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House Passes McDermott Foster Care Legislation
Provision Honors Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) September 17, 2008
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly today
to pass the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R.
6893) authored by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), chairman of the Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee, which
has jurisdiction over the nation’s foster care system.
Speaking on the House floor during debate, Chairman McDermott
said: “This is landmark legislation, the
most significant step forward on behalf of foster children in at least 10
years. It is bi-partisan and bi-cameral and a testament to our ability to work
together for the common good. Children are America’s future and today we are
making an investment in their future and ours.”
McDermott dedicated a key section of his bill to Rep.
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a colleague on the Ways and Means Committee who died
unexpectedly last month. McDermott said
Rep. Tubbs Jones was dedicated to improving the lives of foster children and
that the primary source of federal funding in the Social Security Act for child
protective services will be named in her honor.
“The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program
will help at-risk children for many years and decades to come, just as she did
during her life,” McDermott said.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders signed by hundreds
of community, faith-based, civic, social and advocacy organizations across America, strong
support was expressed for McDermott’s bill.
“These reforms encompass many of the critical improvements that former
foster youth, adoptive parents, relative caregivers, and others have been
requesting of Congress for years,” they wrote.
(See attached letter)
In a separate letter, the Conference of Chief Justices and
the Conference of State Court Administrators wrote: “We commend you
for your leadership and commitment to addressing the needs of our nation’s most
vulnerable children and youth.” (See attached letter)
The American Bar Association, on behalf of its 385,000
members, supported passage: “The ABA strongly supports the reforms that will be implemented by enactment of H.R. 6893.” (See attached letter)
McDermott’s legislation was first passed by the House in
June and sent to the Senate for action.
The Senate Finance Committee passed a slightly different version of the
bill and today’s House passage aligns the two bills. With House passage today, the bill goes back
to the full Senate for action.
The legislation makes major advances in a number of areas
critical to success for foster children.
While a copy of the bill is attached, a summary of H.R. 6893’s major
provisions includes:
Connecting and Supporting Relative Caregivers
• Provides federal reimbursement to States choosing to
provide assistance to grandparents and other relatives who become legal
guardians of children for whom they have cared as foster parents.
• Provides $15 million per year for Family Connection
Grants to promote kinship navigator programs and other initiatives designed to
connect and help relative caregivers.
• Requires relatives to be notified within 30 days of a
child’s removal from their home.
• Codifies existing licensing standards for relatives
becoming foster parents and requires report on impact and next steps.
• Allows the child welfare system to utilize the Parent
Locator Service.
Improving Outcomes for Children in Foster Care
• At State option, allows federal foster care assistance
to continue up to the age of 21 for youth engaged in school, work, or other
constructive activities.
• Requires transitional plans for youth aging out of
foster care.
• Expands enhanced federal funding for training to cover
private child welfare workers and court personnel.
• Requires plan for the educational stability of every
foster child and assurance of their school attendance.
• Requires improved oversight of the health care needs of
every foster child, covering their assessment, treatment, medical records, and
medication.
• Requires reasonable efforts to place siblings together
when removed from their homes, or if not possible, to allow ongoing
interaction.
Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Access
• Provides direct federal foster care and adoption
assistance to tribal governments for children in their care.
• Provides $3 million per year to provide technical and
start-up assistance to tribal foster care programs.
Improvement of Incentives for Adoption
• Extends, expands and improves the Adoption Incentives
Program, which provides financial bonuses to States increasing the number of
children adopted out of foster care.
• Provides federal adoption assistance to all special
needs children (phased in on the basis of age and time in care), rather than
only those children whose birth parents were eligible for welfare under the
rules in place in 1996.
• Requires prospective adoptive parents of foster
children to be informed of their potential eligibility for a current-law tax
credit.
Other Provisions
• Permits the Department of the Treasury to improve its
management of the government’s short-term operating cash.
• Clarifies the uniform definition of a child for tax
purposes, including ensuring the child is younger than the claimant.
• Ensures that nothing in the act alters any current
prohibitions on payments to individuals who are unlawfully in the U.S.
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