How should financial assistance provided to a birth mother be documented?

• A. Receipts.
• B. Verbal notes.
• C. Bank statements.
• D. Invoices.

Answer: (A)

Documenting financial assistance to a birth mother should rely on receipts because they provide a dated, itemized record of the exact purchases or disbursements. A receipt shows what was bought, the amount paid, the vendor, and the date, tying the expense to a specific, approved purpose. This creates a clear audit trail and supports proper use of agency funds.

Verbal notes don’t offer verifiable evidence and can be forgotten or misinterpreted, making them unreliable. Bank statements show overall financial activity but don’t link specific transactions to approved purposes for the birth mother, nor do they itemize what each expense was for. Invoices are requests for payment from vendors and don’t by themselves prove that a particular disbursement occurred to the birth mother for a defined item or service. Keeping receipts with the client file helps ensure compliance and accountability, and they should be retained per policy.