Statutory Background

The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272) establishes the Federal title IV-E adoption assistance program which provides matching funds to States operating a program of subsidies for parent(s) who adopt children with special needs who were either eligible for Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514) provides Federal matching funds to States that reimburse parents nonrecurring expenses of adopting a child with special needs.

The Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203) amended the title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility criteria to include certain children who are voluntarily placed in foster care, as well as certain children who lived with his/her minor parent who was in foster care.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), as amended, links a child's eligibility for the title IV-E programs to meeting criteria in a State's former AFDC plan, as in effect on July 16, 1996.

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) provides that title IV-E adoption assistance-eligible children retain their eligibility for such assistance in a subsequent adoption if the adoptive parent(s) die or the adoption dissolves with a termination of parental rights and the child remains a child with special needs. It also requires the State to conduct a criminal records check (unless the State opted out) on prospective adoptive parent(s) of children who would receive title IV-E adoption assistance.

The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169) increases the AFDC resource limit from $1,000 to $10,000 for title IV-E foster care and title IV-E adoption assistance eligibility purposes.

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) clarifies that for title IV-E adoption assistance, a child must meet the July 16, 1996 State AFDC eligibility criteria in the specified relative's home from which s/he is removed. This legislation also eliminates the requirement that a child had to be AFDC-eligible at the time of the initiation of the adoption proceedings.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-248) requires fingerprint-based FBI background checks for prospective adoptive parent(s) and, in all cases, prohibits the State from claiming title IV-E adoption assistance if the prospective adoptive parent(s) have certain felony convictions. This legislation further requires child abuse and neglect registry checks in each State where each of the adults in the prospective adoptive home have lived in the past five years.

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