Search      Need Help with Your Search? Find Legal Help On Adoption Related Resources The GLSP Kinship Care Project: Helping Relatives Raise Children - Creating Stable Relationships By: Georgia Legal Services Program® $50 Supplement and Emergency Cash Grant for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren By: Georgia Legal Services Program® Adoption Assistance Information for Special Needs Children AND Form for Requesting Benefits By: Georgia Legal Services Program® more...

Caretakers raising their minor relatives face the unexpected challenge of providing for an extended family. Various options are available to grandparents/relative caretakers to help with financial and medical needs.

Adoption Assistance is available to some kinship care families who are adopting their minor relatives. Adoption Assistance includes the following assistance: (1) a monthly payment per child; (2) Medicaid coverage; and (3) payment of legal fees and costs associated with adoption.

Children under the age of five (5) years old receive $387 per month. Children between the ages of six (6) and twelve (12) years old receive $410 per month. Children between the ages of twelve (12) and eighteen (18) years old receive $433 per month.[1] Children who require more care may receive a higher monthly payment.

If you are planning to adopt your minor relative and you are interested in receiving adoption assistance, you should contact your local legal aid office for advice. You should contact your local legal aid office about adoption assistance even if you have a private attorney who is filing the adoption petition for you. The way the adoption is handled in part determines whether you will be eligible to receive adoption assistance. If an attorney is handling your adoption petition, the attorney should contact the local legal aid office for advice about how to proceed with the adoption and the adoption assistance application.

You apply for adoption assistance at your local Division of Family and Children Services ("DFACS") office. YOU MUST APPLY FOR ADOPTION ASSISTANCE BEFORE THE COURT ENTERS THE FINAL ADOPTION DECREE. If you are denied adoption assistance benefits, you have the right to a hearing. You appeal the denial by making a request for a hearing to your DFACS caseworker.

To be eligible for Adoption Assistance, a child must be eligible for or receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families ("TANF") or Supplemental Security Income ("SSI"). The child also must be a "special needs" child. Georgia defines "special needs" as follows: (1) any child eight years of age or older; (2) any child of black heritage one year or older; (3) members of a sibling group of three or more to be placed together; (4) members of a sibling group of two where one is over the age of eight or has another special need; or (5) any child with a documented physical, emotional, or mental problem or limitation.

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

If a caretaker adopts a minor relative, the child also may be eligible to draw Social Security benefits off the relative caretaker's account if the relative caretaker is receiving Social Security benefits herself. This includes Social Security Retirement and Disability Income. Generally, an adopted child is entitled to a monthly benefit equal to one-half of the relative caretaker's Social Security benefit.

A child (whether or not adopted) also may be entitled to draw benefits off a deceased parent's Social Security account. You apply for Social Security benefits for a child at your local Social Security Administration office.

CHILD SUPPORT

In Georgia, parents must provide support for their minor children. Caretakers with custody of their minor relatives may be entitled to collect child support from both parents. Parents are obligated to pay support until the minor child reaches the age of 18 (or the age of 20 if the child is still in high school), marries, or becomes emancipated. The amount of child support will depend in part on how much income the parents have. If the child does not receive child support from her parents, then most public benefits the child was receiving before the custody action, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ("TANF"), SSI, or Medicaid should not change. Families who receive public assistance must assign their right to child support to the extent they receive benefits. An adoption will terminate the natural parent's duty to pay child support.

MEDICAID

All low-income children being raised by their relative caretakers should be able to receive Medicaid. The child should be receiving Medicaid regardless of whether the relative caretaker has temporary guardianship, custody, or has adopted the child. However, if the relative caretaker is adopting the child, she MUST APPLY FOR ADOPTION ASSISTANCE (including Medicaid) BEFORE THE ADOPTION IS FINAL. You apply for Medicaid at your local DFACS office.

PEACHCARE

Kinship care families who do not qualify for Medicaid may be able to receive PeachCare for their minor relatives. PeachCare is the state heath insurance program for children under 19 whose families earn too much for Medicaid. A family of four can have income of up to $45,492 and still qualify for PeachCare. It provides most of the same services as Medicaid for a small premium.

TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE TO NEEDY FAMILIES ("TANF")

Most caretakers are receiving TANF (welfare) for their minor relatives. Relative caretakers may choose to be included in the grant group for TANF (to receive benefits for themselves) or to opt out of the grant group.

A relative caretaker may want to opt out of the grant group for two reasons. First, if the relative caretaker has too much income, being included in the grant group will make the entire family (including the children) ineligible for assistance. Second, if the relative caretaker/ grandparent is included in the grant group, the relative caretaker/ grandparent may be required to go to work. If the relative caretaker/ grandparent is not included in the grant group, the State cannot require the relative caretaker/grandparent to go to work. You apply for TANF at your local DFACS office.

FOOD STAMPS

Food stamps are government benefits that low income Georgians can use to buy groceries. Eligibility for food stamps is based on a family's income and assets. For food stamp purposes, a grandparent/relative caretaker need not worry about their legal relationship with a child over whom they have physical custody. All household members who buy groceries, prepare meals and eat together must be included in a single food stamp grant. This means income and asset limits will be applied to the combined income/assets owned by caretakers and minor children in their physical custody. You apply for food stamps at your local DFACS office.

TAX CREDITS

Kinship care families who adopt their minor relatives may be able to take a tax credit of up to $10, 390 for qualifying expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. Qualifying adoption expenses are reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, traveling expenses (including amounts spent for meals and lodging) while away from home, and other expenses related to, and whose principal purpose is for, the legal adoption of an eligible child. The maximum credit and exclusion is allowed for the adoption of a special needs child even if you do not have any qualifying expenses. Please consult with your tax preparer because income and tax liability limits apply.

QUESTIONS

Kinship care families who are in need of legal advice can contact the Kinship Care Project of Georgia Legal Services Program or The Grandparent/Relative Caregiver Project of Atlanta Legal Aid.

Portions of this document were reprinted from the Senior Citizens Handbook with the permission of the Elder Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division for the State Bar of Georgia.

[1] The adoption assistance rates are based on the foster care board rates which increased effective 7/1/05. As of the printing of this brochure, the increased rates have not yet gone into effect.