§ 453. Maintenance subsidy; handicapped or hard to place child. 1. (a)\nA social services official shall make monthly payments for the care and\nmaintenance of a handicapped or hard to place child whom a social\nservices official has placed for adoption or who has been adopted and\nfor the care and maintenance of a handicapped or hard to place child\nplaced for adoption by a voluntary authorized agency who is residing in\nsuch social services district. Where a handicapped or hard to place\nchild is placed in an adoptive placement outside the state, monthly\npayments for the care and maintenance of the child shall be made by the\nsocial services official placing the child or in whose district the\nvoluntary authorized agency maintains its principal office. Such\npayments shall be made until the child's twenty-first birthday to\npersons with whom the child has been placed, or to persons who have\nadopted the child and who applied for such payments prior to the\nadoption, pursuant to a written agreement therefor between such official\nor agency and such persons; provided, however, that an application may\nbe made subsequent to the adoption if the adoptive parents first become\naware of the child's physical or emotional condition or disability\nsubsequent to the adoption and a physician certifies that the condition\nor disability existed prior to the child's adoption. The social services\nofficial shall consider the financial status of such persons only for\nthe purpose of determining the amount of the payments to be made,\npursuant to subdivision three of this section. Upon the death of persons\nwho have adopted the child prior to the twenty-first birthday of the\nchild, such payments shall continue to the legal guardian or custodian\nof the child under the age of eighteen upon issuance of letters of\nguardianship or order of custody and shall continue until the child\nshall attain the age of twenty-one. If the guardian or custodian was the\ncaretaker of the child under the age of eighteen prior to the issuance\nof letters of guardianship or order of custody, such payments shall be\nmade retroactively from the death of the adoptive parent or parents.\n (a-1) Payments pursuant to this section may be made by direct deposit\nor debit card, as elected by the recipient, and administered\nelectronically, and in accordance with such guidelines as may be set\nforth by regulation of the office of children and family services. The\noffice of children and family services may enter into contracts on\nbehalf of local social services districts for such direct deposit or\ndebit card services in accordance with section twenty-one-a of this\nchapter.\n (b) Any child with respect to whom federally reimbursable maintenance\nsubsidy payments are made under this subdivision shall be deemed to be a\nrecipient of aid to families with dependent children for purposes of\ndetermining eligibility for medical assistance.\n (c) No payments may be made pursuant to this subdivision if the social\nservices official determines that the adoptive parents are no longer\nlegally responsible for the support of the child or the child is no\nlonger receiving any support from such parents. For purposes of this\nsection:\n (i) "any support" shall be limited to support that is directly for the\nbenefit of the adopted child that meets the food, clothing, education,\nmedical and shelter needs of the adopted child and that has an\nidentifiable value;\n (ii) "no longer legally responsible for the support of the child"\nmeans (A) the child has become legally emancipated, married or joined\nthe military; (B) a court has ruled that the adoptive parent is no\nlonger legally responsible for the support of the child; or (C) the\nadoption is no longer legally valid by operation of law.\n (c-1) The social services official on an annual basis shall:\n (i) require adoptive parents to certify that they are fulfilling their\nobligations pursuant to any adoption subsidy agreement e
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