[cag4nyg]

We have a almost 4 month old who ws brought to DPSS. it is unknown if ther are any issues such as drugs and alchol, family claims no but who really knows. SW suspects there is a high possibility of something. Would he stll be eligible for the AAP and Medi-cal as back up just in case he does have some issues that are unknown now or would we have to apply after the adoption when any issues arise?

[Becki_in_IN]

You need to negotiate before the adoption is finalized. Get him to as many specialists as possible. Have everything checked. Can you check the mom's police record? Our girl's mom had a drunken disorderly and several other types of arrests when pregnant. You can usually tell if the child has FASD facial features. Look for the small eyes, flat philtrum (the area between the nose and mouth) and the thin, upper lip. Even if there are no features, the child could still have ARND. Those symptoms don't always manifest themselves until later. Our dd did not start to fall behind developmentally until about 3 1/2. When we adopted her she was fine.

Is he involved in early intervention? Make sure that the therapists and doctors document everything. Try to get Medicaid at least and put a provision in the agreement that you will be able to come back and request help if issues arise later.

[marykath]

We are also in CA and recently negotiated our AAP before finalizing...
- If the child is now on MediCal, you can request that MediCal continue after adoption, even if he is on your private insurance, too. We did this. The form makes it look like you cannot have the child on both, but our SW said you can - he simply marked both boxes. We received the new MediCal card w/ our daughter's new last name, so everything worked out fine.
- About the AAP, the above poster is correct - document, document, document. If you think you will need a higher AAP than the basic rate, you need to provide documentation. For us, the Regional Center provided the proof that upped our rate...we had been receiving early intervention services from them.
- If you do not provide information that proves your child will need special services because of drug/alcohol exposure, I believe you will get the basic rate for your AAP. In our county, that's about $400 per month. Unless, of course, it's a private adoption...but you said social services was involved.

[cag4nyg]

Talk to SW today when they came for monthly vist. I did find out that yes we will get an AAP and medi-cal even when we finalize as the bio moms family did say he was neglected and there is also signs of that and maybe a few other things.