For other versions of this document, see http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32296 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Order Code RL32296 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Child Welfare: The Adoption Incentives Program March 8, 2004 Kendall Swenson Visiting Research Associate Domestic Social Policy Division Congressional Research Service ~ The Library of Congress Child Welfare: The Adoption Incentives Program Summary The Adoption Incentives program was created by Congress in 1997 as part of an overall strategy to promote safety and expedited permanency for children in state foster care systems. The program provides cash payments to states that are successful in increasing the number of children adopted from the public child welfare system. As currently structured, the program consists of three separate bonus payments, based on adoption increases above three numerical baselines. The three separate adoption bonus payments are based on: (1) increases in total adoptions, (2) increases in adoptions of children age nine or older, and (3) increases in adoptions of children under age nine with special needs. States are eligible to receive $4,000 for each child adopted over the total adoption baseline and $4,000 for each child age nine or older above the older children baseline. States that receive a bonus for adoption increases in either the total adoption or older children adoption categories may also receive an additional $2,000 for each child adopted under age nine with special needs over a respective baseline. In FY2003, 25 states and Puerto Rico received a combined total of $14.9 million in incentive payments for adoption increases in FY2002. The original legislation expired at the end of FY2003 and was reauthorized December 2, 2003 with the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Since the program was enacted, adoptions from the foster care system increased from 31,030 in FY1997 to 50,950 in FY2002, with a majority of the increase occurring in the first three years of the program. This level of increase in foster care adoptions during these first three years was largely unanticipated, resulting in states earning more adoption incentive bonuses than the original $20 million appropriation. As a result, Congress appropriated additional funds to reward the increased adoptions. Since the program was enacted in 1997, every state has received at least some adoption incentive payments, totaling almost $160 million. States report that, because the awards are relatively small compared to their overall child welfare budgets, they are able to use their funds in innovative and flexible ways. Examples of uses for the bonuses include providing additional studies, training, recruitment, and post-adoption services. The President's FY2005 budget requests $32 million for the Adoption Incentives program, $11 million below the $43 million reauthorized in December. Citing recent analysis of child adoption data, the Administration notes that while the overall number of children being adopted has grown dramatically in recent years, older children constitute an increasing proportion of the total children waiting to be adopted. This fact had prompted the Administration last year to propose an incentive payment specifically for older children and Congress subsequently enacted such a bonus (effective for those adoptions completed in FY2003). At the same time the Administration predicts that the greater number of older children who are now waiting for adoption will likely mean a slower growth in the number of adoptions. This report provides background information and a description of the Adoption Incentives program, with references to recent legislative action, sizes of incentive payments earned, and adoption trends. It will be updated. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Background and Legislative History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Provisions of the Adoption Incentives Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Eligibility Requirements for Basic Foster Child Incentive Payments . . 3 Eligibility Requirements for Older Foster Child Incentive Payments . . 3 Eligibility Requirements for Special Needs Incentive Payments . . . . . . 3 Recent Foster Care Adoption Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Appropriations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 State Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tables and Figures in Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Appendix A: Summary of Adoption Incentive Baselines and Payments . . . . . . . 