I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3471 

To help children make the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency 

by addressing weaknesses in the implementation of the John H. Chafee 

Foster Care Independence Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2005 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To help children make the transition from foster care to 

self-sufficiency by addressing weaknesses in the implementation of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening the 

5 Chafee Foster Care Independence Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) In 2002, 19,500 youth ‘‘aged out’’ of the 

2 foster care system. 

3 (2) In 1999, Congress passed historic legisla4 tion to promote the self-sufficiency of emancipated 

5 foster youth in the transition to adulthood via the 

6 John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program 

7 (Public Law 106–169). 

8 (3) Assistance provided through the John H. 

9 Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to chil10 dren aging out of foster care is particularly nec11 essary in light of recent studies documenting that 

12 familial assistance is key to the successful transition 

13 to adulthood. Research indicates that parents are a 

14 primary resource for young adults, providing social 

15 and employment connections, paying for college, and 

16 giving direct material support for food, housing, and 

17 education. For example, parents contribute $2,200 

18 annually to youth between the ages of 18 and 34 in19 clusive. 

20 (4) Emancipated foster care youth are a par21 ticularly vulnerable population. Studies indicate that 

22 these youth experience a range of negative outcomes, 

23 including low employment earnings, poor educational 

24 achievement, homelessness, and high public assist25 ance. Moreover, 30 percent to 40 percent of youth 
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1 in foster care are affected by chronic medical prob2 lems. 

3 (5) After enactment of the John H. Chafee 

4 Foster Care Independence Program, the Government 

5 Accountability Office (GAO) found that 40 States 

6 reported great increases in independent living serv7 ices, more than doubling service provision in many 

8 States. 

9 (6) Unfortunately, child welfare experts and the 

10 GAO have identified weaknesses in the implementa11 tion of the Chafee program, including the following: 

12 (A) Findings by the GAO that gaps exist 

13 in the availability of critical services in the 

14 areas of mental health, mentoring, and housing. 

15 For example, differing eligibility requirements 

16 for juvenile and adult mental health systems re17 sulted in many former foster youth losing ac18 cess to important therapy and treatment. 

19 (B) Findings by the GAO that eligible 

20 services within and across States vary greatly. 

21 Within States, discrepancies in service avail22 ability appear due in part to geographic location 

23 (such as in urban areas versus rural areas) and 

24 to differing levels of awareness among state and 

25 local agencies regarding potential resources. Ap-
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proximately 1 1 ⁄3 of responding States reported 

2 that they were servicing less than half of eligi3 ble foster youth. Similarly, although 31 States 

4 provide Medicaid coverage to at least some 

5 emancipated youth, the percentage of former 

6 foster care youth who are eligible varied among 

7 States, from 10 percent to 100 percent. 

8 (C) Findings by the GAO indicating that 

9 little information exists to assess the effective10 ness of independent living services. For in11 stance— 

12 (i) the Child and Family Services Re13 view used to evaluate States child welfare 

14 systems fails to measure services related to 

15 former foster care youth sufficiently; 

16 (ii) the Child and Family Services 

17 Plan (CFSP) significantly lacks usable 

18 program information related to inde19 pendent living services; and 

20 (iii) the Department of Health and 

21 Human Services has failed to implement 

22 the National Youth in Transition Database 

23 to monitor States performance related to 

24 youth aging out of the foster care system, 
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1 as required by the Foster Care Independ2 ence Act of 1999. 

3 (D) Empirical research indicating that 

4 children in kinship care receive fewer important 

5 independent living services compared to children 

6 in foster care who are not living with relatives, 

7 particularly in the areas of employment, hous8 ing, financial management, and health/behav9 ioral health. This finding is particularly of con10 cern given that children of color are over-rep11 resented in kinship care situations. 

12 SEC. 3. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF AVAILABLE SERVICES. 

13 (a) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—Section 477 of the 

14 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(j) DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER

17 RELATED PROGRAMS.—To improve access to the array of 

18 services available to youth transitioning out of foster care 

19 and assist States in leveraging available resources, the 

20 Secretary shall provide for the efficient distribution 

21 (through such outlets as the National Resource Center for 

22 Youth Development) to States and local areas of informa23 tion about Federal programs, other than the program es24 tablished by this section, that may assist youth in their 
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1 transition to self-sufficiency and provide guidance on how 

2 to access services under the programs.’’. 

