FACTSHEET FOR FAMILIES February 2011 Disponible en español www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/ s_costsp/index.cfm Costs of Adopting Prospective adoptive parents may be concerned about the costs of adopting a child and their ability What’s Inside: to meet those costs. Becoming a parent is rarely free of expenses—pregnancy and childbirth can • Universal expenses be expensive and even more so without adequate • Adoption-specific expenses insurance—and adoptive parents may be faced • Resources to help defray adoption costs with initial costs that seem challenging. However, • Additional resources with planning and knowledge about the different types of adoptions and available resources, they Child Welfare Information Gateway Children’s Bureau/ACYF U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1250 Maryland Avenue, SW Administration for Children and Families Eighth Floor Washington, DC 20024 Administration on Children, Youth and Families 800.394.3366 Children’s Bureau Email: [email protected] www.childwelfare.gov Costs of Adopting www.childwelfare.gov can develop a budget to include most of the the total costs may be much less than the foreseeable expenses. This factsheet explains maximum figures cited here; resources may these expenses so that prospective adoptive also be available to help offset all or many parents can make informed decisions costs. These are discussed at the end of this throughout the adoption process. factsheet. Costs of adopting may be minimal or can Breaking down the total cost into total more than $40,000, depending on a categorized expenses helps prospective number of factors. The chart below outlines parents understand what is involved and some general categories of adoption and how to determine a predictable range for costs associated with the services provided. their costs. In some cases, understanding The wide range reflects the multitude of the costs associated with different types of factors that can affect costs, including adoption may help parents decide which the type of adoption, type of placement type of adoption to pursue, or whether to agency or facilitator, and child’s age and pursue this approach to building a family. circumstances. Prospective adoptive parents This factsheet can help by outlining and are encouraged to check with the agencies discussing the following categories of they are considering to find out more about expenses: specific costs for their circumstances. • Universal expenses: that is, those that occur for every type of adoption, RANGE OF ADOPTION COSTS including home study expenses and court costs. • Adoption-specific expenses: that is, those Public Agency (Foster Care) that are associated with a particular Adoptions $0 - $2,500 type of adoption, including public Licensed Private Agency agency (foster care) adoptions, private Adoptions $5,000 - $40,000+ (licensed private agency or facilitated) adoptions, and intercountry (foreign or Independent international) adoptions. Adoptions $8,000 - $40,000+ Many adoptive parents pay some Facilitated/Unlicensed combination of universal and adoption- Adoptions $5,000 - $40,000+ specific expenses. Many public agencies Intercountry waive home study costs, reimburse most Adoptions $15,000 - $30,000 or all expenses, and offer an adoption subsidy that is up to the foster care payment amount for a qualifying child up until the age of 18 or 21, depending on the child’s While the overall figures may seem characteristics. daunting, prospective adoptive parents should explore all adoption options and the associated costs for each. In some cases, This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child 2 Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_cost/s_cost.cfm. Costs of Adopting www.childwelfare.gov the fitness of the parents. Home studies culminate in the social worker’s written Child Welfare Information Gateway report, which includes a recommendation offers a factsheet for parents, Adoption about whether the prospective parents are Options, that describes the different qualified to adopt and, if so, what type of types of adoptions: www.childwelfare. child or children (in terms of characteristics) gov/pubs/f_adoptoption.cfm would be most appropriate (for more information, read Information Gateway’s The Adoption Home Study Process at www. childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_homstu.cfm). Usually prospective parents pay for the Universal Expenses home study. In the case of public agency adoptions, home study fees may be minimal ($500) or completely waived, although Universal expenses are incurred by everyone parents may incur fees for medical or who adopts a child. (In some cases, they psychological evaluations that could be may be offset by reimbursements or other required. With other types of adoption, resources.) These expenses include home a private agency adoption facilitator may study expenses and court costs. charge $1,000 to $3,000 for the home study. In some cases, the fee for the home study Home Study Expenses may be included in the overall private A home study must be completed for all attorney or private agency fee. Information prospective parents, no matter what type about all fees should be provided in of adoption they intend to pursue.1 In the writing by the agency or social worker, and case of public agency adoptions, these most prospective parents should ask for such often are completed by the local public information. agency or its contractors; for other types of adoption, private agencies or certified Legal Fees social workers conduct the home study. The All domestic adoptions and some purpose of the home study is to prepare intercountry adoptions must be finalized the prospective parents for the adoption, in a court in the United States. Some gather information about them so that intercountry adoptions are finalized in the an appropriate match between the child child’s country of origin. Although not and parents can be made, and evaluate required in these situations, parents often choose also to finalize the placement in a 1 The Information Gateway Glossary defines “home study” U.S. court. All of these procedures in private as a “process of mutually assessing and preparing prospective or intercountry adoption incur a cost. foster, adoptive, or kinship families to determine their suitability to foster or adopt and determine the type of child whose needs In public agency adoptions, most States would best be met by them. A home study may include a range of evaluative activities, visits to the family’s residence, and have a nonrecurring cost allowance that educational activities.” (www.childwelfare.gov/admin/glossary/ should cover all or most of the adoptive glossaryh.cfm) This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child 3 Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_cost/s_cost.cfm. Costs of Adopting www.childwelfare.gov parents’ attorney fees. The cost for court Up-front fees and expenses for public document preparation can range from $500 agency adoptions can be as much as to $2,000, while the cost for representing $2,500, including attorney’s fees and travel adoptive parents in an uncontested expenses. In this type of adoption, fees adoption can range from $2,500 to $6,000. often are very low or even waived so that (Again, some or all of these costs may final costs to parents are negligible. In be reimbursable.) In some jurisdictions, some cases, the child may be eligible for adoptions can be finalized without government subsidy payments (often called representation by an attorney. adoption assistance), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicaid coverage. (These resources are described at the end of this Adoption-Specific factsheet.) Expenses Private Adoption Costs: $5,000 to $40,000 In addition to the costs common to every Private adoption costs vary widely according adoption, adoptive parents generally incur the type of agency used and, sometimes, costs specific to their type of adoption. the individual adoption circumstances. It is The costs for three types of adoption are important for prospective parents to fully described here: public agency, domestic understand what is included in private private agency, and intercountry. These agency, adoption facilitator, and attorney expenses are in addition to the universal fees. In some cases, the cost of the home expenses described above in most cases. study is included, rather than broken out Public Agency Adoption Costs: separately. $0 to $2,500 Private adoptions fall into three general Most public agencies place their primary categories, each with its own attendant focus on placing children from the foster costs: care system, although some also place Licensed Private Agency Adoption voluntarily relinquished infants. Many Costs: Approximately $5,000 to children in foster care may be defined as $40,000. Costs for this type of adoption having special needs, a category that is include a fee charged by the agency and defined differently in each State but may may also include the cost of the home refer to children who must be placed with study, birth parent counseling, adoptive siblings, who are older or in a minority parent preparation and training, and group, or those with disabilities. To social work services involved in matching read more about definitions of “special a child to a prospective family. The fees needs,” see Information Gateway’s “Special charged by licensed agencies are generally Needs” Adoption: What Does It Mean?