8 List of Figures Figure 1. Trends in Public Agency Adoptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Figure 2. Total Adoption Incentive Awards: FY1998-FY2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Figure 3. Percent Increase in Annual Public Agency Adoptions by State: FY1997-FY2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 List of Tables Table 1. Amounts Appropriated and Awarded for Adoption Incentive Payments to States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table A-1. Total Adoption Incentive Bonus Awards by State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Table A-2. Adoptions Counted Toward Basic Incentive Awarda . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Table A-3. Adoptions Counted Toward Special Needs Incentive Bonus . . . . . . 12 This report was written by Kendall Swenson, a Presidential Management Fellow on detail from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the supervision of Karen Spar and Emilie Stoltzfus, Domestic Social Policy Division. Child Welfare: The Adoption Incentives Program Introduction The Adoption Incentives program was created by Congress in 1997 as part of an overall strategy to promote safety and expedited permanency for children in state foster care systems.1 The program provides cash payments to states that are successful in increasing the number of children adopted from the public child welfare system. As currently structured, the program consists of three separate bonus payments, based on adoption increases above three numerical baselines. The three separate adoption bonus payments are based on: (1) increases in total adoptions, (2) increases in adoptions of children age nine or older, and (3) increases in adoptions of children under age nine with special needs. States are eligible to receive $4,000 for each child adopted over the total adoption baseline and $4,000 for each child age nine or older above the older children baseline. States that receive a bonus for adoption increases in either the total adoption or older children adoption categories may also receive an additional $2,000 for each child adopted under age nine with special needs over a respective baseline. Data used to determine these three baselines and state performance in exceeding them are drawn from the adoption section of the Adoption and Foster Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), which is established by regulation as mandatory for states (45 C.F.R. § 1355.40). The administrative structure of the Adoption Incentive program allows all qualifying states with numerical adoption gains to receive incentive payments. This contrasts with the High Performance Bonus Awards in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which only provide bonus payments to the highest performing states, regardless of the number of states showing increases in performance. In FY2003, 25 states and Puerto Rico received $14.9 million in incentive payments for adoption increases finalized in FY2002. States can use their adoption incentive payments for a variety of child welfare purposes. States report that, because the awards are relatively small compared to their overall child welfare budgets, they have a large amount of flexibility in the way they use the funds. Examples of uses for the bonuses include providing additional studies, training, recruitment, and post-adoption services. 1 The Adoption Incentives program was one component of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89), which made a series of amendments to the child welfare and foster care provisions of Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Adoption Incentives program is authorized by Section 473A of the Social Security Act. Funding for the program was reauthorized through FY2008 with the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). CRS-2 This report provides background information and a description of the Adoption Incentives program, with references to recent legislative action, sizes of incentive payments earned, and adoption trends. Background and Legislative History In the mid-1980s, the number of children in foster care began to climb sharply at a time when the number of children who were adopted remained static. Although a majority of the children that entered foster care eventually returned to their homes, a concern developed in the 1990s about the growing number of children who did not return home and were remaining in foster care for long periods of time. At the same time, there was a growing perception that federal law needed clarification regarding the importance of child safety and that more emphasis needed to be placed on adoption when family reunification became unlikely. In response to these concerns, the 105th Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA, P.L. 105-89), which is considered the most sweeping change in federal child welfare law since 1980. ASFA emphasized safety and permanence for children by seeking to ensure that children were not placed in unsafe homes and to assist efficient legal procedures so that children who cannot return home may be placed for adoption or in another permanent arrangement quickly. As