INDIANA ADOPTION WAITING LIST : SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN! $320 Million Found & $104 Million DCS returned back to the state general fund as a surplus ? QUESTIONABLE BROKEN PROMISES!

Please read below; important article from Indiana Foster Care & Adoption Association!

SAVE INDIANA a minimum of $83,000 a year FOR EACH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD that WILL GET Adopted ... IF YOU HELP BY SAYING ... PLEASE FUND INDIANA STATE ADOPTION SUBSIDY!

Members of General Indiana Assembly, Please scroll down in the email.

(This section for Child Advocates: After Reading this, go to the bottom of this email to find ALL of your Indiana General Assembly Members, House & Senate, EMAIL ADRESSES. Simply Copy their email addresses, hit Forwad & Paste their email address into the 'To' section. Within the New Email, be sure to remove the forwarding info. at the top. Then, Send the email to let them know that we will not be satisfied with anything less than the fulfillment of promises to Fund Indiana State Adoption Subsidy because there actually is adequate funding when $104 million dollars was returned to the "surplus" from the Indiana Department of Children's Services! Not to mention, the $320 million that was recently discovered!)


DEAR,

Terri J. Austin (Anderson), Jeb Bardon (Indianapolis), John Bartlett (Indianapolis), Kreg Battles (Vincennes), Pat Bauer (South Bend), Charlie Brown (Gary), Mara Candelaria Reardon (Munster), Dave Cheatham (North Vernon), Bill Crawford (Indianapolis), John Day (Indianapolis), Ed DeLaney (Indianapolis), Nancy Dembowski (Knox), Chet Dobis (Merrillville), Ryan Dvorak (South Bend), Craig R. Fry (Mishawaka), Phil GiaQuinta (Fort Wayne), Terry Goodin (Austin), F. Dale Grubb (Covington), Earl Harris (East Chicago), Clyde Kersey (Terre Haute), Sheila Klinker (Lafayette), Linda Lawson (Hammond), Chuck Moseley (Portage), Win Moses (Fort Wayne), David L. Niezgodski (South Bend), Scott Pelath (Michigan City), Phil Pflum (Milton), Matt Pierce (Bloomington), Gregory W. Porter (Indianapolis), Cherrish Pryor (Indianapolis), Scott Reske (Pendleton), Gail Riecken (Evansville), Vernon G. Smith (Gary), Steven R. Stemler (Jeffersonville), Dan Stevenson (Highland), Mary Ann Sullivan (Indianapolis), Vanessa Summers (Indianapolis), Dennis Tyler (Muncie), VanDenburgh (Crown Point), Peggy Welch (Bloomington), Jim Arnold (District 8), Jean Breaux (District 34), John Broden (District 10), Lindel Hume (District 48), Tim Lanane (District 25), Frank Mrvan (District 1), Lonnie M. Randolph (District 2), Earline Rogers (District 3), Vi Simpson (District 40), Tim Skinner (District 38), Karen Tallian (District 4), Greg Taylor (District 33), Richard D. Young (District 47), Ron Bacon (HD 75), Jim Baird (HD 44), Bob Behning (HD91), Bruce Borders (HD 45), Brian C. Bosma (HD 88), Tim Brown (HD 41), Woody Burton (HD 58), Bob Cherry (HD 53), Ed Clere (HD 72), Susan Crouch (HD 78), Wes Culver (HD 49), Bill Davis (HD 33), Steve Davisson (HD 73), Tom Dermody (HD 20), Dick Dodge (HD 51), Sean Eberhart (HD 57), Sue Ellspermann (HD 74), Jeff Espich (HD 82), Ralph M. Foley (HD 47), Bill Friend (HD 23), Dave Frizzell (HD 93), Randy Frye (HD 67), Doug Gutwein (HD 16), Bob Heaton (HD 46), Kathy Heuer (HD 83), Phil Hinkle (HD 92), Mike Karickhoff (HD 30), Cindy Kirchhofer (HD 89), Rebecca Kubacki (HD 22), Tom Knollman (HD 55), Eric Koch (HD 65), Don Lehe (HD 15), Matt Lehman (HD 79), Dan Leonard (HD 50), Jack Lutz (HD 35), Rich McClain (HD 24), Jud McMillin (HD 68), Wendy McNamara (HD 76), Kevin Mahan (HD 31), Mark Messmer (HD 63), Robert Morris (HD 84), Tim Neese (HD 48), Cindy Noe (HD 87), Phyllis Pond (HD 85), Rhonda Rhoads (HD 70), Kathy Richardson (HD 29), Tom Saunders (HD 54), Milo Smith (HD 59), Ed Soliday (HD 4), Mike Speedy (HD 90), Greg Steuerwald (HD 40), Jeff Thompson (HD 28), Jerry Torr (HD 39), Randy Truitt (HD 26), P. Eric Turner (HD 32), Matt Ubelhor (HD 62), Heath VanNatter (HD 38), Jackie Walorski (HD 21), Dave Wolkins (HD 18), David Yarde (HD 52), David Long (District 16), Sue Landske (District 6), Connie Lawson (District 24), Brent Steele (District 44), Mike Delph (District 29), Johnny Nugent (District 43), James Merritt, Jr. (District 31), Richard Bray (District 37), Carlin Yoder (District 31), Brandt Hershman (District 7), and Travis Holdman (District 19),

