[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 867 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 867

          To promote the adoption of children in foster care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 1997

  Mr. Camp (for himself, Mrs. Kennelly of Connecticut, and Mr. Shaw) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To promote the adoption of children in foster care.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Adoption Promotion 
Act of 1997''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Clarification of the reasonable efforts required to be made 
                            before placing a child in foster care.
Sec. 3. Earlier status reviews and permanency hearings.
Sec. 4. Notice of reviews and hearings; opportunity of parties to be 
                            heard.
Sec. 5. States required to initiate proceedings to terminate parental 
                            rights for certain children in foster care.
Sec. 6. Report and recommendations on kinship care.
Sec. 7. Use of parent locator service in termination of parental rights 
                            proceedings.
Sec. 8. Reports on performance of States in protecting children.
Sec. 9. Authority to approve more child protection demonstration 
                            projects.
Sec. 10. Technical assistance.
Sec. 11. Adoption bonus for States.
Sec. 12. Effective date.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF THE REASONABLE EFFORTS REQUIRED TO BE MADE 
              BEFORE PLACING A CHILD IN FOSTER CARE.

    (a) In General.--Section 471(a)(15) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 671(a)(15)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(15)(A) provides that--
                    ``(i) except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), 
                reasonable efforts shall be made--
                            ``(I) before a child is placed in foster 
                        care, to prevent or eliminate the need to 
                        remove the child from the child's home; and
                            ``(II) to make it possible for the child to 
                        return home;
                    ``(ii) in a case involving aggravated circumstances 
                (as defined by the State and approved by the Secretary) 
                such as a case in which the child has been abandoned, 
                tortured, chronically abused, or sexually abused, in 
                which a parent of the child has been found by a court 
                of competent jurisdiction to have engaged in conduct 
                described in section 106(b)(2)(A)(xii) of the Child 
                Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, or in which the 
                parental rights of a parent with respect to a sibling 
                of the child have been terminated--
                            ``(I) reasonable efforts of the type 
                        described in clause (i) of this subparagraph 
                        shall not be required to be made; and
                            ``(II) if reasonable efforts of the type 
                        described in clause (i) of this subparagraph 
                        are not made or if the continuation of such 
                        efforts is determined to be inappropriate, 
                        reasonable efforts shall be made to place the 
                        child for adoption, with a legal guardian, or 
                        (if adoption or legal guardianship is 
                        determined not to be appropriate for the child) 
                        in some other planned, permanent living 
                        arrangement;
                    ``(iii) in a case in which the continuation of 
                reasonable efforts of the type described in clause (i) 
                of this subparagraph is determined to be inappropriate, 
                reasonable efforts of the type described in clause 
                (ii)(II) shall be made; and
                    ``(iv) reasonable efforts of the type described in 
                clause (ii)(II) may be made concurrently with 
                reasonable efforts of the type described in clause (i); 
                and
                    ``(B) in determining the reasonable efforts to be 
                made in any case and in making such reasonable efforts, 
                the child's health and safety shall be of paramount 
                concern;''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 472(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
672(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``for a child'' before ``have been 
made''.

SEC. 3. EARLIER STATUS REVIEWS AND PERMANENCY HEARINGS.

    Section 475(5)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(C)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``eighteen months after'' and inserting 
        ``12 months after''; and
            (2) by striking ``dispositional'' and inserting 
        ``permanency''.

SEC. 4. NOTICE OF REVIEWS AND HEARINGS; OPPORTUNITY OF PARTIES TO BE 
              HEARD.

    Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (C);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) the foster parents (if any) of a child and 
                any relative providing care for the child are provided 
                with notice of, and an opportunity to be heard in, any 
                review or hearing to be held with respect to the 
                child.''.

SEC. 5. STATES REQUIRED TO INITIATE PROCEEDINGS TO TERMINATE PARENTAL 
              RIGHTS FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

    Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)), as 
amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (E) 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) in the case of a child who has not attained 
                10 years of age and has been in foster care under the 
                responsibility of the State for 18 months (after the 
                date of the enactment of this subparagraph) of the most 
                recent 24 months, the State shall initiate a proceeding 
                to terminate the parental rights of the child's 
                parents, unless--
                            ``(i) at the option of the State, the child 
                        is being cared for by a relative; or
                            ``(ii) a State court has determined that 
                        doing so would not be in the best interests of 
                        the child.''.

SEC. 6. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON KINSHIP CARE.

