Yesterday, 3:30. DD1 struck the gavel to make it official! Emotional day for all, except the guests of honor. They had no idea what was going on. But, they will some day.

We got a letter from the IRS yesterday (or Friday). I can't remember for sure.

As a reminder, someone used the SSN of our newly adopted son on their tax return to claim him as a dependent, despite the fact that we provided his care for 8 months in 2011, and can legally claim him.

The letter stated that they had received our amended tax return. That the case was being moved on up the chain. And that we should expect to hear back from them within a month or so.

Things are just about to get crazy busy for me at work. I'll be tied up for about six weeks. So my posting frequency will drop off substantially through May. Unless it rains a lot over the next couple of weeks. In fact, I started posting to this blog late last April because it was raining. A lot. I had very little to do at work because I was stuck inside, so I began posting here. Then I got busy, and quit for a long time. Clearly I came back. So, hopefully I'll be back in full personal financial blogging mode in June.

And now on to the current personal financial stuff.

So remember how we're supposed to get a federal adoption tax credit? And remember how that person claimed our adopted son as an exemption?

Most people who claim the adoption credit (at least according to the online forums DW follows) seem to receive it in Junish or Julyish. Apparently a topic came up in this forum tonight. "Have you gotten you adoption credit yet?". One person responded that they didn't get their 2010 credit until September 2011. Another person responded that they didn't get their 2010 credit until just last month. And none of these people had their kid's social security number hi-jacked!

We got a letter in the mail on Friday. The letter was from the state Department of Human Services office about an adoptive child/family enrichment program. This program will reimburse families who have adopted through foster care up to $500 for certain expenses. "Fun" type expenses. The letter listed things like family vacations, senior pictures, camps for the children, etc. The funds are limited, and it's on a first-come-first-served basis.

We thought our new fence would fit nicely. Our reimbursement form and receipts went out in the mail today, so we think we stand a good chance. DW called it an Easter miracle.

Our front yard fence is up. Sorry, no pictures. I'm not really the picture taking sort. It's working out moderately well.

A coupe of nights ago when it was warm we let the boys out to play. I busied my self picking up fallen sticks in the yard. DW was happy doing something, and the girls were happy playing too. I can't think of a time when all six of us were outside and happy at the same time. DD1 even let her two chickens peck around in the fenced area to the great delight of DS1.

Then a slight problem happened. DS2 figured out how to climb out the side of the porch. Argh! So, we bought some lattice that we'll have to figure out how to attach to the ends of the porch and the brick house. It won't look pretty, but we'll have to do it.

The fence ended up actually looking fairly attractive. It's as solid as can be for what we spent.

April 18.

You may remember that we adopted DS1 in December. We have not yet adopted DS2, despite that fact that we've had him for two years now.

Juvenile court is held on Wednesdays. We opted for the last time slot of the day - 3:30. We hope to fill the court room with family and well-wishers. It's a small court room.

The judge and his staff came into court from their Christmas vacation to complete the paperwork for the adoption of DS1. So, we have asked the court if we could have a ceremonial adoption for DS1 on the 18th as well.

We'll have a cake, ice cream and hors d'oeuvre celebration at our church following the ceremony. Our church is about a block and a half from the court house. We're shooting for a $200 budget for the celebration.

It's been a very long road full of red tape and other assorted BS. As foster parents DW and I have constantly reminded ourselves and each other that it's FOR THE KIDS. No one in their right mind would do it otherwise.

I guess the title says it all.

He ended up renting the auger. Just as well, because he's running into tree roots. The posts should be set today, let the concrete set for a couple of days, and erect the panels on Monday.

Pretty good for just deciding on the project a week ago.

I stopped by mom and dad's house last night. They live less than a mile away. They gave me a $550 check. It was a payment for labor at the maple woods. That was on top of a $2,100 check they gave me last summer. They said that the two checks added together was 1/2 of profit from 2011 syrup sales. They really didn't have to do that. When I protested, mom said that was how Grandpa and Grandma used to do it.

So, that $550 is very extremely close to the cost of materials for the fence that will be going up this weekend. Wow.

So the fence we picked out was a special order. We would receive it three weeks after order. We initially went with it, but changed our minds to one that is in stock. It's a good fence too, but maybe not quite as attractive. Our contractor will pick it up today, and start on it either Thursday, or early next week. He has another job lined up that he may or may not start this week, depending on his client's needs.

The fence that we went with is cedar. We'll need to get on a schedule to stain it. I would guess every two or three years. We might not need it beyond three years, or we might need it for the next eight. We'll see.

The fence is $760. The contractor is charging $500 to construct. So that's on the outer limits of our budget. Too bad. But, as I've already discussed, it is a need. So far we've met my goals - attractive as is possible, and it doesn't appear that it will break the bank. Only time will tell if it's sturdy enough to withstand the strength and persistence of our boys.

