II

Calendar No. 737

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2272

To improve the administrative efficiency and effectiveness of 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, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr.

CRAIG, and Mr. EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JULY 27, 2000

Reported by Mr. HATCH, without amendment

A BILL

To improve the administrative efficiency and effectiveness

of 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Abuse

3 and Neglect Courts Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds the following:

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

7 courts play a crucial and essential role in the Na8 tion’s child welfare system and in ensuring safety,

9 stability, and permanence for abused and neglected

10 children under the supervision of that system.

11 (2) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

12 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115) estab13 lishes explicitly for the first time in Federal law that

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

15 consideration when any decision is made regarding a

16 child in the Nation’s child welfare system.

17 (3) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of

18 1997 promotes stability and permanence for abused

19 and neglected children by requiring timely decision20 making in proceedings to determine whether children

21 can safely return to their families or whether they

22 should be moved into safe and stable adoptive homes

23 or other permanent family arrangements outside the

24 foster care system.

25 (4) To avoid unnecessary and lengthy stays in

26 the foster care system, the Adoption and Safe Fami-
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1 lies Act of 1997 specifically requires, among other

2 things, that States move to terminate the parental

3 rights of the parents of those children who have

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

5 (5) While essential to protect children and to

6 carry out the general purposes of the Adoption and

7 Safe Families Act of 1997, the accelerated timelines

8 for the termination of parental rights and the other

9 requirements imposed under that Act increase the

10 pressure on the Nation’s already overburdened abuse

11 and neglect courts.

12 (6) The administrative efficiency and effective13 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

14 be substantially improved by the acquisition and im15 plementation of computerized case-tracking systems

16 to identify and eliminate existing backlogs, to move

17 abuse and neglect caseloads forward in a timely

18 manner, and to move children into safe and stable

19 families. Such systems could also be used to evaluate

20 the effectiveness of such courts in meeting the pur21 poses of the amendments made by, and provisions

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

23 (7) The administrative efficiency and effective24 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

25 also be improved by the identification and implemen-
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1 tation of projects designed to eliminate the backlog

2 of abuse and neglect cases, including the temporary

3 hiring of additional judges, extension of court hours,

4 and other projects designed to reduce existing case5 loads.

6 (8) The administrative efficiency and effective7 ness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

8 be further strengthened by improving the quality

9 and availability of training for judges, court per10 sonnel, agency attorneys, guardians ad litem, volun11 teers who participate in court-appointed special ad12 vocate (CASA) programs, and attorneys who rep13 resent the children and the parents of children in

14 abuse and neglect proceedings.

15 (9) While recognizing that abuse and neglect

16 courts in this country are already committed to the

17 quality administration of justice, the performance of

18 such courts would be even further enhanced by the

19 development of models and educational opportunities

20 that reinforce court projects that have already been

21 developed, including models for case-flow procedures,

22 case management, representation of children, auto23 mated interagency interfaces, and ‘‘best practices’’

24 standards.
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1 (10) Judges, magistrates, commissioners, and

2 other judicial officers play a central and vital role in

3 ensuring that proceedings in our Nation’s abuse and

4 neglect courts are run efficiently and effectively. The

5 performance of those individuals in such courts can

6 only be further enhanced by training, seminars, and

7 an ongoing opportunity to exchange ideas with their

8 peers.

9 (11) Volunteers who participate in court-ap10 pointed special advocate (CASA) programs play a

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

12 courts in proceedings conducted by, or under the su13 pervision of, such courts and also bring increased

14 public scrutiny of the abuse and neglect court sys15 tem. The Nation’s abuse and neglect courts would

16 benefit from an expansion of this program to cur17 rently underserved communities.

