[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5489-S5491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. Chafee, Mr. DeWine, Ms. 
        Collins, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Levin, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. 
        Dorgan, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. 
        Torricelli):
  S. 1067. A bill to promote the adoption of children with special 
needs; to the Committee on Finance.


                   THE ADOPTION EQUALITY ACT OF 1999

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Adoption Equality Act of 1999. I would like to thank Senator Chafee for 
his leadership on behalf of vulnerable children, including our 
bipartisan work on this legislation. He joins me today as an original 
co-sponsor of this legislation as do Senators DeWine, Collins, Levin, 
Landrieu, Moynihan, Breaux, Kerrey, Dorgan, Conrad, Inouye, Durbin and 
Torricelli. Work on this legislation is based on the bipartisan work of 
the Senate coalition that supported the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families 
Act.
  A unique bipartisan coalition formed in 1997 worked hard to forge 
consensus on the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA). This 
law, for the first time ever, establishes that a child's health and 
safety must be paramount when any decisions are made regarding children 
in the abuse and neglect system. While this law was the most sweeping 
and comprehensive piece of child welfare legislation passed in over a 
decade, more work needs to be done to truly achieve the goals promoted 
in the Act of safety, stability and permanence for all abused and 
neglected children. Senator Chafee and I and all of the other co-
sponsors I have named committed ourselves to continuing that work and 
that is why we are here today.
  Throughout the process of developing the Adoption Act we heard about 
the challenging circumstances facing children described as having 
``special needs''. These include children who are

[[Page S5490]]

the most difficult to place into permanent homes, often due to their 
age, disability or status as part of a group of siblings needing to be 
placed together. I spent time learning about the special needs children 
in my own state of West Virginia. Prior to the passage of ASFA, there 
were 870 children, most with special needs, awaiting adoption in West 
Virginia. Today, I am proud to report that this number has been reduced 
to 621. The dedication of our state adoption staff, when combined with 
the incentives and focus on permanence provided in ASFA have 
successfully effected the placement of nearly a third of the waiting 
children.
  One of the most significant provisions of ASFA was the assurance of 
ongoing health care coverage for all children with special needs who 
move from foster care to adoption. The Adoption Equality Act is an 
essential second step in this ongoing process. This important 
legislation will promote and increase adoptions by making all children 
with special needs eligible for Federal adoption subsidy. The bill is 
designed to ``level the playing field'' by ensuring that all children 
with special needs, and the loving families who adopt them, have the 
support they need to grow and develop.
  Current law provides for the payment of federal adoption subsidies to 
families who adopt only those special needs children whose biological 
family would have been qualified for welfare benefits under the old 
1996 AFDC standards. Federal adoption subsidy payments provide 
essential income support to help families finance the daily costs of 
raising these special children (food, clothing) and also special 
services (equipment, therapy, tutoring, etc.). Federal adoption 
subsidies are a vital link in securing adoptive homes for special needs 
children who by definition would not be adopted without support.
  Under current law, a child's eligibility for these important benefits 
is dependent on the income of his or her biological parents even though 
these parents' legal rights to the child have been terminated, and 
these are the parents who either abused or neglected the child. This 
is, simply, wrong. The Adoption Equality Act will eliminate this 
anomaly in Federal law by making all special needs children eligible 
for Federal adoption subsidies.
  First, the bill removes the requirement that an income eligibility 
determination be made in regard to the child's biological parents, whom 
the child is leaving, thereby allowing Federal adoption subsidy to be 
paid to all families who adopt children who meet the definition of 
special needs.
  Second, the bill gives States flexibility in determining their own 
criteria, which may, but need not, include judicial determination, to 
the effect that continuation in the home would be contrary to the 
safety or welfare of the child, as well as their own definition of 
which of the children in their state are children with special needs.
  Third, the bill requires that states re-invest the monies they save 
as a result of this bill back into their state child abuse and neglect 
programs.
  When we talk about how to help abused and neglected children in this 
country, many complex questions are raised about what constitutes best 
policy, and how Federal tax dollars should be spent. Yet, at the heart 
of it all are the children who desperately want a family to call their 
own, and the families who want to adopt them. The lack of adequate 
financial resources to support these adoptions is often the only 
barrier that stands between an abused child and a safe, loving and 
permanent home. With the numbers of abused and neglected children 
rising dramatically--in West Virginia alone child abuse reports have 
doubled--from 13,000 in 1986 to over 26,000 in 1996--we need to remove 
every barrier in our efforts to make a difference. A West Virginia 
family recently told me:

       I knew we had enough love to give a child with special 
     needs--even siblings. But could we afford it? More children 
     means more of everything. This obstacle was removed through 
     the adoption subsidy program and we now have four children in 
     our lives. Our lives have truly changed. Special needs for us 
     was a very special way to adopt a waiting child.

