[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16047-16054]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1730
 PROMOTING ADOPTION AND LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE 
                                  ACT

  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3205) to reauthorize and restructure the adoption incentives 
grant program, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3205

       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 ``Promoting Adoption and Legal 
     Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act''.

     SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.

               TITLE I--ADOPTION INCENTIVES GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 101. Extension of program through fiscal year 2016.
Sec. 102. Improvements to award structure.
Sec. 103. Renaming of program.
Sec. 104. Limitation on use of incentive payments.
Sec. 105. Increase in period for which incentive payments are available 
              for expenditure.
Sec. 106. State report on calculation and use of savings resulting from 
              the phase-out of eligibility requirements for adoption 
              assistance; requirement to spend 20 percent of savings on 
              post-adoption services.
Sec. 107. Preservation of eligibility for kinship guardianship 
              assistance payments with a successor guardian.
Sec. 108. Effective dates.

         TITLE II--EXTENSION OF FAMILY CONNECTION GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 201. Extension of family connection grant program.

                  TITLE III--UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

Sec. 301. Improving the collection of unemployment insurance 
              overpayments through tax refund offset.

               TITLE I--ADOPTION INCENTIVES GRANT PROGRAM

     SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF PROGRAM THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2016.

       Section 473A of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673b) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)(5), by striking ``2008 through 2012'' 
     and inserting ``2013 through 2015''; and
       (2) in each of paragraphs (1)(D) and (2) of subsection (h), 
     by striking ``2013'' and inserting ``2016''.

     SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENTS TO AWARD STRUCTURE.

       (a) Eligibility for Award.--Section 473A(b) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673b(b)) is amended by striking 
     paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as 
     paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively.
       (b) Data Requirements.--Section 473A(c)(2) of such Act (42 
     U.S.C. 673b(c)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``numbers of 
     adoptions'' and inserting ``rates of adoptions and 
     guardianships''; and
       (2) by striking ``the numbers'' and all that follows 
     through ``section,'' and inserting ``each of the rates 
     required to be determined under this section with respect to 
     a State and a fiscal year,''.
       (c) Award Amount.--Section 473A(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(d)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``paragraphs (2) and (3)'' and inserting 
     ``paragraph (2)''; and
       (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) through (C) and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(A) $2,000, multiplied by the amount (if any) by which--
       ``(i) the number of foster child adoptions in the State 
     during the fiscal year; exceeds
       ``(ii) the product (rounded to the nearest whole number) 
     of--

       ``(I) the base rate of foster child adoptions for the State 
     for the fiscal year; and
       ``(II) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year;

       ``(B) $4,000, multiplied by the amount (if any) by which--
       ``(i) the number of pre-adolescent child adoptions in the 
     State during the fiscal year; exceeds
       ``(ii) the product (rounded to the nearest whole number) 
     of--

       ``(I) the base rate of pre-adolescent child adoptions for 
     the State for the fiscal year; and
       ``(II) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year who have attained 9 years of age but not 14 years 
     of age; and

       ``(C) $8,000, multiplied by the amount (if any) by which--
       ``(i) the number of older child adoptions in the State 
     during the fiscal year; exceeds
       ``(ii) the product (rounded to the nearest whole number) 
     of--

       ``(I) the base rate of older child adoptions for the State 
     for the fiscal year; and
       ``(II) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year who have attained 14 years of age; and

       ``(D) $1,000, multiplied by the amount (if any) by which--
       ``(i) the number of foster child guardianships in the State 
     during the fiscal year; exceeds
       ``(ii) the product (rounded to the nearest whole number) 
     of--

       ``(I) the base rate of foster child guardianships for the 
     State for the fiscal year; and
       ``(II) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year.''; and

       (2) by striking paragraph (3).
       (d) Definitions.--Section 473A(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(g)) is amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (8) 
     and inserting the following:
       ``(1) Foster child adoption rate.--The term `foster child 
     adoption rate' means, with respect to a State and a fiscal 
     year, the percentage determined by dividing--
       ``(A) the number of foster child adoptions finalized in the 
     State during the fiscal year; by
       ``(B) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year.
       ``(2) Base rate of foster child adoptions.--The term `base 
     rate of foster child adoptions' means, with respect to a 
     State and a fiscal year, the lesser of--
       ``(A) the foster child adoption rate for the State for 
     fiscal year 2007; or
       ``(B) the foster child adoption rate for the State for the 
     then preceding fiscal year.
       ``(3) 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.
       ``(4) Pre-adolescent child adoption rate.--The term `pre-
     adolescent child adoption rate' means, with respect to a 
     State and a fiscal year, the percentage determined by 
     dividing--
       ``(A) the number of pre-adolescent child adoptions 
     finalized in the State during the fiscal year; by
       ``(B) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year, who have attained 9 years of age but not 14 
     years of age.
       ``(5) Base rate of pre-adolescent child adoptions.--The 
     term `base rate of pre-adolescent child adoptions' means, 
     with respect to a State and a fiscal year, the lesser of--
       ``(A) the pre-adolescent child adoption rate for the State 
     for fiscal year 2007; or
       ``(B) the pre-adolescent child adoption rate for the State 
     for the then preceding fiscal year.
       ``(6) Pre-adolescent child adoption.--The term `pre-
     adolescent child adoption' means the final adoption of a 
     child who has attained 9 years of age but not 14 years of age 
     if--
       ``(A) at the time of the adoptive placement, the child was 
     in foster care under the supervision of the State; or
       ``(B) an adoption assistance agreement was in effect under 
     section 473 with respect to the child.
       ``(7) Older child adoption rate.--The term `older child 
     adoption rate' means, with respect to a State and a fiscal 
     year, the percentage determined by dividing--
       ``(A) the number of older child adoptions finalized in the 
     State during the fiscal year; by
       ``(B) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year, who have attained 14 years of age.
       ``(8) Base rate of older child adoptions.--The term `base 
     rate of older child adoptions' means, with respect to a State 
     and a fiscal year, the lesser of--
       ``(A) the older child adoption rate for the State for 
     fiscal year 2007; or
       ``(B) the older child adoption rate for the State for the 
     then preceding fiscal year.
       ``(9) Older child adoption.--The term `older child 
     adoption' means the final adoption of a child who has 
     attained 14 years of age if--
       ``(A) at the time of the adoptive placement, the child was 
     in foster care under the supervision of the State; or
       ``(B) an adoption assistance agreement was in effect under 
     section 473 with respect to the child.
       ``(10) Foster child guardianship rate.--The term `foster 
     child guardianship rate'