18 (12) Improved computerized case-tracking sys19 tems, comprehensive training, and development of,

20 and education on, model abuse and neglect court

21 systems, particularly with respect to underserved

22 areas, would significantly further the purposes of the

23 Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 by reducing

24 the average length of an abused and neglected

25 child’s stay in foster care, improving the quality of
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1 decision-making and court services provided to chil2 dren and families, and increasing the number of

3 adoptions.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 In this Act:

6 (a) ABUSE AND NEGLECT COURTS.—The term

7 ‘‘abuse and neglect courts’’ means the State and local

8 courts that carry out State or local laws requiring pro9 ceedings (conducted by or under the supervision of the

10 courts)—

11 (1) that implement part B and part E of title

12 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.;

13 670 et seq.) (including preliminary disposition of

14 such proceedings);

15 (2) that determine whether a child was abused

16 or neglected;

17 (3) that determine the advisability or appro18 priateness of placement in a family foster home,

19 group home, or a special residential care facility; or

20 (4) that determine any other legal disposition of

21 a child in the abuse and neglect court system.

22 (b) AGENCY ATTORNEY.—The term ‘‘agency attor23 ney’’ means an attorney or other individual, including any

24 government attorney, district attorney, attorney general,

25 State attorney, county attorney, city solicitor or attorney,
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1 corporation counsel, or privately retained special pros2 ecutor, who represents the State or local agency adminis3 trating the programs under parts B and E of title IV of

4 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.; 670 et

5 seq.) in a proceeding conducted by, or under the super6 vision of, an abuse and neglect court, including a pro7 ceeding for termination of parental rights.

8 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE COURTS AND LOCAL COURTS TO

9 AUTOMATE THE DATA COLLECTION AND

10 TRACKING OF PROCEEDINGS IN ABUSE AND

11 NEGLECT COURTS.

12 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

14 the Attorney General, acting through the Office of

15 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the

16 Office of Justice Programs, shall award grants in

17 accordance with this section to State courts and

18 local courts for the purposes of—

19 (A) enabling such courts to develop and

20 implement automated data collection and case21 tracking systems for proceedings conducted by,

22 or under the supervision of, an abuse and ne23 glect court;
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1 (B) encouraging the replication of such

2 systems in abuse and neglect courts in other ju3 risdictions; and

4 (C) requiring the use of such systems to

5 evaluate a court’s performance in implementing

6 the requirements of parts B and E of title IV

7 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et

8 seq.; 670 et seq.).

9 (2) LIMITATIONS.—

10 (A) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Not less than

11 20 nor more than 50 grants may be awarded

12 under this section.

13 (B) PER STATE LIMITATION.—Not more

14 than 2 grants authorized under this section

15 may be awarded per State.

16 (C) USE OF GRANTS.—Funds provided

17 under a grant made under this section may only

18 be used for the purpose of developing, imple19 menting, or enhancing automated data collec20 tion and case-tracking systems for proceedings

21 conducted by, or under the supervision of, an

22 abuse and neglect court.

23 (b) APPLICATION.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State court or local court

25 may submit an application for a grant authorized
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1 under this section at such time and in such manner

2 as the Attorney General may determine.

3 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—An application

4 for a grant authorized under this section shall con5 tain the following:

6 (A) A description of a proposed plan for

7 the development, implementation, and mainte8 nance of an automated data collection and case9 tracking system for proceedings conducted by,

10 or under the supervision of, an abuse and ne11 glect court, including a proposed budget for the

12 plan and a request for a specific funding

13 amount.

14 (B) A description of the extent to which

15 such plan and system are able to be replicated

16 in abuse and neglect courts of other jurisdic17 tions that specifies the common case-tracking

18 data elements of the proposed system, includ19 ing, at a minimum—

20 (i) identification of relevant judges,

21 court, and agency personnel;

22 (ii) records of all court proceedings

23 with regard to the abuse and neglect case,

24 including all court findings and orders

25 (oral and written); and
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1 (iii) relevant information about the

2 subject child, including family information

3 and the reason for court supervision.

4 (C) In the case of an application submitted

5 by a local court, a description of how the plan

6 to implement the proposed system was devel7 oped in consultation with related State courts,

8 particularly with regard to a State court im9 provement plan funded under section 13712 of

10 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993

11 (42 U.S.C. 670 note) if there is such a plan in

12 the State.

13 (D) In the case of an application that is

14 submitted by a State court, a description of

15 how the proposed system will integrate with a

16 State court improvement plan funded under

17 section 13712 of such Act if there is such a

18 plan in the State.

