Schedule, correspond to the child's age.
(3)
Difficulty of care (DOC).
The DOC descriptions set out in OKDHS Appendix C-20, are guidelines from which
				  the most appropriate DOC rate is determined for the eligible child. Every
				  situation is not clearly defined in a DOC rate category and OKDHS, when
				  determining the appropriate rate category:
(A) considers the child's age;
(B) requests documentation from the adoptive
				  family and professional sources outside of the adoptive family that verify the
				  child's needs, conditions, or behaviors as they correspond to a rate category;
				  and
(C) requires updated
				  documentation annually to establish a child's ongoing DOC
				  eligibility.
(4)
Child care.
(A) OKDHS may pay
				  for child care services as a part of adoption assistance for the child who is
				  in foster care, per Section
				  1355.20 of Title 45 Chapter XIII
				  of The Code of Federal Regulations, at the time of approval for adoption
				  assistance; provided, a child determined eligible, will retain eligibility in
				  any subsequent adoption. The child is eligible, when:
(i) the child is 5 years of age and
				  younger;
(ii) the child is adopted
				  through OKDHS or a federally-recognized Indian tribe as defined by the Federal
				  and Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Acts;
(iii) the child was adopted by the parent
				  applying for benefits;
(iv) the
				  adoptive parent applying for benefits has fully executed Form 04AN002E,
				  Adoption Assistance Agreement, that lists child care as an adoption assistance
				  benefit for the child and includes Form 04AN033E, Post-Adoption Child Care
				  Referral, when the child resides in Oklahoma; and
(v) employment or formal training is verified
				  and child care is approved for only the days and hours the adoptive parent
				  works or is attending formal training; however, in a two-parent family, care
				  may be approved for sleep time when one parent works or attends school during
				  the day and the other parent works during normal night time sleep
				  hours.
(B) Child care is:
(i) negotiated between OKDHS and the adoptive
				  parent, but cannot exceed the one star child care center rate as listed on
				  OKDHS Appendix C-4-B, Child Care Provider Rate Schedule, for a child residing
				  outside of Oklahoma;
(ii) approved
				  by Post-Adoption Services;
(iii)
				  included in Form 04AN002E;
(iv) paid
				  from Child Welfare Services funds when the child resides outside of Oklahoma;
				  and
(v) not available when the
				  adoptive family negotiated its Oklahoma adoption assistance rate payment to
				  take into consideration another state's payment
				  rate.
(5)
Non-recurring adoption expenses.
Certain non-recurring adoption
				  expenses incurred by, or on behalf of, the adoptive parent in connection with
				  the adoption of a child with special needs may be reimbursed.
(A) Reimbursable non-recurring adoption
				  expenses are:
(i) the reasonable and necessary
				  adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, and other expenses directly related
				  to the legal adoption of a child with special needs;
(ii) not incurred in violation of federal or
				  state law; and
(iii) not reimbursed
				  from other sources or funds.
(B) Financial reimbursement is available to
				  the adoptive parent of a child with special needs for:
(i) adoption fees;
(ii) court costs;
(iii) attorney fees;
(iv) an adoptive home study fee;
(v)  costs incurred for family members to
				  obtain health and psychological reports;
(vi) supervision of the adoptive placement by
				  another agency;
(vii) 
				  transportation, food, and lodging for the adoptive parent and child during the
				  placement process; and
(viii) the
				  cost of fingerprinting paid for by the adoptive
				  parent.
(6)
Non-recurring adoption expense reimbursement amounts.
When
				  siblings are placed together with the same adoptive family, separate
				  reimbursement for non-recurring expenses is considered for each child and may
				  be approved for each eligible child, per OAC
				  340:75-15-128.1.
(A) When the adoption is finalized,
				  non-recurring adoption expense reimbursement does not exceed the documented
				  actual expense incurred, up to a $1,200 maximum per child, without
				  Post-Adoption Services approval.
(B) When the trial adoption disrupts prior to
				  finalization, the prospective adoptive parent may be eligible for a
				  reimbursement of up to $500 per child.
(7)
Non-recurring adoption expense
				  approval and payment.
Prior to adoption finalization, the reimbursement
				  request for non-recurring adoption expenses is approved by Post-Adoption
				  Services and the adoptive parent and OKDHS designee must sign Form 04AN002E.
				  Payment is made directly to the adoptive parent for approved amounts shown on
				  the itemized statement as paid in full after adoption finalization. Payment is
				  made directly to a vendor, such as an attorney or private adoption agency when
				  the itemized statement indicates the adoptive parent did not pay the fee in
				  full.
(8)
Interstate adoption
				  reimbursements.
OAC
				  340:75-15-128.5(b)
				  provisions apply to reimbursement of non-recurring adoption expenses in
				  interstate adoptions.
(9)
Adoption assistance overpayments.
Post-Adoption Services notifies
				  the adoptive parent when an overpayment occurs. The adoptive parent is
				  responsible for repayment, even when he or she is not responsible for the
				  overpayment.
