II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1511 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to remove barriers 

to the adoption of children in foster care through reauthorization and 

improvement of the adoption incentives program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to remove barriers to the adoption of children in foster 

care through reauthorization and improvement of the 

adoption incentives program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Removing Barriers to 

5 Adoption and Supporting Families Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ADOPTION INCENTIVE PAY2 MENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 473A of the Social Secu4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 673b) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)(5), by striking ‘‘2008 

6 through 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2013 through 2017’’; 

7 and 

8 (2) in subsection (h)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking 

10 ‘‘2013’’ and inserting ‘‘2018’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2013’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘2018’’. 

13 SEC. 3. ENCOURAGEMENT OF INTERSTATE ADOPTIONS. 

14 (a) ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE PAYMENT FOR SENDING

15 AND RECEIVING STATES OF AN INTERSTATE ADOP16 TION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 473A(d) of the So18 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673b(d)) is amended— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (i) in the matter preceding subpara21 graph (A), by striking ‘‘and (3)’’ and in22 serting ‘‘(3), and (4)’’; 

23 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

24 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

25 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

26 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) subject to paragraph (4), $8,000 

4 multiplied by the amount (if any) by which the 

5 number of interstate adoptions in the State 

6 during the fiscal year exceeds the base number 

7 of interstate adoptions for the State for the fis8 cal year.’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) SENDING AND RECEIVING STATES SHAR11 ING OF INTERSTATE ADOPTION INCENTIVE PAY12 MENT.—The Secretary shall pay each State that was 

13 a receiving State for an interstate adoptive place14 ment for a fiscal year, a pro rata share of the por15 tion of the adoption incentive payment paid to the 

16 sending State for the fiscal year under this section 

17 that is attributable to the amount determined under 

18 paragraph (1)(D).’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

20 473A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 673b) is amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (b)(2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

23 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

25 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(D) the number of interstate adoptions in 

4 the State during the fiscal year exceeds the 

5 base number of interstate adoptions for the 

6 State in the fiscal year;’’; and 

7 (B) in subsection (g), by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(9) BASE NUMBER OF INTERSTATE ADOP10 TIONS.—The term ‘base number of interstate adop11 tions for a State’ means, with respect to any fiscal 

12 year, the number of interstate child adoptions in the 

13 State in fiscal year 2012. 

14 ‘‘(10) INTERSTATE ADOPTIONS.—The term 

15 ‘interstate adoptions’ means the final adoption of a 

16 child who, at the time of adoptive placement out-of17 State, was in foster care under the supervision of 

18 the State or for whom an adoption assistance agree19 ment was in effect under section 473 with respect to 

20 the child. 

21 ‘‘(11) RECEIVING STATE.—The term ‘receiving 

22 State’ means the State in which the adoptive parents 

23 reside at the time of final adoption of a child from 

24 another State. 


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1 ‘‘(12) SENDING STATE.—The term ‘sending 

2 State’ means the State in which the child resided be3 fore being placed for an adoption in another State.’’. 

4 (b) REQUIREMENT TO REPORT DATA ON INTER5 STATE ADOPTIONS.—Section 473A(c) of such Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 673b(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATION OF NUMBERS OF INTER9 STATE ADOPTIONS BASED ON STATE REPORTING OF

10 DATA.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State is in compli12 ance with this subsection for a fiscal year if the 

13 State has provided to the Secretary the fol14 lowing data with respect to the preceding fiscal 

15 year: 

16 ‘‘(i) The total number of interstate 

17 adoptions completed by the State with re18 spect to children in foster care under the 

19 responsibility of the State, and with re20 spect to each such adoption the identity of 

21 the other State involved. 

22 ‘‘(ii) The total number of adoptions 

23 completed by the State with respect to chil24 dren who were in foster care under the re25 sponsibility of other States, and with reVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:00 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1511.IS S1511

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1 spect to each such adoption, the identity of 

2 the other State involved. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Such other information as the 

4 Secretary may require in order to deter5 mine whether the State is eligible for an 

6 adoption incentive payment under sub7 section (d)(1)(D) for the fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(B) VERIFICATION OF DATA.—The Sec9 retary shall verify the data submitted by a 

10 State under subparagraph (A).’’. 

11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR STATE HOME STUDIES. 

