Adoption Subsidy Payments
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This section includes information about income received from adoption subsidy payments or other locally funded assistance payments.
Policy
Adoption subsidy payments are federally, state, or locally funded assistance payments provided to children with special needs.
For NA, adoption subsidy payments are countable as income.
For CA, adoption subsidy payments are not countable as income.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s expenses are exceeding their income. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Adoption subsidy payments are intended to help a child whose special needs otherwise might hinder their adoption. Adoption subsidy payments vary depending on the special needs of the child.
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for adoption subsidy payments include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Assistance payments records
●Agency or payer providing the income
●Court records or court orders
●DCSS documents or print outs
●Current check reflecting gross income
●Federal or state tax forms
●Participant statement verification can be used when obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant or when all of the following occur:
Attempts to obtain the verification from an acceptable source are unsuccessful. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
The participant’s statement is not questionable(g).
Legal Authorities
AAC R6-12-503
7 CFR 273.9(c)(19)(iii)
last revised 10/02/2023