19 (E) After consultation with the State agen20 cy responsible for the administration of parts B

21 and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42

22 U.S.C. 620 et seq.; 670 et seq.)—

23 (i) a description of the coordination of

24 the proposed system with other child wel25 fare data collection systems, including the
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1 Statewide automated child welfare infor2 mation system (SACWIS) and the adop3 tion and foster care analysis and reporting

4 system (AFCARS) established pursuant to

5 section 479 of the Social Security Act (42

6 U.S.C. 679); and

7 (ii) an assurance that such coordina8 tion will be implemented and maintained.

9 (F) Identification of an independent third

10 party that will conduct ongoing evaluations of

11 the feasibility and implementation of the plan

12 and system and a description of the plan for

13 conducting such evaluations.

14 (G) A description or identification of a

15 proposed funding source for completion of the

16 plan (if applicable) and maintenance of the sys17 tem after the conclusion of the period for which

18 the grant is to be awarded.

19 (H) An assurance that any contract en20 tered into between the State court or local court

21 and any other entity that is to provide services

22 for the development, implementation, or mainte23 nance of the system under the proposed plan

24 will require the entity to agree to allow for rep25 lication of the services provided, the plan, and
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1 the system, and to refrain from asserting any

2 proprietary interest in such services for pur3 poses of allowing the plan and system to be rep4 licated in another jurisdiction.

5 (I) An assurance that the system estab6 lished under the plan will provide data that al7 lows for evaluation (at least on an annual basis)

8 of the following information:

9 (i) The total number of cases that are

10 filed in the abuse and neglect court.

11 (ii) The number of cases assigned to

12 each judge who presides over the abuse

13 and neglect court.

14 (iii) The average length of stay of

15 children in foster care.

16 (iv) With respect to each child under

17 the jurisdiction of the court—

18 (I) the number of episodes of

19 placement in foster care;

20 (II) the number of days placed in

21 foster care and the type of placement

22 (foster family home, group home, or

23 special residential care facility);

24 (III) the number of days of in25 home supervision; and
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1 (IV) the number of separate fos2 ter care placements.

3 (v) The number of adoptions,

4 guardianships, or other permanent disposi5 tions finalized.

6 (vi) The number of terminations of

7 parental rights.

8 (vii) The number of child abuse and

9 neglect proceedings closed that had been

10 pending for 2 or more years.

11 (viii) With respect to each proceeding

12 conducted by, or under the supervision of,

13 an abuse and neglect court—

14 (I) the timeliness of each stage of

15 the proceeding from initial filing

16 through legal finalization of a perma17 nency plan (for both contested and

18 uncontested hearings);

19 (II) the number of adjournments,

20 delays, and continuances occurring

21 during the proceeding, including iden22 tification of the party requesting each

23 adjournment, delay, or continuance

24 and the reasons given for the request;
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1 (III) the number of courts that

2 conduct or supervise the proceeding

3 for the duration of the abuse and ne4 glect case;

5 (IV) the number of judges as6 signed to the proceeding for the dura7 tion of the abuse and neglect case;

8 and

9 (V) the number of agency attor10 neys, children’s attorneys, parent’s at11 torneys, guardians ad litem, and vol12 unteers participating in a court-ap13 pointed special advocate (CASA) pro14 gram assigned to the proceeding dur15 ing the duration of the abuse and ne16 glect case.

17 (J) A description of how the proposed sys18 tem will reduce the need for paper files and en19 sure prompt action so that cases are appro20 priately listed with national and regional adop21 tion exchanges, and public and private adoption

22 services.

23 (K) An assurance that the data collected in

24 accordance with subparagraph (I) will be made
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1 available to relevant Federal, State, and local

2 government agencies and to the public.

3 (L) An assurance that the proposed system

4 is consistent with other civil and criminal infor5 mation requirements of the Federal govern6 ment.

7 (M) An assurance that the proposed sys8 tem will provide notice of timeframes required

9 under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of

10 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115) for

11 individual cases to ensure prompt attention and

12 compliance with such requirements.

13 (c) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICA14 TIONS.—

15 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State court or local

17 court awarded a grant under this section shall

18 expend $1 for every $3 awarded under the

19 grant to carry out the development, implemen20 tation, and maintenance of the automated data

21 collection and case-tracking system under the

22 proposed plan.