RE: SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN! $320 Million Found & $104 Million DCS returned back to the state general fund as a "surplus"? QUESTIONABLE BROKEN PROMISES!

Please read this entire insert of information from the Indiana Foster Care & Adoption Association and SAVE INDIANA a minimum of $83,000 a year FOR EACH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD that is Adopted! PLEASE FUND INDIANA STATE ADOPTION SUBSIDY!

The following is the insert from IFCAA:

Fund State Adoption Subsidy
With the news of the state’s surplus, adoptive parents of special needs children are asking “How big does the surplus have to be for there to be enough funding available to pay state adoption subsidies?” In the last two years, over 500 special needs children were adopted out of Indiana’s foster care system. The state had promised these adoptive parents that as soon as money was available in the budget, they would be given financial support in the form of subsidies.

These children often have serious disabilities with regard to their behavioral, emotional, and physical functions. Financial subsidies are needed to supplement a family for medical care, counseling or therapy, medical equipment, tutoring, and other supports necessary to the raising of a special needs child.

When a child is adopted, there is an adoption agreement which is signed by the state and by the new parents of that child. In the current agreement, the state has said that there is currently no funding available for such subsidies but that if funding becomes available at a later date, the parents will begin to receive subsidy payments. These children are placed on a State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List. The adoptive child has already been determined eligible for State Adoption Subsidy, but no payments are received by the parents until such a “later date” as funding is available.

Many families question why $104 million that the Department of Child Services returned back to the state general fund as a “surplus” in their budget wasn’t allocated to the State Adoption Subsidy payments that they had been promised. Additionally, it is disappointing to know that Indiana is the only state in the U.S. that has a waiting list for subsidy payments when parents don’t qualify for federal subsidy programs.

When a child with special needs is placed with new parents, the parents assume all responsibility for the child’s future well being as well as any liabilities associated with the child’s disorder. This can be financially burdening for the average adoptive parent because most adoptive and foster care parents are no different than the average reader of this publication. An adoptive parent doesn’t adopt a special needs child because they have extra funds to take care of the child. They adopt a special needs child because they feel compassion toward him or her and they have the willingness to take care of that child’s needs.

Despite the extraordinary financial burden, adoptive parents don’t expect full compensation for the requirements of their special needs child. They simply want the state to honor the commitment they made to do their part and help out. Without this subsidy, some parents may be unable to keep up with all the requirements of a special needs child. Many consequences can come from not having enough resources available to take care of a special needs child.Special needs children are not children that are doomed due to their disabilities. A special needs child can often lead a fulfilling and rewarding life if given the proper care by a loving, nurturing family. Unfortunately, however, many special needs children are tumbled through the system and continue to be a burden on society as an adult due to not having sufficient care as a child.

