Please note: This article is reprinted directly from MedicalKidnap.com. It is being presented here in four installments due to length. This is the 3rd installment. The article in its entirety can be found here: link to complete article
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Financial Incentives for States to Adopt Out More Children
There are 4 main streams of funding a state can receive from adoption incentives, according to the Adoption Incentives Awards by Category for Earning Years 2008–2012 (Updated September 2013):
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law [P.L.] 110-351) reauthorized the Adoption Incentives payment program under part E of the Social Security Act. Under this reauthorization, states can earn incentive funds for increasing the number of children adopted in certain circumstances. There are four categories under which states can earn Adoption Incentive awards:
Exceeding a baseline number of foster child adoptions: States must exceed their 2007 baseline number of foster child adoptions to be eligible for incentive awards in this category. States earn $4,000 for each foster child adopted that is above the baseline number.
Exceeding a baseline number of older child (age 9 or older) adoptions: States must exceed their 2007 baseline number of older child (age 9 or above) adoptions to be eligible for incentive awards in this category. States earn $8,000 for each older child adopted that is above the baseline number.
Exceeding a baseline number of special needs child (under age 9) adoptions: As provided in the law, states that exceed their special needs adoption baseline do not earn an incentive for this increase unless, in that same fiscal year, they separately earned an incentive for increases in foster care or older child adoptions, or they exceeded their highest ever adoption rate. States earn $4,000 for each special needs child adopted that meet this criterion.
Exceeding the state’s highest ever adoption rate: A state is eligible for an adoption rate incentive award if they achieve their highest ever foster child adoption rate between FY2002 and the most recent FY. If the current earning year’s adoption rate is the highest, that rate is multiplied by the number of children in foster care on the last day of the preceding fiscal year. That result is then subtracted from the number of foster child adoptions in the state in the current earning year. The difference is then rounded to the nearest whole number and multiplied by $1,000. However, Adoption Rate incentive awards may only be paid if there are sufficient funds remaining after the awards are made for increased numbers of adoptions in the other three award categories (Foster Child Adoptions, Older Youth Adoptions, and Special Needs Adoptions).
The following chart shows the Adoption Incentive Awards History by State from 1998-2014.
Image Source: Adoption Incentive Awards History by State from 1998-2014
“Abused” Children or Just Poor? Are We Punishing Poverty?
Many of the children entering foster care (and subsequently being adopted) are not children in imminent danger of being victimized by sexual or physical abuse, but are children branded as “neglected” or deprived of “necessities” due to poverty.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway:
Neglect is frequently defined as the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision to the degree that the child’s health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm. Approximately 25 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands include failure to educate the child as required by law in their definition of neglect. The States that define “failure to educate” as neglect include Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Nine States and American Samoa specifically define medical neglect as failing to provide any special medical treatment or mental health care needed by the child. Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. In addition, four States define medical neglect as the withholding of medical treatment or nutrition from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions.
According to one frequently cited federal study, children in families earning below $15,000 a year are 22 times more likely to be considered maltreated as kids in families with incomes above $30,000. It is also well known that these parents cannot afford private attorneys to represent them and fight to get their children back. They must rely on court-appointed attorneys who are generally quick to encourage them to settle with the State, and lose all custody of their children.
Nancy Schaefer, who died advocating for families’ rights against a corrupt CPS system, agreed saying:
Poor parents very often are targeted to lose their children because they do not have the where-with-all to hire lawyers and fight the system. Being poor does not mean you are not a good parent or that you do not love your child, or that your child should be removed and placed with strangers. (Source: The Corrupt Business of Child Protective Services)
End 3rd installment
