II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2779 

To improve protections for children and to hold States accountable for the 

orderly and timely placement of children across State lines, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2004 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To improve protections for children and to hold States accountable for the orderly and timely placement of children across State lines, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Orderly and Timely 

5 Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that the Inter8 state Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) was 
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1 drafted more than 40 years ago, is outdated, and is a bar2 rier to the timely placement of children across State lines. 

3 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

4 the Congress that the States should expeditiously revise 

5 the ICPC to better serve the interests of children and re6 duce unnecessary work, and that the revision should in7 clude— 

8 (1) limiting its applicability to children in foster 

9 care under the responsibility of a State, except those 

10 seeking placement in a residential facility primarily 

11 to access clinical mental health services; and 

12 (2) providing for deadlines for the completion 

13 and approval of home studies as set forth in section 

14 4. 

15 SEC. 3. ORDERLY AND TIMELY PROCESS FOR INTERSTATE 

16 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 

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

18 671(a)) is amended— 

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

20 (23); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(25) provides that the State shall have in ef25 fect procedures for the orderly and timely interstate 
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1 placement of children; and procedures implemented 

2 in accordance with an interstate compact approved 

3 by the Secretary, if incorporating the procedures 

4 prescribed by paragraph (26), shall be considered to 

5 satisfy the requirement of this paragraph.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. HOME STUDIES. 

7 (a) ORDERLY PROCESS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a) of the Social 

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is further amend10 ed— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para12 graph (24); 

13 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

14 paragraph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(26) provides that— 

17 ‘‘(A) within 60 days after the State re18 ceives from another State a request to conduct 

19 a study of a home environment for purposes of 

20 assessing the appropriateness of placing a child 

21 in the home, the State shall, directly or by con22 tract— 

23 ‘‘(i) conduct and complete the study; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) return to the other State a re2 port on the results of the study, which 

3 shall address the extent to which place4 ment in the home would meet the needs of 

5 the child; 

6 ‘‘(B) the State shall treat any report de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) that is received 

8 from another State (or from a private agency 

9 under contract with another State) as meeting 

10 any requirements imposed by the State for the 

11 completion of a home study before placing a 

12 child in the home, unless, within 7 days after 

13 receipt of the report, the State determines, 

14 based on grounds that are specific to the con15 tent of the report, that making a decision in re16 liance on the report would be contrary to the 

17 welfare of the child; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the State shall not impose any re19 striction on the ability of a State agency admin20 istering, or supervising the administration of, a 

21 State program operated under a State plan ap22 proved under this part to contract with a pri23 vate agency for the conduct of a home study de24 scribed in subparagraph (A).’’. 
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1 (2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

2 of the Congress that each State should— 

3 (A) use private agencies to conduct home 

4 studies when doing so is necessary to meet the 

5 requirements of section 471(a)(26) of the Social 

6 Security Act; and 

7 (B) give full faith and credit to any home 

8 study report completed by any other State with 

9 respect to the placement of a child in foster 

10 care or for adoption. 

11 (b) TIMELY INTERSTATE HOME STUDY INCENTIVE

12 PAYMENTS.—Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 670–679b) is amended by inserting after sec14 tion 473A the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 473B. TIMELY INTERSTATE HOME STUDY INCENTIVE 

16 PAYMENTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall make 

18 a grant to each State that is a home study incentive-eligi19 ble State for a fiscal year in an amount equal to the timely 

20 interstate home study incentive payment payable to the 

21 State under this section for the fiscal year, which shall 

22 be payable in the immediately succeeding fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(b) HOME STUDY INCENTIVE-ELIGIBLE STATE.— 

24 A State is a home study incentive-eligible State for a fiscal 

25 year if— 
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1 ‘‘(1) the State has a plan approved under this 

2 part for the fiscal year; 

3 ‘‘(2) the State is in compliance with subsection 

4 (c) for the fiscal year; and 

5 ‘‘(3) based on data submitted and verified pur6 suant to subsection (c), the State has completed a 

7 timely interstate home study during the fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(c) DATA REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State is in compliance 

10 with this subsection for a fiscal year if the State has 

11 provided to the Secretary a written report, covering 

12 the preceding fiscal year, that specifies— 

13 ‘‘(A) the total number of interstate home 

14 studies requested by the State with respect to 

15 children in foster care under the responsibility 

16 of the State, and with respect to each such 

17 study, the identity of the other State involved; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) the total number of timely interstate 

20 home studies completed by the State with re21 spect to children in foster care under the re22 sponsibility of other States, and with respect to 

23 each such study, the identity of the other State 

24 involved. 
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1 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF DATA.—In determining 

2 the number of timely interstate home studies to be 

3 attributed to a State under this section, the Sec4 retary shall check the data provided by the State 

5 under paragraph (1) against complementary data so 

6 provided by other States. 

