Code of Massachusetts Regulations
606 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE
Title 606 CMR 5.00 - Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Agencies Offering Child Placement and Adoption Services
Section 5.05 - Financial Responsibilities

Universal Citation: 606 MA Code of Regs 606.5

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

The applicant or licensee shall demonstrate financial capability to carry out its program for the licensing period.

(1) The licensee shall maintain an accurate record of receipts and expenditures, which shall be audited annually.

(2) The licensee shall keep on file at the agency its annual operating budget. The operating budget must specify:

(a) the salaries of all employees, and all bonuses and other benefits of all staff;

(b) all rent or mortgage payments, and;

(c) any payments for vehicles owned, rented or leased by the agency.

(3) Designated Financial Responsibilities. The licensee shall establish and keep current a policy regarding the financial responsibility of expectant parents, parents, foster parents, adoptive parents and foster and adoptive parent applicants for all services to be provided. The policy shall specify which costs are fixed and which costs are estimates, and shall include the agency's written policy on refunds, as set forth in 606 CMR 5.05(3)(h); and provisions for assisting less affluent persons to become adoptive parents.

(a) At the time of initial inquiry, and in all cases prior to delivering services for which a fee is charged, the licensee shall provide its financial responsibility policy to prospective clients in writing.

(b) The policy shall detail all services to be provided and the cost to each party for:
1. application and administrative services, which may include, but are not limited to, informational and educational consultation with prospective foster and adoptive parents, advertising and outreach, networking, case management, and escrow account management;

2. home study assessment, home study assessment update, and adoptive parent preparation including the rate for services beyond the minimum number of hours of preparation required by these regulations, if necessary;

3. expectant parent/parent/birth parent counseling and service planning;

4. expectant parent/parent/birth parent transportation, living and support services, as applicable;

5. medical care of the expectant parent and child which is not reimbursed by third party payers;

6. legal services related to assuring that the child is free for adoption, which may include, but are not limited to, attorney's fees, private investigation fees, interpreting fees, and DNA testing fees;

7. foster care for the child prior to placement in the adoptive parent's home;

8. post-placement supervision;

9. legal services related to finalization of the adoption;

10. interagency coordination, as applicable;

11. post-adoption services, as required by 606 CMR 5.10(14);

12. pre-adoptive and adoptive parent counseling and support;

13. travel and lodging in connection with any interstate or international adoption, and;

14. Interstate Compact compliance, as applicable.

(c) The policy shall specify the circumstances under which any cost may be increased.

(d) No other costs may be charged to any client.

(e) The fees established by the licensee for services provided to families, foster and adoptive families and children shall be reasonable.

(f) If the licensee is not providing certain services directly to its clients, the licensee shall identify in writing for the expectant parents, parents, birth parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, and foster and adoptive parent applicants the services which they must obtain for themselves. The licensee shall also identify those services which it will provide directly and those which it will provide through agreement or contract.

(g) If the licensee uses a schedule for payments, the licensee shall provide the clients with written information concerning initial payments and frequency and conditions for subsequent payments.

(h) The licensee shall have a written, understandable and reasonable policy for refunding any unexpended fees.

(4) Financial Assistance to Parents/Expectant Parents

(a) Expectant parents have the right and responsibility to make an informed and uncoerced decision about the possible placement for adoption of their child. Expectant parents shall neither benefit nor suffer financially as a result of their pregnancy. Expectant parents shall assume responsibility, in accordance with their ability to pay, for their own living, medical and transportation expenses throughout their pregnancy.

(b) The licensee may assist parents in meeting their physical and material needs in accordance with its policy for financial assistance and the provisions of 606 CMR 5.05(4)(b).
1. The licensee shall have a written policy describing the licensee's payment of expenses incurred by expectant parent(s) as permitted by 606 CMR 5.05(4)(b). The policy may provide for payment to assist the expectant mother in obtaining adequate medical care, to protect the legal rights of the expectant parent(s), to provide for transportation to obtain medical, legal, counseling and other allowed services of the agency, and/or to assist the expectant mother with living arrangements.

2. For purposes of 606 CMR 5.05(4)(b), payment shall mean the provision of money, goods, or services and shall include any compensation, consideration, donation, gift, or reimbursement.

3. The policy regarding financial assistance shall include provisions for an evaluation of the expectant mother's need for financial assistance for medical care, living expenses and transportation, and shall describe the licensee's means of determining the need for additional support. The evaluation shall consist of a review of the financial resources available to the expectant mother including, but not limited to: family support, health insurance, public support and/or other sources designated to pay for medical care, living expenses and transportation. Payment for medical care, living expenses and transportation may be made only on the basis of the evaluation.

4. A record of this evaluation shall be shared with the expectant parents and maintained as part of the intake specified in 606 CMR 5.08(1) or 5.08(3)(a).

5. No payment shall be made for expenses incurred by or on behalf of the birth parent(s) prior to verification of the pregnancy and completion of the intake required by 606 CMR 5.08, including financial needs assessment; and development of a service plan as specified at 606 CMR 5.08(3)(c).

(c) The licensee shall ensure that the payment of expenses does not impair the parent's ability to make an informed and uncoerced decision regarding the possible placement of his/her child for adoption.