The fence guy stopped by yesterday. He's actually the same guy who put in our basement windows. We picked out the style of fence we wanted. We'll order from Menard's. It's nearly impossible to discern the cost of the fence, because they publish the cost of the sections, but you need to figure in posts, hardware, gates, etc. And the cost for those items are not as easy to find. We're figuring it will be $1,200 for an 18X24 fence (those dimensions will be expanded a bit by the posts). Our front porch will act as one of the fence "sides".

I'll probably dig the holes for the posts myself. We'll rent a gas powered auger. Hope to have it completed in a couple of weeks. We have real March weather again, so a couple of weeks is OK.

I've blogged about a couple major themes: debt reduction and the need to build cash reserves. One of my minor themes is that of a foster/adoptive parent. Both of our adoptive sons have special needs. You can read that as "they are difficult to parent."

Spring has sprung in Michigan. We like to go outside and job around, and do yard work, and generally enjoy ourselves. That is difficult with two boys with special needs when your yard has no fence. they tend to run away, In fact, I felt like a prisoner in my own home last summer because we couldn't take them out.

So, DW and I have decided that we will need to purchase and erect a fence for a play yard this spring. Of course, that will necessitate a side track from other goals. But, we need this fence for our own mental health. And, of course, we receive payments for care, and I think this fits nicely.

So, we begin researching fencing options. Something sturdy, and as attractive as is reasonable, and something that will not break the bank.

As always, I will keep you all posted on our progress.

I know some of you have been following my tax refund situation. In January we adopted a special needs child, whom we had been caring for since last April. Someone else illegally claimed him as a dependent.

You also may remember that we filed our 1040 without claiming him as a dependent, and once we received our partial refund, we filed an amended 1040 claiming both him as an dependent, and also caliming our adoption tax credit.

Well, we received the remainder of our State of Michigan refund last week. That's god news. We're still waiting for our federal refund (plus adoption credit). But we've heard that we could wait until Jume or July for that.

Now I'm working on an assumption here. Please correct me if I am not thinking correctly. But, I would guess that the state would not send their refund until after they got some sort of green light from the Feds. That is, is our state refund good evidence that the feds have found us worthy of claiming our son as a dependent? And now it's just a waiting game for the balance of our fed refund and adotption credit?

I feel as if I'm in a financial holding pattern.

DW checked the status of our federal refund last night. It's estimated that we will receive our refund on February 14. Plenty of time to pay our bills before the end of the month, but I want it NOW nonetheless.

Also, as I've mentioned previously, I opened a new CC for balance transfers. I transferred all of CC4 and part of CC 1. The transactions still haven't shown up. The new card stated that it could take up to two weeks for the tranfers to complete. This Friday will be two weeks for the transfer of CC4, and next Monday (I think) will be two weeks for the partial transfer of CC1.

Total credit line on new CC is $9K. I transferred $2,700 total from the two cards. That way I'm utilizing 30% of the new CC, which I've heard helps your utilization ratio for your credit rating.

Also on hold is the total state and federal refund because of someone else claiming DS1, and the adoption credit.

So, we wait. Good things will happen.

Well, I'm not makingthe trip. DW is. The office is about 45 miles away, and she's packing up all four kids, so she can get a new SSN for DS1.

We got his ne birth certificate in the mail on Friday. That's the last piece we needed for a new SSN.

As I mentionedin a prvious blog, we can account for at least five adults who may have had access to his existing SSN before he came into our care.

The new SSN will allow us to protect him against future identity theft, and also allow us to claim him as a dependent on our tax return in future years, without fear that someone else will claim him.

We ended up filing our taxes as if DS 1 didn't exist. We'll now wait for the refund checks and the new birth certificate before we pursue the rest of our refund/adoption credit with IRS.

I just checked my checking account balance. It's +$900. Not bad for the end of the month. Actually, it's pretty darn great. We still have our van payment to make before the end of the month, and we still owe $300 on our heating fuel. So, we'll end the month about $400 to the positive. That cash will go toward CC4.

If we get our reduced income tax refunds (state and fed) in the next two or three weeks, the opressive CC4 balance will be history.

That, my friends will be cause for a (no cost) celebration! Then I will start with much vim and vigor to tackle CC1.

DW e-filed our taxes late yesterday morning. Then she checked the status of our e-file at around 9:00 last evening. She found out that our filing had been rejected. The reason for the rejection was that someone else had used DS1's name and SSN as a dependent. DS1 is our son whom we adopted last month.

Before DS1 came to us as a foster child last April, at least five different adult people probably had access to his SSN.

We provided care for him for 8 1/2 months in 2011. We meet all qualifications to claim him as a dependent.

I guess the bottom line is that this will slow our tax refund down substantially. We will need to now file the old fashioned way, and prove our case. While I was really counting on the money, it will eventually work its way out.

