[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1201 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1201

 To provide for the awarding of grants for demonstration projects for 
             kinship care programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            September 6 (legislative day, September 5), 1995

   Mr. Coats introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the awarding of grants for demonstration projects for 
             kinship care programs, and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Kinship Care Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. KINSHIP CARE DEMONSTRATION.

    (a) Grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereafter 
referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall award grants to 
States for demonstration projects to assist such States in developing 
or implementing procedures to use adult relatives as the preferred 
placement for children removed from their parents, so long as--
            (1) such relatives are determined to be capable of 
        providing a safe, nurturing environment for the child; or
            (2) such relatives comply with all relevant Federal and 
        State child protection standards.
    (b) Requirements.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), a State shall--
            (1) agree to, at a minimum, provide a needs-based payment 
        and supportive services, as appropriate, with respect to 
        children in a kinship care arrangement;
            (2) agree to give preference to adult relatives who meet 
        applicable adoption standards in making adoption placements;
            (3) establish such procedures as may be necessary to ensure 
        the safety of children who are placed with adult relatives; and
            (4) establish such procedures as may be necessary to ensure 
        that reasonable efforts will be made prior to the placement of 
        a child in foster care to give notice to an adult relative 
        (including a maternal or paternal grandparent, sibling, aunt, 
        or uncle who might be available to care for the child).
    (c) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall, directly or through contracts 
with public or private entities, provide for the conduct of evaluations 
of demonstration projects carried out under subsection (a) and for the 
dissemination of information developed as a result of such projects.

SEC. 3. PROCEDURES TO PLACE CHILDREN WITH RELATIVES.

    A State that receives a grant under this Act shall develop 
procedures to ensure that reasonable efforts will be made prior to the 
placement of a child in foster care, to provide notice to a relative 
(including a maternal or fraternal grandparent, adult sibling, aunt, or 
uncle) who might be available to care for the child.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1996, 1997, and 1998.
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