[[Page 16048]]

     means, with respect to a State and a fiscal year, the 
     percentage determined by dividing--
       ``(A) the number of foster child guardianships occurring in 
     the State during the fiscal year; by
       ``(B) the number of children in foster care under the 
     supervision of the State on the last day of the preceding 
     fiscal year.
       ``(11) Base rate of foster child guardianships.--The term 
     `base rate of foster child guardianships' means, with respect 
     to a State and a fiscal year, the lesser of--
       ``(A) the foster child guardianship rate for the State for 
     fiscal year 2007; or
       ``(B) the foster child guardianship rate for the State for 
     the then preceding fiscal year.
       ``(12) Foster child guardianship.--The term `foster child 
     guardianship' means, with respect to a State, the exit of a 
     child from foster care under the responsibility of the State 
     to live with a legal guardian, if the State has reported to 
     the Secretary--
       ``(A) that the State agency has determined that--
       ``(i) the child has been removed from his or her home 
     pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement or as a result of 
     a judicial determination to the effect that continuation in 
     the home would be contrary to the welfare of the child;
       ``(ii) being returned home or adopted are not appropriate 
     permanency options for the child;
       ``(iii) the child demonstrates a strong attachment to the 
     prospective legal guardian, and the prospective legal 
     guardian has a strong commitment to caring permanently for 
     the child; and
       ``(iv) if the child has attained 14 years of age, the child 
     has been consulted regarding the legal guardianship 
     arrangement; or
       ``(B) the alternative procedures used by the State to 
     determine that legal guardianship is the appropriate option 
     for the child.''.

     SEC. 103. RENAMING OF PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The section heading of section 473A of the 
     Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673b) is amended to read as 
     follows:

     ``SEC. 473A. ADOPTION AND LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP INCENTIVE 
                   PAYMENTS.''.

       (b) Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Section 473A of such Act is amended in each of 
     subsections (a), (d)(1), (d)(2)(A), and (d)(2)(B) (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(a), (d)(1), (d)(2)(A), and (d)(2)(B)) by inserting ``and 
     legal guardianship'' after ``adoption'' each place it 
     appears.
       (2) The heading of section 473A(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(d)) is amended by inserting ``and Legal Guardianship'' 
     after ``Adoption''.

     SEC. 104. LIMITATION ON USE OF INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.

       Section 473A(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(f)) is amended in the 1st sentence by inserting ``, and 
     shall use the amount to supplement, and not supplant, any 
     Federal or non-Federal funds used to provide any service 
     under part B or E'' before the period.

     SEC. 105. INCREASE IN PERIOD FOR WHICH INCENTIVE PAYMENTS ARE 
                   AVAILABLE FOR EXPENDITURE.

       Section 473A(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673b(e)) is amended--
       (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``24-month'' and 
     inserting ``36-month''; and
       (2) by striking ``24-month'' and inserting ``36-month''.

     SEC. 106. STATE REPORT ON CALCULATION AND USE OF SAVINGS 
                   RESULTING FROM THE PHASE-OUT OF ELIGIBILITY 
                   REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTION ASSISTANCE; 
                   REQUIREMENT TO SPEND 20 PERCENT OF SAVINGS ON 
                   POST-ADOPTION SERVICES.

       Section 473(a)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673(a)(8)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(8)(A) A State shall calculate the savings (if any) 
     resulting from the application of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) to all 
     applicable children for a fiscal year, using a methodology 
     specified by the Secretary or an alternate methodology 
     proposed by the State and approved by the Secretary.
       ``(B) A State shall annually report to the Secretary--
       ``(i) the methodology used to make the calculation 
     described in subparagraph (A), without regard to whether any 
     savings are found;
       ``(ii) the amount of any savings referred to in 
     subparagraph (A); and
       ``(iii) how any such savings are spent, accounting for and 
     reporting the spending separately from any other spending 
     reported to the Secretary under part B or E.
       ``(C) The Secretary shall make all information reported 
     pursuant to subparagraph (B) available on the website of the 
     Department of Health and Human Services in a location easily 
     accessible to the public.
       ``(D) A State shall spend an amount equal to the amount of 
     the savings (if any) in State expenditures under this part 
     resulting from the application of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) to all 
     applicable children for a fiscal year, to provide to children 
     of families any service that may be provided under this part 
     or part B, and shall spend not less than 20 percent of any 
     such savings on post-adoption services. Any such spending 
     shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, any Federal or 
     non-Federal funds used to provide any service under part B or 
     E.''.

     SEC. 107. PRESERVATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR KINSHIP 
                   GUARDIANSHIP ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS WITH A 
                   SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN.

       Section 473(d)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     673(d)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) Eligibility not affected by replacement of guardian 
     with a successor guardian.--In the event of the death or 
     incapacity of the relative guardian, the eligibility of a 
     child for a kinship guardianship assistance payment under 
     this subsection shall not be affected by reason of the 
     replacement of the relative guardian with a successor legal 
     guardian named in the kinship guardianship assistance 
     agreement referred to in paragraph (1) (including in any 
     amendment to the agreement), notwithstanding subparagraph (A) 
     of this paragraph and section 471(a)(28).''.

     SEC. 108. EFFECTIVE DATES.

       (a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
     section, the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
     October 1, 2013.
       (b) Restructuring and Renaming of Program.--
       (1) In general.--The amendments made by sections 102 and 
     103 shall take effect on October 1, 2014, subject to 
     paragraph (2).
       (2) Transition rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law, the total amount payable to a State under section 
     473A of the Social Security Act for fiscal year 2014 shall be 
     an amount equal to \1/2\ of the sum of--
       (A) the total amount that would be payable to the State 
     under such section for fiscal year 2014 if the amendments 
     made by section 102 of this Act had not taken effect; and
       (B) the total amount that would be payable to the State 
     under such section for fiscal year 2014 in the absence of 
     this paragraph.
       (c) Preservation of Eligibility for Kinship Guardianship 
     Assistance Payments With a Successor Guardian.--The amendment 
     made by section 107 shall take effect on the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

         TITLE II--EXTENSION OF FAMILY CONNECTION GRANT PROGRAM

     SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF FAMILY CONNECTION GRANT PROGRAM.

