I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5369

To improve the administrative efficiency and effectiveness of the Nation’s

abuse and neglect courts and for other purposes consistent with the

Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 3, 2000

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio (for herself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. CAMP, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, and Mr. EWING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To improve the administrative efficiency and effectiveness

of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts and for other

purposes consistent with the Adoption and Safe Families

Act of 1997.

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 Abuse

5 and Neglect Courts Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Under both Federal and State law, the

2 courts play a crucial and essential role in the Na3 tion’s child welfare system and in ensuring safety,

4 stability, and permanence for abused and neglected

5 children under the supervision of that system.

6 (2) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

7 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115) estab8 lishes explicitly for the first time in Federal law that

9 a child’s health and safety must be the paramount

10 consideration when any decision is made regarding a

11 child in the Nation’s child welfare system.

12 (3) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

13 1997 promotes stability and permanence for abused

14 and neglected children by requiring timely decision15 making in proceedings to determine whether children

16 can safely return to their families or whether they

17 should be moved into safe and stable adoptive homes

18 or other permanent family arrangements outside the

19 foster care system.

20 (4) To avoid unnecessary and lengthy stays in

21 the foster care system, the Adoption and Safe Fami22 lies Act of 1997 specifically requires, among other

23 things, that States move to terminate the parental

24 rights of the parents of those children who have

25 been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months.
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1 (5) While essential to protect children and to

2 carry out the general purposes of the Adoption and

3 Safe Families Act of 1997, the accelerated timelines

4 for the termination of parental rights and the other

5 requirements imposed under that Act increase the

6 pressure on the Nation’s already overburdened abuse

7 and neglect courts.

8 (6) The administrative efficiency and effective9 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

10 be substantially improved by the acquisition and im11 plementation of computerized case-tracking systems

12 to identify and eliminate existing backlogs, to move

13 abuse and neglect caseloads forward in a timely

14 manner, and to move children into safe and stable

15 families. Such systems could also be used to evaluate

16 the effectiveness of such courts in meeting the pur17 poses of the amendments made by, and provisions

18 of, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

19 (7) The administrative efficiency and effective20 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

21 also be improved by the identification and implemen22 tation of projects designed to eliminate the backlog

23 of abuse and neglect cases, including the temporary

24 hiring of additional judges, extension of court hours,
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1 and other projects designed to reduce existing case2 loads.

3 (8) The administrative efficiency and effective4 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

5 be further strengthened by improving the quality

6 and availability of training for judges, court per7 sonnel, agency attorneys, guardians ad litem, volun8 teers who participate in court-appointed special ad9 vocate (CASA) programs, and attorneys who rep10 resent the children and the parents of children in

11 abuse and neglect proceedings.

12 (9) While recognizing that abuse and neglect

13 courts in this country are already committed to the

14 quality administration of justice, the performance of

15 such courts would be even further enhanced by the

16 development of models and educational opportunities

17 that reinforce court projects that have already been

18 developed, including models for case-flow procedures,

19 case management, representation of children, auto20 mated interagency interfaces, and ‘‘best practices’’

21 standards.

22 (10) Judges, magistrates, commissioners, and

23 other judicial officers play a central and vital role in

24 ensuring that proceedings in our Nation’s abuse and

25 neglect courts are run efficiently and effectively. The
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1 performance of those individuals in such courts can

2 only be further enhanced by training, seminars, and

3 an ongoing opportunity to exchange ideas with their

4 peers.

5 (11) Volunteers who participate in court-ap6 pointed special advocate (CASA) programs play a

7 vital role as the eyes and ears of abuse and neglect

8 courts in proceedings conducted by, or under the su9 pervision of, such courts and also bring increased

10 public scrutiny of the abuse and neglect court sys11 tem. The Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

12 benefit from an expansion of this program to cur13 rently underserved communities.

