- (A) The department shall establish fees for certain adoption and related services. The fees must be charged on a scale related to income as established by the state board, but the inability to pay a fee does not preclude the providing of any service.
- (B) A fee may not be charged for the placement of a child with special needs, as defined in Section 63-9-30, into an adoptive home.
(C) Fees collected under this section must be forwarded to the State Treasurer who shall hold them in a separate account. These funds may be expended only as provided for by the General Assembly. Of the funds authorized to be expended, not less than seventy-five percent must be used for the sole purpose of paying for the medical and maternity home expenses incurred by clients:
- (1) who are pregnant;
- (2) who have requested the services of the Department of Social Services in planning for permanence for their child; and
- (3) for whom other public or private funds are not available, and the remainder of the funds may be used to defray other operating expenses related to adoption service delivery.
HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2.