23 (B) WAIVER FOR HARDSHIP.—The Attor24 ney General may waive or modify the matching

25 requirement described in subparagraph (A) in
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1 the case of any State court or local court that

2 the Attorney General determines would suffer

3 undue hardship as a result of being subject to

4 the requirement.

5 (C) NON-FEDERAL EXPENDITURES.—

6 (i) CASH OR IN KIND.—State court or

7 local court expenditures required under

8 subparagraph (A) may be in cash or in

9 kind, fairly evaluated, including plant,

10 equipment, or services.

11 (ii) NO CREDIT FOR PRE-AWARD EX12 PENDITURES.—Only State court or local

13 court expenditures made after a grant has

14 been awarded under this section may be

15 counted for purposes of determining

16 whether the State court or local court has

17 satisfied the matching expenditure require18 ment under subparagraph (A).

19 (2) NOTIFICATION TO STATE OR APPROPRIATE

20 CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—No application for a

21 grant authorized under this section may be approved

22 unless the State court or local court submitting the

23 application demonstrates to the satisfaction of the

24 Attorney General that the court has provided the

25 State, in the case of a State court, or the appro-
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1 priate child welfare agency, in the case of a local

2 court, with notice of the contents and submission of

3 the application.

4 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In evaluating an appli5 cation for a grant under this section the Attorney

6 General shall consider the following:

7 (A) The extent to which the system pro8 posed in the application may be replicated in

9 other jurisdictions.

10 (B) The extent to which the proposed sys11 tem is consistent with the provisions of, and

12 amendments made by, the Adoption and Safe

13 Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111

14 Stat. 2115), and parts B and E of title IV of

15 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq.;

16 670 et seq.).

17 (C) The extent to which the proposed sys18 tem is feasible and likely to achieve the pur19 poses described in subsection (a)(1).

20 (4) DIVERSITY OF AWARDS.—The Attorney

21 General shall award grants under this section in a

22 manner that results in a reasonable balance among

23 grants awarded to State courts and grants awarded

24 to local courts, grants awarded to courts located in
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1 urban areas and courts located in rural areas, and

2 grants awarded in diverse geographical locations.

3 (d) LENGTH OF AWARDS.—No grant may be award4 ed under this section for a period of more than 5 years.

5 (e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds provided to a

6 State court or local court under a grant awarded under

7 this section shall remain available until expended without

8 fiscal year limitation.

9 (f) REPORTS.—

10 (1) ANNUAL REPORT FROM GRANTEES.—Each

11 State court or local court that is awarded a grant

12 under this section shall submit an annual report to

13 the Attorney General that contains—

14 (A) a description of the ongoing results of

15 the independent evaluation of the plan for, and

16 implementation of, the automated data collec17 tion and case-tracking system funded under the

18 grant; and

19 (B) the information described in subsection

20 (b)(2)(I).

21 (2) INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS FROM AT22 TORNEY GENERAL.—

23 (A) INTERIM REPORTS.—Beginning 2

24 years after the date of enactment of this Act,

25 and biannually thereafter until a final report is
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1 submitted in accordance with subparagraph

2 (B), the Attorney General shall submit to Con3 gress interim reports on the grants made under

4 this section.

5 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90

6 days after the termination of all grants awarded

7 under this section, the Attorney General shall

8 submit to Congress a final report evaluating the

9 automated data collection and case-tracking

10 systems funded under such grants and identi11 fying successful models of such systems that

12 are suitable for replication in other jurisdic13 tions. The Attorney General shall ensure that a

14 copy of such final report is transmitted to the

15 highest State court in each State.

16 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

18 $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2001 through

19 2005.

20 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO REDUCE PENDING BACKLOGS OF

21 ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES TO PROMOTE

22 PERMANENCY FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED

23 CHILDREN.

24 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The Attorney

25 General, acting through the Office of Juvenile Justice and
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1 Delinquency Prevention of the Office of Justice Programs

2 and in collaboration with the Secretary of Health and

3 Human Services, shall award grants in accordance with

4 this section to State courts and local courts for the pur5 poses of—

6 (1) promoting the permanency goals established

7 in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

8 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115); and

9 (2) enabling such courts to reduce existing

10 backlogs of cases pending in abuse and neglect

11 courts, especially with respect to cases to terminate

12 parental rights and cases in which parental rights to

13 a child have been terminated but an adoption of the

14 child has not yet been finalized.