14 (12) Improved computerized case-tracking sys15 tems, comprehensive training, and development of,

16 and education on, model abuse and neglect court

17 systems, particularly with respect to underserved

18 areas, would significantly further the purposes of the

19 Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 by reducing

20 the average length of an abused and neglected

21 child’s stay in foster care, improving the quality of

22 decision-making and court services provided to chil23 dren and families, and increasing the number of

24 adoptions.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (a) ABUSE AND NEGLECT COURTS.—The term

4 ‘‘abuse and neglect courts’’ means the State and local

5 courts that carry out State or local laws requiring pro6 ceedings (conducted by or under the supervision of the

7 courts)—

8 (1) that implement part B and part E of title

9 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.;

10 670 et seq.) (including preliminary disposition of

11 such proceedings);

12 (2) that determine whether a child was abused

13 or neglected;

14 (3) that determine the advisability or appro15 priateness of placement in a family foster home,

16 group home, or a special residential care facility; or

17 (4) that determine any other legal disposition of

18 a child in the abuse and neglect court system.

19 (b) AGENCY ATTORNEY.—The term ‘‘agency attor20 ney’’ means an attorney or other individual, including any

21 government attorney, district attorney, attorney general,

22 State attorney, county attorney, city solicitor or attorney,

23 corporation counsel, or privately retained special pros24 ecutor, who represents the State or local agency adminis25 trating the programs under parts B and E of title IV of

26 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.; 670 et
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1 seq.) in a proceeding conducted by, or under the super2 vision of, an abuse and neglect court, including a pro3 ceeding for termination of parental rights.

4 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE COURTS AND LOCAL COURTS TO

5 AUTOMATE THE DATA COLLECTION AND

6 TRACKING OF PROCEEDINGS IN ABUSE AND

7 NEGLECT COURTS.

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

10 the Attorney General, acting through the Office of

11 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the

12 Office of Justice Programs, shall award grants in

13 accordance with this section to State courts and

14 local courts for the purposes of—

15 (A) enabling such courts to develop and

16 implement automated data collection and case17 tracking systems for proceedings conducted by,

18 or under the supervision of, an abuse and ne19 glect court;

20 (B) encouraging the replication of such

21 systems in abuse and neglect courts in other ju22 risdictions; and

23 (C) requiring the use of such systems to

24 evaluate a court’s performance in implementing

25 the requirements of parts B and E of title IV
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1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et

2 seq.; 670 et seq.).

3 (2) LIMITATIONS.—

4 (A) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Not less than

5 20 nor more than 50 grants may be awarded

6 under this section.

7 (B) PER STATE LIMITATION.—Not more

8 than 2 grants authorized under this section

9 may be awarded per State.

10 (C) USE OF GRANTS.—Funds provided

11 under a grant made under this section may only

12 be used for the purpose of developing, imple13 menting, or enhancing automated data collec14 tion and case-tracking systems for proceedings

15 conducted by, or under the supervision of, an

16 abuse and neglect court.

17 (b) APPLICATION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State court or local court

19 may submit an application for a grant authorized

20 under this section at such time and in such manner

21 as the Attorney General may determine.

22 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—An application

23 for a grant authorized under this section shall con24 tain the following:
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1 (A) A description of a proposed plan for

2 the development, implementation, and mainte3 nance of an automated data collection and case4 tracking system for proceedings conducted by,

5 or under the supervision of, an abuse and ne6 glect court, including a proposed budget for the

7 plan and a request for a specific funding

8 amount.

9 (B) A description of the extent to which

10 such plan and system are able to be replicated

11 in abuse and neglect courts of other jurisdic12 tions that specifies the common case-tracking

13 data elements of the proposed system, includ14 ing, at a minimum—

15 (i) identification of relevant judges,

16 court, and agency personnel;

17 (ii) records of all court proceedings

18 with regard to the abuse and neglect case,

19 including all court findings and orders

20 (oral and written); and

21 (iii) relevant information about the

22 subject child, including family information

23 and the reason for court supervision.

24 (C) In the case of an application submitted

25 by a local court, a description of how the plan
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1 to implement the proposed system was devel2 oped in consultation with related State courts,

3 particularly with regard to a State court im4 provement plan funded under section 13712 of

5 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993

6 (42 U.S.C. 670 note) if there is such a plan in

7 the State.

8 (D) In the case of an application that is

9 submitted by a State court, a description of

10 how the proposed system will integrate with a

11 State court improvement plan funded under

12 section 13712 of such Act if there is such a

13 plan in the State.

