Library: Policy

340:75-15-128. Adoption Assistance Program

Revised 9-15-22

(a) The Adoption Assistance Program secures and supports safe and permanent adoptive families for children with special needs, as defined in Public Law 96-272 in Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) custody.  Adoption assistance provides adoptive families of any socio-economic status with social services and medical and financial support to care for children considered difficult to place.  The Adoption Assistance Program supplements the adoptive family's resources, as adoptive parents are responsible for the child's support.

(b) OKDHS promotes the availability of adoption assistance for eligible children with special needs by providing information to families who apply for adoption assistance through OKDHS.

(1) OKDHS provides information to licensed, in-state, child-placing agencies and federally-recognized Indian tribes about the availability of adoption assistance for eligible children with special needs.

(2) OKDHS is not responsible for seeking out and informing individuals who are unknown to OKDHS about the possibility of adoption assistance for children with special needs who are also unknown to OKDHS.

(c) The federal adoption assistance program provides assistance to eligible children with special needs.  When the child is not eligible for federally-funded adoption assistance, he or she may be eligible for state-funded assistance, per the Oklahoma Adoption Assistance Act, Section 7510-1.3 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes.