In certain circumstances, the department is permitted to pay a subsidy to adoptive parents of eligible children under portions of the Social Welfare Act, MCL 400.115f et seq. “[T]he purpose of [an adoption] subsidy is to encourage the adoption of children who are in foster care . . . by relieving the financial burden of adoption.” In re Klaus, 108 Mich App 394, 403 (1981) (discussing the purpose of a support subsidy under former MCL 710.48).
Michigan provides three adoption subsidy programs to assist adoptive parents: (1) support subsidies, (2) medical subsidies, and (3) nonrecurring adoption expenses subsidies. MCL 400.115g; MCL 400.115h; MCL 400.115l.
“The department shall prepare and distribute to adoption facilitators and other interested persons information describing the adoption process and the adoption assistance and medical subsidy programs established under sections [MCL 400.115f] to [MCL 400.115s]. The state department shall provide the information to each prospective adoptive parent before placing a child with that parent.”1 MCL 400.115m(1). For a list of information the department must provide at a minimum when describing the adoption process, see MCL 400.115m(2).
The department may pay a support subsidy to an adoptive parent of an adoptee if certain eligibility requirements are met. MCL 400.115g(1). MCL 400.115(y) defines support subsidy as a “payment for support of a child who has been placed for adoption from foster care.”
Once an adoptive parent has requested a support subsidy, the department has 30 days to complete the certification process to determine whether an adoptive parent is eligible for a support subsidy. MCL 400.115g(5).
“The department may pay a support subsidy to an adoptive parent of an adoptee who is placed in the home of the adoptive parent under the adoption code or under the adoption laws of another state or a tribal government, if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) The department has certified that the adoptee is a child with special needs.
(b) Certification is made before the adoptee’s eighteenth birthday.
(c) Certification is made and the adoption assistance agreement is signed by the adoptive parent and the department before the adoption is finalized.” MCL 400.115g(1).
2.Determination of Eligibility
“The department shall determine eligibility for the support subsidy without regard to the income of the adoptive parent. The maximum amount shall be equal to the rate that the child received in the family foster care placement or the rate the child would have received if he or she had been in a family foster care placement at the time of adoption. This rate includes the determination of care rate that was paid or would have been paid for the adoptee in a family foster care placement, except that the amount shall be increased to reflect increases made in the standard age appropriate foster care rate paid by the department. The department shall not implement policy to limit the maximum amount at an amount less than the family foster care rate, including the determination of care rate, that was paid for the adoptee while the adoptee was in family foster care.” MCL 400.115g(2).
The department must require an adoptive parent to sign a separate form stating that “he or she either requests or does not request a support subsidy.” MCL 400.115g(3). “The adoptive parent shall present to the department the first offer of the amount requested for the support subsidy. The department may accept the adoptive parent’s offer or present a counteroffer to the adoptive parent for the support subsidy. The department shall consider the prospective adoptive parent’s requested rate if that requested rate is consistent with the needs of the child being adopted and the prospective adoptive family’s circumstances, unless the requested rate exceeds the maximum foster care rate the child is receiving or would receive if placed in a licensed family foster home.” MCL 400.115g(4).
3.Adoption Assistance Agreement
“If adoption assistance is to be paid, the department and the adoptive parent shall enter into an adoption assistance agreement that includes all of the following:
(a) The duration of the adoption assistance to be paid.
(b) Notice of potential eligibility for redetermined adoption assistance.
(c) The amount to be paid and, if appropriate, eligibility for medical assistance.[2]
(d) Conditions for continued payment of the adoption assistance as established by statute.
(e) Any services and other assistance to be provided under the adoption assistance agreement.
(f) Provisions to protect the interests of the child in cases in which the adoptive parent moves to another state while the adoption assistance agreement is in effect.” MCL 400.115i(1).
The department must provide a copy of the adoption assistance agreement to the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(4).
“An adoption assistance agreement . . . does not affect the legal status of the adoptee or the legal rights and responsibilities of the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(6).
“The adoptive parent shall file a report with the department at least once each year as to the location of the adoptee and other matters relating to the continuing eligibility of the adoptee for adoption assistance[.]” MCL 400.115i(7).
Failing to file a timely annual report is not a proper ground for terminating a support subsidy where the failure to file the report was not willful and there was substantial compliance with the reporting requirement. In re Klaus, 108 Mich App 394, 401-402 (1981) (discussing the termination of a support subsidy under former MCL 710.48).
5.Duration of Adoption Assistance
“Except as provided in [MCL 400.115j(2)] to [MCL 400.115j(5)] and [MCL 400.115t],[3] adoption assistance . . . shall continue until 1 of the following occurs:
(a) The adoptee becomes 18 years of age.
