Children within Jurisdiction of DFPS

DFPS is responsible for determining eligibility and negotiating adoption assistance agreements for children who are placed for adoption under the following circumstances:

• Children who are in DFPS managing conservatorship, regardless of the location of the placement.
• Children who are in the legal care of, and placed for adoption by, a licensed child-placing agency, if the child is placed with a family that lives in Texas. The child-placing agency does not need to be licensed in Texas, but if it is not, it must be licensed or certified by another state to provide adoption placement services.
• Children who meet all of the following criteria:
  • Previously received Title IV-E adoption assistance, and that adoptive relationship ended because of the deaths of the adoptive parents or termination of their parental rights.
  • Are not in the care of another state’s public child welfare agency.
  • Have subsequent adoptive parents who live in Texas at the time of the adoptive placement.
• Children who meet all of the following criteria:
  • Previously received Texas state-paid adoption assistance, and that adoptive relationship ended because of the deaths of the adoptive parents or termination of their parental rights.
  • Are not in the care of another state’s public child welfare agency.
  • Are subsequently to be adopted, regardless of the adoptive parents’ state of residence.

In addition to the above criteria, DFPS is responsible for authorizing Medicaid coverage for children who live in Texas and have an adoption assistance agreement with another state’s child welfare agency. See 1730 Medicaid Coverage, the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance, and Adoption Assistance.

For information on whether a child will receive benefits if a family moves to or lives in another state, see Texas Administrative Code §700.861External Link.

Children outside Jurisdiction of DFPS

DFPS is not responsible for determining eligibility or providing adoption assistance to children with special needs under the following circumstances:

• The child previously received Title IV-E adoption assistance in Texas, but a subsequent adoption is taking place in another state.
• The child is in the legal care of, and placed by, a private child-placing agency and is being placed with adoptive parents who live in another state.