(A) Post-Adoption Services
				  contacts the adoptive parent regarding an overpayment and discusses the amount
				  to be automatically deducted from the monthly adoption assistance payment, when
				  applicable.
(i) The adoptive parent is
				  notified of the overpayment agreement plan by certified mail. When the adoptive
				  parent receives the overpayment agreement plan, he or she signs the plan and
				  returns it to OKDHS.
(ii) The
				  overpayment agreement plan does not exceed 30 months from the date of receipt
				  of the written notification of the plan.
(iii)
				   The minimum monthly payment toward the overpayment is not less
				  than $150, with the exception of the final payment.
(B) Post-Adoption Services notifies OKDHS
				  Legal Services when the adoptive parent does not respond to the written
				  notification or fails to comply with the overpayment agreement plan.
(C) A referral is made to Office of Inspector
				  General when fraud is suspected.
(10)
Adoption assistance agreement
				  modification.
Form 04AN002E may be modified and the adoption assistance
				  payment amount readjusted periodically when warranted by a change in
				  circumstances and with the adoptive parent's agreement.
(A) The adoption assistance payment amount
				  may not be automatically adjusted without the adoptive parent's agreement
				  except when an across-the-board reduction or increase in OKDHS foster care
				  reimbursement or DOC rates occurs.
(B) Form 04AN002E modification is prospective
				  only and is not retroactive.
(C)
				  When the parties cannot come to an agreement, OKDHS establishes the payment
				  amount.
(D) The adoptive parent
				  must inform OKDHS of circumstances that make the child ineligible for adoption
				  assistance payments or eligible for payments of a different amount. OKDHS may
				  require:
(i) the adoptive parent to provide
				  updated documentation of the child's ongoing eligibility for the payment amount
				  received; and
(ii) a licensed or
				  certified examiner's evaluation of the child when the child's eligibility is in
				  question.
(E) The
				  agreement may be extended and the child may continue to receive assistance
				  until the day of his or her 19th birthday or high school graduation, whichever
				  comes first. The request to extend adoption assistance beyond 18 years of age
				  includes:
(i) a statement from school
				  personnel documenting the child's high school attendance and anticipated
				  graduation date;
(ii) a statement
				  documenting the child's pursuit of a General Educational Development (GED);
				  or
(iii) medical or psychological
				  assessments, signed by a licensed physician, psychiatrist, or clinician
				  describing the child's conditions including diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis
				  conducted and dated within one year preceding the child's 18th
				  birthday.
(11)
Adoption assistance agreement termination.
When Form 04AN002E is
				  signed and in effect, adoption assistance terminates when one of the conditions
				  in (A) through (E) of this paragraph occurs.
(A) The child reaches 18 years of age. The
				  child may continue to receive assistance until the day of his or her 19th
				  birthday, or high school graduation, whichever comes first.
(B) The adoptive parent fails to submit a
				  request for adoption assistance to extend beyond 18 years of age.
(C) OKDHS determines the adoptive parent is
				  no longer legally responsible for the child's support.
(D) OKDHS determines the adoptive parent is
				  no longer providing financial support to the child. When a child is placed in
				  out-of-home care, including psychiatric, residential, therapeutic, or foster
				  family care, and the adoptive parent continues to provide financial support for
				  the child, adoption assistance may continue. The payment rate may be
				  renegotiated.
(E) The child's
				  adoptive parents are deceased.
(12)
Death of adoptive parents or
				  adoption dissolution.
A child who was Title IV-E eligible, met the
				  criteria for special needs, and was receiving adoption assistance at the time
				  of the death of the child's adoptive parents or at the time the adoption
				  dissolved may be eligible for federally-funded or state-funded adoption
				  assistance when adopted again. For the child to be eligible for adoption
				  assistance, the child at re-application must meet the special needs criteria
				  and all requirements in (A) through (D) of this paragraph are completed.
(A) The prospective adoptive parent applies
				  on Form 04AN001E, Adoption Assistance Application.
(B) Theprospective adoptive parent provides a
				  district or tribal court copy of a file-stamped:
(i) Petition for Adoption, when requesting
				  pre-finalization adoption assistance for children in state or tribal custody;
				  or
(ii) Final Decree of Adoption,
				  when requesting adoption assistance to begin after adoption
				  finalization.
(C) OKDHS
				  documents the child was receiving federally-funded or state-funded assistance
				  at the time of the death of the adoptive parent or at the time the adoption
				  dissolved.
(D) OKDHS receives
				  documentation that the new adoptive parent is not the biological
				  parent.
(13)
Adoptive-family relocation to another state.
When OKDHS uses Form
				  04AN002E, all subsequent adoption assistance agreement modifications remain
				  under the control and authority of OKDHS regardless of the adoptive parent's
				  state of residence.
(14)
Federally-funded adoption assistance eligibility.
To be considered
				  eligible for federally-funded adoption assistance, the child must meet
				  criteria, per OAC
				  340:75-15-128.2, and be placed
				  for adoption in accordance with applicable state and local
				  laws.