a part of ASFA, Congress enacted the Adoption Incentives program to provide cash payments to states that were successful in increasing the number of children adopted from the public foster care system. As originally enacted, incentive payments equaled $4,000 for each foster child whose adoption was finalized over a certain state-specific base level and an additional $2,000 for each special needs adoption above a second state-specific base level. For adoptions finalized in 1998, the baseline was the average number of adoptions in the state from 1995 through 1997. For adoptions finalized in 1999 through 2002, the baseline became the highest number of adoptions in that state for any preceding year, beginning with 1997. As originally enacted, the law authorized $20 million annually for these incentive payments for FY1999 through FY2003 (for adoptions finalized in FY1998 through FY2002). However, the increase in adoptions exceeded initial estimates and Congress later appropriated funds above this authorization level to ensure all the bonuses could be paid. The law also authorized $10 million to be appropriated for each of FY1998 through FY2000, for technical assistance to states and localities (with 50% reserved for technical assistance to the courts) to help increase adoptions or other permanent placements for children; no funds were appropriated under this authority. The original legislation expired at the end of FY2003 and was reauthorized December 2, 2003 with the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Under the reauthorization, states continue to receive credit for all increased adoptions of foster care children and receive additional incentive payments for increases in adoptions of children with special needs. However, the special needs payment is now limited only to adoptions of special needs children who are under age nine at the time the adoption was finalized. In addition, the Adoption Promotion Act created a third incentive payment, equal to $4,000 for increased adoptions of foster children who are age nine or older at the time of adoption. Like the original two incentive payments, states will have to exceed their baseline number of such "older child" CRS-3 adoptions to earn this payment. For all three incentive payments the baseline that states must exceed is revised each year to the highest annual total of such adoptions since FY2002. P.L. 108-145 also authorized (FY2004-FY2006) the provisions concerning technical assistance to states and localities (including the language reserving 50% for such assistance to courts) to help increase adoptions or other permanent placements for children. Provisions of the Adoption Incentives Program States must meet several requirements to be qualified to receive Adoption Incentive Payments. Each qualifying state must have a plan approved under Title IV- E of the Social Security Act and provide health insurance coverage to children with special needs for whom there is in effect an adoption assistance agreement between a state and an adoptive parent or parents. In addition, the state must increase its overall foster child adoptions or its older child adoptions. Children adopted without the assistance of the child welfare system are not included in the totals used to determine bonus amounts. Eligibility Requirements for Basic Foster Child Incentive Payments. States are rewarded $4,000 for each child adopted above their overall adoption baseline number. For adoptions finalized in FY2003, the state's baseline is set by the number of total foster care adoptions finalized in FY2002. For adoptions finalized in FY2004 and subsequent years, the baseline will be the highest previous baseline for any year, beginning in FY2002. The basic foster child incentive payments can be obtained without exceeding either the older child or the special needs baselines. Eligibility Requirements for Older Foster Child Incentive Payments. States may also be rewarded $4,000 for each child age nine or older adopted above their older child baseline. For older child adoptions finalized in FY2003, the baseline is set by the number of such foster care adoptions in FY2002. For adoptions finalized in FY2004 and subsequent years, the baseline will be the highest previous baseline for any year, beginning in FY2002. Older foster child adoption incentives can be obtained without exceeding either the overall or the special needs baselines. However, if a state exceeds its overall baseline it may receive a total of $8,000 for each of those older child adoptions that were also included in the overall adoption increase (i.e., the state receives $4,000 for the older child who is adopted because it exceeded the older child adoption baseline and, for the same older child, it receives $4,000 because that child was part of an overall increase in adoptions). Eligibility Requirements for Special Needs Incentive Payments. Under current