(b) The adoptee is emancipated.
(c) The adoptee dies.
(d) The adoption is terminated.
(e) A determination of ineligibility is made by the department.” MCL 400.115j(1).
“Adoption assistance . . . shall continue even if the adoptive parent or the adoptee leaves the state.” MCL 400.115j(6).
A support subsidy must continue even if an adopted child is removed from his or her home for delinquency purposes and made a temporary ward of the court under MCL 712A.18. MCL 400.115j(7).
On the death of an adoptive parent, the support subsidy, through state funding, must continue to the adoptee’s appointed guardian. MCL 400.115j(8). See MCL 700.52024 and 700.52045 for information on the appointment of a guardian for a minor.
B.Redetermined Adoption Assistance
If it has sufficient funds, the department must pay redetermined adoption assistance to an adoptee’s adoptive parent if the adoptive parent requests the redetermined adoption assistance and certain eligibility requirements are met. MCL 400.115t(1). MCL 400.115f(t) defines redetermined adoption assistance as “a payment as determined by a certification that may be justified when extraordinary care or expense is required for a condition that existed or the cause of which existed before the adoption from foster care was finalized.”
“Redetermined adoption assistance does not affect or duplicate any original adoption assistance agreement that may be in place at the time that redetermined adoption assistance eligibility is requested.” MCL 400.115t(3).
“An adoptive parent may only request 1 redetermined adoption assistance certification to be made under [MCL 400.115t(1)] or [MCL 400.115t(4)] per adoptee placed in the adoptive parent’s home.”MCL 400.115t(5).
“An adoptive parent of an adoptee who was adopted from foster care between the ages of 0 and 18 and whose adoption was finalized after January 1, 2015 may request redetermined adoption assistance under [MCL 400.115t].”MCL 400.115t(6).
“If sufficient funds are appropriated in the department’s annual budget and subject to [MCL 400.115t(4)], beginning January 1, 2015, the department shall pay redetermined adoption assistance to an adoptive parent of an adoptee who is placed in the adoptive parent’s home under the adoption code or under the adoption laws of another state or a tribal government, if the adoptive parent requests redetermined adoption assistance and both of the following requirements are met:
(a) The department has certified that the adoptee requires extraordinary care or expense due to a condition the cause of which existed before the adoption was finalized.
(b) Certification is made before the adoptee’s eighteenth birthday.” MCL 400.115t(1).6
MCL 400.115t(4) permits “[a]n adoptive parent who has an adoption assistance agreement signed and in effect before January 1, 2015 [to] request redetermined adoption assistance under this section in the same manner as provided in this section beginning January 1, 2015 but not after March 31, 2015.”
2.Determination of Eligibility
“Redetermined adoption assistance shall be determined without regard to the income of the adoptive parent and shall be based on 1 or more of the following for which extraordinary care is required of the adoptive parent or an extraordinary expense exists in excess of a support subsidy:
(a) A physically disabled child for whom the adoptive parent must provide measurably greater supervision and care.
(b) A child with special psychological or psychiatric needs that require extra time and a measurably greater amount of care and attention by the adoptive parent.
(c) A child requiring a special diet that is more expensive than a normal diet and that requires extra time and effort by the adoptive parent to obtain and prepare.
(d) A child whose severe acting out or antisocial behavior requires a measurably greater amount of care and attention of the adoptive parent.
(e) Any other condition for which the department determines that extraordinary care is required of the adoptive parent or an extraordinary expense exists.” MCL 400.115t(3).
“If the department denies or the adoptive parent disagrees with the certification, the adoptive parent may request a hearing through an administrative law judge in a manner consistent with the rules promulgated under the administrative procedures act of 1969, . . . MCL 24.201 to [MCL] 24.328.” MCL 400.115t(2).
3.Redetermined Adoption Assistance Agreement
“If it is determined that a child is eligible for redetermined adoption assistance under [the Social Welfare Act], the department and the adoptive parent shall enter into a redetermined adoption assistance agreement that includes all of the following:
(a) The duration of the redetermined adoption assistance to be paid.
(b) The amount of redetermined adoption assistance to be paid.
(c) If appropriate, eligibility for medical assistance.
(d) Conditions for continued payment of the redetermined adoption assistance. Conditions shall be the same as for adoption assistance as established by law.
(e) Any services and other assistance to be provided under the redetermined adoption assistance agreement.
(f) Provisions to protect the interests of the child in cases in which the adoptive parent moves to another state while the redetermined adoption assistance agreement is in effect.” MCL 400.115i(2).
The department must provide a copy of the redetermined adoption assistance agreement to the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(4).
“[A] . . . redetermined adoption assistance agreement . . . does not affect the legal status of the adoptee or the legal rights and responsibilities of the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(6).