       Section 427(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     627(h)) is amended by striking ``2013'' and inserting 
     ``2016''.

                  TITLE III--UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

     SEC. 301. IMPROVING THE COLLECTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE 
                   OVERPAYMENTS THROUGH TAX REFUND OFFSET.

       (a) In General.--Section 303 of the Social Security Act (42 
     U.S.C. 503) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(m) In the case of a covered unemployment compensation 
     debt (as defined under section 6402(f)(4) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986) that remains uncollected as of the date 
     that is 2 years after the date when such debt was first 
     incurred, the State to which such debt is owed shall take 
     action to recover such debt under section 6402(f) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect on October 1, 2015.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Reichert) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington.


                             General Leave

  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Washington?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today to urge support for H.R. 3205, the Promoting Adoption 
and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act.
  Obviously, I look old enough to be a grandfather, and I am a proud 
grandfather of six. Two of my grandchildren are adopted grandchildren. 
I was a foster grandfather. My daughter and her husband were foster 
parents for a while, and they ended up finding two children that they 
really wanted to include as part of their family.
  These two children today are 9 and 10, and soon to be 10 and 11 here 
in the next few months. They were 3 months old when they came into the 
house as foster kids and now are adopted and a part of not only my 
daughter and her husband's family, but a part of the entire family. The 
Reichert household has been blessed with their presence,

[[Page 16049]]

and they have a hope for a successful future with a loving family. This 
is what this bill is all about, to encourage parents across this 
country to adopt foster children.
  I also had the opportunity, as the sheriff in King County and as a 
detective in King County, to watch from a very close view of what 
foster homes looked like. As I walked into those homes as a police 
officer and as a detective, I questioned how some of these places could 
even be foster homes. There were foster kids running away from home and 
ending up on the street and not having a place to call their own, not 
having a place where they could go to have Thanksgiving, to have 
Christmas, bouncing from one foster home to the next, not knowing who 
to call Mom or Dad. We have got to fix that. We need to encourage 
parents across this country to adopt our foster children, to give them 
that opportunity.
  The other good thing about this bill is it is bipartisan. In fact, I 
can't think of a more important or more bipartisan topic than promoting 
adoption for our children. That is why we are here today. This is an 
area where both parties have worked together to improve outcomes for 
children, and it has been working.
  In the 10 years from 1987 through 1997, the number of children in 
foster care rose dramatically, climbing from 300,000 to 537,000. That 
surge in foster care caseloads is one of the reasons Congress, led by 
current Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, passed the Adoption and Safe 
Families Act in 1997. That law was designed to ensure more foster 
children were quickly adopted when they couldn't return and live safely 
with their parents.
  The Adoption Incentives program, created as a part of that law, was 
one key measure to encourage more adoptions of children from foster 
care. In short, it rewards States if they increase the number of 
children living in foster care for adoptive homes. It worked. Since the 
passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, foster care caseloads 
have fallen dramatically. After peaking at 567,000 in 1999, foster care 
caseloads have fallen almost 30 percent. At the same time, adoptions 
from foster care increased in the late nineties and remained much 
higher than before the 1997 law's passage.
  Today, we are here to support H.R. 3205, the Promoting Adoption and 
Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care, which will build upon 
the successes of the Adoption Incentives program. This legislation 
extends that program and improves the way we reward States that help 
more children leave foster care for loving, adoptive homes.
  First, it improves the formulas behind these awards to make sure that 
even as foster care caseloads continue to come down, States continue to 
get awards for moving children into adoptive homes.
  Second, it continues to promote the type of adoptions that have 
proven hardest to achieve by adding a special award for the adoption of 
teenage children. We should never give up on trying to find lifelong 
homes for these children, and this legislation steps up the incentives 
for States to do just that.
  Third, we add a new award for guardianship, which is an important 
development in the child welfare world that is allowing thousands of 
children to leave foster care and live safely with relatives. This bill 
also requires States to focus funds on post-adoption services, which 
help children and families after adoptions have been finalized.
  Finally, the bill would extend for 3 years the Family Connection 
Grant program that is focused on helping children in foster care 
reconnect with family members. Because funding for that program needs 
to be offset, we included a commonsense pay-for, which builds on a 
current procedure for recovering overpayments of unemployment insurance 
benefits. Under current law, States may offset Federal income tax 
refunds to collect these overpayments, and two-thirds of States do that 
today. This legislation would require all States to use this procedure, 
which will increase overpayment recovery and results in this 
legislation reducing the deficit by $24 million over the next 10 years.
  As chairman of the Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee with 
jurisdiction over this program, I am pleased to report that the process 
behind developing this bill has been totally bipartisan and open. 
First, we held a subcommittee hearing in February featuring nonpartisan 
experts on adoption and child welfare. We then worked together with our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle to develop draft legislation, 
which was made publicly available in early August. We then worked 
together to incorporate that public feedback, improving in many ways 
the legislation that Chairman Camp and I and Ranking Members Levin and 
Doggett introduced on September 27.
  I want to thank the subcommittee's ranking member, Mr. Doggett, who 
joins me on the floor this evening, as well as Chairman Camp and 
Ranking Member Levin, for their support of this legislation and for 
their help throughout this development. This will move us a step 
forward and closer to ensuring that more children living in the United 
States live in permanent, loving homes, and receive the support they 
deserve.
  I invite all Members to join us in supporting this important 
bipartisan legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Thank you, Chairman Reichert and Chairman Camp.
  Mr. Speaker, abused and neglected children in the foster care system 
are among the most vulnerable children in our communities. These 
children have the same needs, desires, and dreams as all young people. 
They need a safe and loving home. They want and deserve the opportunity 
to learn, to grow, and to fully experience life. A successful adoption 
provides foster children with these necessities and gives them the 
opportunity to achieve their full God-given potential.
  Investing in the success of our foster children is not only good for 
them; but in so many communities, it is the difference between those 
young people becoming a community asset and a community liability. It 
is about reducing future unemployment, homelessness, teen pregnancy, 
and incarceration.
  This bill contributes to our continuing efforts to address these 
issues and to provide permanent homes for abused and neglected 
children. I am pleased that Mr. Levin and I could work with Chairman 
Camp and Chairman Reichert to develop this bipartisan legislation to 
not only extend some important programs, but to make a number of 
positive changes. Mr. Reichert has outlined some of these. I would add 
attention to a provision that I authored to help ensure that children 
don't lose assistance simply because their guardian dies.
  As a longtime member of the Congressional Coalition of Adoption and a 
member of the Foster Youth Caucus, I am pleased that we could take 
these steps in the right direction on a bipartisan basis to help these 
young people. The legislation both continues and improves the 
incentives now provided to the States when they increase the rate at 
which foster children, who cannot return home, find an adoptive family. 
These new incentives will now be even more focused on the promotion of 
adoption of older foster children, who are sometimes a bit more 
difficult to place and who have found difficulty in securing a 
permanent home.
  Additionally, for the first time, the bill will reward States for 
helping youth leave foster care to live with a permanent legal 
guardian. Recognizing the importance of maintaining the link between 
family and children in foster care, the legislation also extends a 
relatively new, but expiring, program known as the Family Connection 
Grants. These grants go out on a competitive basis to local 
organizations and State agencies to support various approaches for 
improving connections between foster families and their children, 
including linking grandparents to supports and services when they 
become the primary caregivers for children who would otherwise be in 
foster care.

