I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5477 

To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster care maintenance 

payments, a child would have been eligible for aid under the former 

program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children at the time of 

removal from the home. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 14, 2016 

Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster 

care maintenance payments, a child would have been 

eligible for aid under the former program of Aid to 

Families with Dependent Children at the time of removal 

from the home. 

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 ‘‘Look-back Elimination 

5 Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) As part of President Franklin Delano Roo2 sevelt’s New Deal, the Social Security Act of 1935 

3 included the creation of the Aid to Dependent Chil4 dren program as a way to provide Federal support 

5 to poor children. Over time, this program became 

6 the Aid to Families with Dependent Children 

7 (AFDC) program and provided assistance to strug8 gling families for over 60 years. 

9 (2) Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

10 provides primary Federal funding for child welfare 

11 services. Under that part, the Federal Government 

12 pays a portion of the cost of providing Federal foster 

13 care and adoption assistance benefits for eligible 

14 children. 

15 (3) In 1996, when Congress replaced the AFDC 

16 program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy 

17 Families (TANF) program, Congress also fixed the 

18 income eligibility requirement for Federal foster care 

19 and adoption assistance benefits at a level based on 

20 the income thresholds established by the States 

21 under their former AFDC programs. This income 

22 eligibility requirement is now commonly referred to 

23 as the ‘‘AFDC look-back standard’’. 

24 (4) At that time, many States had established 

25 very strict household income requirements in order 


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1 for children to be eligible for AFDC benefits. As a 

2 result of this very strict requirement, many children 

3 in the Federal foster care and adoption assistance 

4 programs are ineligible to receive a wide range of 

5 Federal benefits, services, and activities. For exam6 ple, this outdated, restrictive standard prevents the 

7 State of Georgia from providing assistance to more 

8 than half of the children in the child welfare system. 

9 (5) Forced to adhere to a stagnant standard, 

10 States increasingly struggle to administer Federal 

11 foster care and adoption assistance programs and 

12 provide services to those children most in need. As 

13 inflation increases, fewer children are eligible to re14 ceive Federal benefits, and States struggle to pro15 vide services from other, limited local and State re16 sources. 

17 (6) Although the AFDC look-back standard still 

18 applies to the Federal foster care program, the Fos19 tering Connections to Success and Increasing Adop20 tions Act of 2008 will have completely eliminated the 

21 AFDC look-back standard in the Federal adoption 

22 assistance program by 2018. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF THE AFDC ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE2 MENT IN THE FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE 

3 PAYMENTS PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 472(a) of the Social Secu5 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘specified’’ 

7 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘or caretaker into 

8 foster care if the removal and foster care placement 

9 met, and continues to meet, the requirements of 

10 paragraph (2).’’; and 

11 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 470 of 

13 such Act (42 U.S.C. 670) is amended by striking ‘‘who 

14 otherwise would have been eligible for assistance under the 

15 State’s plan approved under part A (as such plan was in 

16 effect on June 1, 1995)’’. 

17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

19 (1) the AFDC eligibility requirement for Fed20 eral foster care and adoption assistance benefits 

21 should be eliminated and replaced with income eligi22 bility standards that are based on modern, balanced 

23 criteria that treat all children equally; and 

24 (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv25 ices should collaborate with Members of Congress 


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1 and child welfare advocates in developing any modi2 fied standards. 

Æ 


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