Adoption and Financial Assistance: Tools for Navigating the Bureaucracy [Hardcover]

Rita Laws (Author), Tim O'Hanlon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0897896688 | ISBN-13: 978-0897896689 | Publication Date: July 30, 1999

Parents, child advocates, and family attorneys need to understand how to put the federal adoption assistance law to work for their children and clients in order to create adoptions, keep them intact and healthy, and encourage future special needs adoptive placements as well. This guide through the state adoption bureaucracies shows how to navigate the adoption assistance process, negotiate an adoption assistance contract, and plan effective administrative hearings and adoption subsidy appeals. Essentially four books in one, this book includes and explains the federal IV-E adoption assistance law and many of the important clarifications that have been issued by the federal government over the last two decades; takes the reader inside the culture of the state adoption bureaucracies to show how they operate, and why they sometimes seem to be working against adoptive families instead of with them; illustrates how to negotiate and periodically renegotiate the crucial adoption assistance contract, and how to file and prepare for an administrative hearing and an appeal should the decision go against a family; and provides easy-to-understand examples in numerous sidebars that illustrate important points every adoptive family should understand. Families who have or will adopt children with special needs may be able to save tens of thousands of dollars using the information provided here.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This exceptionally practical and readable tool carefully explains federal IV-E adoption assistance law and offers grassroots advice for the would-be or need-be child advocates....Adoption and Financial Assistance is an essential tool for both parents domestically adopting children who have or who develop special needs as well as for the workers charged with assisting these families and children.”–Adoption Quarterly

“In four well-defined and carefully written parts, this book serves as a guide for prospective parents who are considering adopting special needs children. This book is an excellent reference for professionals who are responsible for adoptions, or for anyone interested in adoption policy. [The authors] have made the process user friendly.”–Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare

“Every parent who has adopted a special needs child, is considering adopting a special needs child or who has adopted a child who had developed special needs (such as reactive attachment disorder diagnosis) needs to read this book....For all adoptive parents and professionals who are working wuth adoptive families this is an invaluable resource.”–Augusta Attachment Network Newsletter

“Adoption and Financial Assitance is a must read for anyone planning to adopt a child or who has adopted a child (whether or not they believe their child is a special needs child.) For adoptive parents and child advocates, it truly is a ...Tool for Navigating the Bureacucracy. It is a usable guide for adoptive parents going through the maze of adoption assistance and is written in understandable language....This book offers empowerment to adoptive parents through concise information and is an essential self-education tool for both adoptive parents and child advocates.”–Augusta Child Advocates, Incorporated

About the Author

RITA LAWS is the co-author of Adopting and Advocating for the Special Needs Child (Bergin & Garvey, 1997) and has written hundreds of articles on adopting and parenting.

TIM O'HANLON is a former adoption assistance policy specialist and is the author of Accessing Federal Adoption Subsidies After Legalization (1995). Dr. O'Hanlon maintains an adoption advocacy Web site called the "Adoption Policy Resource Center."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Bergin & Garvey (July 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897896688
• ISBN-13: 978-0897896689
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,092,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crucial reading, May 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Adoption and Financial Assistance: Tools for Navigating the Bureaucracy (Hardcover)

I wouldn't adopt a special needs child without reading this book. The authors lay out the highly-complicated world of adoption subsidy in a manner that is easy for a novice parent to follow. Chances are your social worker will probably not know much about adoption subsidy or at least won't have it all right so it is crucial that adoptive parents read this book carefully. You can take the information in this book and use it to advocate for your child's subsidy and service rights. The authors also provide important policy decisions and laws that will help anyone who has to go back and fight for subsidy and services after their adoption is complete. I plan to keep this book by my side as I negotiate my own adoption subsidy agreement and I am telling every prospective adoptive parent I know to read it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Adopt Without Reading This!, April 3, 2008

By 

Marilyn Puryear (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adoption and Financial Assistance: Tools for Navigating the Bureaucracy (Hardcover)

This book is the most important investment we made when we decided to adopt our daughters. It is relatively easy to understand, the tables are helpful, and the understanding it provides as to who is actually paying for your AAP, provides the adoptive parent with the tools to negotiate an AAP agreement that will truly be beneficial for all parties involved. Child welfare workers, adoption workers, etc. are not well-versed on this topic and may present the basic rate to you as the only thing available. Read on...adoption is a win/win situation when you understand your rights financially. Read this and then negotiate your AAP agreement armed with accurate information. The only thing I would recommend is that the authors should update the tables to a more current year's standard. Regardless - this book is an absolute necessity for adoptive parents.