Jody Hansen-Walker, a single mother, has adopted 10 children over 20 years through the foster care system. While the process at times may have been bureaucratic, it was never expensive.

“The state makes it so easy and wonderful for you to be an adoptive parent,” said Hansen-Walker. “The financial burdens are gone.”

November is National Adoption Month, and there are hundreds of Western New York children in foster care waiting to be put in permanent homes.

“It’s just staggering how many kids are available for adopting through the foster care system,” said Hansen-Walker, who has seven children still at home.

The process of adopting a foster child is heavily subsidized or in most cases totally covered by the government—from reimbursement for the qualifying home study to $2,000 for the attorney fees. The children also may receive Medicaid and the adoptive parents are paid a monthly support stipend if the child has “special needs,” such as emotional, behavioral, physical or psychological problems.

“You pay almost nothing whatsoever (for the adoption),” said Hansen-Walker, a Buffalo resident and social worker with Hillside Children’s Services.

At agencies, domestic adoptions can run from about $12,000 to around $20,000, but even then there is financial help available. An income tax credit of $12,150, which Hansen-Walker took advantage of, is available for all types of adoptions, domestic and international, and can cover the bulk of domestic adoption costs. And families can apply for the credit up to three years from the finalized adoption, which is essentially a one-time tax refund per adopted child. (The tax credit phases out for incomes more than $182,000.)

“Adoption does not have to be very expensive; there’s a family for every child, and it can be very affordable,” said Michele Fried, founder and executive director of Adoption STAR (Support, Training, Advocacy and Resources), a nonprofit adoption agency. Children with special needs adopted through agencies are also eligible for the monthly government support.

Amy Jo Lauber, a financial adviser at Harold C. Brown, and her husband, Paul, decided to adopt when they couldn’t conceive. The couple wanted an infant, so they went to Adoption STAR, which largely arranges adoptions domestically of newborns directly from their biological mothers, while the foster care system places older children from troubled homes. Their adoption of baby Madison was finalized in 2002. They had to pay out of pocket for the home study, which is a home assessment done by a social worker and often includes parenting classes, placement and legal fees. But the refund from the tax credit greatly offset the total cost.

“The tax credit was awesome,” said Amy Jo Lauber, a 40-year-old Buffalo resident. “It covered most of our expenses.”

The rest was paid largely by Paul Lauber’s employer. A buyer at General Mills, he received $5,000 from the company through its adoption assistance program, along with a two-week paid leave of absence, to help the Laubers bring Madison into their family.

“It’s quite a financial undertaking to adopt, so when you have a good employer like General Mills, it’s a great benefit,” Paul Lauber said. Adoption assistance programs are usually offered by larger businesses through their benefits programs, but Fried said many employees are unaware of them.

“A lot of people work at large organizations and they don’t ask about the adoption benefit,” she said. Fried added that companies generally offer from $2,000 to $10,000 in benefits.

Paul Lauber discovered the benefit while searching the company’s employee Web site.

“Wow, that’s a lot of Cheerios,” he thought. “I’ve got to apply for this.”

General Mills, which now gives up to $10,000, Rich Products, Tops Markets and Wegmans are among the many local companies that offer employees the financial assistance.

For example, Wegmans reimburses eligible employees for qualified adoption costs up to $5,000 within any 12-month period, with a $10,000 lifetime maximum, said spokeswoman Ann McCarthy. Employees can also take up to a 12-week, unpaid leave of absence.

“Family is at the heart of everything we do at Wegmans, whether it’s taking care of our customers or our employees. Providing support for families adopting children is one way we demonstrate this,” McCarthy said.

Fried said active military personnel can be reimbursed up to $2,000 for adoptions. But there are other adoption funding sources, including grants, through the Gift of Adoption Fund, the National Adoption Fund and other nonprofit organizations.

“It’s a shot in the dark, because a lot of people are applying for them,” she said.

But prospective adoptive parents can also can consider loans, such as mortgage or home equity or specific adoption lending programs, like A Child Awaits and Little Feet.

Amy Jo Lauber volunteers with Adoption STAR to lead financial planning workshops for prospective adoptive families. She recently joined other experts for a similar workshop to mark National Adoption Month, touching on how to manage family finances, planning for the future and getting the most value of the adoption tax credit.

“It’s helpful information for parents, and many don’t know how much financial help is available to them,” she said.