1.Written agreement before final decree; exceptions; reduction in payments. A written agreement between an applicant entering into the program and the department must precede the final decree of adoption, except that an application may be filed subsequent to the finalization of the adoption if there were facts relevant to the child's eligibility that were not presented at the time of the request for assistance or if the child was eligible for participation in the program at the time of placement and the adoptive parents were not informed of the program. Except as provided by section 9-401, subsection 8, once an adoption assistance payment is agreed upon and the agreement signed by the prospective adoptive parents, the department may not reduce the adoption assistance payment amounts.
[2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2(NEW); 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14(AFF).]