[[Page 16050]]

  Another provision that I care about greatly is strengthening of the 
requirement that adoption funding be spent on promoting adoption rather 
than being diverted to other purposes. Most notably, this legislation 
requires States to fully reinvest the funds into post-adoption services 
and other child welfare activities when these amounts were made 
available by an increase in Federal funding for adoption support.
  In total, this legislation will continue the progress we have made 
over the last 15 years in moving foster children into permanent homes. 
In my home State of Texas, San Antonio has been viewed as a particular 
model of success for adoption. Each month, Bexar County hosts an 
adoption day event that allows families to complete their adoptions in 
a single day. These are proceedings that have allowed children to have 
shorter stays in foster care and to move more quickly into stable 
homes. Judges in Bexar County understand that they are responsible for 
getting children who experience abuse and neglect into a safe foster 
environment and are responsible for placing that child with a permanent 
family if it does not become safe for the child to return home.
  These improvements in the local adoption system have been encouraged 
and utilized by important local child advocates like District Judge 
Peter Sakai and CASA San Antonio. They have allowed for faster and more 
efficient placement of foster youth into permanent families.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this 
bipartisan effort, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp), the chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee.
  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of the Human 
Resources Subcommittee for yielding and for his leadership on this very 
important issue.
  I rise in support of this legislation, which is designed to encourage 
the adoption of more children from foster care.
  I spent much of my career promoting adoption of children by loving 
parents because every child deserves a loving and safe home. As an 
attorney in private practice, I worked with parents and children in the 
foster care system. Those sorts of experiences provided much of the 
background for changes in landmark adoption legislation I and my 
colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee crafted in 1997 called the 
Adoption and Safe Families Act. That legislation streamlined the 
adoption process to help more children in foster care quickly move into 
permanent adoptive homes. It also for the first time offered incentives 
to States to safely increase the number of children adopted from foster 
care.
  It worked. In the decade following that legislation, the number of 
U.S. children adopted from foster care increased by 71 percent. In the 
years since, adoptions have continued to remain higher even as the 
foster care caseload started to decline.

                              {time}  1745

  Overall, almost 300 children have been adopted as a result of the 
increases in adoptions since 1997. One study even estimated that the 
Federal Government saved $1 billion over 8 years by ensuring children 
were adopted instead of remaining in foster care.
  That is the successful incentive program this legislation extends and 
updates. We add a new award for States that increase adoptions of older 
children, who are the hardest to adopt and have the worst outcomes if 
they ``emancipate'' from foster care without a family to call their 
own. We also add a new award for increases in guardianship, when family 
members step up to care for their nieces and nephews, grandsons and 
granddaughters. And this bill ensures States maintain their commitment 
to post-adoption and related services so that children may truly have a 
family forever.
  I note that this legislation is fully paid for by a simple and real 
reform requiring States to reduce Federal income tax refunds when 
someone wrongly gets an overpayment for unemployment benefits. Those 
savings not only cover the cost of this legislation, but reduce the 
deficit by $24 million over the next 10 years. That is a win-win for 
children, for families, and for taxpayers alike.
  The bottom line is this: children in foster care deserve a place to 
call home, not just for a few months or years, but for good. We have 
already seen great progress in increasing adoptions since the Adoption 
Incentives program was created in 1997, and it is our hope that we can 
continue this progress with this bill.
  I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this legislation: 
Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr. Reichert of Washington State, and Mr. 
Doggett of Texas. They are all leaders on this issue in the committee 
and this House, and I value their help in developing and advancing this 
legislation.
  I would also like to recognize the public comment we received in 
crafting this bill. A draft bill was posted on the Ways and Means 
Committee Web site in August, and the public was given a month to 
provide their thoughts on how to ensure more children are adopted. The 
bill we are considering today incorporates many of those suggestions, 
and we are grateful for the public's comments and their participation 
in this process.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to join us in supporting this bill 
in the House, and I hope the Senate will act as soon as they can so we 
can continue to move even more children from foster care into 
permanent, loving homes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, surely no Member of the House has expressed 
more interest in this subject than the founder of the Foster Youth 
Caucus, our colleague from California (Ms. Bass), to whom I yield 3 
minutes.
  Ms. BASS. Thank you, Ranking Member Doggett.
  I rise today in support of the Promoting Adoption and Legal 
Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act.
  First, I would like to commend Chairman Camp and Chairman Reichert 
and Ranking Members Levin and Doggett for their great work on this 
legislation and their ongoing commitment to our Nation's foster youth. 
As the cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth and the 
Congressional Caucus on Adoption, I sincerely appreciate your 
leadership and partnership on this issue.
  Since 1997, when the Adoption Incentives legislation became law, we 
have seen a significant reduction of the number of kids in foster care 
and, more importantly, an increased number of kids in forever families; 
yet there are still over 400,000 children in our Nation's child welfare 
system, many awaiting the stability and love of a permanent family.
  Unfortunately, studies show that foster youth, especially those who 
``age out,'' are much more likely to experience poverty, unemployment, 
homelessness, incarceration, and compromised health after they leave 
foster care. Each year, nearly 30,000 teenagers age out of foster care 
without a permanent family. We know that this is unfair and 
unacceptable. We must strengthen policies that help to find forever 
families for our Nation's foster children, especially our older youth.
  I would like to focus my remarks on one of the noteworthy aspects of 
the bill--the enhanced support for legal guardianship. By making this 
investment, we will ultimately help more kids find permanent families, 
often with relatives.
  Today's foster care system looks much different than the child 
welfare system of previous decades. While children continue to be 
placed in foster homes with strangers or in group homes, more than half 
are placed with a relative caregiver, a grandmother, aunt, uncle, or 
older sibling. In fact, in my district in Los Angeles, relative 
caregivers are the largest foster care providers. Research shows that 
foster placement with relatives is good for children. They often allow 
children to stay in their schools, receive continued support from their 
community and culture, and feel connected to families that continue to 
love them.
  Despite the importance of relative caregivers, they face unique 
obstacles.