14 (E) After consultation with the State agen15 cy responsible for the administration of parts B

16 and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42

17 U.S.C. 620 et seq.; 670 et seq.)—

18 (i) a description of the coordination of

19 the proposed system with other child wel20 fare data collection systems, including the

21 Statewide automated child welfare infor22 mation system (SACWIS) and the adop23 tion and foster care analysis and reporting

24 system (AFCARS) established pursuant to
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1 section 479 of the Social Security Act (42

2 U.S.C. 679); and

3 (ii) an assurance that such coordina4 tion will be implemented and maintained.

5 (F) Identification of an independent third

6 party that will conduct ongoing evaluations of

7 the feasibility and implementation of the plan

8 and system and a description of the plan for

9 conducting such evaluations.

10 (G) A description or identification of a

11 proposed funding source for completion of the

12 plan (if applicable) and maintenance of the sys13 tem after the conclusion of the period for which

14 the grant is to be awarded.

15 (H) An assurance that any contract en16 tered into between the State court or local court

17 and any other entity that is to provide services

18 for the development, implementation, or mainte19 nance of the system under the proposed plan

20 will require the entity to agree to allow for rep21 lication of the services provided, the plan, and

22 the system, and to refrain from asserting any

23 proprietary interest in such services for pur24 poses of allowing the plan and system to be rep25 licated in another jurisdiction.
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1 (I) An assurance that the system estab2 lished under the plan will provide data that al3 lows for evaluation (at least on an annual basis)

4 of the following information:

5 (i) The total number of cases that are

6 filed in the abuse and neglect court.

7 (ii) The number of cases assigned to

8 each judge who presides over the abuse

9 and neglect court.

10 (iii) The average length of stay of

11 children in foster care.

12 (iv) With respect to each child under

13 the jurisdiction of the court—

14 (I) the number of episodes of

15 placement in foster care;

16 (II) the number of days placed in

17 foster care and the type of placement

18 (foster family home, group home, or

19 special residential care facility);

20 (III) the number of days of in21 home supervision; and

22 (IV) the number of separate fos23 ter care placements.
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1 (v) The number of adoptions,

2 guardianships, or other permanent disposi3 tions finalized.

4 (vi) The number of terminations of

5 parental rights.

6 (vii) The number of child abuse and

7 neglect proceedings closed that had been

8 pending for 2 or more years.

9 (viii) With respect to each proceeding

10 conducted by, or under the supervision of,

11 an abuse and neglect court—

12 (I) the timeliness of each stage of

13 the proceeding from initial filing

14 through legal finalization of a perma15 nency plan (for both contested and

16 uncontested hearings);

17 (II) the number of adjournments,

18 delays, and continuances occurring

19 during the proceeding, including iden20 tification of the party requesting each

21 adjournment, delay, or continuance

22 and the reasons given for the request;

23 (III) the number of courts that

24 conduct or supervise the proceeding
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1 for the duration of the abuse and ne2 glect case;

3 (IV) the number of judges as4 signed to the proceeding for the dura5 tion of the abuse and neglect case;

6 and

7 (V) the number of agency attor8 neys, children’s attorneys, parent’s at9 torneys, guardians ad litem, and vol10 unteers participating in a court-ap11 pointed special advocate (CASA) pro12 gram assigned to the proceeding dur13 ing the duration of the abuse and ne14 glect case.

15 (J) A description of how the proposed sys16 tem will reduce the need for paper files and en17 sure prompt action so that cases are appro18 priately listed with national and regional adop19 tion exchanges, and public and private adoption

20 services.

21 (K) An assurance that the data collected in

22 accordance with subparagraph (I) will be made

23 available to relevant Federal, State, and local

24 government agencies and to the public.
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1 (L) An assurance that the proposed system

2 is consistent with other civil and criminal infor3 mation requirements of the Federal govern4 ment.

5 (M) An assurance that the proposed sys6 tem will provide notice of timeframes required

7 under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of

8 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115) for

9 individual cases to ensure prompt attention and

10 compliance with such requirements.

11 (c) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICA12 TIONS.—

13 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State court or local

15 court awarded a grant under this section shall

16 expend $1 for every $3 awarded under the

17 grant to carry out the development, implemen18 tation, and maintenance of the automated data

19 collection and case-tracking system under the

20 proposed plan.

