[sneezyone]

OK. I just want to address a serious misunderstanding that I've seen perpetuated on these boards NUMEROUS times - namely that facilitator expenses don't qualify for military reimbursement. This is simply not true. DH and I used a facilitator and had our expenses reimbursed after an initial denial. Here's the deal...

In general:Adoptions that qualify for reimbursement include adoptions by a married couple and by a single person, adoptions of a child under 18 years of age, intercountry adoptions, and adoptions of children with special reimbursement include those arranged by a qualified adoption agency is an agency described at enclosure E2., definition E2.1.4.

On first glance you might think this prohibits indy adoptions from being reimbursed. But don't give up so easily!! Read E2 and E2.1.4.

Qualifying adoptions agencies are:

• E2.1.4.1.1. - State or a local government agencies that have the responsibility under state or local law for child placement through adoption;
• E2.1.4.1.2. - Nonprofit and voluntary adoption agencies authorized by state or local law to place children for adoption; or

...and this is where indy adoption fits...

• E2.1.4.1.3. - Any other source authorized by a State to provide adoption placement if the adoption is supervised by a court under State or local law.
  

Here's where the military attorneys get hung up...

They ASSUME everyone who files a claim does so because their agency qualifies under E2.1.4.1.1. or E2.1.4.1.2. Unless you specifically tell them that you are claiming the reimbursement under E2.1.4.1.3. and provide the documentation to support that, your claim will be denied.

So, here's what to do. Send a letter with your request for reimbursement package that specifically says:

1. Your adoption was accomplished pursuant to E2.1.4.1.3., and
2. That your facilitator was not the "placement agent" for your adoption, the attorney (or other designated person) was the designated placement agent. Your attorney should be able to provide documentation of this since a guardian must be appointed by the court pending finalization - this also shows the ongoing court supervision.

Doing this is like speaking the magic words in front of a spell-bound door! As long as you can show that the adoption was accomplished legally with ongoing court supervision pending finalization and that an attorney (or other person authorized by state law) was the placement agent, you should be fine.

You DON'T have to use a full-service agency to receive the military's reimburesement. You DO have to do your homework and make sure you and your attorney maintain good records.

This is the link to the exact Navy instruction (OPNAV Instruction 1754.4) and the DOD instruction that governs ALL the branches: http://neds.daps.dla.mil/Directives/1754_4.pdf and http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/c...93/i13419p.pdf.

Good luck to all! I hope this helps!

[chrisa]

This is great information! I just went and looked up the Reg too and then I came back here and saw your post...with the same info I was just reading
DOD Instruction 1341.9 enclosure 2 clearly states 'any other source authorized by the state' and that would be your state licensed adoption attorney!!!!
so you can use a facilitator (if authorized in your state) and you will still have your adoption attorney that handles everything in court for finalization (so the attorney would be the placement agency)

horaay, I'm sure this will make lots of families happy.
I agree, have a good adoption attorney who keeps good records!!
thanks sneezyone for sharing your experience!!!

Chris

[sneezyone]

I thought I'd go ahead an post this info for a number of reasons:

A) I don't want people to rule out indy adoption for fear of being unable to take advantage of this benefit;

B) There are a lot of reputable organizations that don't yet have a handle on this issue - the NMFA comes to mind - they even told me it wasn't allowed so they couldn't help me advocate for myself; and

C) It's becoming harder and harder to use some of the benefits we're entitled to due to pressure to keep up with mission-critical expenses and I just don't think that's right. The first thing someone will tell you is no, not let me see what I can do.

When we were initially denied I was really pissed - not only because I KNEW we qualified but b/c we never even received a notice! If I hadn't called, I'd never have known we were denied. Not only that, but the JAG attorney said something like, well, you were denied b/c facilitators aren't agencies (it was a clearly boilerplate letter so I can imagine how many families have received it and given up) but it never occurred to her to consider us under the other provision, the one we DID fit?

I had to get the JAG attorney to fax me a copy of the letter they supposedly sent and even then it didn't help me understand what I needed to provide to fix things. I basically had to explain to the JAG attorney under what rationale we qualified and then say, OK, if we provide X documentation (literally, one page), will that work? You know how it is, you have to do your part and their part too. So frustrating.

So if even one person is spared that two month hassle - I've done my part! TY and GN.