Senate Bill 306 Summary

• Changes adoption subsidy payments from discretionary ("may") to mandatory ("shall") for children with special needs when an agreement is in place, effective July 1, 2013.

• Requires the Department of Child Services to allocate sufficient funds to the adoption assistance account to meet subsidy payment obligations.

• Prohibits the Department from terminating adoption subsidy agreements due to insufficient funds in the adoption assistance account.

• Repeals provisions that allowed the Department to limit new adoption subsidy agreements only to children who were department wards at the time of adoption petition or to prioritize funding based on wardship status.