    (a) Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        shall--
                    (A) not later than August 1, 1997, convene the 
                advisory panel provided for in subsection (b)(1) and 
                prepare and submit to the advisory panel an initial 
                report on the extent to which children in foster care 
                are placed in the care of a relative (in this section 
                referred to as ``kinship care''); and
                    (B) not later than April 1, 1998, submit to the 
                Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
                Senate a final report on the matter described in 
                subparagraph (A), which shall--
                            (i) be based on the comments submitted by 
                        the advisory panel pursuant to subsection 
                        (b)(2) and other information and 
                        considerations; and
                            (ii) include the policy recommendations of 
                        the Secretary with respect to the matter.
            (2) Required contents.--Each report required by paragraph 
        (1) shall--
                    (A) include, for each State, information on--
                            (i) the policy of the State regarding 
                        kinship care;
                            (ii) the characteristics of the kinship 
                        care providers (such as age and income);
                            (iii) the characteristics of the household 
                        of such providers (such as number of other 
                        persons in the household and family 
                        composition);
                            (iv) how much access to the child is 
                        afforded to the parent from whom the child has 
                        been removed;
                            (v) the cost of, and source of funds for, 
                        kinship care (including any subsidies such as 
                        medicaid and cash assistance);
                            (vi) the goal for a permanent living 
                        arrangement for the child and the actions being 
                        taken by the State to achieve the goal;
                            (vii) the services being provided to the 
                        parent from whom the child has been removed; 
                        and
                            (viii) the services being provided to the 
                        kinship care provider; and
                    (B) specifically note the circumstances or 
                conditions under which children enter kinship care.
    (b) Advisory Panel.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee on 
        Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Chairman 
        of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, shall convene an 
        advisory panel which shall include parents, foster parents, 
        former foster children, State and local public officials 
        responsible for administering child welfare programs, private 
        persons involved in the delivery of child welfare services, 
        judges, and academic experts.
            (2) Duties.--The advisory panel convened pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall review the report prepared pursuant to 
        subsection (a), and, not later than February 1, 1998, submit to 
        the Secretary comments on the report.

SEC. 7. USE OF PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE IN TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS 
              PROCEEDINGS.

    Section 453 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``or enforcing child custody or 
                visitation orders'' and inserting ``enforcing child 
                custody or visitation orders, or terminating parental 
                rights''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking the comma at the end of 
                        subparagraph (C) and inserting ``; or''; and
                            (ii) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 
                        the following:
                    ``(D) who has or may have parental rights with 
                respect to a child,''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (3) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) a State agency that is administering a program 
        operated under a State plan under subpart 1 of part B, or a 
        State plan approved under subpart 2 of part B or under part 
        E.''.

SEC. 8. REPORTS ON PERFORMANCE OF STATES IN PROTECTING CHILDREN.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with 
the American Public Welfare Association, the National Governors' 
Association, and child advocacy organizations, shall--
            (1) develop a set of outcome measures (including length of 
        stay in foster care, number of foster care placements, and 
        number of adoptions) that can be used to assess the performance 
        of States in operating child protection programs pursuant to 
        parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure 
        the safety of children;
            (2) to the maximum extent possible, the outcome measures 
        should be developed from data available from the Adoption and 
        Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System;
            (3) develop a system for rating the performance of States 
        with respect to the outcome measures, and provide to the States 
        an explanation of the rating system and how scores are 
        determined under the rating system;
            (4) prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to 
        ensure that States provide to the Secretary the data necessary 
        to determine State performance with respect to each outcome 
        measure, as a condition of the State receiving funds under part 
        E of title IV of the Social Security Act;
            (5) on October 1, 1998, and annually thereafter, prepare 
        and submit to the Congress a report on the performance of each 
        State on each outcome measure, which shall examine the reasons 
        for high performance and low performance and, where possible, 
        make recommendations as to how State performance could be 
        improved.

SEC. 9. AUTHORITY TO APPROVE MORE CHILD PROTECTION DEMONSTRATION 
              PROJECTS.

    Section 1130(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-9(a)) 
is amended by striking ``10'' and inserting ``15''.

SEC. 10. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
provide technical assistance to assist States and local communities to 
reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions and, to the 
extent that adoption is not possible, alternative permanent placements, 
for children in foster care.
    (b) Limitations.--The technical assistance provided under 
subsection (a) shall support the goal of encouraging more adoptions out 
of the foster care system, when adoptions promote the best interests of 
children, and shall include the following:
            (1) The development of best practice guidelines for 
        expediting termination of parental rights.
            (2) Models to encourage the use of concurrent planning.
            (3) The development of specialized units and expertise in 
        moving children toward adoption as a permanency goal.
            (4) The development of risk assessment tools to facilitate 
        early identification of the children who will be at risk of 
        harm if returned home.
            (5) Models to encourage the fast tracking of children who 
        have not attained 1 year of age into foster and adoptive 
        placements.
    (c) Limitations on Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out 
this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services not to exceed $10,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 1998 through 2000.

SEC. 11. ADOPTION BONUS FOR STATES.

    Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670-679) 
is amended by inserting after section 473 the following:

``SEC. 473A. ADOPTION BONUS.