7 ‘‘(d) TIMELY INTERSTATE HOME STUDY INCENTIVE

8 PAYMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2) of this subsection, the timely interstate 

11 home study incentive payment payable to a State for 

12 a fiscal year shall be $1,000, multiplied by the num13 ber of timely interstate home studies attributed to 

14 the State under this section during the fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENT IF INSUFFICIENT

16 FUNDS AVAILABLE.—If the total amount of timely 

17 interstate home study incentive payments otherwise 

18 payable under this section for a fiscal year exceeds 

19 the total of the amounts made available pursuant to 

20 subsection (h) for the fiscal year, the amount of 

21 each such otherwise payable incentive payment shall 

22 be reduced by a percentage equal to— 

23 ‘‘(A) the total of the amounts so made 

24 available; divided by 
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1 ‘‘(B) the total of such otherwise payable 

2 incentive payments. 

3 ‘‘(e) 2-YEAR AVAILABILITY OF INCENTIVE PAY4 MENTS.—Payments to a State under this section in a fis5 cal year shall remain available for use by the State 

6 through the end of the next fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF INCENTIVE PAY8 MENTS.—A State shall not expend an amount paid to the 

9 State under this section except to provide to children or 

10 families any service (including post-adoption services) that 

11 may be provided under part B or E. Amounts expended 

12 by a State in accordance with the preceding sentence shall 

13 be disregarded in determining State expenditures for pur14 poses of Federal matching payments under sections 423, 

15 434, and 474. 

16 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) HOME STUDY.—The term ‘home study’ 

18 means a study of a home environment, conducted in 

19 accordance with applicable requirements of the State 

20 in which the home is located, for the purpose of as21 sessing whether placement of a child in the home 

22 would be appropriate for the child. 

23 ‘‘(2) INTERSTATE HOME STUDY.—The term 

24 ‘interstate home study’ means a home study con25 ducted by a State at the request of another State, 
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1 to facilitate an adoptive or relative placement in the 

2 State. 

3 ‘‘(3) TIMELY INTERSTATE HOME STUDY.—The 

4 term ‘timely interstate home study’ means an inter5 state home study completed by a State if the State 

6 provides to the State that requested the study, with7 in 30 days after receipt of the request, a report on 

8 the results of the study. 

9 ‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO10 PRIATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For grants under sub12 section (a), there are authorized to be appropriated 

13 to the Secretary $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 

14 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated 

15 under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain avail16 able until expended.’’. 

17 (c) REPEALER.—Effective October 1, 2008, section 

18 473B of the Social Security Act is repealed. 

19 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO CHECK CHILD ABUSE REG20 ISTRIES; OPT-OUT ELIMINATED. 

21 Section 471(a)(20) of the Social Security Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)) is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘unless an 

24 election provided for in subparagraph (B) is made 

25 with respect to the State,’’; and 
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1 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) provides that the State shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) check any child abuse and neglect 

5 registry maintained by the State for infor6 mation on any prospective foster or adop7 tive parent and on any other adult living in 

8 the home of such a prospective parent, and 

9 request any other State in which any such 

10 prospective parent or other adult has re11 sided in the preceding 5 years, to enable 

12 the State to check any child abuse and ne13 glect registry maintained by such other 

14 State for such information, before the pro15 spective foster or adoptive parent may be 

16 finally approved for placement of a child, 

17 regardless of whether foster care mainte18 nance payments or adoption assistance 

19 payments are to be made on behalf of the 

20 child under the State plan under this part; 

21 ‘‘(ii) comply with any request de22 scribed in clause (i) that is received from 

23 another State; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) have in place safeguards to pre25 vent the unauthorized disclosure of infor-
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1 mation in any child abuse and neglect reg2 istry maintained by the State, and to pre3 vent any such information obtained pursu4 ant to this subparagraph from being used 

5 for a purpose other than the conducting of 

6 background checks in foster or adoptive 

7 placement cases;’’. 

8 SEC. 6. COURTS ALLOWED ACCESS TO THE FEDERAL PAR9 ENT LOCATOR SERVICE TO LOCATE PARENTS 

10 IN FOSTER CARE OR ADOPTIVE PLACEMENT 

11 CASES. 

12 Section 453(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 653(c)) is amended— 

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

15 (3); 

16 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

17 and’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(5) any court which has authority with respect 

20 to the placement of a child in foster care or for 

21 adoption, but only for the purpose of locating a par22 ent of the child.’’. 

23 SEC. 7. CASEWORKER VISITS. 

24 (a) PURCHASE OF SERVICES IN INTERSTATE PLACE25 MENT CASES.—Section 475(5)(A)(ii) of the Social Secu-
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1 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking 

2 ‘‘or of the State in which the child has been placed’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘of the State in which the child has been placed, 

4 or of a private agency under contract with either such 

5 State’’. 

6 (b) INCREASED VISITS.—Section 475(5)(A)(ii) of 

7 such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘12’’ and inserting ‘‘6’’. 

