II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2271

To amend the Social Security Act to improve the quality and availability

of training for judges, attorneys, and volunteers working in the Nation’s

abuse and neglect courts, and for other purposes consistent with the

Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 22, 2000

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LEVIN,

Mr. KERRY, Mr. KERREY, Mr. WELLSTONE, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. BOXER,

Mr. L. CHAFEE, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Finance

A BILL

To amend the Social Security Act to improve the quality

and availability of training for judges, attorneys, and

volunteers working in 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 ‘‘Training and Knowl5 edge Ensure Children a Risk-Free Environment (TAKE

6 CARE) Act ’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Under both Federal and State law, the

4 courts play a crucial and essential role in the Na5 tion’s child welfare system and in ensuring safety,

6 stability, and permanence for abused and neglected

7 children under the supervision of that system.

8 (2) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

9 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115) estab10 lishes explicitly for the first time in Federal law that

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

12 consideration when any decision is made regarding a

13 child in the Nation’s child welfare system.

14 (3) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

15 1997 promotes stability and permanence for abused

16 and neglected children by requiring timely decision17 making in proceedings to determine whether children

18 can safely return to their families or whether they

19 should be moved into safe and stable adoptive homes

20 or other permanent family arrangements outside the

21 foster care system.

22 (4) To avoid unnecessary and lengthy stays in

23 the foster care system, the Adoption and Safe Fami24 lies Act of 1997 specifically requires, among other

25 things, that States move to terminate the parental
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1 rights of the parents of those children who have

2 been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months.

3 (5) While essential to protect children and to

4 carry out the general purposes of the Adoption and

5 Safe Families Act of 1997, the accelerated timelines

6 for the termination of parental rights and the other

7 requirements imposed under that Act increase the

8 pressure on the Nation’s already overburdened abuse

9 and neglect courts.

10 (6) The administrative efficiency and effective11 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

12 be substantially improved by the acquisition and im13 plementation of computerized case-tracking systems

14 to identify and eliminate existing backlogs, to move

15 abuse and neglect caseloads forward in a timely

16 manner, and to move children into safe and stable

17 families. Such systems could also be used to evaluate

18 the effectiveness of such courts in meeting the pur19 poses of the amendments made by, and provisions

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

21 (7) The administrative efficiency and effective22 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

23 also be improved by the identification and implemen24 tation of projects designed to eliminate the backlog

25 of abuse and neglect cases, including the temporary
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1 hiring of additional judges, extension of court hours,

2 and other projects designed to reduce existing case3 loads.

4 (8) The administrative efficiency and effective5 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

6 be further strengthened by improving the quality

7 and availability of training for judges, court per8 sonnel, agency attorneys, guardians ad litem, volun9 teers who participate in court-appointed special ad10 vocate (CASA) programs, and attorneys who rep11 resent the children and the parents of children in

12 abuse and neglect proceedings.

13 (9) While recognizing that abuse and neglect

14 courts in this country are already committed to the

15 quality administration of justice, the performance of

16 such courts would be even further enhanced by the

17 development of models and educational opportunities

18 that reinforce court projects that have already been

19 developed, including models for case-flow procedures,

20 case management, representation of children, auto21 mated interagency interfaces, and ‘‘best practices’’

22 standards.

23 (10) Judges, magistrates, commissioners, and

24 other judicial officers play a central and vital role in

25 ensuring that proceedings in our Nation’s abuse and
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1 neglect courts are run efficiently and effectively. The

2 performance of those individuals in such courts can

3 only be further enhanced by training, seminars, and

4 an ongoing opportunity to exchange ideas with their

5 peers.

6 (11) Volunteers who participate in court-ap7 pointed special advocate (CASA) programs play a

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

9 courts in proceedings conducted by, or under the su10 pervision of, such courts and also bring increased

11 public scrutiny of the abuse and neglect court sys12 tem. The Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

13 benefit from an expansion of this program to cur14 rently underserved communities.

15 (12) Improved computerized case-tracking sys16 tems, comprehensive training, and development of,

17 and education on, model abuse and neglect court

18 systems, particularly with respect to underserved

19 areas, would significantly further the purposes of the

20 Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 by reducing

21 the average length of an abused and neglected

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

23 decision-making and court services provided to chil24 dren and families, and increasing the number of

25 adoptions.
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1 SEC. 3. TRAINING IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT PRO2 CEEDINGS.

3 (a) PAYMENT FOR TRAINING.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 474(a)(3) of the So5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)) is

6 amended—

7 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C),

8 (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and

9 (F), respectively; and

10 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B),

11 the following:

12 ‘‘(C) 75 percent of so much of such ex13 penditures as are for the training (including

14 cross-training with personnel employed by, or

15 under contract with, the State or local agency

16 administering the plan in the political subdivi17 sion, training on topics relevant to the legal

18 representation of clients in proceedings con19 ducted by or under the supervision of an abuse

20 and neglect court (as defined in section

21 475(8)), and training on related topics such as

22 child development and the importance of devel23 oping a trusting relationship with a child) of

24 judges, judicial personnel, law enforcement per25 sonnel, agency attorneys (as defined in section

26 475(9)), attorneys representing parents in pro-
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1 ceedings conducted by, or under the supervision

2 of, an abuse and neglect court (as defined in

3 section 475(8)), attorneys representing children

4 in such proceedings (as defined in section

5 475(10)), guardians ad litem, and volunteers

6 who participate in court-appointed special advo7 cate (CASA) programs, to the extent such

8 training is related to provisions of, and amend9 ments made by, the Adoption and Safe Families

10 Act of 1997, provided that any such training

11 that is offered to judges or other judicial per12 sonnel shall be offered by, or under contract

13 with, the State or local agency in collaboration

14 with the judicial conference or other appro15 priate judicial governing body operating in the

16 State,’’.

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

18 (A) Section 473(a)(6)(B) of such Act (42

19 U.S.C. 673(a)(6)(B)) is amended by striking

20 ‘‘474(a)(3)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘474(a)(3)(F)’’.

