                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS; MAINTENANCE; SPECIAL NEEDS; PAYMENT AGREEMENTS;
CONTINUATION OF PAYMENTS WHEN ADOPTIVE PARENTS MOVE TO ANOTHER JURISDICTION;
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS (§ 63.2-1302)

A. Adoption assistance payments may include Title IV-E or state-funded
maintenance payments; however, such payments shall not exceed the foster care
payment that would otherwise be made for the child at the time the adoption
assistance agreement is signed.

B. Adoption assistance payments shall cease when the child with special needs
reaches 18 years of age. However, assistance payments may continue until the
child reaches 21 years of age under the following circumstances:

   1. The local department determines on or within six months prior to the
   child&#8217;s eighteenth birthday that the child has a mental or physical
   disability, or an educational delay resulting from such disability, warranting
   the continuation of assistance; or

   2. The initial adoption assistance agreement became effective on or after the
   child&#8217;s sixteenth birthday and the child is (i) completing secondary
   education or an equivalent thereof; (ii) enrolled in an institution that
   provides postsecondary or vocational education; (iii) employed for at least 80
   hours per month; (iv) participating in a program or activity designed to
   promote employment or remove barriers to employment; or (v) incapable of doing
   any of the activities set forth in clauses (i) through (iv) due to a medical
   condition.

C. Adoption assistance payments shall be made on the basis of an adoption
assistance agreement entered into by the local board and the adoptive parents
or, in cases in which the child is in the custody of a licensed child-placing
agency, an agreement between the local board, the licensed child-placing agency
and the adoptive parents. A representative of the Department shall negotiate all
adoption assistance agreements with both existing and prospective adoptive
parents on behalf of local departments.
			Prior to entering into an adoption assistance agreement, the local board or
licensed child-placing agency shall ensure that adoptive parents have received
information about their child&#8217;s eligibility for adoption assistance; about
their child&#8217;s special needs and, to the extent possible, the current and
potential impact of those special needs. The local board or licensed
child-placing agency shall also ensure that adoptive parents receive information
about the process for appeal in the event of a disagreement between the adoptive
parent and the local board or the adoptive parent and the child-placing agency
and information about the procedures for renegotiating the adoption assistance
agreement.
			Adoptive parents shall submit annually to the local board within 30 days of
the anniversary date of the approved agreement an affidavit which certifies that
(i) the child on whose behalf they are receiving adoption assistance payments
remains in their care, (ii) the child&#8217;s condition requiring adoption
assistance continues to exist, and (iii) whether or not changes to the adoption
assistance agreement are requested.
			Title IV-E maintenance payments made pursuant to this section shall be
changed only in accordance with the provisions of &#xA7; 473 of Title IV-E of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 673).

D. Responsibility for adoption assistance payments for a child placed for
adoption shall be continued by the local board that initiated the agreement in
the event that the adoptive parents live in or move to another jurisdiction.

E. Payments may be made under this chapter from appropriations for foster care
services for the maintenance and medical or other services for children who have
special needs in accordance with &#xA7; 63.2-1301. Within the limitations of the
appropriations to the Department, the Commissioner shall reimburse any agency
making payments under this chapter. Any such agency may seek and accept funds
from other sources, including federal, state, local, and private sources, to
carry out the purposes of this chapter.

HISTORY: 1974, c. 507, § 63.1-238.3; 1976, c. 216; 1977, c. 533; 1978, c. 536;
1980, c. 280; 1981, c. 359; 1982, c. 171; 1985, c. 568; 1987, cc. 650, 681;
1988, c. 417; 1989, c. 191; 2000, c. 290; 2002, c. 747; 2010, c. 271; 2017, c.
199; 2023, cc. 148, 149.