November 28, 2006, Introduced by Rep. Hummel and referred to the Committee on Family and Children Services.
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled
"The social welfare act,"
by amending sections 115f, 115g, 115h, 115i, 115j, 115k, 115l, and
115m (MCL 400.115f, 400.115g, 400.115h, 400.115i, 400.115j,
400.115k, 400.115l, and 400.115m), sections 115f and 115g as amended
by 2004 PA 193, sections 115h and 115k as added by 1994 PA 238, and
sections 115i, 115j, 115l, and 115m as amended by 2002 PA 648, and
by adding sections 115t and 115u.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 115f. As used in this section and sections 115g to 115s:
(a) "Adoptee" means the child who is to be adopted or who is
adopted.
(b)
"Adoption assistance" means
a support subsidy or medical
assistance,
or both payment for support
of a child with special
needs who has been placed for adoption.
(c) "Adoption assistance agreement" means an agreement between
the department and an adoptive parent regarding adoption
assistance.
(d) "Adoption code" means the Michigan adoption code, chapter
X of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 710.21 to 710.70.
(e) "Adoptive parent" means the parent or parents who adopt a
child under the adoption code.
(f) "Certification" means a determination of eligibility by
the department that an adoptee is eligible for a support subsidy or
a medical subsidy or both.
(g) "Child placing agency" means that term as defined in
section 1 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111.
(h) "Child with special needs" means an individual under the
age of 18 years for whom the state has determined all of the
following:
(i) There is a specific judicial finding that the child cannot
or should not be returned to the home of the child's parents.
(ii) A specific factor or condition, or a combination of
factors and conditions, exists with respect to the child so that it
is reasonable to conclude that the child cannot be placed with an
adoptive parent without providing adoption assistance, or medical
assistance, or both under this act. The factors or conditions to be
considered may
include ethnic or family background, age,
membership
in a minority or sibling group, medical condition,
physical,
mental, or emotional disability, or length of time the
child
has been waiting for an adoptive home.
(iii) A shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) Ethnic or family background.
(B) Age.
(C) Membership in a minority or sibling group.
(D) Diagnosed medical, physical, or emotional condition, or
other clinically diagnosed disability that is documented by a
licensed physician.
(E) Length of time the child has been waiting for an adoptive
home.
(f) The child is at high risk based on history of abuse or
neglect.
(iii) Unless there are significant emotional ties with
prospective adoptive parents while the child is in the care of
those prospective adoptive parents as a foster child, a reasonable
but unsuccessful effort was made to place the adoptee with an
appropriate adoptive parent without providing adoption assistance
under this act or a prospective placement is the only placement in
the best interest of the child.
(i) "Compact" means the interstate compact on adoption and
medical assistance as enacted in sections 115r and 115s.
(j) "Court" means the family division of circuit court.
(k) "Deferred adoption assistance or medical assistance
agreement" means an agreement signed by adoptive parents and the
department at the time the child is placed for adoption to preserve
future eligibility for adoption assistance or medical assistance
eligibility.
(l) (k)
"Department" means the family
independence agency
department of human services.
(m) (l) "Foster care" means placement of a child
outside the
child's parental home by and under the supervision of a child
placing agency, the court, the department, or the department of
community health.
(n) (m)
"Medical assistance" means the federally
aided
medical
assistance program under title XIX
of the social security
act,
chapter 531, 49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. 1396 to 1396r-6 and
1396r-8
to 1396v.
(n)
"Medical subsidy" means that
covers payment for medical,
surgical, hospital, and related expenses necessitated by a
specified physical, mental, or emotional condition of a child with
special needs who has been placed for adoption.
(o)
"Medical subsidy assistance agreement"
means an
agreement
between the department and an adoptive parent regarding
a
medical
subsidy assistance.
(p)
"Nonrecurring adoption expenses" assistance" means
reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees,
home study fees, costs for replacement of birth certificates,
expenses for travel for visits to the adoptee, adoption costs
incurred by or on behalf of the adoptive parent and for which the
adoptive parent carries the ultimate liability for payment,
including the adoption study, health and psychological
examinations, supervision of the placement before adoption, and
transportation and reasonable costs of lodging and food for the
child or adoptive parent if necessary to complete the adoption or
placement process and other expenses that are directly related to
the legal adoption of a child with special needs. Nonrecurring
adoption expenses do not include costs or expenses incurred in
violation of state or federal law or that have been reimbursed from
other sources or funds.
