[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3463 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3463

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to facilitate 
      the placement of foster children in permanent kinship care 
                             arrangements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 8, 1993

 Mrs. Maloney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to facilitate 
      the placement of foster children in permanent kinship care 
                             arrangements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN IN PERMANENT KINSHIP CARE 
              ARRANGEMENTS.

    (a) State Option to Deem Kinship Placement as Adoption.--Section 
473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(7) If a State places a child (who has been in foster care under 
the supervision of the State) with a blood relative of the child or of 
a half-sibling of the child, and transfers legal custody of the child 
to the relative, pursuant to a written agreement, entered into between 
the State and the relative, that contains provisions of the type 
described in section 475(3), then, at the option of the State, for 
purposes of this part--
            ``(A) the placement is deemed an adoption;
            ``(B) the initiation of the proceeding to so place the 
        child is deemed an adoption proceeding;
            ``(C) the relative is deemed the adoptive parent of the 
        child;
            ``(D) the agreement is deemed an adoption assistance 
        agreement;
            ``(E) the payments made under the agreement are deemed to 
        be adoption assistance payments; and
            ``(F) any reasonable and necessary court costs, attorneys 
        fees, and other expenses which are directly related to the 
        placement or the transfer of legal custody and are not in 
        violation of State or Federal law are deemed nonrecurring 
        adoption expenses.''.
    (b) Consideration of Kinship Placement Option at Dispositional 
Hearing.--Section 475(5)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(C)) is 
amended by inserting ``should be placed with a relative of the child as 
provided in section 473(a)(7),'' before ``should be placed for 
adoption''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to payments under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
for quarters beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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