Processing Requests for Assistance, Determining Eligibility, and Negotiating Benefits

The following guidelines determine which region is responsible for processing requests for adoption assistance, determining eligibility, and negotiating benefits:

• When the child is placed by DFPS or a licensed Texas child-placing agency and the family lives in Texas, the region that holds managing conservatorship of the child processes the initial request for assistance.
• If the child is not placed by DFPS or by a licensed Texas child-placing agency, the region where the adoptive parents live processes the request.
• If a DFPS employee is seeking to adopt a child from the same region where the employee works, then another region handles the adoption assistance case. This coordination is handled at a program director level.

Maintaining the Case

The following guidelines determine which region is responsible for maintaining the adoption assistance case:

• The region where the adoptive parents live maintains the case once eligibility is determined, the adoption assistance agreement is made and signed, and payment for nonrecurring adoption expenses is made.
• The region that determined eligibility and entered into the adoption assistance agreement maintains the case when the child is placed for adoption out of state.
• The region that last managed the case maintains it if the family moves out of state.
• The region where the family lives maintains the case if DFPS is authorizing Medical Assistance Only (MAO) for a child receiving adoption assistance under an agreement with another state.