21 (B) WAIVER FOR HARDSHIP.—The Attor22 ney General may waive or modify the matching

23 requirement described in subparagraph (A) in

24 the case of any State court or local court that

25 the Attorney General determines would suffer
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1 undue hardship as a result of being subject to

2 the requirement.

3 (C) NON-FEDERAL EXPENDITURES.—

4 (i) CASH OR IN KIND.—State court or

5 local court expenditures required under

6 subparagraph (A) may be in cash or in

7 kind, fairly evaluated, including plant,

8 equipment, or services.

9 (ii) NO CREDIT FOR PRE-AWARD EX10 PENDITURES.—Only State court or local

11 court expenditures made after a grant has

12 been awarded under this section may be

13 counted for purposes of determining

14 whether the State court or local court has

15 satisfied the matching expenditure require16 ment under subparagraph (A).

17 (2) NOTIFICATION TO STATE OR APPROPRIATE

18 CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—No application for a

19 grant authorized under this section may be approved

20 unless the State court or local court submitting the

21 application demonstrates to the satisfaction of the

22 Attorney General that the court has provided the

23 State, in the case of a State court, or the appro24 priate child welfare agency, in the case of a local
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1 court, with notice of the contents and submission of

2 the application.

3 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In evaluating an appli4 cation for a grant under this section the Attorney

5 General shall consider the following:

6 (A) The extent to which the system pro7 posed in the application may be replicated in

8 other jurisdictions.

9 (B) The extent to which the proposed sys10 tem is consistent with the provisions of, and

11 amendments made by, the Adoption and Safe

12 Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111

13 Stat. 2115), and parts B and E of title IV of

14 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.;

15 670 et seq.).

16 (C) The extent to which the proposed sys17 tem is feasible and likely to achieve the pur18 poses described in subsection (a)(1).

19 (4) DIVERSITY OF AWARDS.—The Attorney

20 General shall award grants under this section in a

21 manner that results in a reasonable balance among

22 grants awarded to State courts and grants awarded

23 to local courts, grants awarded to courts located in

24 urban areas and courts located in rural areas, and

25 grants awarded in diverse geographical locations.
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1 (d) LENGTH OF AWARDS.—No grant may be award2 ed under this section for a period of more than 5 years.

3 (e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds provided to a

4 State court or local court under a grant awarded under

5 this section shall remain available until expended without

6 fiscal year limitation.

7 (f) REPORTS.—

8 (1) ANNUAL REPORT FROM GRANTEES.—Each

9 State court or local court that is awarded a grant

10 under this section shall submit an annual report to

11 the Attorney General that contains—

12 (A) a description of the ongoing results of

13 the independent evaluation of the plan for, and

14 implementation of, the automated data collec15 tion and case-tracking system funded under the

16 grant; and

17 (B) the information described in subsection

18 (b)(2)(I).

19 (2) INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS FROM AT20 TORNEY GENERAL.—

21 (A) INTERIM REPORTS.—Beginning 2

22 years after the date of enactment of this Act,

23 and biannually thereafter until a final report is

24 submitted in accordance with subparagraph

25 (B), the Attorney General shall submit to Con-
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1 gress interim reports on the grants made under

2 this section.

3 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90

4 days after the termination of all grants awarded

5 under this section, the Attorney General shall

6 submit to Congress a final report evaluating the

7 automated data collection and case-tracking

8 systems funded under such grants and identi9 fying successful models of such systems that

10 are suitable for replication in other jurisdic11 tions. The Attorney General shall ensure that a

12 copy of such final report is transmitted to the

13 highest State court in each State.

14 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

16 $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2001 through

17 2005.

18 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO REDUCE PENDING BACKLOGS OF

19 ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES TO PROMOTE

20 PERMANENCY FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED

21 CHILDREN.

22 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The Attorney

23 General, acting through the Office of Juvenile Justice and

24 Delinquency Prevention of the Office of Justice Programs

25 and in collaboration with the Secretary of Health and
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1 Human Services, shall award grants in accordance with

2 this section to State courts and local courts for the pur3 poses of—

4 (1) promoting the permanency goals established

5 in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

6 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115); and

7 (2) enabling such courts to reduce existing

8 backlogs of cases pending in abuse and neglect

9 courts, especially with respect to cases to terminate

10 parental rights and cases in which parental rights to

11 a child have been terminated but an adoption of the

12 child has not yet been finalized.