21 (B) Section 474(a)(3)(E) of such Act (42

22 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)(E)) (as redesignated by sub23 section (a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘sub24 paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph

25 (D)’’.
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1 (C) Section 474(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

2 674(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

3 (a)(3)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

4 (a)(3)(D)’’.

5 (b) DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TERMS.—Section 475

6 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding at the

7 end the following new paragraphs:

8 ‘‘(8) The term ‘abuse and neglect courts’ means

9 the State and local courts that carry out State or

10 local laws requiring proceedings (conducted by or

11 under the supervision of the courts)—

12 ‘‘(A) that implement part B and this part

13 (including preliminary disposition of such pro14 ceedings);

15 ‘‘(B) that determine whether a child was

16 abused or neglected;

17 ‘‘(C) that determine the advisability or ap18 propriateness of placement in a family foster

19 home, group home, or a special residential care

20 facility; or

21 ‘‘(D) that determine any other legal dis22 position of a child in the abuse and neglect

23 court system.

24 ‘‘(9) The term ‘agency attorney’ means an at25 torney or other individual, including any government
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1 attorney, district attorney, attorney general, State

2 attorney, county attorney, city solicitor or attorney,

3 corporation counsel, or privately retained special

4 prosecutor, who represents the State or local agency

5 administrating the programs under part B and this

6 part in a proceeding conducted by, or under the su7 pervision of, an abuse and neglect court, including a

8 proceeding for termination of parental rights.

9 ‘‘(10) The term ‘attorneys representing chil10 dren’ means any attorney or a guardian ad litem

11 who represents a child in a proceeding conducted by,

12 or under the supervision of, an abuse and neglect

13 court.’’.

14 SEC. 4. STATE STANDARDS FOR AGENCY ATTORNEYS.

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

16 671(a)) is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (22), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

18 end;

19 (2) in paragraph (23), by striking the period

20 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

22 ‘‘(24) provides that, not later than January 1,

23 2002, the State shall develop and encourage the im24 plementation of guidelines for all agency attorneys

25 (as defined in section 475(9)), including legal edu-
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1 cation requirements for such attorneys regarding the

2 handling of abuse, neglect, and dependency pro3 ceedings.’’.

4 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD ABUSE, NE5 GLECT, AND DEPENDENCY MATTERS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

7 Human Services, in coordination with the Attorney Gen8 eral, shall provide the technical assistance, training, and

9 evaluations authorized under this section through grants,

10 contracts, or cooperative arrangements with other entities,

11 including universities, and national, State, and local orga12 nizations. The Secretary of Health and Human Services

13 and the Attorney General should ensure that entities that

14 have not had a previous contractual relationship with the

15 Department of Health and Human Services, the Depart16 ment of Justice, or another Federal agency can compete

17 for grants for technical assistance, training, and evalua18 tions.

19 (b) PURPOSE.—Technical assistance shall be pro20 vided under this section for the purpose of supporting and

21 assisting State and local courts that handle child abuse,

22 neglect, and dependency matters to effectively carry out

23 new responsibilities enacted as part of the Adoption and

24 Safe Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat.

25 2115) and to speed the process of adoption of children
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1 and legal finalization of permanent families for children

2 in foster care by improving practices of the courts involved

3 in that process.

4 (c) ACTIVITIES.—Technical assistance consistent

5 with the purpose described in subsection (b) may be pro6 vided under this section through the following:

7 (1) The dissemination of information, existing

8 and effective models, and technical assistance to

9 State and local courts that receive grants for auto10 mated data collection and case-tracking systems and

11 outcome measures.

12 (2) The provision of specialized training on

13 child development that is appropriate for judges, ref14 erees, nonjudicial decision-makers, administrative,

15 and other court-related personnel, and for agency at16 torneys, attorneys representing children, guardians

17 ad litem, volunteers who participate in court-ap18 pointed special advocate (CASA) programs, or par19 ents.

20 (3) The provision of assistance and dissemina21 tion of information about best practices of abuse and

22 neglect courts for effective case management strate23 gies and techniques, including automated data col24 lection and case-tracking systems, assessments of

25 caseload and staffing levels, management of court
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1 dockets, timely decision-making at all stages of a

2 proceeding conducted by, or under the supervision

3 of, an abuse and neglect court (as so defined), and

4 the development of streamlined case flow procedures,

5 case management models, early case resolution pro6 grams, mechanisms for monitoring compliance with

7 the terms of court orders, models for representation

8 of children, automated interagency interfaces be9 tween data bases, and court rules that facilitate

10 timely case processing.

11 (4) The development and dissemination of

12 training models for judges, attorneys representing

13 children, agency attorneys, guardians ad litem, and

14 volunteers who participate in court-appointed special

15 advocate (CASA) programs.

16 (5) The development of standards of practice

17 for agency attorneys, attorneys representing chil18 dren, guardians ad litem, volunteers who participate

19 in court-appointed special advocate (CASA) pro20 grams, and parents in such proceedings.

21 (d) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—Any training offered

22 in accordance with this section to judges or other judicial

23 personnel shall be offered in collaboration with the judicial

24 conference or other appropriate judicial governing body
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1 operating with respect to the State in which the training

2 is offered.

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘agency

4 attorneys’’, ‘‘abuse and neglect courts’’, and ‘‘attorneys

5 representing children’’ have the meanings given such

6 terms in section 475 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

7 675) (as amended by section 3(b) of this Act).

8 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to carry out this section $5,000,000 for the pe10 riod of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.

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