(q)
"Other expenses that are directly related to the legal
adoption
of a child with special needs" means adoption costs
incurred
by or on behalf of the adoptive parent and for which the
adoptive
parent carries the ultimate liability for payment,
including
the adoption study, health and psychological
examinations,
supervision of the placement before adoption, and
transportation
and reasonable costs of lodging and food for the
child
or adoptive parent if necessary to complete the adoption or
placement
process.
(q) (r)
"Party state" means a state that becomes a
party to
the interstate compact on adoption and medical assistance.
(r) (s)
"Placement" means a placement or
commitment,
including the necessity of removing the child from his or her
parental home, as approved by the court under an order of
disposition issued under section 18(1)(c) or (d) of chapter XIIA of
the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.18.
(s) (t)
"Residence state" means the state in which
the child
is a resident by virtue of the adoptive parent's residency.
(t) (u)
"State" means a state of the United States,
the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or
a territory or possession of the United States.
(u) (v)
"Support subsidy" means payment for
support of a
child who has been placed for adoption.
Sec.
115g. (1) The department may shall
pay a support
subsidy
adoption assistance, medical
assistance, or both to an
adoptive parent of an adoptee who is placed in the home of the
adoptive parent under the adoption code or under the adoption laws
of another state or a tribal government unless otherwise directed
by the adoptive parents through a signed written agreement, if all
of the following requirements are met:
(a) The
department has certified that the The adoptee is a
child with special needs.
(b) Certification
is made The adoptee meets
the definition
of a child with special needs before the adoptee's eighteenth
birthday.
(c) Certification
is made The adoptee meets
the definition
of
a child with special needs before the petition
for adoption is
filed
adoption is finalized.
(d)
The adoptive parent requests the support subsidy
adoption assistance, medical assistance, or both not later than the
date of confirmation of the adoption.
(2)
The department shall determine eligibility for the
support
subsidy adoption assistance,
medical assistance, or both
without regard to the income of the adoptive parent or parents. The
amount shall be equal to the family foster care rate, including the
difficulty of care rate, that was paid for the adoptee while the
adoptee was in family foster care, except that the amount shall be
increased to reflect increases made in the standard age appropriate
foster care rate paid by the department.
(3)
The department shall complete the certification process
determine eligibility for adoption assistance, medical assistance,
or
both within 30 days after it receives a
request. for a support
subsidy.
Sec.
115h. (1) The department may shall
pay a medical
subsidy
assistance to the adoptive parent or parents of an adoptee
who is placed for adoption in the home of the adoptive parent or
parents pursuant
to under the adoption code or the laws of any
other
state or a tribal government, if all of the following
requirements
are met:
(a)
The the expenses to be covered by the medical subsidy
assistance are necessitated by a physical, mental, or emotional
condition of the adoptee that existed or the cause of which existed
before
the adoption petition was filed or
certification was
established,
whichever occurred first
eligibility was determined.
(b)
The adoptee was in foster care at the time the petition
for
adoption was filed. This subdivision does not apply to
adoptions
confirmed pursuant to the adoption code before June 28,
1992.
(c)
Certification was made before the adoptee's eighteenth
birthday.
(2)
The department shall determine the amount of the medical
subsidy
without respect to the income of the adoptive parent or
parents.
(2) The department shall not pay a medical
subsidy until
first
seek all other available public money
and third party payment
is
used when paying medical assistance. For purposes of this
subsection, third party payment is available if an adoptive parent
has an option, at or after the time of certification, to obtain
from the parent's employer health coverage for the child, with or
without cost to the adoptive parent. The department may waive this
subsection in cases of undue hardship.
(3)
The adoptive parent or parents may request a medical
subsidy
assistance before or after the confirmation of the
adoption. A
medical subsidy Medical
assistance requested after
the adoptee is placed in adoption is effective the date the request
is received by the department if the necessary documentation for
certification is received within 90 days after the request is made.
In
allocating available funding for medical subsidies assistance,
the department shall not give preferential treatment to requests
that are made before the confirmation of an adoption, but shall
allocate
funds based on a child's need for the
subsidy
assistance.
(4)
Payment of a medical
subsidy assistance for treatment
of a mental or emotional condition is limited to outpatient
treatment unless 1 or more of the following apply:
(a)
Certification for the medical subsidy assistance was
made before the adoption confirmation date.
(b)
The adoptee was placed in foster care by the court
pursuant
to under section 18(1)(d) or (e) of chapter XIIA of Act
No.
288 of the Public Acts of 1939, being section 712A.18 of the
Michigan
Compiled Laws the probate
code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL
712A.18, before the petition for adoption was filed.