[[Page 16051]]

Becoming a caregiver changes lives in every way--physically, 
emotionally, and financially. Stable middle class families or seniors 
who live on their life savings are often pushed to the brink of poverty 
because they have accepted the unexpected financial burden of caring 
for a child. As a Nation, we should take the extra steps needed to 
support family members that heroically step up to care for children in 
times of need.
  Additionally, I strongly support the Family Connection Grants 
reauthorized in this bill. These grants help to strengthen families, 
support kinship care, and prevent youth from entering or reentering 
foster care.
  Before my time in elected office, I was honored to advocate for 
kinship and guardianship resources alongside relative caregivers at the 
Community Coalition's Kinship in Action program. Today, I am greatly 
encouraged that the bill before us encourages permanent families of all 
kinds, supporting both adoption and guardianship throughout the Nation.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Young), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means 
Committee.
  Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, nearly 3,000 Hoosier children are 
currently eligible for adoption while living in foster care. Now, I 
know all of us can agree that these children and the over 100,000 
children in the United States eligible for adoption deserve a stable, 
permanent, and loving home. While there is no doubt our foster care 
programs provide an essential service, I strongly believe, as a proud 
father of four young children and as someone who used to provide free 
legal services to those wanting to adopt, that there can be no 
substitute for the care a loving family can provide.
  Whether it is living with a family member or being adopted into a new 
family, we must do everything in our powers to see that children 
everywhere receive the best upbringing possible. This legislation 
represents a step forward in finding these children caring and 
supportive homes. By extending the Adoption Incentives program, we 
effectively encourage and incentivize States to help adopt more 
children out of foster care so these children can lead happy, healthy, 
and successful lives.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the managers of this bill, the 
gentleman from Washington and the gentleman from Texas, my colleague 
from, we would say on the floor, the great State of Texas.
  This is a very important measure that I have had an opportunity to 
engage in. A couple of years back--I would say more years than I would 
like to remember--former Congressman Mike Andrews and myself were 
cochairs of the Foster Grandparents Program in Houston, and it drew me 
to the importance of both foster care and adoption.
  I have also spent some time with Senator Mary Landrieu, who, as many 
know, is a very strong advocate of the idea of adoption and legal 
guardianship for children in foster care.
  One of the new phenomenons that we are seeing more and more is the 
phenomenon of aging out for foster care children; and so I rise today 
to support H.R. 3205 and compliment the cochairs of the Foster Care 
Caucus, of which I am a member, Congresswoman Bass and cochair Marino, 
and really ask my colleagues to support this important initiative. I am 
very proud to cosponsor this legislation; and as a cochair and founder 
of the Congressional Childrens Caucus, now almost 20 years, I would 
like to say I strongly support it.
  The more times that we can say something positive about children in a 
bipartisan way on the floor of the House, the more of a national 
statement and commitment is seen by those who are in the various venues 
in our States and county government and city government who work every 
day to protect our children. Foster care serves our children and 
families in a temporary placement by providing suitable, permanent 
living. Most children are placed in foster care temporarily due to 
parental abuse and neglect.
  In Harris County, my county in Texas, 2,388 children were taken into 
protective custody in 2011. The average number of children in foster 
care each month in Harris County is 5,300. 2,440 children in Child 
Protective Service custody were placed in permanent living in Harris 
County in 2011.
  This is the right direction to go. As of September 30, 2012, 1,740 
children in the Houston region are still waiting to be adopted; and, on 
average, children stay in the system for almost 3 years before either 
being reunited with their families or adopted.
  What a wonderful statement to know that there are families or adults 
that love you. Many times, those adoptions are amongst family members. 
Many times, the grandparents take the children. Let's thank them, 
because that was the program I was involved in, to give R and R, rest, 
to the grandparents who foster care for many, many children.
  Frequent moves, different schools, our children need loving care. 
They need stability. Many times these foster parents provide that kind 
of stability. Many foster children have been separated not only from 
their parents, but from their siblings, and this can be very 
detrimental socially, emotionally, and psychologically.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. DOGGETT. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. So this legislation, which reauthorizes and 
restructures the Adoption Incentives Grant Program, will help enhance, 
cultivate, and advance the foster care system by making it a program 
that is beneficial.
  Mr. Speaker, I was not able to come to the floor for H.R. 2083. I 
also, as a cochair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus, focusing on 
the abuse of children, want to salute and support the Protecting 
Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act and ask this floor to 
support both of these initiatives, because when we speak for children, 
we speak for America.
  I hope that we will also see, soon, antibullying and prevention 
legislation on the floor, Mr. Speaker, to make that public statement.
  I thank the gentleman for his yielding, and I want to salute Little 
Audrey's in Houston for the work they have done for the children in 
Houston, Texas. Thank you, Alma, very much for the work you have done.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Congressional Adoption and Foster 
Care Caucuses and as Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus, I 
rise in strong support of H.R. 3205, the ``Promoting Adoption and Legal 
Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act.''
  I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill because it promotes 
adoption, protects children and provides grant funding for the foster 
care system.
  Foster care serves our children and families as a temporary placement 
until a suitable permanent living arrangement is made that best fits 
the child.
  Most children are placed in foster care temporarily due to parental 
abuse or neglect. In Harris County, 2,388 children were taken into 
protective custody in 2011. The average number of children in foster 
care each month in Harris County is 5,300.
  In addition, 2,440 children in Children's Protective Service (CPS) 
custody were placed in a permanent living arrangement in Harris County 
in 2011. With court approval, 28.3 percent of the children were 
returned to their own families, 26.5 percent were placed with 
relatives, and 34.4 percent were placed in adoptive homes.
  As of September 31, 2012, 1,740 children in the Houston Region are 
still waiting to be adopted (1,503 in Harris County).
  On average, children stay in the system for almost three years before 
either being reunited with their families or adopted. Children have on 
average three different foster care placements.
  Frequent moves in and out of the homes of strangers can be profoundly 
unsettling and quite difficult for children, and it is not uncommon to 
hear of children who have been in 20 or 30 different homes during their 
time in foster care.
  Many foster children have been separated not only from their parents, 
but from their siblings, which can be very detrimental to a child 
socially, emotionally and psychologically.
  Many children in foster care unfortunately have to undergo multiple 
placement changes

