Blessings Upon Blessings
"Just a Mom" aksed about subsidies, etc. and I am thrilled to tell you about what we have learned. I am amazed when I recall that we just wanted a child - period. Yet we have been blessed with so much. (And I have no earthly idea why this "paperwork" and "contract" can't be started way before now - but then again, we did just get TPR on October 31st, so I guess that was what the wait was for - *sigh*.)Once the contract has been signed and we are officially pre-adoptive parents, we will begin receiving an "adoption subsidy" that will replace the per diem we recieved as foster parents. It will be a flat $600 per month, which is what we have been receiving for her care. We will receive this until she is 18, and if she is in college full-time after that, we can request to continue the subsidy until she graduates. Can you say "books"? I am blown away by this blessing. This means we will not have to obsess about how to pay for band instruments, voice lessons, riding lessons, soccer equipment, swimming lessons, dermatologist appointments when she is 13, orthodontic visits and braces, and the "latest" pair of jeans she just has to have. We can even save up for that senior trip in high school or the study abroad when she's in college. That money is for her, and we will make sure it is put to good use. We will probably only tell Cookie about the adoption subsidy when she is old enough to understand it (which will be quite some time). We have already started her college account for room and board, or in case the laws change and there are no more federal grants for children who were wards of the state. If she went to college tomorrow, it would be basically free - but we all know a lot can change in 17 years, and we're not taking any chances. If we save up a ton, and then don't need to use it for her college, well, it may just help pay for a wedding reception one day.
Because we both work full time, our day care will continue to be paid for on a reimbursement basis. We will pay for her monthly day care expenses, FAX our paperwork in, and have a direct deposit reimbursement back in our account in 3 days. Who could ask for more? Wait - there is more.
We will also get to keep her medical card until she is 18, which means no co-pays, deductables, or extra costs of adding her to our insurance, and no cost for prescriptions. This has already saved us hundreds of dollars. Some adoptive parents choose not to go this route, siting poor quality of health care. But since we will always be at a major research university wherever we may go, there will always be great health care right around the corner. We have been blessed with the doctors at the University of Kentucky General Pediatrics - every one of them has been patient, kind, and competent.
Our lawyer will direct-bill the state for the legal fees, and up to $1000 is covered. Anything above that will be our responsibility to pay, but the adoption worker says she's never heard of our lawyer ever going over the $1000 limit, and she loves doing adoptions. I'm set to have a phone conversation with her next week, and I'll update about how that goes.
Jeremiah 33:3, indeed. We called upon God, and He has shown us magnificent things that we could not even fathom. We are not worthy of all this. There is nothing we could have done to "earn" it, or "deserve" it. But God loves to pour out blessings on those who do His will. It's funny - just when I think I'm blessed enough, there's even more blessings that follow.
I need to write about the baby shower my Sunday School class and women of the church threw for me and Cookie, and about our trip to Florida last weekend and Cookie meeting my parents for the first time. My mom cried. I mean really cried. The moment she saw her. It was beautiful. Mom called yesterday and asked if we were coming for Christmas - this only a couple weeks after she had told me that she and dad might go to Puerto Rico (or Costa Rica - I can't remember). How things changed after they spent time with Cookie. She loved them too. Grandparents are really important. I'm going to try to get her there for Christmas. Mom hasn't put up a tree in years. I think it's time to start again.
Labels: Adoption Subsidy
posted by No Longer In Crisis @ 11/17/2006 11:11:00 AM
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