June 4, 2007

Policies and Procedures Related to the Management of the Special Needs Adoption Subsidy Program

This report, concerning legal adoption in Virginia, was published on June 4, 2007 and written by Anthony Conyers, Jr. The purpose of adoption is to place children who have been permanently and legally separated from their birth parents with adoptive families and to prevent adoption dissolution by providing services to strengthen and support families after the adoption is finalized. The legislation creating the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) in Virginia was passed in 1974. For more than 30 years, Virginia has developed laws, polices and procedures to improve adoption opportunities for children who historically would have remained in foster care with no permanent goal. This report is in response to the legislative mandate to study the policies and procedures related to the management of the special needs adoption subsidy program as a result of unexpected increases in the level of expenditure growth.