Child Support for a Child in Residential Treatment

I spent a very emotional morning at the courthouse this morning for a hearing on child support.

Many people are not aware that if your adopted child goes into residential care, you can be assessed child support to help pay for your child’s care.

Sammy has been in out of home care for two and a half years now. We have been through this a couple of times now because of the length of time he’s been out of the home. The center he is in now is significantly more expensive than the others, and since everyone is hurting financially, that financial hurt gets passed on to the parents.

My portion of the support was increased by $130 a month, and we pay child support based on my husband’s income as well, so this is a big hit to our finances.

There are things you can do to help yourself out in preparation for a child support hearing. For the great majority of us with a child in residential treatment, our expenses for the child don’t stop just because the child is not living in the home.

Document all ongoing expenses – As parents of the child, you still have ongoing expenses.

• Is your child still covered on your health insurance?
• How much are the premiums?
• What medical, dental or vision expenses are not covered by insurance?
• What costs do you have involved with visiting your child, home passes, meetings regarding your child, mileage, etc.?

Document what you have already done –

• What therapies or interventions have you already tried?
• Has your child had court involvement, jail stays, other residential treatment, foster homes, etc.?
• What are your child’s mental health diagnosis and treatments?

Document “other” costs –

• Have you dealt with property damage, theft, court fines or other miscellaneous expenses?
• Have you had attorney fees to deal with your child’s issues?

Document current income and expenses –

• What is your current income and have you suffered financial losses in the current economy? Include job losses, decrease in wages or hours or other significant income changes.
• What are your normal family expenses? Include regular family expenses such as heat, electric, food, clothing and other every day expenses. Be sure to separate out those that are related to your child in care.
• Do you have expenses incurred that other families do not, such as birth family contact, visitation or other adoption related expenses?

Does your child being out of the home affect other family members? –

• Have you had to cut back on things for other children in order to help care for your out of home child?
• Do you have additional child care expenses to attend meetings or therapies with your out of home child?
• Have you changed jobs, lost a job, changed homes or made other lifestyle adjustments to provide services or as a result of caring for your out of home child?

When you are sitting in a court room waiting for your hearing, these things may or may not cross your mind. The road to a child being in residential treatment is usually a long and very bumpy one both emotionally and financially. The emotional toll a hearing like this can take on you can be quite hard, especially in financially difficult times. I know I certainly did a lot of praying in that court room this morning. Having everything documented and written up can help you the day of your hearing.

Photo credit – Kelly L. Killian

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