                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PURPOSE AND INTENT OF ADOPTION ASSISTANCE; ELIGIBILITY (§ 63.2-1300)

A. The purpose of adoption assistance is to facilitate adoptive placements and
ensure permanency for children with special needs.

B. In accordance with § 473 of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
§ 673), a child with special needs is a child who is unlikely to be adopted
within a reasonable period of time due to one or more of the following factors:

   1. Physical, mental or emotional condition existing prior to adoption;

   2. Hereditary tendency, congenital problem or birth injury leading to
   substantial risk of future disability; or

   3. Individual circumstances of the child related to age, racial or ethnic
   background or close relationship with one or more siblings.

C. A child with special needs will be eligible for adoption assistance if (i)
the child is a citizen or legal resident of the United States; (ii) the child
cannot or should not be returned to the home of his parents; and (iii)
reasonable efforts to place the child in an appropriate adoptive home without
the provision of adoption assistance have been unsuccessful. An exception may be
made to the requirement that efforts be made to place the child in an adoptive
home without the provision of adoption assistance when it is in the best
interest of the child due to factors such as the development of significant
emotional ties with his foster parents while in their care and the foster
parents wish to adopt the child.

HISTORY: 1974, c. 507, § 63.1-238.1; 1978, c. 536; 1981, c. 359; 1987, cc. 650,
681; 2000, cc. 290, 830, § 63.1-238.03; 2002, c. 747; 2010, c. 271; 2017, c.
199.