[[Page 16052]]

several times while in foster care due to a wide range of factors such 
as licensing standards violations, court rulings, behavioral issues, or 
changes in the foster home or facility.
  In my home city of Houston, CPS does a remarkable job increase in 
providing placement options that will better match the needs of each 
individual child that goes through the foster care system.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3205 reauthorizes and restructures the adoption 
incentives grant program. These grant funds will help enhance, 
cultivate, and advance the foster care system by making it a program 
that is beneficial while effectively serving children. These resources 
will give children in foster care the opportunity to flourish in 
whatever living placement they are given.
  Adoption is more than just a legal process, it is an emotional, 
social and psychological process in which children who have been 
removed from their biological parents become full and permanent legal 
members of another family. Adoption has many facets and touches people 
in different ways.
  This bill promotes adoption and will help ensure that people who are 
willing and able to serve will have the necessary information and means 
to become legal guardians of foster children in need of placement.
  Mr. Speaker, children are our hope for a better tomorrow, but it is 
up to us to promote adoption so that children may have legal guardians 
who will properly care for them and help them know the joy and security 
that comes with being a member of a loving family.
  For these reasons, I strongly support H.R. 3205. I urge my colleagues 
to join me in support of this important legislation.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, hopefully the Senate will respond to our 
strong show of bipartisan support by moving this legislation this year.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I will insert in the Record letters of 
support for this legislation from Christian Heritage, Center for Family 
Finding and Youth Connectedness, Seneca Family of Agencies, The 
Donaldson Adoption Institute, Hillside Family of Agencies, and Voice 
for Adoption.
  I want to echo the words of Mr. Doggett. I hope the Senate does act 
on this.
  There are three things that I would like to just highlight as we wrap 
up this evening's discussion on foster care, three things that this 
bill does: one, it cuts the deficit; two, amazingly, in this time of 
partisanship, this is a true bipartisan moment that we all ought to 
stop, pause, and take recognition of.
  This is about children. It cuts the deficit, and this is one that we 
can all come together and support. Why? Because it is for our kids. It 
is for the kids across America who need a home.
  I mentioned two of my grandchildren who are foster children, were 
foster children, are now adopted, but they were even more special. They 
were drug-addicted babies, crack cocaine, heroin, and meth, and these 
kids today have a home.
  As a grandparent, standing on the sidelines of a soccer game watching 
Emma and Briar play soccer, knowing where they came from, the moms 
lived on the streets, drug-addicted moms, these kids have hope. They 
have a future. When the game is over, they run to the sidelines and 
they yell, ``Papa.'' It is the greatest feeling in the world.
  We owe that kind of life to every foster child.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                                           Christian Heritage,

                                               September 30, 2013.
     Chairman Dave Camp,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington DC.
       Dear Chairman Camp: I am writing in support of the 
     Fostering Connections Grants that support Family Finding 
     research and the Adoptions Incentives program.
       Kevin Campbell, founder of Family Finding; the State of 
     Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services; and 
     Christian Heritage, a nonprofit, faith-based organization, 
     have been working together in a collaborative effort to find 
     permanency for children who have been languishing in 
     Nebraska's foster care system.
       The principles of Family Finding are: 1. Every child has a 
     family and they CAN be found, 2. Loneliness can be 
     devastating, even dangerous, and is experienced by most 
     children, 3. A meaningful connection to family helps a child 
     develop a sense of belonging. and 4. The single factor most 
     closely associated with positive outcomes for children is 
     meaningful, lifelong connections to family.
       Mr. Campbell began working with the Nebraska Department of 
     Health and Human Services and Christian Heritage in April of 
     this year. We have already learned the following: 1. Families 
     for Nebraska's children in foster care are larger than we had 
     initially believed. 2. More family members are willing to 
     offer relationships of support than previously believed. 3. 
     More fathers are willing to come forward and offer support to 
     their children than originally anticipated, and 4. Family 
     members have been willing to make offers of legal permanency 
     EVEN for youth with the most complex needs.
       How effective are the Family Finding services in Nebraska? 
     To date, 100 percent of the children whose cases have 
     completed Phase Three (of six phases) now have a Lifetime 
     Network of Unconditional Support consisting of five or more 
     family members, and 82 percent of the children who have 
     completed Phase Three have at least one person identified who 
     is willing to provide permanency. This program is 
     tremendously successful and we urge your support of continued 
     funding for the Fostering Connections grants
           Respectfully yours,
                                                    Gregg Nicklas,
     Co-CEO.
                                  ____