Many loving, caring, supportive families that would like to adopt a child with special needs cannot because they simply can’t afford it. Offering subsidy payments to these parents would encourage more families to adopt these children, thus lifting the financial burden from the state. According to the North American Council on Adoptable Children, it costs anywhere from $90,000 to $250,000 a year, on average, to take care of a special needs child through the foster care system. That cost is paid entirely by the taxpayers. The maximum subsidy payments offered are less than $7,000 a year for the adoptive parents of a special needs child. Based on these numbers, the government would save a minimum of $83,000 a year per child that is adopted, and that is only if the maximum subsidy payments are made. In many cases, the subsidy offered is much less than that, once the parent has reached the top of the subsidy waiting list.

In summary, offering subsidy payments to the adoptive parents of a special needs child is the right thing to do because it saves tax dollars which can be allocated elsewhere, it encourages more homes to take in special needs children, and it ensures the proper care that a special needs child deserves.

If you understand and empathize with these struggling parents and children, sign the Fund State Adoption Subsidy petition so that we can present it to the General Assembly this fall. Thousands of children are depending on the concerned citizens of Indiana to do something about this crisis so that they can leave foster care and begin their life with a loving home that they so deserve.

The Board of Directors for Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association.


INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY EMAIL ADDRESSES:

h36@in.gov, h25@in.gov, h95@in.gov, h64@in.gov, h6@in.gov, h3@in.gov, h12@in.gov, h69@in.gov, h98@in.gov, h100@in.gov, h86@in.gov, h17@in.gov, h13@in.gov, h8@in.gov, h5@in.gov, h80@in.gov, h66@in.gov, h42@in.gov, h2@in.gov, h43@in.gov, h27@in.gov, h1@in.gov, h10@in.gov, h81@in.gov,
h7@in.gov, h9@in.gov, h56@in.gov, h61@in.gov, h96@in.gov, h94@in.gov, h37@in.gov, h77@in.gov, h14@in.gov, h71@in.gov, h11@in.gov, h97@in.gov, h99@in.gov, h34@in.gov, h19@in.gov, h60@in.gov, s8@in.gov, s34@in.gov, s10@in.gov, s48@in.gov, s25@in.gov, s1@in.gov, s2@in.gov, s3@in.gov,
s40@in.gov, s38@in.gov, s4@in.gov, s33@in.gov, s47@in.gov, h75@in.gov, h44@in.gov, h91@in.gov, h45@in.gov, h88@in.gov, h41@in.gov, h58@in.gov, h53@in.gov, h72@in.gov, h78@in.gov, h49@in.gov, h33@in.gov, h73@in.gov, h20@in.gov, h51@in.gov, h57@in.gov, h74@in.gov, h82@in.gov, h47@in.gov,
h23@in.gov, h93@in.gov  h67@in.gov, h16@in.gov, h46@in.gov, h83@in.gov, h92@in.gov, h30@in.gov, h89@in.gov, h22@in.gov, h55@in.gov, h65@in.gov,  h15@in.gov, h79@in.gov, h50@in.gov, h35@in.gov, h24@in.gov, h68@in.gov, h76@in.gov, h31@in.gov, h63@in.gov, h84@in.gov, h48@in.gov, h87@in.gov,
h85@in.gov, h70@in.gov, h29@in.gov, h54@in.gov, h59@in.gov, h4@in.gov, h90@in.gov, h40@in.gov, h28@in.gov, h39@in.gov, h26@in.gov, h32@in.gov, h62@in.gov, h38@in.gov, h21@in.gov, h18@in.gov, h52@in.gov, s16@in.gov, s6@in.gov, s24@in.gov, s44@in.gov, s29@in.gov, s43@in.gov, s31@in.gov,
s37@in.gov, s7@in.gov, s19@in.gov,