law, states are also rewarded $2,000 for each child with special needs who is under the age of nine and whose adoption exceeds the special needs baseline. For adoptions finalized in FY2003, this baseline is set by the number of adopted children in FY2002 who were under the age of nine and had special needs. For adoptions finalized in FY2004 and subsequent years, the baseline will be the highest previous baseline for any year, beginning in FY2002.2 2 States may consider a child as having special needs if the state has determined that the (continued...) CRS-4 Under previous law, states could only receive special needs incentive payments if they also qualified for a basic incentive payment established on an increase in their overall number of foster child adoptions. However, changes made by the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 allow states to receive the special needs incentive payments for children under nine if they also qualify for an incentive payment on the basis of either an increase in total foster child adoptions or older child adoptions. If a state exceeds its older child adoption baseline and special needs baseline then it would receive $2,000 for each of the qualifying special needs adoptions. However, if a state exceeds its overall baseline it may receive a total of $6,000 for each of the special needs qualifying adoptions that were also included in the overall adoption increase (i.e., the states receives $2,000 for the special needs child (under age nine) who is adopted because it exceeded the special needs baseline and, for the same special needs child, it receives $4,000 because that child was part of an overall increase in adoptions). Recent Foster Care Adoption Trends The lack of comparable and reliable adoption data make it difficult to compare adoption trends before and after the implementation of the Adoption Incentives program. However, current data can provide useful information on the number of adoptions in recent years. National foster care adoptions have increased from 31,030 in 1997 to 50,950 by FY2002, a 64% increase.3 Figure 1 shows that public agency adoptions were on the increase before implementation of Adoption Incentives Payments but that a sharp increase in those adoptions coincided with the first three fiscal years it was in place (FY1997 through FY1999). 2 (...continued) child cannot or should not be returned to the home of his or her parents and the child has a specific factor or condition that make it reasonable to conclude that the child cannot be placed with adoptive parents without providing adoptive assistance. Examples of these factors or conditions include a child's ethnic background, age, membership in a minority or sibling group, or the presence of factors such as medical conditions or other physical, mental, or emotional challenges. 3 The total number of adoptions in which public agencies were involved, as reported by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), vary slightly from the totals used to determine adoption incentive bonuses. This is because submissions for the awards only include state data submitted by May 15 of the following year and must qualify in other ways to be counted toward the award of incentive funds. In contrast, the total number of public agency adoptions reported by HHS include state data submitted after May 15 of the following year (e.g., cleaned data and additional submissions). In this report, Figure 1 and Figure 3 use the same data that HHS uses to report total public agency adoptions. All other tables and figures present the official data that HHS used to determine payment awards for the Adoption Incentives program. CRS-5 Figure 1. Trends in Public Agency Adoptions 60,000 50,889 Number of Adoptions 50,000 50,950 40,000 30,000 31,030 20,000 25,693 10,000 - 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Fiscal Year Source: Prepared by the Congressional Research Service using data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Appropriations The history of appropriations for adoption incentive payments is somewhat complicated because states, as a group, have finalized more adoptions since creation of the Adoption Incentives Program in 1997 than Congress originally forecasted. Adoptions from foster care increased 64% between FY1997 and FY2002. In any year, if appropriated funds are not adequate to cover all the funds that states have earned, the awards are distributed on a prorated basis. However, Congress, when necessary, has provided additional amounts, usually in subsequent years' appropriations bills, to enable HHS to pay states the full amount of incentive payments earned. When Congress appropriates more funds than states earn in a particular fiscal year, the remaining amounts are sometimes carried forward to help pay for future adoption incentive payments. P.L. 105-89 originally authorized annual appropriations of $20 million