I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5436 

To improve foster care court capacity through loan forgiveness and 

performance measurement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2006 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Ms. HART) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to 

the Committees on Education and the Workforce and Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve foster care court capacity through loan 

forgiveness and performance measurement. 

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 ‘‘Fostering Our Future 

5 Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO COURTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13712(b) of the Omnibus 

3 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 629b) is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant 

6 under this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—A highest State court 

8 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

9 time, in such form, and including such information 

10 and assurances as the Secretary shall require. 

11 ‘‘(2) MEASURES OF COURT PERFORMANCE.— 

12 There shall be in effect in the State such laws and 

13 procedures as are necessary to ensure that the 

14 courts of the State measure the following with re15 spect to children under the jurisdiction of the courts: 

16 ‘‘(A) The percentage of children who do 

17 not have a subsequent petition of maltreatment 

18 filed in court after the initial such petition is 

19 filed. 

20 ‘‘(B) The percentage of children who are 

21 the subject of additional allegations of maltreat22 ment within 12 months after the original peti23 tion was closed. 

24 ‘‘(C) The percentages of children who 

25 reach legal permanency within 6 months after 

26 removal, within 12 months thereafter, within 18 


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1 months thereafter, and within 24 months there2 after. 

3 ‘‘(D) The percentage of children who do 

4 not reach permanency in the foster care system. 

5 ‘‘(E) The percentages of children who re6 enter foster care pursuant to court order within 

7 12 months after being returned to their fami8 lies, and within 24 months thereafter. 

9 ‘‘(F) The percentages of children who re10 turn to foster care pursuant to court order 

11 within 12 months after being adopted or placed 

12 with an individual or couple who are permanent 

13 guardians, and within 24 months thereafter. 

14 ‘‘(G) The percentages of children who are 

15 transferred among 1, 2, 3, or more placements 

16 while under court jurisdiction, distinguishing, 

17 where possible, between placements in and out 

18 of a child’s own home from multiple placements 

19 in a variety of environments. 

20 ‘‘(H) The percentage of cases in which 

21 both parents receive written service of process 

22 within the required time standards or where no23 tice of hearing has been waived by parties. 

24 ‘‘(I) The percentage of cases in which 

25 there is documentation that timely and proper 


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1 notice is given to parties in advance of the next 

2 hearing. 

3 ‘‘(J) The percentage of cases in which chil4 dren who have attained 10 years of age receive 

5 notice of the legal proceedings in their depend6 ency case; the percentage of cases in which chil7 dren who have attained 10 years of age are 

8 present in court and afforded an opportunity to 

9 be heard in their own cases; and the percentage 

10 of cases in which children have legal representa11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(K) The percentage of cases in which the 

13 court reviews case plans within established time 

14 guidelines. 

15 ‘‘(L) The percentage of children receiving 

16 legal counsel, guardians ad litem, or court-ap17 pointed special advocates before the preliminary 

18 protective hearing or equivalent, with separate 

19 measures of the percentages of each type of 

20 representation and of whether the representa21 tion was received within established time guide22 lines, within 5 days after the adoption petition 

23 is filed, within 6 through 10 days after the fil24 ing, and within more than 10 days after the fil25 ing. 


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1 ‘‘(M) The percentage of cases in which 

2 counsel for parents are appointed before the 

3 preliminary protective hearing or equivalent, 

4 with separate measures of the percentages in 

5 which such appointments are made within es6 tablished time guidelines, within 5 days after 

7 the adoption petition is filed, within 6 through 

8 10 days after the filing, and within more than 

9 10 days after the filing. 

10 ‘‘(N) The percentage of cases in which 

11 legal counsel for children is appointed on or be12 fore the first court appearance, and the per13 centage of cases in which legal counsel for chil14 dren changes, and the number of changes in15 volved. 

16 ‘‘(O) The percentage of cases in which 

17 legal counsel for parents changes, and the num18 ber of changes involved. 

19 ‘‘(P) The percentage of cases in which 

20 legal counsel for parents, children, and agencies 

21 are present at each hearing. 

22 ‘‘(Q) The percentages of children for whom 

23 all hearings are heard by 1 or more judicial of24 ficers, and the number of judicial officers hear25 ing the case. 


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1 ‘‘(R) The average and median times from 

2 filing the original petition to adjudication. 

3 ‘‘(S) The average and median times from 

4 filing the original petition to disposition. 

5 ‘‘(T) The percentages of cases that are ad6 judicated within 30 days after the filing of the 

7 dependency petition, within 60 days thereafter, 

8 and within 90 days thereafter. 

9 ‘‘(U) The percentages of cases that receive 

10 a disposition within 10 days after the depend11 ency adjudication, within 30 days thereafter, 

12 and within 90 days thereafter. 