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"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4 ... God Bless You for signing the petition for these Special Needs Children! You are helping waiting kids that may have never gotten a Forever Family without YOU!...p.s. This helps you pay less in taxes now. It's much cheaper than foster care. You also save money later because they will become productive citizens with family ties, instead of a burden to society (you). Re-Post (: http://ifcaa.org/ No membership needed. Address/Email not displayed. Post Code=Zip Code ....................................................................... 48 other States HELP THEIR Special Needs Children to get ADOPTED! PLEASE VISIT http://ifcaa.org/ to sign petition. (Trouble Reading photo? click SEE MORE, scroll to bottom; Script & NEWS excerpts.) ...ARE YOU AFRAID?... Even while afraid, be a voice for kids! I shared, will you? These children want you to see it...Read the picture & When you see it.... Share it, & ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... ....................................................................... Sign Petition. YOU ARE STRONG! YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! The Petition is by Indiana Foster Care & Adoption Association: http://ifcaa.org/ See the middle of their page says: Sign the - Fund State Adoption Subsidy - Petition Now! Type first, middle initial, last name.Email & Address NOT displayed. Post Code=Zip Code. Leaving a note is optional, but you could put, HELP THESE SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS NOW! Want to do more? Call or Email State Senator John Broden 1-800-382-9467 Email: s10@iga.in.gov WANT to see PROOF of these News stories? See both news stories in two links below, After viewing, please come back here to Share it, & Sign Petition. You're making a difference! INDIANA IS ONLY 1 OF 2 STATES NOT HELPING THESE CHILDREN: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/29775794/detail.html Indiana Finds Misplaced 320 million dollars: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/29955386/detail.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCRIPT: Lower case typing is the Indiana boy, CAPS IS THE OHIO CASEWORKER TALKING: I tried to stop him. I ran a long way… I HEARD YOU WERE SCARED AND HE’S STRONGER… I just needed a bite to eat & shoes… IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT, KIDS SHOULD HAVE WHAT THEY NEED!… Where will I go?… I’LL FIND YOU A FAMILY THAT WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!… He said that he loved me… THIS LOVE WILL BE DIFFERENT… Will this love feed me and help my feet?… SURE IT WILL! AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT FROM INDIANA... Why?... THEY HAVE KIDS WAITING & THEY FOUND EXTRA MONEY. Extra money?... JUST TO HELP THESE SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS WOULD COST $20 MILLION! ... That's a lot, how much did they find?... $320 MILLION... That still leaves $300 million for other things!... ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS SIGN A PETITION, BUT SOME INDIANA ADULTS ARE AFRAID!... me too!!! ... P.S. THIS IS A LOT CHEAPER THAN FOSTER CARE & THEY'LL BECOME PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS, & NOT A BURDEN TO SOCIETY, YOU! (: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS EXCERPTS: State Sen. John Broden, D-South Bend, "There's a moral obligation here. We should not be trying to balance our state budget on the backs of abused and neglected children," Broden said. State lawmakers estimate the subsidy would cost the state between $5 million and $7 million a year. INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana has a dubious distinction when it comes to helping children get adopted as one of two states that doesn't provide a monthly per diem to adopted parents. Individual counties used to provide the subsidy, but the state took over the child welfare system and money was no longer appropriated. (In other words, in my own words, Indiana used to allow individual counties to keep these promises to these children, but when the State took over, they turned their backs on these children, and are still holding onto 320 million dollars that would be enough to help ALL these children til they were 18 and still have some left over! But they won't listen & That's NOT fine! Just use at least 20 million of it to help for 4 years, save back the rest of 'your surplus', and re-visit this decision again in 4 years! Pretty Please! It's not for these kids to have extras! It's so these kids can have their BASIC NEEDS MET!) -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- h36@in.gov, h25@in.gov, h95@in.gov, h64@in.gov, h6@in.gov, h3@in.gov, h12@in.gov, h69@in.gov, h98@in.gov, h100@in.gov, h86@in.gov, h17@in.gov, h13@in.gov, h8@in.gov, h5@in.gov, h80@in.gov, h66@in.gov, h42@in.gov, h2@in.gov, h43@in.gov, h27@in.gov, h1@in.gov, h10@in.gov, h81@in.gov, h7@in.gov, h9@in.gov, h56@in.gov, h61@in.gov, h96@in.gov, h94@in.gov, h37@in.gov, h77@in.gov, h14@in.gov, h71@in.gov, h11@in.gov, h97@in.gov, h99@in.gov, h34@in.gov, h19@in.gov, h60@in.gov, s8@in.gov, s34@in.gov, s10@in.gov, s48@in.gov, s25@in.gov, s1@in.gov, s2@in.gov, s3@in.gov, s40@in.gov, s38@in.gov, s4@in.gov, s33@in.gov, s47@in.gov, h75@in.gov, h44@in.gov, h91@in.gov, h45@in.gov, h88@in.gov, h41@in.gov, h58@in.gov, h53@in.gov, h72@in.gov, h78@in.gov, h49@in.gov, h33@in.gov, h73@in.gov, h20@in.gov, h51@in.gov, h57@in.gov, h74@in.gov, h82@in.gov, h47@in.gov, h23@in.gov, h93@in.gov, h67@in.gov, h16@in.gov, h46@in.gov, h83@in.gov, h92@in.gov, h30@in.gov, h89@in.gov, h22@in.gov, h55@in.gov, h65@in.gov, h15@in.gov, h79@in.gov, h50@in.gov, h35@in.gov, h24@in.gov, h68@in.gov, h76@in.gov, h31@in.gov, h63@in.gov, h84@in.gov, h48@in.gov, h87@in.gov, h85@in.gov, h70@in.gov, h29@in.gov, h54@in.gov, h59@in.gov, h4@in.gov, h90@in.gov, h40@in.gov, h28@in.gov, h39@in.gov, h26@in.gov, h32@in.gov, h62@in.gov, h38@in.gov, h21@in.gov, h18@in.gov, h52@in.gov, s16@in.gov, s6@in.gov, s24@in.gov, s44@in.gov, s29@in.gov, s43@in.gov, s31@in.gov, s37@in.gov, s7@in.gov, s19@in.gov,