12 (a) NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR STATE HOME STUD13 IES.—Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 676) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR STATE HOME

16 STUDIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

19 Secretary shall develop national standards for home 

20 studies for use in evaluating potential foster and 

21 adoptive parents. In developing these standards, the 

22 Secretary shall consult with a working group com23 posed of representatives of the adoption and foster 

24 care community, experts in the field of social work, 


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1 State child welfare leaders and other qualified indi2 viduals. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC REVIEW AND UPDATING.—The 

4 Secretary shall periodically review and update, as 

5 appropriate, the standards developed under this sub6 section.’’. 

7 (b) ENHANCED MATCHING RATE FOR STATES

8 ADOPTING HOME STUDY IN COMPLIANCE WITH NA9 TIONAL STANDARDS.—Section 474 of the Social Security 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 674) is amended— 

11 (1) in each of paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub12 section (a), by inserting ‘‘subject to subsection (h),’’ 

13 before ‘‘an amount equal to the Federal’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(h) The percentage applicable under paragraphs (1) 

16 and (2) of subsection (a) for amounts expended during 

17 a quarter by a State or the District of Columbia, or, in 

18 the case of an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal 

19 consortium that has elected to operate a program under 

20 this part in accordance with section 479B, the tribal 

21 FMAP, referred to in such paragraphs, shall be increased 

22 by 5 percentage points for each quarter that begins on 

23 or after the effective date of an election by the State, Dis24 trict of Columbia, or Indian tribe, tribal organization, or 

25 tribal consortium operating a program under this part in 


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1 accordance with section 479B, to use the home study 

2 standards developed under section 476(d).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. LIMITING ANOTHER PLANNED PERMANENT LIVING 

4 ARRANGEMENT AS A PERMANENCY OPTION. 

5 (a) ELIMINATION OF OPTION FOR CHILDREN UNDER

6 AGE 17.—Section 475(5)(C) of the Social Security Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘only if 

8 the child has attained age 17’’ before ‘‘(in cases where 

9 the State agency has documented’’. 

10 (b) GAO REPORT ON USE OF ANOTHER PLANNED

11 PERMANENT LIVING ARRANGEMENT PLACEMENTS.—The 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

13 a study and submit a report to Congress regarding— 

14 (1) the number of children in each State (as de15 fined for purposes of parts B and E of title IV of 

16 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 

17 et seq.)) that are assigned a permanency goal of an18 other planned permanent living arrangement for the 

19 most recent fiscal year for which data are available; 

20 (2) with respect to such fiscal years and on a 

21 State-by-State basis, the ages, gender, race, and spe22 cial needs of children whose permanency goal is an23 other planned permanent living arrangement; 

24 (3) a review and analysis of court practices for 

25 determining that another planned permanent living 


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1 arrangement is the appropriate placement for a 

2 child; 

3 (4) information with respect to foster youths’ 

4 involvement in deciding to enter into a permanency 

5 goal of another planned permanent living arrange6 ment, including, but not limited to, how another 

7 planned permanent living arrangement is presented 

8 as an option to foster youth, how involved foster 

9 youth are in selecting the option, and what alter10 native options are offered instead of another planned 

11 permanent living arrangement; and 

12 (5) a summary of the reasons that reunifica13 tion, adoption, kinship care, or guardianship were 

14 not found to be in the best interests of the child. 

15 SEC. 6. INCREASED FUNDING SUPPORT FOR POST-ADOP16 TION AND POST-PERMANENCY SERVICES. 

17 (a) DEDICATED USE OF PORTION OF SAVINGS FROM

18 ADOPTION ASSISTANCE DE-LINKAGE FOR POST-ADOP19 TION AND POST-PERMANENCY SERVICES.—Section 

20 473(a)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)(8)) 

21 is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(8)’’; 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘(including post-adoption serv24 ices)’’; 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘, including on post-adoption 

2 services.’’ and inserting ‘‘. A State shall spend an 

3 amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of such 

4 savings to provide post-adoption and post-perma5 nency services to children or families and shall docu6 ment how such amounts are spent.’’; and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish a formula 

9 for States to use to calculate the amount of savings 

10 in State expenditures under this part resulting from 

11 the application of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) to all applica12 ble children for a fiscal year based on the State and 

13 Federal shares of expenditures for adoption assist14 ance payments under this section as of fiscal year 

15 2009.’’. 