13 ‘‘(V) The percentage of cases where chil14 dren are successfully served in the home and 

15 not detained; the average and median times to 

16 reunification; and the percentage of cases where 

17 children are not successfully reunified. 

18 ‘‘(W) The average and median times from 

19 the filing of the original petition to permanent 

20 placement. 

21 ‘‘(X) The average and median times from 

22 the filing of the original petition to finalized 

23 termination of parental rights. 

24 ‘‘(Y) The percentages of cases for which 

25 the termination petition is filed within 3 months 


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1 after the dependency disposition, within 6 

2 months thereafter, within 12 months thereafter, 

3 and within 18 months thereafter. 

4 ‘‘(Z) The percentage of cases that receive 

5 a termination order within 30 days after the fil6 ing of the termination petition, within 90 days 

7 thereafter, within 120 days thereafter, and 

8 within 180 days thereafter. 

9 ‘‘(AA) The percentages of cases for which 

10 an adoption petition is filed within 1 month 

11 after the termination order, within 3 months 

12 thereafter, and within 6 months thereafter. 

13 ‘‘(BB) The percentages of cases for which 

14 the adoption is finalized within 1 month after 

15 the adoption petition is filed, within 3 months 

16 thereafter, within 6 months thereafter, and 

17 within 12 months thereafter. 

18 ‘‘(CC) The percentage of hearings (by 

19 hearing type) not completed within timeframes 

20 set forth in statute or court rules, including, 

21 where possible, the reason for noncompletion.’’. 

22 (b) STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR FAMILY LAW, 

23 DEPENDENCY, AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS ATTOR24 NEYS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Higher Education Act 

2 of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FAMILY LAW, DE5 PENDENCY, AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS AT6 TORNEYS. 

7 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en8 courage qualified individuals to enter and continue em9 ployment as family law, dependency, and domestic rela10 tions attorneys. 

11 ‘‘(b) LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—The 

13 Secretary is authorized to forgive, in accordance 

14 with this section and the agreement described in 

15 subsection (e), the student loan debt of an eligible 

16 borrower in the amount specified in subsection (d) 

17 and for the period specified in such agreement. 

18 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—To 

19 provide the loan forgiveness authorized in paragraph 

20 (1), the Secretary is authorized to carry out a pro21 gram— 

22 ‘‘(A) through the holder of the loan, to as23 sume the obligation to repay a qualified loan 

24 amount for a loan made under part B of this 

25 title; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to cancel a qualified loan amount for 

2 a loan made under part D of this title. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The Secretary is au4 thorized to provided loan forgiveness under this section to 

5 any individual who— 

6 ‘‘(1) is employed full-time as a family law, de7 pendency, or domestic relations attorney; and 

8 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 

9 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

10 ‘‘(d) LOAN FORGIVENESS AMOUNT.—The Secretary 

11 may, from funds appropriated under subsection (l), forgive 

12 the loan obligation of an eligible borrower in accordance 

13 with such terms, limitations, and conditions as may be 

14 mutually agreed upon by such borrower and the Secretary 

15 in the agreement described in subsection (e), except that 

16 the amount paid by the Secretary under this section shall 

17 not exceed— 

18 ‘‘(1) $6,000 in any calendar year for any bor19 rower; or 

20 ‘‘(2) $50,000 in the aggregate for any bor21 rower. 

22 ‘‘(e) LOAN FORGIVENESS AGREEMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 

24 shall not provide loan forgiveness to an eligible borVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:22 May 22, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5436.IH H5436

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1 rower unless the borrower enters into a written 

2 agreement with the Secretary which provides that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the borrower shall remain employed 

4 full-time as a family law, dependency, or domes5 tic relations attorney for a period of service 

6 specified in the agreement (but not less than 3 

7 years), unless involuntarily separated from that 

8 employment; 

9 ‘‘(B) if the borrower is involuntarily sepa10 rated from the employment described in sub11 paragraph (A) on account of misconduct, or vol12 untarily separates from that employment, be13 fore the end of the period specified in the agree14 ment, the borrower shall repay the Secretary 

15 the amount of any benefits received by such 

16 borrower under this section; 

17 ‘‘(C) if the borrower is required to repay 

18 an amount to the Secretary under subpara19 graph (B) and fails to repay such amount, a 

20 sum equal to such amount shall be recoverable 

21 by the Government from the borrower (or such 

22 borrower’s estate, if applicable) by such method 

23 as is provided by law for the recovery of 

24 amounts owing to the Government; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the Secretary may waive, in whole or 

2 in part, a right of recovery under this sub3 section if it is shown that recovery would be 

4 against equity and good conscience or against 

5 the public interest; and 

6 ‘‘(E) the Secretary shall provide loan for7 giveness under this section for the period of the 

8 agreement, subject to the availability of appro9 priations. 

