A. The department shall promulgate all necessary regulations for the administration of the program of subsidized adoptions or placement with permanent guardians.
B. Subsidy payments may include payments to vendors for medical and surgical expenses and payments to the adoptive parents or permanent guardians for maintenance and other costs incidental to the adoption, care, training and education of the child. The payments in any category of assistance shall not exceed the cost of providing the assistance in foster care. Payments shall not be made under this section after the child reaches eighteen years of age, except as provided in Subsection C of this section.
C. Payments may extend until the child is twenty-one years of age if:
(1) the child is enrolled in the medically fragile waiver program; or
(2) the adoption assistance agreement was in effect when the child was at least sixteen years of age and, when the child is at least eighteen years of age and under twenty-one years of age, the child is:
(a) completing secondary education or an educational program leading to an equivalent credential;
(b) enrolled in an institution that provides post-secondary or vocational education;
(c) participating in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment;
(d) employed for at least eighty hours per month; or
(e) incapable of doing any of the activities described in Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of this paragraph due to a medical or behavioral condition that is supported by regularly updated information in a transition plan as provided in the Fostering Connections Act [Chapter 32A, Article 26 NMSA 1978].
D. A written agreement between the adoptive family or permanent guardians and the department shall precede the decree of adoption or permanent guardianship. The agreement shall incorporate the terms and conditions of the subsidy plan based on the individual needs of the child within the permanent family. In cases of subsidies that continue for more than one year, there shall be an annual redetermination of the need for a subsidy. The department shall develop an appeal procedure whereby a permanent family may contest a division determination to deny, reduce or terminate a subsidy.
History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-5-45, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 172; 2005, ch. 189, § 73; 2019, ch. 149, § 13; 2020, ch. 52, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2020 amendment, effective May 20, 2020, extended payments for subsidized adoptions until age 21 if the child meets certain specified criteria; in Subsection B, after "the child reaches eighteen years of age, except", deleted "for a child who is enrolled in the medically fragile waiver program, in which case the payments may extend until the child is twenty-one years of age. Payments shall be made pursuant to this section until a child reaches twenty-one years of age if" and added "as provided in Subsection C of this section."; added new subsection designation "C." and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection D; in Subsection C, added "Payments may extend until the child is twenty-one years of age if", added new Paragraph C(1) and new paragraph designation "(2)" and redesignated former Paragraphs (1) through (5) as Subparagraphs C(2)(a) through C(2)(e), respectively, in Paragraph C(2), in the introductory clause, after "sixteen years of age and", deleted "between the ages of eighteen and" and added "when the child is at least eighteen years of age and under", in Subparagraph C(2)(a), added "an educational" preceding "program", in Subparagraph C(2)(c), after "designed to promote", added "employment", and in Subparagraph C(2)(e), after "activities described in", deleted "Paragraph (1) through (4) of this subsection" and added "Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of this paragraph", and after "behavioral condition", deleted "and provides evidence of the child's incapability, which evidence is supported by regularly updated information" and added "that is supported by regularly updated information in a transition plan as provided in the Fostering Connections Act"; and deleted former Subsection D.
The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, extended adoption assistance subsidy payments for certain individuals; in Subsection B, added "Payments shall be made pursuant to this section until a child reaches twenty-one years of age if the adoption assistance agreement was in effect when the child was at least sixteen years of age and, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years of age, the child:", and added Paragraphs B(1) through B(5); and added Subsection D.
The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, in Subsection B, provided that payments shall not be made after the child reaches eighteen years of age, except for a child who is enrolled in a medically fragile waiver program, in which case the payments may be extended until the child is twenty-one years of act.