Adoptive families to receive $15.1M from state

The adoptive families of more than 1,880 children will receive a combined $15.1 million from the state, just in time for the holidays.

The payments, which are the result of a recent court settlement, should be mailed to families in the next few days, said attorney Lynn Toops, of the firm Cohen and Malad. Those dollars are meant to provide financial support to families who adopted foster children with more extensive needs.

LaPorte resident Debra Moss sued the Indiana Department of Child Services in June, claiming the agency failed to pay promised adoption subsidies while returning roughly $240 million to state coffers since 2009.

In August, state officials announced the subsidies for children with special needs would be funded for the current fiscal year, which started July 1. Then in September, lawyers reached an agreement to make lump-sum retroactive payments to families who had been on the adoption subsidy wait list from 2009 through June 30, 2014.

Toops, who works for the law firm representing the adoptive families, said the average retroactive payment will be about $5,000. About 400 families will receive a check for more than $10,000, with the largest check totaling more than $25,000.

Toops said many families will receive multiple checks, one for each adoptive child.

"We're very excited about this positive result and very excited the checks will be going out right around Christmas time," she said.

Many adoptive families also will receive ongoing financial support from the state.

To date, 673 families have signed up and are receiving monthly payments for their adoptive children with special needs. DCS spokesman James Wide said about 250 other families haven't returned paperwork that will tell the state whether they are eligible for such funds.

DCS officials have asked Indiana legislators to allow them to continue to fund those subsidies through 2017.

West Lafayette resident Mike Northacker said the subsidies will help him and his wife pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance and for the children's other needs.

Northacker and his wife, Maureen, adopted their three grandchildren in late 2011.

"The subsidies are very important because raising a child is more expensive than it's ever been," he said. "We want to help these kids in their time of need."

Call Star reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at (317) 444-6135. Follow her on Twitter at @IndyMarisaK.

For more information

Questions about the settlement? Contact attorney Lynn Toops at (317) 636-6481. For questions about current state adoption subsidies, contact DCS at centralized.eligibility@dcs.in.gov or (877) 265-0086.