[BonSue]

My husband and I adopted a sibling group of 2 boys in MO. One was 4 and the other was 5 years old when we adopted them. The 5 year old was extremely hyper and bossy and just mean to his brother. We thought that we were dealing with ADHD, and now he is almost 9 we had him hospitalized for 16 days, and the Dr. at the hospital is telling us that he RAD (Reactive Attatchment Disorder). I have asked the DSS office to staff him as behavioral and aked to increase our subsidy amouts so we will have more money to help with gas expenses and other expeses that will develop from taking care of a RAD child. The supervisor of 5 counties said abosutley NO. She said that was the agreement and it can not be changed. I know for a fact it has been done. He was too little to have a phsyc eval done. He has been on ADHD meds since he was 3 years. We are talking Adderal XR 35 mgs at 3 years old. They knew this child had problems. Does anyone know if this can happen or not. If they will not do this, can he recieve SSI?

BonSue

[lovemy6]

NACAC | Adoption Subsidy

Yes, you can modify it. Look at #21.

[momof9wantingmore]

We adopted our son at age 2.5, at age 6, after many trying years and lots of frustration, he was diagnosed Fasd, adhd, odd and possible Asperger's. We contacted our state and they sent a form for the doctor to fill out regarding his diagnosis and within 2 weeks we had a letter back saying that they had increased our subsidy to one of the special needs rates. They can increase your subsidy based on new information and if you read your adoption subsidy paperwork it should say that in there somewhere. Either she didn't know or was just trying to put you off, I'd ask again or speak to her supervisor.

[mommytoEli]

many places allow a change to a subsidy when there is a change in the situation. pull out your original aap agreement and read it over and see if it specifcally says one way or the other. start there. if it does not say the subsidy can not be renegotiated, then start gathering evidence- prescriptions, hospital records, dx, doctor notes, whatever, and ask for a hearing. i honestly didn't think 4 and 5 year olds were too young for psych evals. so i'd check on that as well. if that is what they told you, and it is not true, then it is something else i would bring up.

[lovemy6]

Was there full disclosure BEFORE adoption? Did you get to read the child's entire file? If not, that is also cause for re-evaluating the child's subsidy!

BTW, SSI is income based and very hard to get. I don't think RAD would qualify a child.

[BonSue]

MOst of the DSS workers is on our side and agree that he is a behavioral child. The adoption specialists and foster care workers all agree that his subsidy does need to be changed. The hospital social worker is going to advocate for us that he needs to be staffed as behavioral. But their boss that is the boss of 5 counties is saying NO. She even called the adoption specialist and told them no, and they are going over her head and asking if that is true. It seems like it is all about money instead of helping the child. The state don't like to spend the money to help these special needs chilren. As far as looking at my info packet. I don't even know if we have one of them or not. We did look at the file. This child was a mess at 2 years old. His bio parents were meth heads. We thought that after some loving, and good strutured home, he would calm down. That wasn't the case. School did help. He hasn't been a problem, but I think he will now. He learned a lot of good stuff while being in a hospital for 16 days. Most children that young only stay for 5-7 days. The adoption specialist said they have never seen that before. Hopefully Monday they will have an answer for me. Just pray that I remain sweet yet firm with DSS and our son. God bless you

[lucyjoy]

Contact MFCAA - Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association and see if they can help you. Mo is not very helpful with upping subsidy but generally pay for hospital and residential treatment. If anyone would know what can be done in Mo, it would be MFCAA.

Mo gave me copies of my children's files so not sure why you wouldn't have them. If they were never given to you, that might be an angle you can use to get what your child needs.

[7brats]

I adopted 4 children.I live in Pennsylvania. Three of the children have had the subsidy increased except for Philadelphia County.They refused it even with a hearing.My daughter was 4 when I adopted her.She is now 15 and is in learning support with a learning disability and getting the same $14.00 a day she was getting then.
They claim that they never raise subsidy because that is the rate the foster parents are getting,but as a foster parent I was getting $27 a day.
However there are other counties that raise the subsidy just because I asked,in fact my 12 year old will get a $3.00 a day raise when she turns 13 and she has NO issues,except that she my little drama queen .
But yes,counties can and do raise subsidy amounts,if they want to.

[BonSue]

I did call MFCAA this morning, and they was a real big help. They did tell me they would help me get the subsidy that he needs. The lady that I talked to was full of information on RAD. She had adopted one child with RAD. She has dealt with her for over 10 years. That was a wonderful ideal. Thank you so much, I got help in two differnt ways that I needed. BonSue

[lucyjoy]

I'm glad it was helpful. They've helped me a great deal over the years. Hope you get the results you need.

[BonSue]

Wait until you hear this. Our adoption specialist, is now saying that he is a little afraid of our adopted son to be around our almost adopted boys. We are getting ready to adopt 2 boys that have been here 3.5 years. Our adopted son has never hurt either one them. I taken all the other kids out of his room, and even put all the sharp objects, and anything that might hurt him or others. We even put an alarm on his door. Our foster care worker about had a fit and so did the boys attorney. I can't even believe that he would try such a dumb thing.