“The adoptive parent shall file a report with the department at least once each year as to the location of the adoptee and other matters relating to the continuing eligibility of the adoptee for . . . redetermined adoption assistance[.]” MCL 400.115i(7).
5.Duration of Redetermined Adoption Assistance
“Except as provided in [MCL 400.115j(2)] to [MCL 400.115j(5)] and [MCL 400.115t],[7] . . . redetermined adoption assistance shall continue until 1 of the following occurs:
(a) The adoptee becomes 18 years of age.
(b) The adoptee is emancipated.
(c) The adoptee dies.
(d) The adoption is terminated.
(e) A determination of ineligibility is made by the department.” MCL 400.115j(1).
“[R]edetermined adoption assistance . . . shall continue even if the adoptive parent or the adoptee leaves the state.” MCL 400.115j(6).
Redetermined adoption assistance must continue even if an adopted child is removed from his or her home for delinquency purposes and made a temporary ward of the court under MCL 712A.18. MCL 400.115j(7).
On the death of an adoptive parent, the redetermined adoption assistance payments, through state funding, must continue to the adoptee’s appointed guardian. MCL 400.115j(8). See MCL 700.52028 and 700.52049 for information on the appointment of a guardian for a minor.
The department may pay a medical subsidy as reimbursement for services either to a service provider or to the adoptive parent of an adoptee if certain eligibility requirements are met. MCL 400.115h(1). MCL 400.115f(n) defines a medical subsidy as “a reimbursement program that assists in paying for services for an adopted child who has an identified physical, mental, or emotional condition that existed, or the cause of which existed, before the adoption is finalized.”
“The adoptive parent may request a medical subsidy before or after the adoption is finalized. A medical subsidy requested after the adoptee is placed in adoption is effective the date the application request is received by the department if the necessary required documentation is received within 90 calendar days after the date the application is received. In allocating available funding for medical subsidies, the department shall not give preferential treatment to requests that are made before the adoption is finalized, but shall allocate funds based on a child’s need for the subsidy.” MCL 400.115h(4).
“Except as provided in [MCL 400.115h(2)], the department may pay a medical subsidy as reimbursement for services either to a service provider or to the adoptive parent of an adoptee who is placed for adoption in the home of the adoptive parent under the adoption code or the laws of any other state or a tribal government, if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) The expenses to be covered by the medical subsidy are necessitated by a physical, mental, or emotional condition of the adoptee that existed or the cause of which existed before the adoption petition was filed or certification was established, whichever occurred first.[10]
(b) The adoptee was in foster care at the time the petition for adoption was filed.
(c) Certification was made before the adoptee’s eighteenth birthday.” MCL 400.115h(1).
MCL 400.115h(2) prohibits the department from “pay[ing] a medical subsidy to an adoptive parent for providing treatment or services to his or her own adopted child.”
“Payment of a medical subsidy for treatment of a mental or emotional condition is limited to outpatient treatment, unless 1 or more of the following apply:
(a) Certification for the medical subsidy was made before the date the adoption was finalized.
(b) The adoptee was placed in foster care before the petition for adoption was filed.
(c) The adoptee was certified for a support subsidy or redetermined adoption assistance.” MCL 400.115h(5).
2.Determination of Eligibility
“The department shall determine the amount of the medical subsidy without respect to the income of the adoptive parent or parents. The department shall not pay a medical subsidy until all other available public money and third party payments have been exhausted. For purposes of this subsection, third party payment is available if an adoptive parent has an option, at or after the time of certification, to obtain from the parent’s employer health coverage for the child, with or without cost to the adoptive parent. The department may waive this subsection in cases of undue hardship.” MCL 400.115h(3).
“If medical subsidy eligibility is certified, the department and the adoptive parent shall enter into a medical subsidy agreement covering all of the following:
(a) Identification of the physical, mental, or emotional condition covered by the medical subsidy.
(b) The duration of the medical subsidy agreement.
(c) Conditions for continued eligibility for the medical subsidy as established by statute.” MCL 400.115i(3).
The department must provide a copy of the medical subsidy agreement to the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(4).
“[A] . . . medical subsidy agreement does not affect the legal status of the adoptee or the legal rights and responsibilities of the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115i(6).
“The adoptive parent shall file a report with the department at least once each year as to the location of the adoptee and other matters relating to the continuing eligibility of the adoptee for . . . a medical subsidy.” MCL 400.115i(7).
“Except as provided in [MCL 400.115j(2)] to [MCL 400.115j(5)] and [MCL 400.115t],[11] . . . a medical subsidy . . . shall continue until 1 of the following occurs:
(a) The adoptee becomes 18 years of age.