13 (b) APPLICATION.—A State court or local court shall

14 submit an application for a grant under this section, in

15 such form and manner as the Attorney General shall re16 quire, that contains a description of the following:

17 (1) The barriers to achieving the permanency

18 goals established in the Adoption and Safe Families

19 Act of 1997 that have been identified.

20 (2) The size and nature of the backlogs of chil21 dren awaiting termination of parental rights or final22 ization of adoption.

23 (3) The strategies the State court or local court

24 proposes to use to reduce such backlogs and the plan

25 and timetable for doing so.
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1 (4) How the grant funds requested will be used

2 to assist the implementation of the strategies de3 scribed in paragraph (3).

4 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under a grant

5 awarded under this section may be used for any purpose

6 that the Attorney General determines is likely to success7 fully achieve the purposes described in subsection (a), in8 cluding temporarily—

9 (1) establishing night court sessions for abuse

10 and neglect courts;

11 (2) hiring additional judges, magistrates, com12 missioners, hearing officers, referees, special mas13 ters, and other judicial personnel for such courts;

14 (3) hiring personnel such as clerks, administra15 tive support staff, case managers, mediators, and at16 torneys for such courts; or

17 (4) extending the operating hours of such

18 courts.

19 (d) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Not less than 15 nor

20 more than 20 grants shall be awarded under this section.

21 (e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded

22 under a grant made under this section shall remain avail23 able for expenditure by a grantee for a period not to ex24 ceed 3 years from the date of the grant award.
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1 (f) REPORT ON USE OF FUNDS.—Not later than the

2 date that is halfway through the period for which a grant

3 is awarded under this section, and 90 days after the end

4 of such period, a State court or local court awarded a

5 grant under this section shall submit a report to the Attor6 ney General that includes the following:

7 (1) The barriers to the permanency goals estab8 lished in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of

9 1997 that are or have been addressed with grant

10 funds.

11 (2) The nature of the backlogs of children that

12 were pursued with grant funds.

13 (3) The specific strategies used to reduce such

14 backlogs.

15 (4) The progress that has been made in reduc16 ing such backlogs, including the number of children

17 in such backlogs—

18 (A) whose parental rights have been termi19 nated; and

20 (B) whose adoptions have been finalized.

21 (5) Any additional information that the Attor22 ney General determines would assist jurisdictions in

23 achieving the permanency goals established in the

24 Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There are

2 authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal years

3 2001 and 2002 $10,000,000 for the purpose of making

4 grants under this section.

5 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO EXPAND THE COURT-APPOINTED SPE6 CIAL ADVOCATE PROGRAM IN UNDERSERVED

7 AREAS.

8 (a) GRANTS TO EXPAND CASA PROGRAMS IN UN9 DERSERVED AREAS.—The Administrator of the Office of

10 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the De11 partment of Justice shall make a grant to the National

12 Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association for the pur13 poses of—

14 (1) expanding the recruitment of, and building

15 the capacity of, court-appointed special advocate

16 programs located in the 15 largest urban areas;

17 (2) developing regional, multijurisdictional

18 court-appointed special advocate programs serving

19 rural areas; and

20 (3) providing training and supervision of volun21 teers in court-appointed special advocate programs.

22 (b) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI23 TURES.—Not more than 5 percent of the grant made

24 under this subsection may be used for administrative ex25 penditures.
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1 (c) DETERMINATION OF URBAN AND RURAL

2 AREAS.—For purposes of administering the grant author3 ized under this subsection, the Administrator of the Office

4 of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the De5 partment of Justice shall determine whether an area is

6 one of the 15 largest urban areas or a rural area in ac7 cordance with the practices of, and statistical information

8 compiled by, the Bureau of the Census.

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

10 authorized to be appropriated to make the grant author11 ized under this section, $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal

12 years 2001 and 2002.

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