(d) The licensee may make payment for the services listed below on behalf of expectant parents in accordance with its individual evaluation of need for financial assistance as specified in 606 CMR 5.05(4)(b)3.:
1. Living Expenses and Support Services. Payment for reasonable and necessary living expenses and support services for an expectant parent shall not exceed $2,000 per month.
a. Living expenses shall be limited to: lodging, food, utilities and clothing.

b. Support services shall include reasonable and necessary educational, vocational and religious services to an expectant mother.

c. Payment for living expenses and support services of an expectant mother shall not begin prior to the second trimester of pregnancy, and shall not exceed eight weeks after the child is born.

2. Medical Expenses. Payment for prenatal, birthing and other pregnancy related medical expenses, including childbirth education shall be permitted. Payment for such services shall be reasonable and shall not exceed the prevailing rates of the community in which the service is provided. No payment for medical expenses of mothers/birth mothers incurred more than six weeks after delivery or more than eight weeks if medically indicated, shall be made except that payment may be made for one postpartum medical visit or in case of a pregnancy-related need for further medical services. Such expenses shall include, but not be limited to: payment to medical personnel, medical facilities, ambulance services and pharmacies.

3. Transportation. Payment for necessary transportation to obtain medical, legal, counseling and other allowed services shall be permitted. Payment for transportation shall be reasonable, and shall not exceed the local prevailing rates for transportation. In addition, payment for the airfare of the expectant parent(s), together with one parent of the expectant mother if she is a minor, any dependent children of the expectant parent(s) who must be transported with the expectant parent(s) to receive the adoption services of the licensee, shall be permitted in an amount not to exceed round trip coach fare on a common carrier from and to the birth parent(s)' established place of residence. Payment may be made for no more than two such round trip airfares. Reasonable payment for necessary food and lodging expenses associated with such transportation shall be permitted.

(e) Other Required Services. The licensee may make payment for services required by 606 CMR 5.00 such as counseling, foster care, legal services related to the relinquishment and adoption process and follow-up services.

(f) Payment for such services shall be reasonable and shall not exceed the prevailing rates of the community in which they are provided.

(g) Payment for legal and medical expenses other than medications shall be made directly to personnel or facilities providing such services.

(h) The licensee shall maintain a record including receipts and/or bills (specifying the name and address of the payee and the amount and date of payment) for all payments made to a person outside the agency for services to expectant parents/birth parents under 606 CMR 5.05(4)(d) and (e) including, but not limited to:
1. medical services for child and mother/birth mother;

2. legal services for the surrender and/or adoption of the child;

3. counseling services;

4. foster care services;

5. living expenses for the expectant mother/birth mother;

6. transportation;

7. follow-up services.

(i) Expectant parents/ parents shall be notified in writing prior to the payment of any allowable expense, that such payment, if provided, shall not be contingent upon placement of their child for adoption.

(j) No payment shall be made directly to the expectant parent/birth parent, or to anyone on behalf of the expectant parent/birth parent, by anyone other than the licensee.

(k) If the licensee provides inter-country adoptions through specific sources, the licensee may enter into general, rather than child-specific agreements with these sources, and may substitute the provisions of the general agreement for the documentation required at 606 CMR 5.05(4)(h).

(l) Any compensation, consideration, donation, gift, reimbursement or service not specifically allowed by 606 CMR 5.00 which is provided by the licensee on or on behalf of the expectant parents/birth parents is prohibited.

(5) Financial Obligations of Adoptive Parent Applicants

(a) The licensee may charge adoptive parent applicants for the following services:
1. application and administrative services which may include, but are not limited to, informational and educational consultation with prospective foster and adoptive parents, advertising and outreach, networking, case management, and escrow account management;

2. home study assessment and/or home study assessment update;

3. adoptive parent preparation;

4. travel and lodging in connection with any interstate or international adoption;

5. post-placement supervision;

6. legal services related to finalization of the adoption;

7. interagency coordination;

8. post-adoption services;

9. expectant parent/parent/birth parent counseling and service planning;

10. foster care for the child prior to placement in the adoptive parent's home;

11. pre-adoptive and adoptive parent counseling and support, and;

12. Interstate Compact compliance, as applicable.

(b) In addition to the fees identified above and in accordance with the pre-placement agreement required by 606 CMR 5.10(7)(b), the licensee may charge prospective adoptive parents the actual cost of:
1. transportation, living and support services for the expectant parent of the child they have been identified to adopt;

2. medical costs for the expectant mother and for the child which are not covered by insurance; and

3. legal costs relative to assuring that the child is free for adoption which may include, but are not limited to, attorney's fees.

(c) No other costs may be charged to prospective adoptive parents.

(6) Financial Obligations of Foster Parents. Before accepting any fee or payment for services from foster parent applicants, the licensee shall enter into a written service plan or contract for services with the applicants that specifies:

(a) The services which the licensee will provide directly for the foster parents;

(b) The services which will be provided to the foster parent applicants by other agencies or resources, through interagency agreement;

(c) The cost, if any, to foster parents for each service to be provided;

(d) Anticipated timelines for the delivery of each service to be provided;

(e) The schedule for payment of all costs;

(f) The obligations or expectations of foster parent applicants necessary to enable the licensee to fulfill its responsibilities under the service plan and/or its contract for services;

(g) Any costs for care and maintenance of foster children placed in the home for which the foster parent will be responsible.

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