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Adoption Subsidy

June 4, 2012 permalink

Ontario will be subsidizing families who adopt with $11,400 per year. Do not be fooled by the upbeat language in the article. The province is paying to get rid of its undesirable wards. These adoptions are unlikely to produce the favorable outcomes mentioned in the article. Well-adjusted young adults come from parents (or adoptive parents) who love their children. They don't come from parents-for-pay.

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Ontario will subsidize adoption of kids over 10

Ontarians who adopt or assume legal custody of Crown wards over age 10, or sibling groups of any age, are now eligible for on-going financial support from Queen’s Park.

Starting June 15, adoptive parents with net family incomes below $85,000 will receive $950 per child, per month — or $11,400 annually.

That is about 60 per cent of the average cost Children’s Aid Societies pay foster parents in Ontario.

Monday’s announcement by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services is a confirmation of last September’s original pledge to launch a provincial adoption subsidy program.

It was thrilling news for a London, Ont., couple who are in the process of adopting three siblings under age 5 and were wondering how they were going to afford their care.

“It is just wonderful to hear that our government is supporting us and other families who have chosen to stay in Ontario to adopt and not go international,” said the mom, a part-time nurse who can’t be named to protect the children. “To know we will have that financial stability is amazing.”

The goal is to help more children in foster care find permanent homes and addresses the challenges Children’s Aid Societies face when placing older children and siblings, a government spokesperson said.

Research shows that children and youth in permanent homes are more likely to graduate from high school, hold a job and contribute to their communities.

Adoption subsidies were one of the key recommendations of the province’s Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption, which in 2009 recommended adoption subsidies for all children over age 2 and for those under 2 with special needs.

Many of the province’s Children’s Aid Societies already provide subsidies for children with special needs, but until now it has been a patchwork quilt, said Virginia Rowden of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, which represents the province’s 53 CASs.

Agencies are pleased the new program sets a specific amount that will be available to all adoptive families across the province with no spending cap, she said. And they are happy local agencies will continue to be able to offer their own subsidies or provide top-ups.

“For people who are contemplating adopting, they know up-front what is available. And it is on-going as long as the families continue to qualify,” Rowden said.

“Overall it’s a better investment than continuing to pay foster care because it provides better outcomes at a better cost,” she added.

There are about 8,300 Crown wards in Ontario. Of the 1,000 children adopted through Children’s Aid last year, 73 per cent were under age 5, just one-quarter were between the ages of 6 and 11, and only 2 per cent were over age 12.

Source: Toronto Star

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