16 (b) DEDICATED USES OF PROMOTING SAFE AND

17 STABLE FAMILIES FUNDS INCLUDING FOR POST-ADOP18 TION AND POST-PERMANENCY SERVICES.—Section 

19 432(a)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 629b(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(4) contains assurances that not more than 10 

22 percent of the expenditures under the plan for any 

23 fiscal year with respect to which the State is eligible 

24 for payment under section 434 for the fiscal year 

25 shall be for administrative costs, and 20 percent of 


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1 remaining expenditures shall be for programs of 

2 family preservation services, 20 percent for commu3 nity based family support services, 20 percent for 

4 time-limited family reunification services, 10 percent 

5 for adoption promotion, and 10 percent for post6 adoption and post-permanency services;’’. 

7 (c) POST-ADOPTION AND POST-PERMANENCY SERV8 ICES DEFINED.—Section 431(a) of the Social Security Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(10) POST-ADOPTION AND POST-PERMANENCY

12 SERVICES.—The term ‘post-adoption and post-per13 manency services’ means services for children placed 

14 in adoptive, kinship, or guardianship placements and 

15 their families, and may include any or all of the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(A) Individual counseling. 

18 ‘‘(B) Group counseling. 

19 ‘‘(C) Family counseling. 

20 ‘‘(D) Case management. 

21 ‘‘(E) Respite care. 

22 ‘‘(F) Training of public adoption per23 sonnel, personnel of private child welfare and 

24 adoption agencies licensed by the State to pro25 vide adoption services, mental health services 


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1 professionals, and other support personnel to 

2 provide services under this part and part E. 

3 ‘‘(G) Assistance to adoptive parent organi4 zations. 

5 ‘‘(H) Assistance to support groups for 

6 adoptive parents, adopted children, and siblings 

7 of adopted children. 

8 ‘‘(I) Rigorous evaluations of post-adoption 

9 and post-permanency services.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT OF ROBUST, COM11 PREHENSIVE PRACTICE MODELS OF ADOP12 TIONS FROM FOSTER CARE. 

13 (a) STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Section 471(a) of 

14 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (32), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

16 the semicolon; 

17 (2) in paragraph (33), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(34) provides that the State will engage in 

21 public-private partnerships to promote evidence22 based child-focused recruitment practices that focus 

23 measurable attention on the adoption of children out 

24 of foster care with an emphasis on those children 

25 most at risk of aging out of care .’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

2 Health and Human Services shall provide guidance and 

3 technical assistance to State child welfare agencies on the 

4 use of Federal funds available under section 474 (a)(3)(B) 

5 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)(B)) for 

6 training for the implementation of intensive recruitment 

7 and child-focused strategies that have been shown to in8 crease permanent placements for older youth in foster 

9 care. 

10 SEC. 8. ENCOURAGING PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN WITH 

11 SIBLINGS. 

12 (a) STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Section 471(a)(29) 

13 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(29)) is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘all adult grandparents’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘notice to the following relatives: all adult grand16 parents, all parents of the child’s siblings, where such par17 ent has legal custody of such sibling,’’. 

18 (b) DEFINITION OF SIBLINGS.—Section 475 of the 

19 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(9) The term ‘siblings’ means individuals who 

22 satisfy at least one of the following conditions: 

23 ‘‘(A) The individuals are considered by 

24 State law to be siblings. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The individuals would have been con2 sidered siblings under State law but for termi3 nation of parental rights or other disruption of 

4 parental rights, such as the death of a parent.’’. 

5 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), the amendments made this Act shall take effect on 

8 October 1, 2013. 

9 (b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE10 QUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved under part 

11 B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act which the 

12 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines re13 quires State legislation (other than legislation appro14 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the additional 

15 requirements imposed by this Act, the State plan shall not 

16 be regarded as failing to comply with the requirements of 

17 such part solely on the basis of the failure of the plan 

18 to meet such additional requirements before the 1st day 

19 of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the close of 

20 the 1st regular session of the State legislature that ends 

21 after the 1-year period beginning with the date of the en22 actment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding sen23 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative 

24 session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate 

25 regular session of the State legislature. 


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1 SEC. 10. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

2 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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