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The Indiana State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List is allowing our Governor and CPS Director to ROB our children!

by Angie Ryan Finney on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 8:02am

Children, MOVE to TOP PRIORITY:


Before you read this and attach any preconceived notions, I assure you that this has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with, allow me to repeat, NOTHING to do with the proposed 10% cuts to adoption subsidies for those families already getting subsidies. This is about families who ADOPTED AFTER 2009 that may NEVER get ANY of the PROMISED State adoption subsidies due to the creation of the Indiana State Adoption Subsidy WAITING LIST. Very few people even know about it's creation but I am confident that once our Democratic Leaders become aware of this information, they will not ONLY appropriate money for the Waiting List, but will also bring to light one of the ways that our Governor has 'saved Indiana money'.


The Indiana State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List is allowing our Governor and CPS Director to ROB our children! In Indiana, prior to 2009, pre-adoptive parents of children in foster care where the children did not qualify for Federal Adoption Subsidy, would apply through their local counties to attempt approval for ‘State Adoption Subsidy’. Local power and funding over these decisions regarding the subsidy was fully removed by January 2009 and taken over by the State of Indiana which in turn implemented a complete over-haul. All foster children that do not CURRENTLY meet the Federal Adoption Subsidy eligibility requirements can either remain in foster care until their age finally meets the Federal Transition Program ( 1 footnote ) where eligibility will be phased in by age over the next nine years for those STILL NOT adopted, or Indiana’s children in foster care may get lucky. These children may GET ADOPTED by parents who will trust Indiana’s leaders to recognize that the State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List ( 2 footnote ) needs to be Funded to enable these adoptive parents to provide for these needy children. These children have now been adopted after January 2009 and are in limbo on the Subsidy Waiting List. These children ARE ELIGIBLE and WAITING for Indiana State Adoption Subsidy BUT the DCS budget restraints caused by political priorities, have contributed to the decision of NOT allotting funding to the Subsidy Waiting List.

