(a) Except in cases involving foster parents, where the department has made reasonable efforts to locate an appropriate family to adopt the child without the use of subsidy and no family has been found for the child, the State Department of Human Resources shall certify the child as eligible for a subsidy, provided the other requirements of this article are met.
(b) In cases involving foster parents where there is evidence to support the existence of potential danger to the child in severing his or her emotional ties with his or her foster parents who are the prospective adoptive parents, no evidence need be presented that reasonable efforts have been made to place the child without subsidy.
(c) Application for adoption subsidy shall be in the form and contain the information required by the department.
(d) The decision concerning certification of the child for subsidy shall be made by the State Department of Human Resources. Evidence submitted by the voluntary licensed child-placing agency shall serve as a basis for the decision and the State Department of Human Resources may request and receive from the voluntary licensed child-placing agency additional information which the State Department of Human Resources considers necessary to the decision.
(e) The State Department of Human Resources will negotiate with the adoptive parent or parents and sign jointly with the adoptive parents the subsidy agreement. The State Department of Human Resources will be the administrator of the subsidy agreement according to its regulations and the terms of this article.
(f) The voluntary licensed child-placing agency shall continue supervisory responsibility for the child and the family until after the final adoption decree has been issued.
Last modified: May 3, 2021