[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1786 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1786

  To encourage the placement of children in foster care with siblings.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 10, 2013

Mr. Grassley (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To encourage the placement of children in foster care with siblings.

    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 ``Sibling Connections Act''.

SEC. 2. ENCOURAGING THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE WITH 
              SIBLINGS.

    (a) State Plan Amendment.--
            (1) Notification of parents of siblings.--Section 
        471(a)(29) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(29)) is 
        amended by striking ``all adult grandparents'' and inserting 
        ``the following relatives: all adult grandparents, all parents 
        of a sibling of the child, where such parent has legal custody 
        of such sibling,''.
            (2) Sibling defined.--Section 475 of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
            ``(9) The term `sibling' means an individual who satisfies 
        at least one of the following conditions with respect to a 
        child:
                    ``(A) The individual is considered by State law to 
                be a sibling of the child.
                    ``(B) The individual would have been considered a 
                sibling of the child under State law but for a 
                termination or other disruption of parental rights, 
                such as the death of a parent.''.
    (b) Effective Dates.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
        take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--In the 
        case of a State plan approved under part 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 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 ends 
        after the 1-year period beginning with the date of enactment of 
        this Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, in the case 
        of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of 
        the session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the 
        State legislature.
                                 <all>