Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________
Welfare Watch - December 22, 2009 - DHS Board Approves Adoption Assistance Definition Change
On December 9th, the Board of the Department of Human Services approved the revision of the rules for Adoption Assistance for Special Need Children. These rule changes are important for "special needs" children in foster care because they qualify children for the resources that these children need in order to be adopted. "Special needs" children are children that the State has identified as having issues, which require the assistance of the State to meet their developmental, educational, behavioral or emotional needs. This assistance often takes the form of additional resources in the form of medical insurance provided through Medicaid and other financial resources. Without this assistance, many of these children would not be adopted by families and have the permanent connections needed for the rest of their lives.
The issues that will qualify a child as "special needs" often include medical or behavioral disabilities. Children who are in foster care are more likely to have a behavioral or mental health diagnosis than the children in the general population. Years of trauma through neglect or abuse takes a tremendous toll on a child. These issues must be faced by foster parents and adoptive parents alike and they need the resources to handle these issues.
Other issues that may make a child a special needs child include being apart of a sibling group. Research shows that lifelong sibling connections are as important as parental connections. Keeping children connected to their siblings is important, but a challenge when asking families to adopt children. It places an incredible burden on a family emotionally and financially. This "special needs" is recognized by the State.
Time in care is another consideration. Children should not languish in temporary placements for any length of time. If a child is taken into custody by the State, the State should make every reasonable effort to get the child safely back home or provide the means for the child to be adopted or at least connected to a permanent adult in their lives. Too many foster children in Georgia are in care for too long. The median time in care for a foster child is over 400 days. This is much too long for any child to be without or disconnected from a permanent family.
The approved changes addressed this issue by making a child "special needs" if they have been in care for more than 24 "consecutive" months, a member of a sibling group of two or more siblings placed in the same home or a child with a validated physical, mental or emotional disability.
DHS Documents:
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Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia
Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________
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