We took the boys to the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor on Thursday. Ann Arbor is a 2 1/2 hour drive from our remote, rural home. The appointment was at the U of M Fetal Alcohol clinic, and it took us 7 months to get in.

We arrived at 7:40 AM. The appointment started promptly at 8:00, as scheduled. We left at 2:10. In between, we consulted with six medical professionals, including a genetics team, fetal alcohol diagnosticians, and a child psychologist. The boys also had blood drawn for genetic testing.

While we won't have the complete reports for another couple of weeks, we did learn that DS2 indeed does have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, and DS1 does not have FASD, but he is in the Autism Spectrum.

Sad, yes. Actually, I was (am) angry at DS2's biological mother, and DS1's biological parents' neglect almost certainly, in my mind, any way, caused the autism. But, we've known something is different about each of them for a long time.

So, we take the information that we've learned, and will learn, and use it to provide as close to a normal life as we can for these boys.

The seven months was worth the wait. The staff at U of M was exceptional, and the entire process, while there, was carried out with amazing efficiency.

I just found out that for 2012, the currently refundable adoption credit decreses from the 2011 value of $13,360 to $12,650 (I already knew that), and it it reverts back to a nonrefundable credit (I didn't know that).

Of course, congress can change any of the above facts any time between now and the end of the year. And it's an election year, so we'll see.

I'm just glad that one of our two adoptions was made final in 2011. Because, as it stands right now, that's a $710 difference.

DW and I became licensed foster care providers in Feb. 2010. We received our first placement in March 2010. We picked the three week old infant up at the NICU. He never spent a night with his bio parents. His bio dad is a convicted child abuser and a sexual deviant. It turns out that he beat the hell out of bio mom late in the pregnancy - thus the need for the stay in the NICU and the subsequent Cerebral Palsy diagnosis.

One year later - after twice weekly visits with bio mom - both bio parents signed off on their parental rights. You see, bio dad was facing fresh criminal sexual conduct charges, and he felt it was in his best interest to sign off. He convinced mom to do the same. The CSC charges were against her children from a previous relationship.

In April 2011 we had a 2 1/2 year old placed with us. His parents are drug dealers. He was found in the van with them when they were busted selling drugs. He was also criminally neglected. This is the child we just adopted.

We receive an approximate $1,200 stipend each month from the state of Michigan to care for these children. We receive more for the (now) three year old because his needs are greater. In addition we receive WIC benefits to purchase food. The value of those benefits are about $60 per month. Cost for diapers, clothing, car seats, visits with bio parents, etc. come from the $1,200 payment.

DW has been generating about $10K per year in freelance income since the birth of our first child. She no longer has time for that.

Payments for children are based on the complexity of their level of care. Level 1 children are your run of the mill children in the foster system. Our youngest child is currently a Level 1. Level 2 children require enough counseling or other types of specialists appointments and specialized care in the home to increase payments by $5 per day. Level 3 children may have explosive behaviors, or require increased counseling to receive yet another $5 per day. Our three year old is classified as a Level 3. The final classification is "Medically Fragile". These children require constant or near constant medical attention. I've heard that payments for these children can be around $50 per day.

We (mainly DW) are working to get our 21 month old re-classified as a Level 2. Level 2, 3, and Medically Fragile adopted children retain payments until they are 18. Level 1 children retain no payments post-adoption. We feel the CP diagnosis is enough. The State of Michigan disagrees. Fortunately the Judge agrees with us, and he is being re-evaluated. Hopefully adoption around his second birthday.

The final financial benefit is the $13,000 per child refundable tax credit.

I understand that not everyone is cut out for foster care. But there is a tremendous need. Heck, we're not cut out for fostering adolescents, at least not right now. We've heard horror stories about foster parents having their car stolen, or being threatened with knives, or darn near having their house burnt down. The bottom line for us is the safety of our young children, so we won't be fostering teens for a good many years.

We've fostered three other children during the past two years - each of them short-term placements.

If you have any interest at all in learning more about foster care, feel free to reach me at my personal email address - bob@stuever.us.

We adopted a three year old little boy through foster care this last Friday. He's been living with us since April 2011. He had a REALLY tough past - almost as tough as you could imagine from a neglect stand point.

He will likely be mentally and emotionally scarred for the rest of his life.

The adoption of a special needs child through foster care includes a $13K refundable federal tax credit (see my related post in the SA forums).

The tax refund is meant as an incentive to get these children into safe and loving homes. We would have adopted without the tax credit, but it sure is nice.

If anyone is interested in learning more about foster care or adoption through fostering, feel free to PM me through my SA account.

It's tough, hard, work through a bureaucratic maze. But there are 20,000 children in Michigan alone who need safe, loving, nurturing homes, or just plain a chance in this world.