Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What monthly stipend are you talking about?? Who gets a monthly stipend.

Confused. I'm an DC and pay for all my own camps and therapies. Don't think we qualify for medicaid.

OP here. People who adopt kids with special needs from foster care can get a monthly subsidy until the kid is 18 or 21, depending on the state. The state we're adopting from doesn't pay a subsidy until the adoption is finalized, which will be many months from now (after summer camp or, very possibly, hiring a summer nanny with special ed experience), and it's not very large. We will be ok without LISS, but with the therapies Medicaid won't cover (or have loooong waitlists for the few providers that accept it), more expensive childcare (he can't make it in the school's aftercare right now), time off work, etc. I figured if LISS was an option I'd try for it. Thanks for letting me know it doesn't exist in DC--if I ever hear otherwise I'll let other folks know!

Your post makes no sense. The state you are adopting from should be providing a foster care stipend. Medicaid covers Ot, PT, and speech with in network providers. If you want fancy other "therapies" yes, you pay or you ask the social worker is there funding to pay. If the medicaid is held in another state, you can go into DC and apply for the child and get DC Medicaid. LISS is a lottery. Its hit or miss and no guarantee. You have resources through the agency available. Sometimes there are pots of money to pay for extras. As parents, yes, we pay for the big ticket items, only difference is you are going into your adoption knowing you are adopting a SN child out of choice and you should have known there were extra expenses involved. Either pay or reconsider if you are the right family for this child.

You don't have to believe it, but we don't get a foster care stipend and we may or may not get an adoption subsidy after finalizing. Medicaid (when it's set up--that hasn't happened yet) will pay for some things, but the pool of providers is limited and there are long waits for appointments. We are working with social workers already. Believe me, we are paying for plenty of extra expenses. $2000 from LISS, if DC had it, would have been helpful but it's not going to be the deciding factor in whether we can provide for this kid.

In less you are in a different state and brought a hard to adopt kid to your state, or a relative, then yes, I have a tuff time believing that you are not getting a foster care stipend. If its kinship care, you don't always get one especially if you are not a licensed foster parent, but most of the time if you are licensed, you get one. Obviously there is more to the story. If you are not getting it, you can go apply for cash assistance. Or, you have a really crappy social worker (which is very possible).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What monthly stipend are you talking about?? Who gets a monthly stipend.

Confused. I'm an DC and pay for all my own camps and therapies. Don't think we qualify for medicaid.

OP here. People who adopt kids with special needs from foster care can get a monthly subsidy until the kid is 18 or 21, depending on the state. The state we're adopting from doesn't pay a subsidy until the adoption is finalized, which will be many months from now (after summer camp or, very possibly, hiring a summer nanny with special ed experience), and it's not very large. We will be ok without LISS, but with the therapies Medicaid won't cover (or have loooong waitlists for the few providers that accept it), more expensive childcare (he can't make it in the school's aftercare right now), time off work, etc. I figured if LISS was an option I'd try for it. Thanks for letting me know it doesn't exist in DC--if I ever hear otherwise I'll let other folks know!

Your post makes no sense. The state you are adopting from should be providing a foster care stipend. Medicaid covers Ot, PT, and speech with in network providers. If you want fancy other "therapies" yes, you pay or you ask the social worker is there funding to pay. If the medicaid is held in another state, you can go into DC and apply for the child and get DC Medicaid. LISS is a lottery. Its hit or miss and no guarantee. You have resources through the agency available. Sometimes there are pots of money to pay for extras. As parents, yes, we pay for the big ticket items, only difference is you are going into your adoption knowing you are adopting a SN child out of choice and you should have known there were extra expenses involved. Either pay or reconsider if you are the right family for this child.

You don't have to believe it, but we don't get a foster care stipend and we may or may not get an adoption subsidy after finalizing. Medicaid (when it's set up--that hasn't happened yet) will pay for some things, but the pool of providers is limited and there are long waits for appointments. We are working with social workers already. Believe me, we are paying for plenty of extra expenses. $2000 from LISS, if DC had it, would have been helpful but it's not going to be the deciding factor in whether we can provide for this kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow PP, are you having a bad day? OP just asked a simple question - LISS in DC or no LISS. Thank goodness there is nice people like OP who adopt SN kids.

New person. This was really not a yes or no question. It was posted with the assumption that Marylanders are simply handed LISS funds to pay for things like camp. That is so far from the truth.

Our family has NEVER gotten any LISS money, ever, via the LISS lottery.

Maryland, which is a wealthy state, made a choice not to fund Medicaid/SSDI for kids. So that's why Maryland gives out (if you could call it that) LISS funds. If we had SSDI for our child, we could devote the massive monthly amounts of money we pay toward therapies to paying for camp, and we wouldn't have to enter some stupid #@&#^! lottery twice a year to try to pay for camp.
Can you imagine this is an effective way to run a social service system?

We got LISS for two years prior to it being a lottery system. It was very appreciated. However, it was very limited on what it would pay for. It doesn't always pay for therapies or co-pays and there are very strict rules. We got denied by one agency but applied to another and got it. We tried for the lottery and didn't get it twice and gave up. Before the lottery, it was $3000, but I believe now it is $2000. Its a lot of money, but not a lot of money given many places charge a premium for SN even though some of it is the same as non-special needs classes.

Medicaid pays 100% therapy costs without copays. That's huge not to have a premium, deductibles and copays for speech, ABA, OT and even respite care for some kids. Plus, if the child is in foster care, some agencies pay for camps. They can use the county rec. department in some places and get a fee waiver. There are lots of resources for foster parents, which is what OP is until adoption. Sometimes counties also have special funds for camps, private pay evaluations and more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow PP, are you having a bad day? OP just asked a simple question - LISS in DC or no LISS. Thank goodness there is nice people like OP who adopt SN kids.

We did adopt a SN child. We pay for all needs, no stipend, no help as that is our child. It greatly concerns me when I hear people in the adoption process seeking out money in the way that OP is. She (or he) is getting a stipend, medicaid and can ask the social work for additional funding. It always concern me when people target the SN kids as they get higher stipend and lots of other perks. Some use it as income.

How did you adopt a SN child with no stipend? Why didn't you fight for what is legally your child's? Every penny of ours goes to something he needs, we're not lining our pockets on the back of our kid.

We adopted a newborn. At the time we didn't know as we were lied to about many things. Either way, we didn't care about the money and if our child needs something we will find a way to pay for it. Once you adopt, that is your child, the same as any other child in your home and its your responsibility to meet their needs.