Policy Effective: July 1, 2011

If a birth parent has other related dependent children in the home, and does not meet the qualifications for the Family Employment Program, the birth parent is not eligible to receive any financial adoption assistance.

If a birth parent has other dependent children in the home and receives a Family Employment Program (FEP) grant, the Adoption Assistance grant will increase the FEP grant amount by one household member while the customer remains eligible for FEP during the 12 month Adoption Assistance period.

For a birth parent who was (or would have been) the caretaker of a child whose custody has been relinquished for the purpose of adoption, and has no other related dependent children living in the home, Financial Adoption Assistance will be provided equal to a household size of one.

If a parent relinquishes rights to more than one child, the financial adoption assistance will still be equal to a household size of 1.

Both birth parents (father and mother) who are living together in the same household and have no other related dependent children residing with them can receive Adoption Assistance if:

They were (or would have been) the caretakers of a child whose custody has been relinquished for the purpose of adoption,

And would have been otherwise eligible for the Family Employment Program (FEP) based on incapacity.

Adoption Assistance will be provided equal to a household size of one, even though both parents must be participating at appropriate levels, and have their income and assets counted when determining assistance.

If an Adoption Assistance recipient marries someone who is not a birth parent to the relinquished child, the new spouse’s income and assets will be included in the benefit calculation. The new spouse will not be included in the household size and is not required to participate. However, if the customer is also receiving a FEP grant for other children in the household the spouse will be required to participate.

For a birth parent who is an unemancipated minor, the parental income deeming rules for minors living with their parents in policy 401-2 and the rules concerning unemancipated minors living separately in policy 221-11 are applied when determining eligibility for Adoption Assistance

A Utah resident parent must have voluntarily relinquished custody of the child for the purpose of adoption. In Utah a relinquishment of a child can occur at any age, with the condition that a child age 12 or older must agree to the relinquishment. Parents who have their parental rights terminated by a court do not meet the voluntary relinquishment criteria.