II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1683

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States

to regard adult relatives who meet State child protection standards

as the preferred placement option for children, and to provide for demonstration projects to test the feasibility of establishing kinship care

as an alternative to foster care for a child who has adult relatives

willing to provide safe and appropriate care for the child.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 18, 1996

Mr. WYDEN 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 require States to regard adult relatives who meet

State child protection standards as the preferred placement option for children, and to provide for demonstration projects to test the feasibility of establishing kinship

care as an alternative to foster care for a child who

has adult relatives willing to provide safe and appropriate

care for the child.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. ADULT RELATIVES WHO MEET RELEVANT

2 STATE CHILD PROTECTION STANDARDS TO

3 BE REGARDED AS THE PREFERRED PLACE4 MENT OPTION FOR CHILDREN.

5 Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

6 671(a)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

8 (16);

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (17) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

12 ‘‘(18) provides that, where appropriate and

13 timely, the adult relatives of a child will be involved

14 in determining a safe and appropriate placement for

15 the child, and that placement with such relatives will

16 be the preferred placement option for the child if

17 such relatives meet all child protection standards of

18 the State.’’.

19 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

20 Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42

21 U.S.C. 670–679) is amended by inserting after section

22 477 the following:

23 ‘‘SEC. 478. KINSHIP CARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

24 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to

25 allow and encourage States to develop effective alter26 natives to foster care for children who might be eligible
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1 for foster care but who have adult relatives who can pro2 vide safe and appropriate care for the child.

3 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary

4 may authorize any State to conduct a demonstration

5 project designed to determine whether it is feasible to es6 tablish kinship care as an alternative to foster care for

7 a child who—

8 ‘‘(1) has been removed from home as a result

9 of a judicial determination that continuation in the

10 home would be contrary to the welfare of the child;

11 ‘‘(2) would otherwise be placed in foster care;

12 and

13 ‘‘(3) has adult relatives willing to provide safe

14 and appropriate care for the child.

15 ‘‘(c) KINSHIP CARE DEFINED.—As used in this sec16 tion, the term ‘kinship care’ means safe and appropriate

17 care (including long-term care) of a child by 1 or more

18 adult relatives of the child who have legal custody of the

19 child, or physical custody of the child pending transfer to

20 the adult relative of legal custody of the child.

21 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—In any demonstra22 tion project authorized to be conducted under this section,

23 the State—
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1 ‘‘(1) should examine the provision of alternative

2 financial and service supports to families providing

3 kinship care; and

4 ‘‘(2) shall establish such procedures as may be

5 necessary to assure the safety of children who are

6 placed in kinship care.

7 ‘‘(e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may waive

8 compliance with any requirement of this part which (if ap9 plied) would prevent a State from carrying out a dem10 onstration project under this section or prevent the State

11 from effectively achieving the purpose of such a project,

12 except that the Secretary may not waive—

13 ‘‘(1) any provision of section 427 (as in effect

14 before April 1, 1996), section 422(b)(9) (as in effect

15 after such date), section 479, or this section; or

16 ‘‘(2) any provision of this part, to the extent

17 that the waiver would impair the entitlement of any

18 qualified child or family to benefits under a State

19 plan approved under this part.

20 ‘‘(f) PAYMENTS TO STATES; COST NEUTRALITY.—In

21 lieu of any payment under section 473 for expenses in22 curred by a State during a quarter with respect to a dem23 onstration project authorized to be conducted under this

24 section, the Secretary shall pay to the State an amount

25 equal to the total amount that would be paid to the State
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1 for the quarter under this part, in the absence of the

2 project, with respect to the children and families partici3 pating in the project.

4 ‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—A State may use funds paid

5 under this section for any purpose related to the provision

6 of services and financial support for families participating

7 in a demonstration project under this section.

8 ‘‘(h) DURATION OF PROJECT.—A demonstration

9 project under this section may be conducted for not more

10 than 5 years.

11 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—Any State seeking to conduct a

12 demonstration project under this section shall submit to

13 the Secretary an application, in such form as the Sec14 retary may require, which includes—

15 ‘‘(1) a description of the proposed project, the

16 geographic area in which the proposed project would

17 be conducted, the children or families who would be

18 served by the proposed project, the procedures to be

19 used to assure the safety of such children, and the

20 services which would be provided by the proposed

21 project (which shall provide, where appropriate, for

22 random assignment of children and families to

23 groups served under the project and to control

24 groups);
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1 ‘‘(2) a statement of the period during which the

2 proposed project would be conducted, and how, at

3 the termination of the project, the safety and stabil4 ity of the children and families who participated in

5 the project will be protected;

6 ‘‘(3) a discussion of the benefits that are ex7 pected from the proposed project (compared to a

8 continuation of activities under the State plan ap9 proved under this part);

10 ‘‘(4) an estimate of the savings to the State of

11 the proposed project;

12 ‘‘(5) a statement of program requirements for

13 which waivers would be needed to permit the pro14 posed project to be conducted;

15 ‘‘(6) a description of the proposed evaluation

16 design; and

17 ‘‘(7) such additional information as the Sec18 retary may require.

19 ‘‘(j) STATE EVALUATIONS AND REPORTS.—Each

20 State authorized to conduct a demonstration project under

21 this section shall—

22 ‘‘(1) obtain an evaluation by an independent

23 contractor of the effectiveness of the project, using

24 an evaluation design approved by the Secretary

25 which provides for—
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1 ‘‘(A) comparison of outcomes for children

2 and families (and groups of children and fami3 lies) under the project, and such outcomes

4 under the State plan approved under this part,

5 for purposes of assessing the effectiveness of

6 the project in achieving program goals; and

7 ‘‘(B) any other information that the Sec8 retary may require;

9 ‘‘(2) obtain an evaluation by an independent

10 contractor of the effectiveness of the State in assur11 ing the safety of the children participating in the

12 project; and

13 ‘‘(3) provide interim and final evaluation re14 ports to the Secretary, at such times and in such

15 manner as the Secretary may require.

16 ‘‘(k) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Not later than 4

17 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the

18 Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report that con19 tains the recommendations of the Secretary for changes

20 in law with respect to kinship care and placements.’’.

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