15 (b) APPLICATION.—A State court or local court shall

16 submit an application for a grant under this section, in

17 such form and manner as the Attorney General shall re18 quire, that contains a description of the following:

19 (1) The barriers to achieving the permanency

20 goals established in the Adoption and Safe Families

21 Act of 1997 that have been identified.

22 (2) The size and nature of the backlogs of chil23 dren awaiting termination of parental rights or final24 ization of adoption.
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1 (3) The strategies the State court or local court

2 proposes to use to reduce such backlogs and the plan

3 and timetable for doing so.

4 (4) How the grant funds requested will be used

5 to assist the implementation of the strategies de6 scribed in paragraph (3).

7 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under a grant

8 awarded under this section may be used for any purpose

9 that the Attorney General determines is likely to success10 fully achieve the purposes described in subsection (a), in11 cluding temporarily—

12 (1) establishing night court sessions for abuse

13 and neglect courts;

14 (2) hiring additional judges, magistrates, com15 missioners, hearing officers, referees, special mas16 ters, and other judicial personnel for such courts;

17 (3) hiring personnel such as clerks, administra18 tive support staff, case managers, mediators, and at19 torneys for such courts; or

20 (4) extending the operating hours of such

21 courts.

22 (d) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Not less than 15 nor

23 more than 20 grants shall be awarded under this section.

24 (e) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded

25 under a grant made under this section shall remain avail-
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1 able for expenditure by a grantee for a period not to ex2 ceed 3 years from the date of the grant award.

3 (f) REPORT ON USE OF FUNDS.—Not later than the

4 date that is halfway through the period for which a grant

5 is awarded under this section, and 90 days after the end

6 of such period, a State court or local court awarded a

7 grant under this section shall submit a report to the Attor8 ney General that includes the following:

9 (1) The barriers to the permanency goals estab10 lished in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of

11 1997 that are or have been addressed with grant

12 funds.

13 (2) The nature of the backlogs of children that

14 were pursued with grant funds.

15 (3) The specific strategies used to reduce such

16 backlogs.

17 (4) The progress that has been made in reduc18 ing such backlogs, including the number of children

19 in such backlogs—

20 (A) whose parental rights have been termi21 nated; and

22 (B) whose adoptions have been finalized.

23 (5) Any additional information that the Attor24 ney General determines would assist jurisdictions in
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1 achieving the permanency goals established in the

2 Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There are

4 authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2001

5 $10,000,000 for the purpose of making grants under this

6 section.

7 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO EXPAND THE COURT-APPOINTED SPE8 CIAL ADVOCATE PROGRAM IN UNDERSERVED

9 AREAS.

10 (a) GRANTS TO EXPAND CASA PROGRAMS IN UN11 DERSERVED AREAS.—The Administrator of the Office of

12 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the De13 partment of Justice shall make a grant to the National

14 Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association for the pur15 poses of—

16 (1) expanding the recruitment of, and building

17 the capacity of, court-appointed special advocate

18 programs located in the 15 largest urban areas;

19 (2) developing regional, multijurisdictional

20 court-appointed special advocate programs serving

21 rural areas; and

22 (3) providing training and supervision of volun23 teers in court-appointed special advocate programs.

24 (b) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI25 TURES.—Not more than 5 percent of the grant made
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1 under this subsection may be used for administrative ex2 penditures.

3 (c) DETERMINATION OF URBAN AND RURAL

4 AREAS.—For purposes of administering the grant author5 ized under this subsection, the Administrator of the Office

6 of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the De7 partment of Justice shall determine whether an area is

8 one of the 15 largest urban areas or a rural area in ac9 cordance with the practices of, and statistical information

10 compiled by, the Bureau of the Census.

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

12 authorized to be appropriated to make the grant author13 ized under this section, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.

Calendar No. 737

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2272

A BILL

To improve the administrative efficiency and effectiveness of the Nation’s abuse and neglect courts

and for other purposes consistent with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

JULY 27, 2000

Reported without amendment