Staff Writer

The Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will consider a bill next week that would ensure adoptive families don’t see further reductions in subsidy levels for at least four years. 

LD 575, “An Act to Preserve the Commitment Made to Children in the State’s Care,” is sponsored by Rep. Gary Connor (D-Kennebunk) and cosponsored by nine legislators, including Rep. Robert Hunt (D-Buxton) and Rep. Andrea Boland (D-Sanford).

The bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from decreasing the subsidy level for adoptive families for any reason during the term of a four-year renewable contract. It also places a moratorium on the reduction of subsidy levels between Oct. 1, 2009 and Sept. 30, 2013.

Supporters of the bill say this type of guarantee ensures families are able to continue to care for children, while the Department of Health and Human Services – which opposes the bill – maintains it needs latitude to renegotiate subsidy levels.

The department provides an adoption assistance program for special needs children in its care or in the custody of a nonprofit private licenses child-placing agency if the children are eligible for adoption. The department is authorized to use funds appropriated for child welfare services and money provided under the United States Social Security Act. 

The amount of adoption assistance varies depending on the resources of the adoptive parents and the special needs of the child, but cannot exceed the total cost of caring for the child in state care, according to Virginia Marriner, director of child welfare policy and practice for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services. The maximum allowed per day is $26.25 per child.

Assistance continues until the cessation of legal parental responsibility or the parents are no longer supporting the child. It can continue until the adoptee is 21 if the parents and department find the need for care and support exists, Marriner said during public hearing testimony before the Health and Human Services Committee on March 16.

Connor said he became involved with the effort to eliminate subsidy reductions after watching “very difficult” cuts during the last two budget cycles. He said some adoptive families have had subsidy reductions within months of signing agreements with the department.

“In some ways I look at this as child support,” he said. “We can’t allow them to go change it on a whim.”

Connor said he knows the state is facing “extremely difficult times” but cannot continue to cut programs that significantly impact the “neediest members of Maine.”

“I do not think we can continue to cut a program that, in truth, saves the state money since the care of these children is transferred to the wonderful families willing to open their homes and help these children,” he said.

Andrea Chasse, a therapeutic foster mother from the Saco area, said she supports the bill because of the importance of ensuring families continue to meet the needs of their adopted children. She said she acts as an unofficial liaison between adoptive families and the Legislature because many families are “burnt out.”

“I’m just fed up watching families suffer because of the cuts,” she said. “What is a family to do when they don’t get what they need for their children? It’s really a sad, sad situation.” 

Chasse said she knows of families who have lost their homes and struggle to make ends meet because adoption assistance was cut within months of signing assistance agreements. Some families feel pressured to adopt children they had been caring for in foster care so the children are not taken away, only to later find themselves struggling to pay for special services, she said. 

“[The bill] would give the shot the families need. It would give them peace of mind that they’d at least be status quo for four years,” Chasse said.

Merriner told committee members during the public hearing that adoption assistance is currently reviewed by the department annually to determine the level of need of the child and that the family continues its legal responsibilities.

“In some circumstances a child may no longer reside with a family and that family may not be providing any of the subsidy they receive for the care of that child,” she said. “The department needs latitude to renegotiate with a family to ensure the child is receiving the necessary care they deserve.”

Merriner said other circumstances may impact subsidy levels, including the receipt of survivor or Social Security benefits. The bill would not allow for adjustments to subsidy levels that take into account such third party benefits, she said. The department does not oppose the moratorium on subsidy reductions as long as it retains the ability to renegotiate levels as needed, she said.

Connor said the committee is expected to vote on the bill April 8. The bill could pass as written, pass with amendments or not pass, he said. If passed, it returns to the House of Representatives before going to the Senate. Connor said the bill must be approved in both the House and Senate before it can be signed into law by the governor. 

If the bill does not pass, Chasse said she will continue to advocate against budget cuts and speak out on behalf of adoptive families. 

“Adoptive families are just one of many resource homes available to the state,” she said. “Let’s keep our kids in their homes with resources they need to thrive not just survive, so they many become respected, self-sufficient people in their communities.”