                                               Family Finding,

                                  Oakland, CA, September 30, 2013.
     Ways and Means Committee Office,
     Longworth House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Dave Camp and Honorable Members of the 
     Committee on Ways and Means: I am writing to lend my support 
     to the Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children 
     in Foster Care Act, which would reauthorize the existing 
     program as well as provide more resources and flexibility for 
     states working toward improved permanency for children in the 
     foster care system.
       As I outlined in my recommendations to the United States 
     Senate Committee on Finance in April, the Adoption Incentive 
     Grants and other fiscal rewards have clearly increased the 
     number of adoptions from and reduced the number of children 
     in foster care. This suggests that incentives made available 
     to states that reward results have significant impact. A 
     focus on adoption rates will incentivize states to work 
     toward adoptions and legal guardianships in an environment of 
     declining foster care caseloads.
       Extending the Family Connection Grants is also a critical 
     component of the Act. Family Connections Grants are currently 
     supporting the development of innovative practice models 
     which incorporate Family Finding with trauma-informed 
     practices--models that attend to grief and the multiple 
     losses that children experience by entering and remaining in 
     care, and other key family involvement strategies such as 
     Family Group Decision Making and Safety Organized Practice--
     to better serve children in foster care. These investments 
     serve as incubators which promote innovation and are 
     necessary to advance practice, as current funding does not 
     allow for or support such experiments. As Brian Samuels, 
     Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and 
     Families, stated, two of the primary keys to attaining 
     safety, permanence and well-being for children and youth in 
     foster care are the promotion of healthy relationships and 
     the prioritization of kinship care. The Family Finding 
     approach squarely targets and successfully achieves these 
     goals.
       In my work across the county providing training, 
     consultation, and technical assistance to local child welfare 
     agencies, statewide child welfare entities, and private, non-
     profit organizations, I am convinced that there is urgent 
     need to continue to invest in innovations in practice that 
     respond to the continued growth in the presence of older 
     adolescents in the out-of-home care system as well as the 
     increase in the number of youth aging out of care. 
     Significant progress in learning has come about through the 
     original discretionary grants, This is not the time to stop 
     our efforts on behalf of these youth and families.
       Thank you for considering reauthorizing the Promoting 
     Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care 
     Act. Every day that a child is in care is a crisis for that 
     child, and legislative efforts that work toward reducing 
     length of time in care, improving adoption and legal 
     guardianship rates, and connecting children and youth to 
     family members are of utmost importance.
           Sincerely,

                                            Kevin A. Campbell,

                                        Founder, Center for Family
     Finding and Youth Permanency.
                                  ____



                                                       Seneca,

                                  Oakland, CA, September 30, 2013.
     Ways and Means Committee Office,
     Longworth House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Dave Camp and Honorable Members of the 
     Committee on Ways and Means: I am pleased to provide this 
     letter in support of the Promoting Adoption and Guardianship 
     for Children in Foster Care Act. We believe this bill is an 
     important step in continuing progress toward ensuring

[[Page 16053]]

     every child grows up with a committed and loving family and 
     we value the leadership the Committee has shown in pursuing 
     this goal.
       Seneca Family of Agencies was founded in 1985 with a 
     dedication to providing unconditional care to the most 
     struggling youth served by California's child welfare system. 
     Recognizing that far too many youth with significant mental 
     health challenges were growing up in institutional settings 
     lacking any connection to their family and communities, 
     Seneca was formed to provide youth with the consistent and 
     caring therapeutic environments and relationships that 
     promote their healing from histories of dramatic trauma and 
     loss. Each year our agency serves thousands of children and 
     families, with the mission to help children and families 
     succeed through their most difficult times.
       As our agency and both state and federal policy have 
     evolved, our practice of unconditional care has grown to 
     include many of the services that are supported with the 
     Promoting Adoption and Guardianship for Children in Foster 
     Care Act, including post-adoption support services and Family 
     Finding efforts. Most recently, our agency has been the 
     recipient of a federal Family Connections Grant to provide 
     integrated Family Finding and Family Group Decision Making 
     services in collaboration with the San Francisco Human 
     Service Agency. This grant has been an integral component of 
     efforts to further promote stable and permanent placements of 
     youth with parents and relatives system-wide. Still in the 
     early stages of implementation, the project has already 
     elicited important lessons on how to effectively embed 
     permanency-focused services within large public systems of 
     care. These lessons have influenced practice within our 
     agency and San Francisco County more broadly. Dissemination 
     of this information to the national human service community 
     has already begun. Projects funded by the Family Connections 
     grants, such as these, have important potential to test 
     innovative practices and influence the national community 
     with practices that promote permanency and youth wellbeing.
       We appreciate the value the Committee on Ways and Means has 
     placed on supporting the wellbeing and stability of foster 
     youth. The Promoting Adoption and Guardianship for Children 
     in Foster Care Act encourages the alignment of resources with 
     widely embraced values and goals that every child deserves to 
     be loved and cared for by safe and stable families and we are 
     pleased to offer our support of this important bill.
           Sincerely,

                                                  Ken Berrick,

                                                    CEO/President,
     Seneca Family of Agencies.
                                  ____



                             The Donaldson Adoption Institute,

                                 New York, NY, September 30, 2013.
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Hon. Members of the Committee on Ways and Means: The 
     Donaldson Adoption Institute is delighted to support the 
     Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship for Children in 
     Foster Care Act (H.R. 3205). The Adoption Institute is an 
     independent, nonpartisan policy and education nonprofit 
     organization that conducts research and analysis in order to 
     improve federal and state adoption-related laws, policies and 
     practices. Our ``Keeping the Promise'' initiative, for 
     instance, aims to expand an essential tool to enable children 
     in foster care to join, and remain in, permanent, safe and 
     loving families: adoption support and preservation services.
       The Adoption Institute is pleased that H.R. 3205 
     reauthorizes the Adoption Incentives program through FY2016, 
     restructures awards to incentivize increasing adoptions of 
     pre-adolescent and older children, and establishes a new 
     award for increases in the rate of children leaving foster 
     care for legal guardianship. We also applaud the mandate that 
     states report savings resulting from the adoption assistance-
     income eligibility de-link and reinvestments in child 
     welfare, as well as spend a minimum of 20 percent of savings 
     on post-adoption services for children adopted from care.
       We appreciate the Committee's bipartisan efforts, 
     solicitation of expert testimony, and consideration of 
     comments on the August draft proposal that it notes 
     ``informed several changes made to the bipartisan legislation 
     introduced.'' We also are glad to see that the House schedule 
     indicates that the Promoting Adoption and Legal Guardianship 
     for Children in Foster Care Act may be considered this week 
     on the House Floor.
       We are communicating the Institute's support of H.R. 3205 
     to our stakeholders and asking them to contact their Members 
     for their support as well.
       Thank you for your leadership; it is truly a testament to 
     the Committee's commitment to the over 100,000 children still 
     waiting in temporary care for permanent families. Please feel 
     free to contact us if you would like additional information.
           Sincerely,

                                                 Adam Pertman,

                                               Executive Director,
                                     Donaldson Adoption Institute.

