In December, Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers reached a deal to dam adoptive dad and mom from amassing checks on behalf of children not of their care, together with these compelled again into the foster system. Closing particulars of the legislation had been ironed out this week because the Legislature reconvened for the 2025 session.
“This bill makes critical changes that will support families that participate in the adoption process,” Hochul wrote in a Dec. 21 memo. “However, changes were necessary to ensure funds are directed to parents who are appropriately caring for their child, and exclude individuals in situations of abuse or neglect.”
“I am pleased to have reached an agreement with the Legislature to enact these changes. On the basis of this agreement, I am pleased to sign this bill.”
For not less than a decade, adopted kids and their advocates warned funds had been arrange in such a means that oldsters might accumulate 1000’s of {dollars} every month for youngsters with disabilities or in any other case thought of “hard to place” — even after they had been returned to foster care or taken in by one other household.
In New York Metropolis alone, not less than $3.5 million in adoption subsidies had been despatched to households not eligible for the help, a 2021 comptroller audit discovered.
However reforms took time. Lawmakers needed to narrowly craft the invoice to keep away from creating incentives for adopted teenagers to depart residence or jeopardizing a part of the adoption subsidy funded with federal cash.
As a part of the deal reached between Hochul and the Legislature, some components of the legislation stay on pause till they obtain federal approval. Adjustments ensuing from that settlement will probably be handed as a chapter modification this session.
On the finish of final yr, there have been 6,559 households in New York Metropolis receiving subsidies on behalf of greater than 10,000 adopted kids, in response to the Administration for Kids’s Companies. Forty-four kids had been again in foster care after beforehand being adopted.
Month-to-month checks begin at greater than $1,000 per 30 days within the metropolis and might exceed $3,000 for disabled and “hard to place” kids, in response to the most recent charges.
Advocates cheered the legislation’s passage after a protracted marketing campaign that could possibly be traced again to not less than 2014.
“It’s been a long-time coming,” mentioned Betsy Kramer, the director of coverage and particular litigation at Legal professionals for Kids. “And it’s long overdue, and will bring great relief to many children and to the people who step into care for children when their adoptive parents are no longer providing any support.”
“There are too many young people who aren’t being supported by their adoptive parents, and that money can make the difference for them between having a stable, safe place to live and being homeless.”
Initially Printed: January 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM EST