for FY1999 through FY2003 for adoption incentive payments (for adoptions finalized in fiscal years 1998 through 2002). In addition, the law provided for an automatic increase in discretionary budget caps (up to $20 million) to help ensure that these funds were actually appropriated for each year. In the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003, Congress authorized annual appropriations of $43 million for adoption incentive payments to continue support for future increases in state adoption totals and to provide additional support for the new incentive payments of foster care children nine and older. It also reauthorized for (FY2004-FY2006) $10 million for technical assistance (reserving 50% for courts) to improve children's movement to permanent homes. This authorization previously existed for FY1998-FY2000, however, Congress did not appropriate any of those funds. CRS-6 The President's FY2005 budget requests $32 million for Adoption Incentive Payments, $11 million below the $43 million authorized level. It did not request any funds for related technical assistance. Citing recent analysis of AFCARS data, the Administration notes that while the overall number of children being adopted has grown dramatically, older children constitute an increasing proportion of the total children waiting to be adopted. The Administration cites this population as less likely to be adopted than younger children and a reason to predict slower levels of adoption growth totals than experienced in previous years of the program. For further details on appropriations, see Table 1. Table 1. Amounts Appropriated and Awarded for Adoption Incentive Payments to States (in millions) Amounts appropriated Amounts awarded For adoptions finalized in 1998 P.L. 105-277 (FY1999 appropriations) $20.0 (35 states) $42.5 For adoptions finalized in 1999 P.L. 106-113 (FY2000 appropriations) 41.8a (43 states and D.C.) 51.5 For adoptions finalized in 2000 P.L. 106-554 (FY2001 appropriations) 43.0 (35 states and D.C.) 33.2 For adoptions finalized in 2001 P.L. 107-116 (FY2002 appropriations) 43.0 (23 states and Puerto Rico) 17.6 b P.L. 108-7 (FY2003 appropriations) 42.7 For adoptions finalized in 2002 15.0 Data on adoptions finalized in P.L. 108-199 (FY2004 appropriations) 7.5c 2003 are not yet available Total $198.0 Total $159.8 Source: Prepared by the Congressional Research Service(CRS) from congressional appropriation documents and information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). a. Amount shown reflects 0.38% across-the-board reduction. b. Amount shown reflects 0.65% across-the-board reduction. c. Amount shown reflects 0.59% across-the-board reduction. The legislation also provides that FY2003 funds appropriated for these payments (P.L. 108-7) are to remain available for bonus awards made this year. This means the total funding available to award incentive payments for adoptions finalized in FY2003 is $35 million. State Implementation Through FY2002, states have earned close to $160 million in adoption incentive payments. The law provides that states may use these bonus payments for any service to children or families that is authorized under Title IV-B or Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. This includes the full range of child welfare services from family support and child protection to post-adoptive services. A report from the General Accounting Office (GAO)4 and a Cornerstone Consulting Group5 study 4 U.S. General Accounting Office, Foster Care: Recent Legislation Helps States Focus on (continued...) CRS-7 indicate that states have most commonly used their incentive awards to fund the recruitment of adoptive families and provide post-adoptive services. Due to the uncertainty of receiving future adoption incentive awards, many states were reluctant to use the money for initiatives requiring ongoing revenue such as salaried positions. Therefore, using incentive funds for one-time expenses, such as studies, training, adoption events, and the purchase of legal services was common. In addition, states reported that, because the awards were relatively small compared to their overall child welfare budgets, they were able to use their funds in innovative and flexible ways. No state reported that the adoption incentive bonus was the primary motivator for improving its adoption system. The Cornerstone Report listed the primary concerns of states regarding the incentives as (1) they may give the impression that adoption is the best plan in all cases, (2) that states with increased adoptions before ASFA may have trouble exceeding their baselines, and (3) the law does not make further changes in the structure of funding for child welfare. Tables and Figures in Appendix A The appendix contains several tables and figures that summarize adoption trends and awards from the Adoption Incentives program. All amounts shown in the appendix reflect