Texas likely paid Hart moms $270k to care for adopted kids, report says

An Oregon woman found dead at the base of a Northern California cliff with her spouse and at least three of their adopted children late last month likely received more than $270,000 from the state of Texas to help care for them, according to a Texas newspaper.

The San Antonio Express-News reports the state paid a Jennifer Jean Hart monthly adoption subsidies for her adopted children over the past decade. Hart got nearly $1,900 each month, most recently in March, the newspaper reports.

Most families who adopt children out of foster care from Texas get monthly payments that range from $400 to $545 per child to help cover care costs until the child turns 18, according to the newspaper.

Jennifer and Sarah Hart adopted all six of their children from Texas.

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The couple and three of the kids — Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14 — were confirmed dead when their family's SUV was discovered at the base of a 100-foot cliff about 20 miles north of Fort Bragg, California, on March 26. Their three other children — Hannah, 16; Devonte, 15; and Sierra, 12 — were believed to have been in the vehicle and are missing.

Though initially investigated as an accident, officials have said in recent days they believe the crash was intentional.

The family left their home in Woodland, Washington, shortly after the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services opened a Child Protective Services investigation in which the Hart children were "identified as potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect" after neighbors contacted authorities.

The women have been accused of abuse or neglect in at least three states: Washington, where the most recent investigation was underway when they departed; Oregon, at the West Linn home where the family lived before moving to Washington; and Minnesota, where Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to abusing Abigail Hart and was sentenced to a year of probation for misdemeanor domestic assault.

On Thursday, The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office released a flier with pictures of the three missing children and asked anyone along the family's suspected route — from Washington through Newport, Oregon, and down to Fort Bragg — to contact the agency.
Anyone with information about the missing children was asked to call 707-234-2100.

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