Shortly after January 2009, Indiana's leaders realized that their short-lived solution to State Adoption Subsidy had created disdain among every child advocate that became aware of the State Adoption Subsidy guidelines for anyone applying after January 2009. The problem WAS that Indiana had set the same guidelines for Indiana State Adoption Subsidy that would qualify a child for Federal Adoption Subsidy (a.k.a. Title IV-E). When this became apparent that this would cause Indiana to not have to pay any State Adoption Subsidy for those children adopted after Jan. 2009, some 'child-robbers' swept in and came up with the MOST RECENT PLAN that has NOW been implemented; Lower the age for Indiana State Adoption Subsidy to age 2. For any child adopted after January 2009 that does not qualify for Federal Adoption Subsidy, but will now be eligible for Indiana State Adoption Subsidy, DISCLOSE and reveal the eligibility for State Adoption Subsidy but include a 'State Governments way-out of paying the subsidy' stipulation. This stipulation is the creation of the ‘Indiana State Adoption SUBSIDY WAITING LIST’:

On the Indiana State Adoption Subsidy Agreement page, stipulate that the adoptive parents understand that they are being placed on a 'Waiting List' and will not receive any Indiana State Adoption Subsidy until the list works it way down to their children's names. It 'sounds' terrific, doesn't it? Especially if the list is created by order of the most needy or a first come first serve basis.

Finally, herein lies the problem; according to my sources from CPS and other child advocates, with Governor Mitch Daniels awareness, CPS (a.k.a. DCS) Director James Payne determined that for this current biennium budget, the Indiana State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List would receive ZERO dollars. Therefore, ALL of the children that are on the Waiting List and have been officially approved to receive
Indiana State Adoption Subsidy, are ALL being denied the Indiana State Adoption Subsidy!

Can you please speak to everyone that you know about revealing this heart wrenching, stomach curdling revelation about the lack of value Indiana's leaders have placed on some of our MOST neediest children?

Please do whatever is in your power to ensure that the Indiana State Adoption Subsidy Waiting List receives specific, allocated, appropriated, and complete funding to provide for these needy, adopted children. You should be aware of the fact that the adoption subsidy that will be provided from the ‘Waiting List’ fund is already set for the very basic of minimum state adoption subsidy.

Please fund the State Adoption Subsidies that are only available if there are sufficient funds in the Adoption Assistance Account established under IC 31-19-26.5-10.

If our leaders cannot solve this problem for the very basic reason of allowing for our most troubled and suffered children to be adopted into a loving forever family, will they consider that if they choose to not help these children now, a lot of them may end up needing prison beds later!

Most people in Indiana are not aware that our governor is a contributor to this atrocity. If our nation knew that our governor could take candy from our babies and sweep the whole situation under the rug to paint such a pretty economic picture, would they ever have considered that anyone would want him to run for president?

Thank you for your time and efforts put forth into Indiana’s forgotten children. Your impact will make a huge difference in the lives of these children and our communities’ future.
Sincerely,
Angela Finney

( 1 ) http://www.nacac.org/policy/MoEBriefJuly09.pdf Page 2, See top of page, the section titled Transition to Full Federal Eligibility
 
( 2 ) http://www.in.gov/dcs/files/Admin_Letter_Adoption.pdf Page 6, Section 6, Subsection C: State Adoption Subsidies are only available if there are sufficient funds in the Adoption Assistance Account established under IC 31-19-26.5-10