9 SEC. 8. HEALTH AND EDUCATION RECORDS. 

10 Section 475 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 675) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘To the extent available 

14 and accessible, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘the most recent informa16 tion available regarding’’ after ‘‘including’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘a copy of the record is’’ 

19 before ‘‘supplied’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and is supplied to the 

21 child at the time the child leaves foster care if 

22 the child is leaving foster care by reason of hav23 ing attained the age of majority under State 

24 law’’ before the semicolon. 
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1 SEC. 9. RIGHT TO BE HEARD IN FOSTER CARE PRO2 CEEDINGS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 475(5)(G) of the Social 

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(G)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘an opportunity’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘a right’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘and opportunity’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘and right’’; and 

9 (3) by striking ‘‘review or hearing’’ each place 

10 it appears and inserting ‘‘proceeding’’. 

11 (b) NOTICE OF PROCEEDING.—Section 438(b) of 

12 such Act (42 U.S.C. 638(b)) is amended by inserting 

13 ‘‘shall have in effect a rule requiring State courts to notify 

14 foster parents, pre-adoptive parents, and relative care15 givers of a child in foster care under the responsibility of 

16 the State of any proceeding to be held with respect to the 

17 child, and’’ after ‘‘highest State court’’. 

18 SEC. 10. REASONABLE EFFORTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(15)(C) of the So20 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15)(C)) is amended 

21 by inserting ‘‘(including, if appropriate, through an inter22 state placement)’’ after ‘‘accordance with the permanency 

23 plan’’. 

24 (b) PERMANENCY HEARING.—Section 

25 471(a)(15)(E)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15)(E)(i)) 

26 is amended by inserting ‘‘, which considers in-State and 
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1 out-of-State permanent placement options for the child,’’ 

2 before ‘‘shall’’. 

3 (c) CONCURRENT PLANNING.—Section 

4 471(a)(15)(F) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15)(F)) is 

5 amended by inserting ‘‘, including identifying appropriate 

6 out-of-State relatives and placements’’ before ‘‘may’’. 

7 SEC. 11. CASE PLANS. 

8 Section 475(1)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 675(1)(E)) is amended by inserting ‘‘to facilitate 

10 orderly and timely interstate placements’’ before the pe11 riod. 

12 SEC. 12. CASE REVIEW SYSTEM. 

13 Section 475(5)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 675(5)(C) is amended— 

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘, in the case of a child who 

16 will not be returned to the parent, the hearing shall 

17 consider in-State and out-of-State placement op18 tions,’’ after ‘‘living arrangement’’; and 

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘the hearing shall determine’’ 

20 before ‘‘whether the’’. 

21 SEC. 13. USE OF INTERJURISDICTIONAL RESOURCES. 

22 Section 422(b)(12) of the Social Security Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 622(b)(12)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘develop plans for the’’ and in25 serting ‘‘make’’; 
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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘(including through contracts 

2 for the purchase of services)’’ after ‘‘resources’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘, and shall eliminate legal bar4 riers,’’ before ‘‘to facilitate’’. 

5 SEC. 14. GAO STUDY ON CHILD WELFARE BACKGROUND 

6 CHECKS. 

7 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

8 States shall conduct a study of background checks that 

9 are performed for the purpose of determining the appro10 priateness of placing in a foster or adoptive home a child 

11 who is under the custody of a State. The study shall re12 view the policies and practices of States in order to— 

13 (1) identify the most common delays in the 

14 background clearance process and where in the proc15 ess the delays occur; 

16 (2) describe when background checks are initi17 ated; 

18 (3) determine which of local, State, or Federal 

19 (such as FBI) background checks are used, how 

20 long it takes, on average, for each kind of check to 

21 be processed, which crimes or other events are in22 cluded in each kind of check, how the States differ 

23 in classifying the crimes and other events checked, 

24 and how the information revealed by the checks is 
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1 used in determining eligibility to act as a foster or 

2 adoptive parent; 

3 (4) examine the barriers child welfare agencies 

4 face in accessing criminal background check infor5 mation; 

6 (5) examine the use of the latest information7 sharing technology, including electronic 

8 fingerprinting and participation in the Integrated 

9 Automated Fingerprinting Information System; 

10 (6) identify the varied uses of such technology 

11 for child welfare purposes as opposed to criminal 

12 justice purposes; and 

13 (7) recommend best practices that can increase 

14 the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of child welfare 

15 background checks at all levels of government. 

16 (b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 12 months 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp18 troller General of the United States shall submit to the 

19 Committees on Ways and Means and on Education and 

20 the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 

21 Committees on Finance and on Health, Education, Labor, 

22 and Pensions of the Senate a report which contains the 

23 results of the study required by subsection (a). 
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1 SEC. 15. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

3 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

4 on October 1, 2004, and shall apply to payments under 

5 parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act for 

6 calendar quarters beginning on or after such date, without 

7 regard to whether regulations to implement the amend8 ments are promulgated by such date. 

9 (b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE10 QUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

11 determines that State legislation (other than legislation 

12 appropriating funds) is required in order for a State plan 

13 under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

14 to meet the additional requirements imposed by the 

15 amendments made by this Act, the plan shall not be re16 garded as failing to meet any of the additional require17 ments before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter be18 ginning after the first regular session of the State legisla19 ture that begins after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act. If the State has a 2-year legislative session, each year 

21 of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session 

22 of the State legislature. 

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