Children who have been in foster care when they are freed for adoption can be eligible for an adoption subsidy paid by the state and county to the adoptive parents until the child is 21 years of age if the child is handicapped or “hard to place.”

Proving that a child is handicapped would involve medical and therapeutic opinions and records and “hard to place” has the following meanings:

1. The child has been freed for adoption for six months before placed with prospective adoptive parents. This category is not eligible for non-recurring expenses such as legal fees.

2. The child has been in foster care with the same foster parents for more than 12 months before the foster parents signed an agreement to adopt.

3. The child is aged 10 or older.

4. The child is aged 8 or older and is a member of a minority.

5. The child is being adopted in a sibling group of three or more.

6. The child is being adopted in a sibling group of two or more and one of the siblings is aged five or older, or one of the siblings is a member of a minority, or one of the siblings is otherwise eligible for an adoption subsidy.

7. The child is a sibling to a child the adoptive parents have already adopted and the child to be adopted is aged five or older, or the child to be adopted is a member of a minority, or the already adopted sibling is eligible for a subsidy.

Source: NYSCCC conference workshop presentation by Margaret A. Burt, Esq., mburt5@aol.com. Copyright 2011, Reprinted with permission of the author.