A new program in Florida is making it easier for foster children with disabilities to be adopted by removing some of the financial burden caregivers face.

The state is now paying for services for children with disabilities even after they are adopted from Florida’s foster care system, allowing parents who could not necessarily afford to take on a child with significant challenges to do so.

Already the new program has yielded at least one adoption, when Marie Modl and her husband adopted a girl known as S.M. with an intellectual disability who they previously cared for as foster parents. A lawyer for the Modls, says that in the past he had to dissuade some clients from adoption simply because of the cost of a child’s future care.

State officials hope the lessened financial burden will ease the way for more children to find permanent homes. As of the end of the summer, there were more than 600 foster children in the state with developmental disabilities, reports The Miami Herald. To read more click here.

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