    ``(a) Grant Authority.--To the extent of available appropriations, 
the Secretary shall make a grant to each State, for each fiscal year 
for which the State is a bonus-eligible State, in an amount equal to 
the adoption bonus, and shall make the grant in the immediately 
succeeding fiscal year.
    ``(b) Bonus-Eligible State.--A State is a bonus-eligible State for 
a fiscal year if--
            ``(1) the State has a plan approved under this part for the 
        fiscal year;
            ``(2) the number of foster child adoptions in the State 
        during the fiscal year exceeds the base number of foster child 
        adoptions for the State for the fiscal year;
            ``(3) the State is in compliance with subsection (c) for 
        the fiscal year; and
            ``(4) the fiscal year is any of fiscal years 1998 through 
        2002.
    ``(c) Data Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--A State is in compliance with this 
        subsection for a fiscal year if the State has provided to the 
        Secretary the data described in paragraph (2) for fiscal year 
        1997 (or, if later, the fiscal year that precedes the 1st 
        fiscal year for which the State seeks a grant under this 
        section) and for each succeeding fiscal year.
            ``(2) Determination of numbers of adoptions.--
                    ``(A) Determinations based on afcars data.--Except 
                as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall 
                determine the numbers of foster child adoptions and of 
                special needs adoptions in a State during each of 
                fiscal years 1997 through 2002, for purposes of this 
                section, on the basis of data meeting the requirements 
                of the system established pursuant to section 479, as 
                reported by the State in May of the fiscal year and in 
                November of the succeeding fiscal year, and approved by 
                the Secretary by April 1 of the succeeding fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Alternative data sources permitted for fiscal 
                year 1997.--For purposes of the determination described 
                in subparagraph (A) for fiscal year 1997, the Secretary 
                may use data from a source or sources other than that 
                specified in subparagraph (A) that the Secretary finds 
                to be of equivalent completeness and reliability, as 
                reported by a State by November 30, 1997, and approved 
                by the Secretary by March 1, 1998.
            ``(3) No waiver of afcars requirements.--This section shall 
        not be construed to alter or affect any requirement of section 
        479 or any regulation prescribed under such section with 
        respect to reporting of data by States, or to waive any penalty 
        for failure to comply with the requirements.
    ``(d) Adoption Bonus.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        adoption bonus payable to a State for a fiscal year under this 
        section shall be equal to the sum of--
                    ``(A) $4,000, multiplied by amount (if any) by 
                which the number of foster child adoptions in the State 
                during the fiscal year exceeds the base number of 
                foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal 
                year; and
                    ``(B) $2,000, multiplied by the amount (if any) by 
                which the number of special needs adoptions in the 
                State during the fiscal year exceeds the base number of 
                special needs adoptions for the State for the fiscal 
                year.
            ``(2) Pro rata adjustment if insufficient appropriations.--
        If the total amount of adoption bonuses otherwise payable under 
        this section in a fiscal year exceeds the amount available for 
        grants under this section for the fiscal year, the adoption 
        bonus otherwise payable to a State under this section in the 
        fiscal year shall be reduced by the amount which bears the same 
        ratio to the excess as the adoption bonus otherwise payable to 
        the State under this section in the fiscal year bears to the 
        total amount of adoption bonuses otherwise payable under this 
        section in the fiscal year.
    ``(e) 2-Year Availability of Bonus Payments.--Payments to a State 
under this section in a fiscal year shall remain available for use by 
the State through the end of the succeeding fiscal year.
    ``(f) Limitations on Use of Bonus Payments.--A State shall not 
expend an amount paid to the State under this section except to provide 
to children receiving foster care maintenance payments or adoption 
assistance payments under this part any service (including post 
adoption services) that may be provided under part B. Amounts expended 
by a State in accordance with the preceding sentence shall be 
disregarded in determining State expenditures for purposes of Federal 
matching payments under section 474.
    ``(g) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) Foster child adoption.--The term `foster child 
        adoption' means the final adoption of a child who, at the time 
        of adoptive placement, was in foster care under the supervision 
        of the State.
            ``(2) Special needs adoption.--The term `special needs 
        adoption' means the final adoption of a child for whom an 
        adoption assistance agreement is in effect under section 473.
            ``(3) Base number of foster child adoptions.--The term 
        `base number of foster child adoptions for a State' means, with 
        respect to a fiscal year, the largest number of foster child 
        adoptions in the State in fiscal year 1997 (or, if later, the 
        1st fiscal year for which the State has furnished to the 
        Secretary the data described in subsection (c)(2)) or in any 
        succeeding fiscal year preceding the fiscal year.
            ``(4) Base number of special needs adoptions.--The term 
        `base number of special needs adoptions for a State' means, 
        with respect to a fiscal year, the largest number of special 
        needs adoptions in the State in fiscal year 1997 (or, if later, 
        the 1st fiscal year for which the State has furnished to the 
        Secretary the data described in subsection (c)(2)) or in any 
        succeeding fiscal year preceding the fiscal year.
    ``(h) Limitations on Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--For grants under this section, there are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not to exceed a 
        total of $108,000,000 for fiscal years 1999 through 2003.
            ``(2) Availability of appropriations.--Amounts appropriated 
        under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until 
        expended, but not after fiscal year 2003.''.

SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on October 1, 1997.
    (b) Delay Permitted if State Legislation Required.--In the case of 
a State plan under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines requires 
State legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in order 
for the plan to meet the additional requirements imposed by the 
amendments made by this Act, the State plan shall not be regarded as 
failing to comply with the requirements of such part solely on the 
basis of the failure of the plan to meet such additional requirements 
before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the 
close of the 1st regular session of the State legislature that begins 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the 
previous sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative 
session, each year of such session shall be deemed to be a separate 
regular session of the State legislature.
                                 <all>