HHS Awards $35 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions

HHS Awards $35 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions

Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:01am EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+]

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded $35 million

to 38 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children adopted from

foster care. States use the funds from the adoption incentive award to enhance

their programs for abused and neglected children.

"Adopting a child from foster care is a wonderful way to enrich any family`s

life," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "We congratulate the states that

performed so well this year and we thank the parents who are providing loving

and permanent homes."

The Adoption Incentives program was created as part of the Adoption and Safe

Families Act of 1997. The original program authorized incentive funds to states

that increased the number of children adopted from foster care. In order to get

payments, states had to increase the number of children adopted relative to

baseline data.

Under the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008

(P.L. 110-351), the adoption incentives were revamped to provide stronger

incentives for states to redouble their efforts to find children - particularly

older children and children with special needs - loving adoptive homes. In

addition, the law introduced the concept of an adoption rate, which is derived

from comparing current year adoptions to the number of children in care at the

end of the previous year. States receive additional money if they exceed their

highest foster child adoption rate for previous years back to 2002. The Adoption

Incentive program gives states $4,000 for every foster child adopted above their

2007 baseline, plus a payment of $8,000 for every foster child age nine and

older and $4,000 for every other special needs child adopted above the

respective baselines. In addition, states receive $1,000 for every foster child

adopted over and above the level of the state`s highest foster child adoption

rate for previous years.

"We are pleased with the positive results states have achieved under the new

adoption incentive guidelines," said David Hansell, acting assistant secretary

for children and families. "Older children with special needs are the hardest to

find homes for, but they are especially deserving of the safety and stability of

an adoptive family."

States receiving today`s funding are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,

California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,

Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North

Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South

Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Puerto Rico also

qualified for an incentive award.

A list of each state`s adoption incentive award amount can be found at

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2009/fy09_adoption_incentive_awards.htm.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are

available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

ACF Press Office

(202) 401 9215