ICPC State Pages

Maine Adoption

Maine permits the following types of adoptions in addition to public adoptions:

Adoption Statute-Non-Agency; Independent; Private Adoptions:

MRSA Title 22 Ch. 1671. Sub. Sec. 8204 2.

Public

Public Adoptive Placement-Requirements:

• All potential public adoptive placements must comply with the DHHS adoptive/foster home licensing requirements. 

Adoption Assistance

Adoption assistance payments begin:

• At the time the child is placed

Sending State Adoption Subsidy Payments (Guidelines):

• Assistance may be provided for special needs only and may be varied based on the special needs of the child. Assistance may be provided for a period of time based on the special needs of the child.  The amount of adoption assistance may vary depending upon the resources of the adoptive parents and the special needs of the child, as well as the availability of other resources, but may not exceed the total cost of caring for the child if the child were to remain in the care or custody of the department, without regard to the source of the funds. 

   

  The duration of assistance may continue until the cessation of legal parental responsibility or until the parents are no longer supporting the child, at which time the adoption assistance ceases.  However, if the child has need of educational benefits or has a physical, mental or emotional handicap, adoption assistance may continue until the adoptee has attained 21 years of age if the adoptee, the parents and the department agree that the need for care and support exists.

   

  If the assistance continues for more than one year, the need for assisance must be annually redetermined.  Adoption assistance contnues regardless of the state in which the adoptive parents reside, or the state to which the adoptive parents move, as long as the familiy continues to be eligible based on the annual redetermination of need. 

   

  Children who are in the custody of another person or agency in another state who are brought to this State for the purpose of adoption are not eligible for adoption assistance through Maine's Adoption Assistance Program except for reimbursement of nonrecurring expenses if the child meets the requirements of the United States Social Security Act, 42 Unites States Code, Section 673 (c).

Special Needs

Maine definition of "Special Needs":

• A special needs child is one that has one or more of the following characteristics:

    a. Medical condition that makes placement difficult

  b.             Member of a sibling group to be placed together that includes at least one member who has a physical, mental, emotional handicap that makes placement difficult

  c.             Difficult to place and who meets one or more of criteria’s a, b, d, e or f

  d.             Age 5 or older

  e.             Difficult to place because of race

  f.              Victim of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect that places the child at risk for future emotional difficulties; or

  g.             Factor in the child’s background such as severe mental illness, substance abuse, prostitution, genetic or medical conditions or illnesses that place the child at risk of future problems. For the purposes of this definition "at risk" is meant to have some significance in a statistical or medical sense, i.e. some probability of occurrence that is not merely speculative or statistically insignificant.

Finalization

Adoption may be finalized in another state:

• Yes

Before finalization can occur in Maine, child must be in adoptive placement:

• 6 months
• Other

Statutory code/cite for Adoption Petition:

• MRSA Title 18A Art,IX PT 1. 10 Sub. Sec. 9-303

Court Jurisdiction for Adoption Cases:

•  Maine Probate Courts

Home Study (Adoptions)

Statutory code/cite for the Adoptive Home Studies:

•  MRSA Title 18A Art,IX PT 3. 10 Sub. Sec. 9-304