  Federal adoption subsidies are designed to encourage adoption of 
children with special needs--those children who have the hardest time 
finding permanent, adoptive families. It is an absurd policy to 
discriminate against thousands of children with special needs based 
upon the income of their biological (and often abusive) parents. It is 
time to create a Federal policy that levels the playing field and gives 
all children with special needs an equal and fair chance at being 
adopted.
  I am confident that the Adoption Equality Act will do just that, and 
at the same time, with the re-investment requirement, states should 
have the incentive to make additional improvements in their child 
welfare systems. These will be valuable steps in our efforts to be more 
able to effectively address the needs of our Nation's most vulnerable 
children. I urge my colleagues join us in co-sponsoring and passing 
this bill.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and a brief fact 
sheet be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1067

       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 ``Adoption Equality Act of 
     1999''.

     SEC. 2. PROMOTION OF ADOPTION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.

       (a) In General.--Section 473(a) of the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(2)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a child 
     meets the requirements of this paragraph if such child--
       ``(i)(I) at the time of termination of parental rights was 
     in the care of a public or licensed private child placement 
     agency or Indian tribal organization pursuant to a voluntary 
     placement agreement, relinquishment, or involuntary removal 
     of the child from the home, and the State has determined, 
     pursuant to criteria established by the State (which may, but 
     need not, include a judicial determination), that 
     continuation in the home would be contrary to the safety or 
     welfare of such child;
       ``(II) meets all medical or disability requirements of 
     title XVI with respect to eligibility for supplemental 
     security income benefits; or
       ``(III) was residing in a foster family home or child care 
     institution with the child's minor parent (pursuant to a 
     voluntary placement agreement, relinquishment, or involuntary 
     removal of the child from the home, and the State has 
     determined, pursuant to criteria established by the State 
     (which may, but need not, include judicial determination), 
     that continuation in the home would be contrary to the safety 
     or welfare of such child); and
       ``(ii) has been determined by the State, pursuant to 
     subsection (c), to be a child with special needs, which needs 
     shall be considered by the State, together with the 
     circumstances of the adopting parents, in determining the 
     amount of any payments to be made to the adopting parents.
       ``(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 
     except as provided in paragraph (7), a child who is not a 
     citizen or resident of the United States and who meets the 
     requirements of subparagraph (A) shall be treated as meeting 
     the requirements of this paragraph for purposes of paragraph 
     (1)(B)(ii).
       ``(C) A child who meets the requirements of subparagraph 
     (A), who was determined eligible for adoption assistance 
     payments under this part with respect to a prior adoption (or 
     who would have been determined eligible for such payments had 
     the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 been in effect at 
     the time that such determination would have been made), and 
     who is available for adoption because the prior adoption has 
     been dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive 
     parents have been terminated or because the child's adoptive 
     parents have died, shall be treated as meeting the 
     requirements of this paragraph for purposes of paragraph 
     (1)(B)(ii).''.
       (b) Exception.--Section 473(a) of the Social Security Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(7)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     subsection, no payment may be made to parents with respect to 
     any child that--
       ``(i) would be considered a child with special needs under 
     subsection (c);
       ``(ii) is not a citizen or resident of the United States; 
     and
       ``(iii) was adopted outside of the United States or was 
     brought into the United States for the purpose of being 
     adopted.
       ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed as 
     prohibiting payments under this part for a child described in 
     subparagraph (A) that is placed in foster care subsequent to 
     the failure, as determined by the State, of the initial 
     adoption of such child by the parents described in such 
     subparagraph.''.
       (c) Requirement for Use of State Savings.--Section 473(a) 
     of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)), as amended by 
     subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(8) A State shall spend an amount equal to the amount of 
     savings (if any) in State expenditures under this part 
     resulting from the application of paragraph (2) on and after 
     the

[[Page S5491]]

     effective date of the amendment to such paragraph made by 
     section 2(a) of the Adoption Equality Act of 1999 to provide 
     to children or families any service (including post-adoption 
     services) that may be provided under this part or part B.''.
       (d) Determination of a Child With Special Needs.--Section 
     473(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(c)) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(c) For purposes of this section, a child shall not be 
     considered a child with special needs unless--
       ``(1)(A) the State has determined, pursuant to a criteria 
     established by the State (which may or may not include a 
     judicial determination), that the child cannot or should not 
     be returned to the home of his parents; or
       ``(B) the child meets all medical or disability 
     requirements of title XVI with respect to eligibility for 
     supplemental security income benefits; and
       ``(2) the State has determined--
       ``(A) that there exists with respect to the child a 
     specific factor or condition (such as ethnic background, age, 
     or membership in a minority or sibling group, or the presence 
     of factors such as medical conditions or physical, mental, or 
     emotional handicaps) because of which it is reasonable to 
     conclude that the child cannot be placed with adoptive 
     parents without providing adoption assistance under this 
     section and medical assistance under title XIX; and
       ``(B) that except where it would be against the best 
     interests of the child because of such factors as the 
     existence of significant emotional ties with prospective 
     adoptive parents while in the care of such parents as a 
     foster child, a reasonable, but unsuccessful, effort has been 
     made to place the child with appropriate adoptive parents 
     without providing adoption assistance under this section or 
     medical assistance under title XIX.''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on October 1, 1999.
                                  ____