                                                   Ruth McRoy,

                                                     Board Member,
     Senior Research Fellow.
                                  ____



                                                     Hillside,

                                   Rochester, NY, October 7, 2013.
     Hon. Dave Camp, Chairman,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Sander Levin, Ranking Member,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Dave Reichert, Chairman, Subcommittee on Human 
       Resources,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Lloyd Doggett, Ranking Member,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Representatives Camp, Levin, Reichert, Doggett: 
     Hillside Family of Agencies is pleased to extend our support 
     and appreciation to members of the Ways and Means Committee 
     for your recent bipartisan bill, the Promoting Adoption and 
     Legal Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act (H.R. 
     3205). Thank you for your joint effort to reauthorize and 
     improve the federal Adoption Incentives Program. The 
     Committee has a long history of bipartisan leadership on 
     child welfare issues and we commend you for your continued 
     work on behalf of vulnerable children and families.
       Hillside Family of Agencies is a leading provider of child 
     welfare, mental health, youth development, juvenile justice, 
     special education, and developmental disabilities services, 
     including more than 120 services to children and families at 
     more than 40 locations across Western and Central New York 
     and in Prince George's County, Maryland.
       In the United States today, more than 102,000 children in 
     foster care are waiting to be adopted. At the same time, 
     thousands of families across the country are willing to open 
     their hearts and homes to adopt children from the child 
     welfare system. Hillside Family of Agencies works to bring 
     children and families together through our Adoption and 
     Family Finding efforts. We operate under the philosophy that 
     all children deserve permanency and that each child has the 
     right and potential to have a safe, loving, forever family. 
     We are committed to building collaborative relationships with 
     families, professionals, and communities to create a sense of 
     urgency in providing permanence so that every child is able 
     to know and grow within a family of their own.
       The long term success of families who adopt this nation's 
     waiting children is dependent upon their ability to meet the 
     needs of those who have experienced prior abuse and/or 
     neglect. Families must have access to community resources 
     that enable them to meet the significant emotional and 
     behavioral challenges that children who have suffered from 
     early and repeated trauma often bring to their families. For 
     this reason, Hillside Family of Agencies has been a strong 
     advocate for increased investments into permanency efforts 
     children and youth in foster care, and for accessible, 
     comprehensive post adoption services for all adoptive 
     families. We have had considerable experience and success in 
     finding adoptive families for children in foster care and in 
     supporting those families when funding is available for post 
     adoption services.
       Hillside Family of Agencies is especially grateful for the 
     Committee's recent actions to: Reauthorize the program and 
     include a greater emphasis on adoption rate increases; 
     Establish a greater incentive for states who increase 
     permanency for older youth in foster care; Establish, for the 
     first time, an incentive for increased guardianship 
     placements; Require HHS and states to calculate savings from 
     the Title IV-E adoption assistance ``de-link,'' resulting 
     from the Fostering Connections Act of 2008; Require not less 
     than 20 percent of states adoption assistance ``de-link'' 
     savings be invested into post adoption services; Extension of 
     the Family Connection Grants.
       We appreciate the process that the Committee undertook over 
     the past several months to identify potential areas of 
     improvement, both through the holding of oversight hearings 
     and the solicitation of public feedback on the draft proposal 
     that was shared in August 2013. We applaud your work to 
     incorporate improvements suggested by thoughtful and 
     concerned stakeholders.
       Adoption is permanent, irrevocable, and lifelong. Hillside 
     Family of Agencies is committed to supporting families and 
     keeping them intact throughout their lifetimes. On behalf of 
     the children and families we serve, we thank you.
           Sincerely,

                                            Dennis Richardson,

                                                President and CEO,
     Hillside Family of Agencies.
                                  ____



                                           Voice for Adoption,

                               Washington, DC, September 30, 2013.
     Hon. Dave Camp, Chairman,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Dave Reichert, Chairman,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Sander Levin, Ranking Member,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. Lloyd Doggett, Ranking Member,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representatives Camp, Levin, Reichert, Doggett: Voice 
     for Adoption (VFA) is pleased to extend our support and

[[Page 16054]]

     appreciation to members of the Ways and Means Committee for 
     your recent bipartisan bill, the Promoting Adoption and Legal 
     Guardianship for Children in Foster Care Act (H.R. 3205). 
     Thank you for your joint effort to reauthorize and improve 
     the federal Adoption Incentives Program. This Committee has a 
     long history of bipartisan leadership on child welfare issues 
     and we commend you for your continued work on behalf of 
     vulnerable children and families.
       VFA is an advocacy organization whose mission is to raise 
     awareness of the needs of the 102,000 children in foster care 
     who are waiting to be adopted and the families that adopt 
     from public child welfare. We believe that every child 
     deserves a family; as a nation we must ensure that children's 
     safety and permanency is always paramount. Secondly, we must 
     ensure that families who commit to loving and raising 
     children who have experienced prior abuse and/or neglect are 
     equipped to meet the significant emotional and behavioral 
     needs that their children can sometimes present. For these 
     reasons, VFA has been a strong advocate for both, increased 
     investments into permanency--especially for the longest 
     waiting children and older youth in foster care--and for 
     greater post-adoption services.
       VFA's members are especially grateful for the Committees 
     recent actions to: Reauthorize the program and include a 
     greater emphasis on adoption rate increases; Establish a 
     greater incentive for states who increase permanency for 
     older youth in foster care; Establish, for the first time, an 
     incentive for increased guardianship placements; Require HHS 
     and states to calculate savings resulting from the title IV-E 
     adoption assistance ``de-link'', resulting from the Fostering 
     Connections Act of 2008; Require not less than 20 percent of 
     states adoption assistance ``de-link'' savings be invested 
     into post-adoption services; Extension of the Family 
     Connections Grants.
       We would also like to thank you for the process that the 
     Committee took over the past several months to hear about 
     ways that this program could be improved, both through 
     holding oversight hearings and soliciting public feedback on 
     the draft proposal that was shared in August 2013. We applaud 
     your work to incorporate improvements suggested by 
     stakeholders and we look forward to working with you going 
     forward.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Nicole Dobbins,
                                               Executive Director.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3205.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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