(b) The adoptee is emancipated.
(c) The adoptee dies.
(d) The adoption is terminated.
(e) A determination of ineligibility is made by the department.” MCL 400.115j(1).
“[A] medical subsidy shall continue even if the adoptive parent or the adoptee leaves the state.” MCL 400.115j(6).
On the death of an adoptive parent, the medical subsidy eligibility, through state funding, must continue to the adoptee’s appointed guardian. MCL 400.115j(8). See MCL 700.520212 and 700.520413 for information on the appointment of a guardian for a minor.
D.Nonrecurring Adoption Expenses
The department must pay nonrecurring adoption expenses to an adoptive parent of an adoptee if certain eligibility requirements are met. MCL 400.115(l). MCL 400.115f(p) defines nonrecurring adoption expenses as “reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, and other expenses that are directly related to the legal adoption of a child with special needs. Nonrecurring adoption expenses do not include costs or expenses incurred in violation of state or federal law or that have been reimbursed from other sources or funds.” MCL 400.115f(p).
“The department shall take all actions necessary and appropriate to notify potential claimants under this section, including compliance with federal regulations.” MCL 400.115l(3).
The department must pay an adoptive parent the nonrecurring adoption expenses if the adopted child is a child with special needs. See MCL 400.115l(1).
2.Agreement for Payment of Expenses
If the adoptee is a child with special needs, the department and adoptive parent must enter into an agreement for the “payment of nonrecurring adoption expenses incurred by or on behalf of the adoptive parent. MCL 400.115l(1). “The agreement may be a separate document or part of an adoption assistance agreement under [MCL 400.115i]. The agreement under this section shall indicate the nature and amount of nonrecurring adoption expenses to be paid by the department, which shall not exceed $2,000.00 for each adoptive placement meeting the requirements of this section. The department shall make payment as provided in the agreement.” MCL 400.115l(1).
The agreement “shall be signed at or before entry of an order of adoption under the adoption code. Claims for payment shall be filed with the department within 2 years after entry of the order of adoption.” MCL 400.115l(2).
E.Appealing the Department’s Adoption Subsidy Determination
”The court has jurisdiction to hear an appeal brought under . . . [MCL] 400.115k[.] The court may set aside, affirm, reverse, or modify a final determination of the department as provided in [MCL] 24.301 to [MCL] 24.306[.]” MCL 710.23; see also MCL 400.115k(1). The department must notify the adoptee and adoptive parent of their right to appeal the department’s subsidy determination. MCL 400.115k(2).
See the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Appeals & Opinions Benchbook, Chapter 2, for more information on administrative appeals.
F.Extension of Adoption Subsidies
Under MCL 400.115j(2)-(5), adoption assistance agreements, redetermined adoption assistance agreements, and medical subsidy agreements may be extended for an adoptee under the age of 21 under certain circumstances.
1 See Michigan’s Adoption Subsidy Programs Information for Prospective Adoptive Parents. The link to this resource was created using Perma.cc and directs the reader to an archived record of the page.
2 While adoption assistance refers to a support subsidy or a support subsidy with medical assistance, MCL 400.115f(b), medical assistance refers to a federally aided medical assistance program found under the Social Security Act, MCL 400.115f(m). Medical assistance is different from a medical subsidy as indicated in Section 10.6(C).
3 MCL 400.115j(2)-(5) and MCL 400.115t provide circumstances in which adoption assistance agreements may be extended. See Section 10.6(F) for more information.
4 MCL 700.5202(1) provides that a parent may appoint a guardian for an unmarried minor.
5 MCL 700.5204(2) provides that the court may appoint a guardian for a minor under certain circumstances; marital status of the minor is not specified.
6 See MCL 400.115f(k) (setting forth circumstances under which a supplemental payment to the standard age appropriate foster care rate, or the “determination of care rate,” may be justified when extraordinary care of, or expenses related to, the adoptee is required.)
7 MCL 400.115j(2)-(5) and MCL 400.115t provide circumstances in which redetermined adoption assistance agreements may be extended. See Section 10.6(F) for more information.
8 MCL 700.5202(1) provides that a parent may appoint a guardian for an unmarried minor.
9 MCL 700.5204(2) provides that the court may appoint a guardian for a minor under certain circumstances; marital status of the minor is not specified.
10 For information on adoption petitions, see Section 6.6.
11 MCL 400.115j(2)-(5) and MCL 400.115t provide circumstances in which medical subsidy agreements may be extended. See Section 10.6(F) for more information.
12 MCL 700.5202(1) provides that a parent may appoint a guardian for an unmarried minor.
13 MCL 700.5204(2) provides that the court may appoint a guardian for a minor under certain circumstances; marital status of the minor is not specified.