3 (b) DUTIES OF THE STATE.—Section 477(b)(3) of 

4 such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(b)(3)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (H) 

6 through (J) as subparagraphs (I) through (K), re7 spectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(G) A certification by the chief executive offi11 cer that, when or before a child leaves foster care 

12 under the responsibility of the State, the State will 

13 inform the child of the full range of available finan14 cial, housing, counseling, employment, and education 

15 services, and other appropriate support and services 

16 for which the child is eligible.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. DEVELOPING COMMON STANDARDS FOR FOSTER 

18 CARE. 

19 Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 677), as amended by section 3(a) of this Act, is amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(k) DEVELOPING COMMON STANDARDS FOR FOS23 TER CARE.—To improve the ability of the Department of 

24 Health and Human Services to monitor the implementa25 tion by States of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Inde-
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1 pendence Program, the Secretary of Health and Human 

2 Services shall develop a standard reporting format for 

3 State Child and Family Service plans and progress reports 

4 and implement a uniform process regional offices can use 

5 to assess States progress in meeting the needs of youth 

6 in foster care and those recently emancipated from foster 

7 care. The format shall be developed to promote appro8 priate delivery of independent living services, by requiring 

9 the reporting of information on the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) Availability of services within various geo11 graphic areas in States and foster care placement 

12 settings (such as kinship care, group home, and non13 kin foster care) to ensure equitable service provision. 

14 ‘‘(2) Clear delineation of various support serv15 ices for youth formerly in foster care, including but 

16 not limited to: health care, mental health care, hous17 ing, employment, assistance in obtaining a high 

18 school diploma, career exploration, vocational train19 ing, job placement and retention, access and transi20 tion to higher education programs, training in daily 

21 living skills, training in budgeting and financial 

22 management skills, substance abuse prevention, and 

23 preventive health activities. 

24 ‘‘(3) Transition services offered to youth in fos25 ter care and to young adults who have left foster 
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1 care but have not attained 21 years of age, broken 

2 down by type of service and the age at which the 

3 services are offered. 

4 ‘‘(4) Methods used by the State to ensure that 

5 youth are informed of all support and services for 

6 which they are eligible.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF CASE PLAN REQUIREMENTS. 

8 Section 475(1)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 675(1)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(D) Where appropriate, for a child who 

11 has attained 14 years of age (and, at State op12 tion, any other child), a written description of 

13 the programs and services that will facilitate 

14 the transition of the child from foster care to 

15 independent living, including a discussion of the 

16 appropriateness of the services that have been 

17 provided to the child under the plan. The plan 

18 for these youth shall also include documentation 

19 of the steps the agency is taking to find a per20 manent placement with a family or other adult 

21 connection for the youth.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF PROGRAM EVALUATIONS. 

23 Section 477(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 677(g)(1)) is amended— 
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1 (1) in the 1st sentence, by inserting ‘‘, and of 

2 model programs that focus on improving outcomes 

3 for youth aging out of care in the areas of youth 

4 education, employment, personal development, and 

5 housing’’ after ‘‘significance’’; 

6 (2) in the 2nd sentence, by inserting ‘‘mental 

7 and physical health,’’ after ‘‘employment,’’; and 

8 (3) in the 3rd sentence, by inserting ‘‘, where 

9 practicable,’’ before ‘‘random assignment’’. 

10 SEC. 7. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY. 

11 Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 677) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘18’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘14’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (i)(2), by striking ‘‘youths 

16 adopted from foster care after attaining age 16’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘youths in or exiting from foster care after 

18 attaining 14 years of age’’. 

19 SEC. 8. COMPLETION OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH IN TRANSI20 TION DATABASE. 

21 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— 

22 (1) within 6 months after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, issue a notice of proposed rule24 making governing implementation of the plan re-
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1 ferred to in section 477(f)(1)(C) of the Social Secu2 rity Act; 

3 (2) within 9 months after such date of enact4 ment, issue a final rule governing the implementa5 tion; 

6 (3) within 1 year after such date of enactment, 

7 implement the plan. 

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