Section 465IAC2-7-3. Adoption assistance payments

   (a) The amount of the adoption assistance shall not exceed the minimum per diem paid by any county department of public welfare in Indiana or seventy-five percent (75%) of the per diem paid by the placing county department of public welfare, whichever is greater.

  (b) In the instance of a child placed under the custody of a local county welfare department, the per diem amount used to compute the payment shall be the foster home care per diem established by the county in which the department is located.

  (c) If the eligible child is placed adoptively by a licensed child placing agency or through an independent adoptive placement, the foster home care per diem established by the county in which the child is adoptively placed shall be used to compute the payment. If the child is placed out-of-state in an adoptive home by a licensed child placing agency, the foster home care per diem established by the county where the placing agency is located shall be used.

  (d) All applications for adoption assistance shall be acted upon by the county director of public welfare within forty-five (45) days from the date of application unless there are unusual or extenuating circumstances. If a child is eligible, financial assistance shall become effective no later than thirty (30) days from the date of application or as soon as the agreement for adoption assistance has been signed and the child is placed in the adoptive home unless there are unusual and extenuating circumstances. All monetary awards shall be due and payable on the first day of the month following the placement of the child in the adoptive home or date of the final decree of adoption. Payment shall be within the maximums as set out in this rule provided an adoption assistance agreement has been signed by the county director and the adopting parent or parents at the time the child is placed in the adoptive home but prior to the final decree of adoption.

  (e) The effective date of adoption assistance payments shall not be prior to October 1, 1982.

  (f) Adoption assistance payments shall not be made for a child whose adoption was legally finalized prior to October 1, 1982. (Department of Child Services; Title 3, Ch 7, Reg 3-706; filed Aug 31, 1982, 1:37 p.m.: 5 IR 2225; filed Aug 26, 1987, 11:00 a.m.: 11 IR 84; filed Aug 9, 1991, 11:00 a.m.: 14 IR 2229; errata filed Sep 25, 1991, 9:00 a.m.: 15 IR 110; filed Jul 28, 1997, 1:25 p.m.: 20 IR 3365; readopted filed Jul 12, 2001, 1:40 p.m.: 24 IR 4235; readopted filed Aug 31, 2001, 9:47 a.m.: 25 IR 202; readopted filed Nov 27, 2007, 6:52 a.m.: 20071226-IR-465070551RFA; readopted filed Nov 26, 2013, 4:02 p.m.: 20131225-IR-465130459RFA) NOTE: Transferred from the Division of Family Resources (470 IAC 3-10-3) to the Department of Child Services (465 IAC 2-7-3) by P.L.234-2005, SECTION 195, effective July 1, 2005.