(c)
The adoptee was certified for a support subsidy adoption
assistance.
Sec. 115i. (1) The department shall notify prospective
adoptive parents regarding the availability of adoption assistance,
medical assistance, and nonrecurring adoption assistance.
Notification shall be given in writing at the time of placement or
at least 14 days before finalization of adoption.
(2) If adoption assistance is to be paid, the department and
the adoptive parent or parents shall enter into an adoption
assistance agreement covering all of the following:
(a) The duration of the adoption assistance to be paid.
(b) The amount to be paid and, if appropriate, eligibility for
medical assistance.
(c) Conditions for continued payment of the adoption
assistance as established by statute.
(3) (2)
If medical
subsidy assistance eligibility is
certified, the department and the adoptive parent shall enter into
a
medical subsidy assistance agreement
covering all of the
following:
(a) Identification of the physical, mental, or emotional
condition
covered by the medical subsidy assistance.
(b)
The duration of the medical subsidy agreement.
(c)
Conditions for continued eligibility for the medical
subsidy
as established by statute.
(b) The amount to be paid.
(c) The nature and all types of services and assistance.
(d) Any preapproval or reimbursement procedures to be followed
by the parties.
(4) (3)
The department shall give a copy of the adoption
assistance
agreement or medical subsidy assistance agreement, or
both, to the adoptive parent or parents at least 14 days before
signing the adoption assistance agreement or medical assistance
agreement with recommendation that the adoptive parent or parents
seek legal counsel before signing the adoption assistance agreement
or medical subsidy agreement.
(5) (4)
Unless the medical condition of
the adoptee no
longer exists, or an event described in section 115j has occurred,
as
indicated in a report filed under subsection (6) or as
otherwise
determined by the department (7), the department shall
not
modify or discontinue a medical
subsidy assistance unless
the adoptive parent or parents submit a signed written request to
the department to modify or discontinue the medical assistance.
(6) (5)
An adoption assistance agreement or medical subsidy
assistance agreement does not affect the legal status of the
adoptee or the legal rights and responsibilities of the adoptive
parent or parents.
(7) (6)
The adoptive parent or parents shall file a verified
report
with the department at least once
each year as every 2
years to the location of the adoptee and other matters relating to
the continuing eligibility of the adoptee for adoption assistance
or
a medical subsidy assistance, or both.
Sec.
115j. (1) Adoption assistance or a medical
subsidy
assistance, or both, shall continue until 1 of the following
occurs:
(a) The adoptee dies.
(b) (a)
The adoptee becomes 18 years of age.
(b)
The adoptee is emancipated.
(c)
The adoptee dies.
(d)
The adoption is terminated.
(e)
A determination of ineligibility is made by the
department.
(c) The adoptee marries.
(d) The adoptee enters military service.
(e) The department determines that the adoptive parents are no
longer legally responsible for support of the adoptee.
(f) The department determines that the adoptive parents are no
longer providing any support to the adoptee.
(2) If sufficient money is appropriated, the department may
continue
adoption assistance or a medical
subsidy assistance,
or both, for an adoptee under 21 years of age if the department
determines that the adoptee is a student regularly attending a high
school, college, university, or vocational school in pursuance of a
course of study leading to a high school diploma, college degree,
or gainful employment.
(3)
Adoption assistance, and a medical
subsidy assistance,
or both shall continue even if the adoptive parent leaves the
state.
(4) An
adoption support subsidy Adoption
assistance, medical
assistance, or both shall continue during a period in which the
adoptee is removed for delinquency from his or her home as a
temporary court ward based on proceedings under section 2(a) of
chapter XIIA of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.2.
(5) Upon the death of the adoptive parent, the department
shall
continue making support subsidy payments or continue medical
subsidy
eligibility, or both, adoption
assistance payments,
medical assistance payments, or both to the guardian of the adoptee
if a guardian is appointed as provided in section 5202 or 5204 of
the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL
700.5202 and 700.5204.
Sec.
115k. (1) An adoptee, the adoptee's guardian, or the
adoptive
parent or parents may appeal a determination of the
department
made under this act. The appeal shall be conducted
pursuant
to the administrative procedures act of 1969, Act No. 306
of
the Public Acts of 1969, being sections 24.201 to 24.328 of the
Michigan
Compiled Laws. An appeal brought pursuant to chapter 6 of
Act
No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, being sections 24.301 to
24.306
of the Michigan Compiled Laws, shall be heard as follows:
An adoptee, the adoptee's guardian, or the adoptive parent or
parents may appeal a determination of the department made under
this act in 1 of the following ways:
(a) An appeal may be filed in the appropriate state court.