10 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENT RENEWAL.—Upon completion 

11 by an eligible borrower of the period of service re12 quired under the agreement described in paragraph 

13 (1), the Secretary may renew such agreement with 

14 the eligible borrower for a successive period of serv15 ice to be specified in the renewed agreement (which 

16 may be less than 3 years). 

17 ‘‘(f) REPAYMENTS BY BORROWERS.—Any amount re18 paid by, or recovered from, a borrower (or a borrower’s 

19 estate) under subsection (e)(1)(B) shall be credited to the 

20 appropriation account from which the loan forgiveness 

21 amount involved was originally paid. Any amount so cred22 ited shall be merged with other sums in such account and 

23 shall be available for the same purposes and period, and 

24 subject to the same limitations (if any), as the sums with 

25 which the amount was merged. 


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1 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION FOR LOAN FORGIVENESS.—An el2 igible borrower desiring loan forgiveness under this section 

3 shall submit a complete and accurate application to the 

4 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

5 such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 ‘‘(h) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall provide loan 

7 forgiveness under this section on a first-come, first-served 

8 basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

9 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

10 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

11 the provisions of this section. 

12 ‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

13 be construed to authorize the refunding of any repayment 

14 of any loan made by a borrower prior to the date on which 

15 the Secretary entered into an agreement with the borrower 

16 under subsection (e). 

17 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—In this section the term ‘family 

18 law, dependency, or domestic relations attorney’ means an 

19 attorney who works in the field of family law, dependency, 

20 or domestic relations, including juvenile justice, truancy, 

21 child abuse or neglect, adoption, domestic relations, child 

22 support, paternity, and other areas which fall under the 

23 field of family law, dependency, or domestic relations law 

24 as determined by State law. 


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1 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums as may 

4 be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

5 (2) CANCELLATION OF LOANS.— 

6 (A) AMENDMENT.—Section 465(a)(2)(F) 

7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)(2)(F)) is amended by insert9 ing ‘‘, or as a full-time family law, dependency, 

10 or domestic relations attorney (as defined in 

11 section 428L)’’ after ‘‘agencies’’. 

12 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

13 made by this paragraph shall apply to— 

14 (i) eligible loans made before, on, or 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act; 

16 and 

17 (ii) service as a family law, depend18 ency, or domestic relations attorney that is 

19 provided on or after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act. 

21 (C) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

22 paragraph shall be construed to authorize the 

23 refunding of any repayment of a loan made by 

24 a borrower prior to the date on which the bor25 rower became eligible for cancellation under 


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1 section 465(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)). 

3 (c) GAO STUDY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

5 the United States shall conduct a study that com6 pares States with respect to each of the following: 

7 (A) The legal representation provided for 

8 children. 

9 (B) Children’s participation in their own 

10 cases. 

11 (C) Preparation of dependency court 

12 judges. 

13 (D) Case tracking and performance meas14 urement. 

15 (E) Statewide collaborative foster care 

16 councils. 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

19 General shall submit to the Committee on the Judi20 ciary of the House of Representatives a written re21 port that contains the results of the study required 

22 by paragraph (1). 

23 (d) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO

24 COURT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPROVED CHILD OUT25 COMES.—It is the sense of the Congress that State judicial 


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1 leadership should use the measures of court performance 

2 described in section 13712(b)(2) of the Omnibus Budget 

3 Reconciliation Act of 1993 (as amended by subsection (a) 

4 of this section) to ensure accountability by every court for 

5 improved outcomes for children, and to inform decisions 

6 about allocating resources across the court system. 

7 (e) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO

8 THE ORGANIZATION OF STATE DEPENDENCY COURTS.— 

9 It is the sense of the Congress that State courts should 

10 be organized to enable children and parents to have legal 

11 representation and participate in a meaningful way in 

12 their own court proceedings. 

13 (f) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO

14 BUILDING THE POOL OF ATTORNEYS QUALIFIED TO

15 HANDLE CASES IN DEPENDENCY COURTS.—It is the 

16 sense of the Congress that law schools, bar associations, 

17 and law firms should help build the pool of qualified attor18 neys available to children and parents in dependency 

19 courts. 

20 (g) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO

21 TRAINING, CASELOADS, AND COMPENSATION OF ATTOR22 NEYS FOR CHILDREN.—It is the sense of the Congress 

23 that attorneys for children should have adequate training, 


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1 reasonable caseloads, and receive reasonable and adequate 

2 compensation. 

Æ 


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