WAC 110-80-0040. What are the eligibility criteria for the adoption support program?

For a child to be eligible for participation in the adoption support program, the child must: (1) Be less than eighteen years old when the department and the adoptive parents sign the adoption support agreement and at the time the adoption is finalized; (2) Be legally free for adoption or eligible for a customary adoption; (3) Be placed with a family with an approved preplacement report or home study (see RCW 26.33.190 ); (4) Be a child with "special needs" as defined in WAC 110-80-0050 ; and (5) Meet at least one of the following criteria: (a) Is residing in a foster home or child caring institution or was determined by the department to be eligible for and likely to be so placed (For a child to be considered "eligible for and likely to be placed in foster care" the department must have opened a case and determined that removal from the home was in the child's best interest); or (b) Is eligible for federally funded adoption assistance as defined in Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, the C.F.R., and the U.S. DHHS guidelines for states to use in determining a child's eligibility for Title IV-E adoption assistance.