Child Welfare Services

You are in: Handbook for Families Adopting a Child with Developmental Disabilities

When will my child start receiving services?

When a child starts receiving a needed service will depend on who is providing the service, how it is being paid for and whether or not there is a vacancy. It is important to start working as quickly as possible with your child's service coordinator to identify needed services and make sure that your child is known as someone who is in need of specific services.

Sometimes, if the funding mechanism is in place and a care giver is available to provide the service, the service will be provided to the child immediately. At other times there may not be a vacancy in a needed service. In some cases services may not be provided to a child until after his adoption is made final by the court. It is important to identify the services which will be needed and make arrangements as early as possible so that services can begin as soon as the child is eligible.

It is important to know that adoption subsidy (monthly financial assistance) is available from the adoption agency for most adopted children with developmental disabilities. Adoption subsidy is provided to help meet the special needs of children who are disabled or hard-to-place, and to encourage and facilitate their adoption. A child is potentially eligible for adoption subsidy if he is in the legal custody of the commissioner of social services prior to adoption. If the child is eligible for adoption subsidy, it is available regardless of the adopting parents' income. Adoption subsidy payments start when the child is placed in the adoptive home; at first they may take the form of foster care payments. The adoption subsidy payments continue until the child is 21 years old.

Many children with developmental disabilities also qualify for Medicaid and SSI (Supplemental Security Income), which will assist the adopting family with the child's medical expenses. Children under the age of 19 who are not eligible for Medicaid and who have limited or no health insurance may be eligible for a health insurance program for children sponsored by New York State called Child Health Plus (call 1-800-698-4543 for more information).

Until the child's adoption is finalized, a child who is in foster care, even if it is a preadoptive placement, is not entitled to receive OMRDD Family Support Services, but is eligible to receive Medicaid and SSI. In order to expedite provision of services when the child does become eligible, it is important to identify appropriate services and service providers as early as possible, so that the child's needs are known and can be prepared for.

Excerpts taken from:
Handbook for Families Adopting a Child with Developmental Disabilities, Families Together Adoption Project.
For a print copy check our publications section.

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