(b) An appeal may be conducted under the administrative
procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328. An
appeal brought under the administrative procedures act of 1969,
1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, shall be heard as follows:
(i) (a)
In the case of an adoptee residing in this state, by
the probate court for the county in which the petition for adoption
was filed or the county in which the adoptee is found.
(ii) (b)
In the case of an adoptee not residing in this
state, by the probate court for the county in which the petition
for adoption was filed.
(2) The department shall notify the adoptee and the adoptive
parent or parents of their rights of appeal under this section.
Sec. 115l. (1) The department shall enter into an agreement
with the adoptive parent or parents of a child with special needs
under
this section for the payment of nonrecurring adoption
expenses
assistance incurred by or on behalf of the adoptive
parent
or parents. The agreement may shall
be a separate document
or
part of an from the adoption assistance agreement under section
115i. The agreement under this section shall indicate the nature
and
amount of nonrecurring adoption expenses assistance to be
paid by the department, which shall not exceed $2,000.00 for each
adoptive
placement. meeting the requirements of this section. The
department shall make payment as provided in the agreement.
(2) An agreement under this section shall be signed at or
before entry of an order of adoption under the adoption code. The
department shall provide the adoptive parent or parents with a form
that has clear instructions on how to submit a claim for
nonrecurring adoption assistance. Claims for payment shall be filed
with the department within 2 years after entry of the order of
adoption.
(3) The department shall take all actions necessary and
appropriate to notify potential claimants under this section,
including compliance with federal regulations.
Sec. 115m. (1) The department shall prepare and distribute to
adoption facilitators and other interested persons a pamphlet
describing the adoption process and the adoption assistance and
medical subsidy
assistance programs established under sections
115f to 115s. The state department shall provide a copy of the
pamphlet to each prospective adoptive parent before placing a child
with that parent.
(2) The description of the adoption process required under
subsection (1) shall include at least all of the following:
(a) The steps that must be taken under the adoption code to
complete an adoption, and a description of all of the options
available during the process.
(b) A description of the services that are typically available
from each type of adoption facilitator.
(c) Recommended questions for a biological parent or
prospective adoptive parent to ask an adoption facilitator before
engaging that adoption facilitator's services.
(d) A list of the rights and responsibilities of biological
parents and prospective adoptive parents.
(e) A description of the information services available to
biological and prospective adoptive parents including, but not
limited to, all of the following:
(i) The registry of adoptive homes established and maintained
by the department under section 8 of the foster care and adoption
services act, 1994 PA 203, MCL 722.958.
(ii) The directory of children produced under section 8 of the
foster care and adoption services act, 1994 PA 203, MCL 722.958.
(iii) The public information forms maintained by the
department
pursuant
to under section 14d of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.124d.
(f) A statement about the existence of the children's
ombudsman and its authority as an investigative body.
(g) A statement about the importance and availability of
counseling for all parties to an adoption and that a prospective
adoptive parent must pay for counseling for a birth parent or
guardian unless the birth parent or guardian waives the counseling.
(h) A statement about the importance of seeking legal counsel
before signing an agreement dealing with adoption assistance or
medical assistance.
(i) A statement that coercive behavior from department staff
or an employee of a child placing agency is not protected by
governmental immunity and should be reported to law enforcement
officials.
Sec. 115t. If the adoptive parent or parents choose not to
receive adoption assistance or medical assistance at the time of
placement in the adoptive parent's home, they shall be encouraged
to sign a deferred adoption assistance or medical assistance
agreement with a payment amount of $0.00 listed in that agreement.
Establishing a deferred adoption assistance or medical assistance
agreement preserves future recurring adoption assistance
eligibility, medical assistance eligibility, or both for the
adoptee in the event that the adoptive parent or parents need
assistance in meeting the adoptee's needs.
Sec. 115u. An adoption assistance agreement shall be
negotiated and signed before the child's adoption finalization. In
some cases, a child may be eligible to receive adoption assistance
after the child's adoption is legally finalized. An adoptive parent
may request an application for adoption assistance be made on the
child's behalf and shall receive an administrative hearing to
determine the child's eligibility for state or federally funded
assistance. If the child is found eligible for the program, an
adoption assistance agreement shall be negotiated on behalf of the
child and shall be effective beginning on the date that the child's
special needs became apparent, as documented by a licensed
physician.