totals and bonus amounts finalized under prior law. Table A-1 contains the total adoption incentive payments awarded to each state from FY1998 through FY2002 (for adoptions finalized in FY1997 through FY2001). These payments include bonus awards for both increases in overall adoptions and adoptions of children with special needs. Table A-2 contains the adoption totals used to determine bonus payments based on increases in total qualifying adoptions, including adoptions of children with special needs and adoptions of older children. Table A-3 contains only the adoption totals used to determine awards for increased adoptions of children with special needs. Since these numbers reflect adoptions totals under prior law, children with special needs that are age nine and older are included. Comparing the total number of adoptions counted toward the basic (overall) incentive award (Table A-2) with those counted toward the special needs incentive (Table A-3) suggests that, under prior law, close to three out of every four per-child incentive payments (74%) totaled $6,000 (i.e., the state received $4,000 for the child as part of its overall increase in foster child adoptions and $2,000 for the same child under its special needs incentive awards). However, this estimate is based on the national totals and may have varied by state. Figure 2 uses data from Table A-1 to map the total amount of awards each state has received since it was implemented. Figure 3 uses the same data used in the national totals summarized in Figure 1 to 4 (...continued) Finding Permanent Homes for Children, but Long-Standing Barriers Remain, GAO-02-585, June 2002. 5 The Cornerstone study showed that states used funds in the following areas: post adoption services (16 states); recruitment of adoptive families (11); distribution to county child welfare services, in some cases based on performance (11); training (9); contact enhancements for case management, recruitment, home studies, etc. (7); adoption awareness (6); legal services to expedite adoption (5); subsidy increases (4); general child welfare services (3); and staff (2). A Carrot Among the Sticks: The Adoption Incentive Bonus, Cornerstone Consulting Group, Inc., 2001. CRS-8 map the changes in annual public agency adoptions by state from FY1997 to FY2002. Appendix A: Summary of Adoption Incentive Baselines and Payments Table A-1. Total Adoption Incentive Bonus Awards by State ($ in thousands) State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total Alabama -- $108 $192 $186 $96 $582 Alaska -- 166 382 400 -- 948 Arizona -- 1,326 684 384 -- 2,394 Arkansas $596 194 206 176 -- 1,172 California 3,916 11,698 12,434 4,388 -- 32,436 Colorado 892 820 -- -- 496 2,208 Connecticut 88 500 384 -- 547 1,519 Delaware -- 28 336 112 64 540 District of -- 136 346 -- -- 482 Columbia Florida 2,744 -- 370 -- 3,520 6,634 Georgia 956 1,796 -- -- 374 3,126 Hawaii 1,102 -- -- -- 208 1,310 Idaho -- 312 -- 34 -- 346 Illinois 14,606 14,262 -- -- -- 28,868 Indiana 1,792 -- 1,578 -- -- 3,370 Iowa 790 1,062 28 -- 524 2,404 Kansas -- 842 -- -- -- 842 Kentucky -- 630 176 796 204 1,806 Louisiana -- 292 662 -- -- 954 Maine 24 530 1,164 -- -- 1,718 Maryland 676 576 -- 1,510 712 3,474 Massachusetts 84 -- -- -- -- 84 Michigan 2,004 1,108 1,920 980 -- 6,012 Minnesota 1,022 654 460 -- 82 2,218 Mississippi 398 402 326 -- -- 1,126 CRS-9 State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total Missouri 236 1,150 2,054 -- 366 3,806 Montana 116 128 258 188 -- 690 Nebraska -- 56 434 28 20 538 Nevada -- 354 86 94 28 562 New Hampshire 20 114 160 -- 158 452 New Jersey 870 -- 572 1,126 1,932 4,500 New Mexico 200 440 504 176 -- 1,320 New York 424 -- -- -- -- 424 North Carolina -- 1,282 1,924 -- 320 3,526 North Dakota 144 220 -- -- -- 364 Ohio -- 1,136 1,146 1,500 1,100 4,882 Oklahoma 596 2,234 564 -- -- 3,394 Oregon 1,248 410 514 1,362 224 3,758 Pennsylvania 1,260 -- 992 -- 1,172 3,424 Puerto Rico -- 142 -- 218 66 426 Rhode Island -- 378 -- -- -- 378 South Carolina 1,064 -- -- -- -- 1,064 South Dakota 8 122 20 32 322 504 Tennessee -- 428 168 806 1,148 2,550 Texas 2,872 2,990 498 1,072 68 7,500 Utah 100 404 -- -- -- 504 Vermont 214 146 -- -- -- 360 Virginia -- 212 -- 922 -- 1,134 Washington 620 918 876 944 -- 3,358 West Virginia 128 384 248 144 18 922 Wisconsin 640 302 562 -- 1,158 2,662 Wyoming 60 96 10 -- -- 166 Total $42,510 $51,488 $33,238 $7,578 $14,927 $159,741 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CRS-10 Table A-2. Adoptions Counted Toward Basic Incentive Awarda State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total Alabama 119 152 200 237 249 957 Alaska 95 137 202 278 192 904 Arizona 327 727 851 931 788 3,624 Arkansas 251 278 311 353 295 1,488 California 3,958 6,254 8,221 8,852 8,647 35,932 Colorado 560 711 679 569 835 3,354 Connecticut 229 403 499 444 562 2,137 Delaware 33 36 103 117 133 422 District of Columbia 96 166 236 