The Social Security Act, Title IV, Part E--Federal Payments for Foster 
  Care and Adoption Assistance, Fact Sheet and Explanation, Adoption 
                    Assistance Program, Section 473


                              Present Law

       Current law provides for the payment of federal adoption 
     subsidies to families who adopt ``special needs'' children 
     whose biological family would have been qualified for welfare 
     benefits under the old 1996 AFDC standards. Federal adoption 
     subsidy payments provide essential income support to help 
     families finance the daily costs of raising these special 
     children (food, clothing) and also special services 
     (equipment, therapy, tutoring, etc.). Federal adoption 
     subsidies are a vital link in securing adoptive homes for 
     special needs children who by definition would not be adopted 
     without support.
       Under current law, a child's eligibility for these 
     important benefits is dependent on the income of his or her 
     biological parents even though these parents' legal rights to 
     the child have been terminated, and these are the parents who 
     either abused or neglected the child.
       Current law also allows for the payment of federal adoption 
     subsidies to families who adopt a ``special needs'' child who 
     meets all the requirements of title XVI with respect to 
     eligibility for supplemental security income benefits (SSI), 
     again, linking a child's eligibility for subsidy to the 
     income and assets of the biological parents as well as to the 
     child's disability.
       Current law defines a child with special needs, as a child 
     who has a specific factor or condition (such as ethnic 
     background, age, or membership in a minority or sibling 
     group, or the presence of factors such as medical conditions 
     or physical, mental, or emotional handicaps) because of which 
     it is reasonable to conclude that such child cannot be placed 
     with adoptive parents without providing adoption assistance 
     under this section and medical assistance under title XIX, 
     and that except where it would be against the best interests 
     of the child because of such factors as the existence of 
     significant emotional ties with prospective adoptive parents 
     while in the care of such parents as a foster child, a 
     reasonable, but unsuccessful, effort has been made to place 
     the child with appropriate adoptive parents without providing 
     adoption assistance under this section or medical assistance 
     under title XIX.
       Under current law, the amount of payments to be made are 
     determined through an agreement between the adoptive parents 
     and the State or local agency. This agreement takes into 
     account both the special needs of the child and the 
     circumstances of the adopting parents. It may be periodically 
     adjusted, and can continue to be paid until the child reaches 
     the age of 18 (or 21 if the child has a physical or mental 
     handicap which warrants that the payments continue). The 
     amount of payment may never exceed the amount that would be 
     paid as a foster care maintenance payment if the same child 
     had remained in foster care.


                        Explanation of provision

       This bill makes all special needs children eligible for 
     Federal adoption subsidies by ``delinking'' a child's 
     eligibility from the archaic AFDC guidelines, or other 
     income-eligibility determinations that would be based upon 
     the income of the biological parents, whom the child is 
     leaving.
       First, the bill removes the requirement that an income 
     eligibility determination be made in regard to the child's 
     biological parents, thereby allowing Federal adoption subsidy 
     to be paid to all families who adopt children who meet the 
     definition of special needs.
       The bill does NOT change the definition of special needs as 
     described above. Nor does this bill change the method by 
     which the payment amount is determined.
       Second, the bill gives States flexibility in determining 
     their own criteria, which may, but need not, include judicial 
     determination, to the effect that continuation in the home 
     would be contrary to the safety or welfare of the child.
       Third, the bill allows for Federal adoption subsidy to be 
     paid to families who adopt special needs children who meet 
     the medical/disability requirements, without requiring that 
     they, or their biological parents, meet the income standards, 
     of title XVI with respect to supplemental security income 
     benefits.
       Fourth, the bill requires that states re-invest the monies 
     they save as a result of this bill back into their state 
     child abuse and neglect programs.


                           Reason for Change

       Federal adoption subsidies are designed to encourage 
     adoption of children with special needs--those children who 
     have the hardest time finding permanent, adoptive families. 
     It is an absurd policy to discriminate against thousands of 
     children with special needs based upon the income of their 
     biological (and often abusive) parents. It is time to create 
     a Federal policy that levels the playing field and gives all 
     children with special needs an equal and fair chance at being 
     adopted.
       The proposed changes will do just that. They are designed 
     to remove a significant barrier to the adoption of these 
     children by making all special needs children eligible for 
     Federal adoption subsidies, regardless of income of the 
     biological (and often abusive) parents whom they are leaving.
       At the same time, with the re-investment requirement, 
     states should have the incentive to make additional 
     improvements in their child welfare systems.
                                 ______