The department shall, within the limits of funds appropriated to the department and any gifts or grants received by the department for this purpose, provide financial assistance to any person who adopts a child with physical or mental disabilities or an older or otherwise hard-to-place child, if the adoptive parent has the capability of providing a suitable home for the child but the need for special services or the costs of maintenance are beyond the economic resources of the adoptive parent.
1. Financial assistance shall not be provided when the special services are available free of cost to the adoptive parent or are covered by an insurance policy of the adoptive parent.
2. “Special services” means any medical, dental, therapeutic, educational, or other similar service or appliance required by an adopted child by reason of a mental or physical disability.
3. The department shall make adoption presubsidy and adoption subsidy payments to adoptive parents at the beginning of the month for the current month.
83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159; 96 Acts, ch 1129, §102; 2005 Acts, ch 175, §126; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1250, 1251