177 195 870 Florida 1,549 1,355 1,605 1,421 2,246 8,176 Georgia 672 1,029 984 863 1,081 4,629 Hawaii 297 266 259 244 349 1,415 Idaho 14 107 102 110 92 425 Illinois 4,656 7,031 5,670 4,107 3,585 25,049 Indiana 774 734 1,143 871 881 4,403 Iowa 517 744 751 682 882 3,576 Kansas 229 558 435 427 501 2,150 Kentucky 204 340 384 542 551 2,021 Louisiana 236 352 469 463 466 1,986 Maine 112 203 405 362 297 1,379 Maryland 420 528 513 801 922 3,184 Massachusetts 1,137 922 861 778 808 4,506 Michigan 2,254 2,446 2,800 2,979 2,845 13,324 Minnesota 427 539 615 568 627 2,776 Mississippi 169 238 290 265 175 1,137 Missouri 616 817 1,205 1,061 1,273 4,972 Montana 144 176 228 264 244 1,056 Nebraska 35 192 282 289 294 1,092 Nevada 0 211 229 244 251 935 New Hampshire 50 63 95 93 114 415 CRS-11 State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total New Jersey 755 729 834 1,043 1,370 4,731 New Mexico 197 258 346 369 272 1,442 New York 4,822 4,719 4,225 3,934 3,160 20,860 North Carolina 303 907 1,244 1,222 1,324 5,000 North Dakota 83 138 92 127 119 559 Ohio 1,263 1,605 1,777 2,002 2,185 8,832 Oklahoma 456 854 995 928 985 4,218 Oregon 665 755 831 1,071 1,115 4,437 Pennsylvania 1,494 1,447 1,700 1,669 1,993 8,303 Puerto Rico 0 113 57 164 176 510 Rhode Island 222 292 260 267 256 1,297 South Carolina 465 456 378 384 343 2,026 South Dakota 58 82 7 92 142 381 Tennessee 295 370 403 555 758 2,381 Texas 1,365 1,902 2,010 2,278 2,295 9,850 Utah 250 369 302 349 344 1,614 Vermont 116 138 105 98 133 590 Virginia 158 321 246 491 417 1,633 Washington 759 921 1,110 1,207 1,031 5,028 West Virginia 211 308 350 360 361 1,590 Wisconsin 589 622 712 693 939 3,555 Wyoming 30 44 46 46 46 212 Total 34,736 45,065 48,657 48,741 50,144 227,343 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. a. These are the totals used to determine the bonus awards for increases in total qualifying adoptions. Special needs adoptions and adoptions of older children are included. CRS-12 Table A-3. Adoptions Counted Toward Special Needs Incentive Bonus State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total Alabama 23 60 56 79 103 321 Alaska 80 120 181 229 148 758 Arizona 0 517 611 643 482 2,253 Arkansas 194 237 274 278 83 1,066 California 3,030 4,287 6,570 7,502 7,596 28,985 Colorado 470 578 503 332 486 2,369 Connecticut 0 130 186 46 377 739 Delaware 13 27 61 89 75 265 District of Columbia 96 55 129 73 69 422 Florida 646 549 719 786 1,264 3,964 Georgia 367 551 497 294 634 2,343 Hawaii 190 169 180 151 182 872 Idaho 0 77 81 92 74 324 Illinois 3,861 6,242 5,056 3,082 3,219 21,460 Indiana 660 453 711 449 435 2,708 Iowa 359 491 437 386 459 2,132 Kansas 165 449 296 266 313 1,489 Kentucky 88 231 175 313 397 1,204 Louisiana 171 244 341 346 336 1,438 Maine 100 183 361 331 219 1,194 Maryland 347 419 398 628 742 2,534 Massachusetts 2 410 332 347 447 1,538 Michigan 1,938 2,108 2,360 2,492 2,288 11,186 Minnesota 349 452 530 482 547 2,360 Mississippi 134 197 256 217 0 804 Missouri 404 581 832 726 879 3,422 Montana 86 106 137 159 161 649 Nebraska 18 116 153 143 151 581 Nevada 0 148 155 172 167 642 CRS-13 State FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Total New Hampshire 0 51 67 70 111 299 New Jersey 533 531 661 806 1,118 3,649 New Mexico 0 212 288 330 246 1,076 New York 4,332 4,200 3,932 3,658 2,866 18,988 North Carolina 220 673 961 947 882 3,683 North Dakota 29 40 29 64 55 217 Ohio 1,225 1,383 1,612 1,912 2,096 8,228 Oklahoma 304 625 566 553 347 2,395 Oregon 519 544 649 850 874 3,436 Pennsylvania 1,140 1,229 1,480 1,419 1,233 6,501 Puerto Rico 0 18 12 25 34 89 Rhode Island 132 189 139 170 158 788 South Carolina 260 311 247 235 210 1,263 South Dakota 36 49 39 55 116 295 Tennessee 196 260 278 377 545 1,656 Texas 976 1,397 1,430 1,278 1,353 6,434 Utah 89 154 174 168 166 751 Vermont 92 121 95 89 114 511 Virginia 109 212 167 333 307 1,128 Washington 431 653 713 991 885 3,673 West Virginia 86 135 175 227 234 857 Wisconsin 455 540 641 614 766 3,016 Wyoming 5 25 26 36 31 123 Total 24,960 33,739 36,959 36,340 37,080 169,078 Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CRS-14 Figure 2. Total Adoption Incentive Awards: FY1998-FY2002 Total Adoption Incentive Awards ($1000s) FY1998-FY2002 3,500 to 32,500 (10 States) (10) 1,500 to 3,500 (15 States) (15) 600 to 1,500 (11 States) (11) 0 to 600 (15 States) (15) Source: Figure prepared by the Congressional Research Service based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CRS-15 Figure 3. Percent Increase in Annual Public Agency Adoptions by State: FY1997-FY2002 Percent Change in Public Agency Adoptions FY1997-FY2002 133 to 375 (14 States) (14) 91 to 133 (10 States) (10) 65 to 91 (11 States) (11) 0 to 65 (16 States) (16) Source: Figure prepared by the Congressional Research Service based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For other versions of this document, see http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32296