Adoption

The addition of a new child to your family is considered a qualified change in family status that allows you to make changes to your benefits outside of the usual open enrollment period. You may add a child to your GIC Health Insurance, Dental Insurance and/or Vision Insurance. You are also eligible to enroll and/or make changes to a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) and Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP).

Benefit enrollment forms (along with birth and adoption certificates) must be submitted to the Benefits Department in the HR Service Center within 30 days of adoption.

You can also access adoption assistance offered by UMass Chan Medical School to eligible employees*. This program provides financial assistance on a per child basis for certain IRS qualified adoption expenses. Qualified expenses include attorney fees, court costs, adoption fees and traveling expenses. The maximum amount is $1,000 per child. To apply for this program you must complete and submit the Adoption Assistance Reimbursement Request Form to the Benefits Department in the HR Service Center within 90 days of final adoption. For more information, you can also reference the Adoption Policy by clicking the Policies link at the top of the page.

* All benefited non-union full and part-time employees including faculty, residents and post docs are eligible.

To access benefit information, click the Benefit Summaries button below (or on the top navigation bar):

To access benefit forms, click the Benefit Forms button below (or on the top navigation bar):

If you are adopting a child, you may be eligible for a Leave of Absence under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (PLA). For more information, please go to the Leave of Absence section on this website.