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8412.4 Post Adoption Counseling

CPS November 2006

CPS contracts for post adoption counseling to address therapeutic and behavioral issues arising from:

  •  an adopted child's history of abuse or neglect, including the child's removal from his home and placement into substitute care;

  •  an adopted child's physical, mental, or emotional disabilities; or

  •  an adoptive family's difficulties in coping with an adopted child's history of abuse, neglect, or disabilities.

8412.41 Providing Available Services

CPS November 2006

Either directly or through subcontractors, each contractor must offer the following post adoption counseling services:

  •  diagnosis and assessment, including psychiatric, psychological, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, and developmental testing, evaluation, and interpretation;

  •  individual counseling;

  •  group counseling;

  •  family counseling;

(For definitions of individual, group, and family counseling, see: 

8243.1 Counseling — Individual, Family and Group

  •  day treatment, consisting of intensive short-term professional treatment based on a professionally developed treatment plan; and

Note: Day treatment usually includes four or more hours of counseling a day provided on an outpatient basis in a licensed hospital, a licensed facility for emotionally disturbed children, or a licensed treatment facility for drug and alcohol abuse.

  •  short-term therapeutic or special-skills camping for as long as six weeks.

8412.42 Determining Eligibility

CPS November 2006

Post adoption counseling services are ordinarily restricted to adopted children and adoptive parents who meet the requirements specified in: 

8410 Post Adoption Services

Siblings under 18 may also receive Post Adoption Counseling services if:

  •  they are living in the adoptive family's household, and

  •  their need for counseling stems from the adopted child's placement in the family.

Additional restriction:

Diagnostic and assessment services are restricted to adopted children. For an adopted child to receive diagnostic and assessment services, the following conditions must be satisfied:

  •  the contractor must approve the services in advance in writing; and

  •  the child's case record must include written documentation that the child is not eligible to receive diagnostic testing under state or federal programs that provide it through the child's school.

8412.438412.43 Identifying Allowable Providers

CPS November 2006

Post adoption counseling services must be provided by professionals who:

  •  have appropriate degrees or credentials and are properly licensed or certified to provide the services specified in this post adoptive sub item; and

  •  have experience with the therapeutic and behavioral issues specified under 8412.4 Post Adoption Counseling.

8412.44 Defining Units of Service

CPS November 2006

CPS recognizes the following units of service for post adoption counseling services:

  •  For diagnosis and assessment, the unit of service is one hour or one testing battery.

  •  For individual counseling, the unit of service is one hour per client.

  •  For group counseling, the unit of service is either one hour per client or one hour per group. The contractor must negotiate with each subcontractor to determine which unit applies.

Note: When the unit of service is one hour per group, the payment rate for each client equals the unit rate for the group divided by the number of clients in the group.

  •  For family counseling, the unit of service is one hour per family.

      Note: Family counseling is billed under the name of the adopted child.

  •  For day treatment and camping, the unit of service is one day.

8412.45 Authorizing in Advance

CPS November 2006

The contractor must authorize post adoption counseling services before they are provided.

At any one time, no family may be authorized to receive:

More than eight sessions of:

Or more than six weeks of:

  •  diagnosis and assessment,

  •  individual counseling,

  •  group counseling, and

  •  family counseling.

Note: The contractor can authorize any combination of the assessment and counseling services listed above.

  •  day camping, or

  •  therapeutic or special-skills camping.

Exception: The regional contract manager can give the contractor written approval to authorize more services at one time for a particular child or family.

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