Determinants of Adoption Subsidies

Most children adopted from foster care in recent years received an adoption subsidy. However, little is known about factors associated with subsidy receipt and amount. Analyses of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) shows that national data obscure substantial state-level variation in the proportion of adopted children receiving subsidies and the median subsidy amount. Several characteristics of adopted children were associated with subsidy receipt and amount, including age, race and ethnicity, and special needs status. Subsidy receipt and amount also varied with adoptive families' characteristics, such as pre-adoptive relationship with the child, family structure, and maternal race and ethnicity.