None.
IV. Support for Post-Adoption Services
A. What is the total annual budget for post-adoption services (excluding Adoption Assistance)?
PARCs – $1.5M
Medical Subsidy Program – $5.5M
B. What are the primary sources of funding for post-adoption services? (Please order from 1=top funding source to the source that the lowest amount of funds is used.)
Title IV-B, Part 1, Child Welfare Services 3
Title IV-B, Part 2, Promoting Safe and Stable Families for “Adoption Support & Promotion"
Title IV-B, Part 2, Promoting Safe and Stable Families from categories other than adoption
Adoption Incentive Funds (PARC was initially here, no longer the ase.) Early Periodic Screening and Diagnostic Testing
Title XX, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) Title IV-A, TANFF
Michigan
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1 & 2 Other federal funds-specify: Title IV-E and TANF
4 State child welfare funds for Adoption Medical Subsidy
Other state funds-specify: __________________________________________
C. Which, if any, of these services is legally stipulated in state law? If any post-adoption services are included in state law, please describe:
The Adoption Medical Subsidy program is legally stipulated and the statute citation is found in
Section 400.115i of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
D. Have there been significant cutbacks in post-adoption services or adoption subsidies in the state in the past 10 years? If so, please describe:
The Adoption Medical Subsidy Program has had cuts to funding, but to date services have not been cut. Also, funding of Michigan’s regional post-adoption support services centers (PASS) was eliminated in 2008. The PARCs were begun in 2012.
V. In your state, are there noteworthy practice models or research reports related to adoption support and preservation that you could share with us?
A. Please describe practice models:
None noted.
B. Significant findings of program evaluations or other post-adoption studies conducted in the State in the past 10 years:
None noted.
C. Contact persons who could give us more information about noteworthy practice models or research and their phone number:
N/A
D. Please share any strategies that you have used to successfully advocate for post-adoption services in your state.
Michigan used the Adoption Incentive grant to launch its PARCs and was able to demonstrate that the centers were effective and necessary. The adoption unit also had the support of upper management in both launching and sustaining the centers.
MINNESOTA
RESPONDENT: Ami Nafzger, Adoption Operation Supervisor
Minnesota Department of Human Services, Child Safety and Permanency
I. General Information (Background on State Service System):
County-based vs. statewide system
Minnesota’s system is state supervised and county administered. There are 87 counties in the state.
Uniformity of services across the state
Services are fairly uniform, although county size and availability of agencies within each county affect the ability to ensure uniformity. In addition, some individual counties receive federal grants to provide services only in their particular counties.
Children on subsidy as of June 30, 2013
Information not provided.
Are public child welfare adoption workers expected to provide post-adoption services?
With the exception of services connected to adoption assistance, state workers provide mostly information and referral to families after adoption. Specifically, they refer families to Minnesota Adoption Resource Network (MARN), a nonprofit organization that receives a grant from the state to provide post-adoption services.
II. Post-Adoption Services Funded by the State for Adoptive Families Information and Referral
State workers refer families to Minnesota Adoption Resource Network (MARN), a nonprofit organization that receives a grant from the state to provide post-adoption services. They also refer families to county offices that have a good idea of local mental health and other specific resources.
Educational Programs or Materials
The state provides training through its Quality Assurance department, which works closely with the county offices and private adoption agencies to train workers in adoption-related issues. The state’s grantee, MARN, offers an extensive training program for the public, including adoptive families and professionals, on subjects like trauma, working with challenging behaviors, and birth family issues via webinar and workshops in local areas. Another state grantee, the University of Minnesota, trains professionals in adoption-related issues in an effort to increase the level of adoption competence in mental health practice throughout the state.
Support Programs
The state provides no support programs directly. Through another grantee, the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), the state indirectly funds support groups for adoptive parents. The Minnesota chapter of NACAC is a small, parent-run group.
Therapeutic Interventions
The state grantee MARN operates the HELP Program, which consists of clinical personnel providing assessment, brief counseling, and referral services to adoptive families in crisis.
Minnesota
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Advocacy
The state provides no direct advocacy services to adoptive families. A leading source of post-adoption advocacy is a small private organization (not state-funded) called Land of Gazillion Adoptees. Some advocacy around transracial adoption comes from another private nonprofit (also not state-funded) called AdopSource, which sponsors an annual film festival and is presently conducting a needs assessment for adoptive families and adoptees.
Respite
Respite services are provided as part of Adoption Assistance to those families who qualify.
Residential Treatment
Does the state pay for residential treatment for children adopted from foster care? What is the process for obtaining this?
For the most part, children needing residential treatment fund this through the Medicaid card, assuming they qualify. Occasionally a county will pay for a local child’s residential treatment under extreme (and rare) circumstances.
If yes, what is required to obtain this?
A family would most likely start by contacting their local county office.
Does the child have to re-enter state custody?
No.
III. Qualifications for Post-Adoption Services
A. What are the eligibility criteria for receiving services?
Any child adopted from the public child welfare system may be eligible for post-adoption services, depending on whether the child is classified as having “special needs.”
B. Under what circumstances, if any, are these services provided to children who were not adopted through the state system?
Other types of adopted children are not eligible for post-adoption services provided directly by the state.
IV. Support for Post-Adoption Services
A. What is the total annual budget for post-adoption services (excluding Adoption Assistance)?
Information not provided, nor was ranking of funding sources.