I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1452
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for
demonstration projects to test the feasibility of establishing kinship care
as an alternative to foster care for a child who has adult relatives
willing to provide safe and appropriate care for the child, and to require
notice to adult relative caregivers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 24, 1997
Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON,
Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, and Mr. MORAN
of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act
to provide for demonstration projects to test the feasibil-
ity of establishing kinship care as an alternative to foster
care for a child who has adult relatives willing to provide
safe and appropriate care for the child, and to require
notice to adult relative caregivers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kinship Care Act of
1997’’.
SEC. 2. KINSHIP CARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title IV of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670–679) is amended by inserting
after section 477 the following:
‘‘SEC. 478. KINSHIP CARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to
allow and encourage States to develop effective alter-
natives to foster care for children who might be eligible
for foster care but who have adult relatives who can pro-
vide safe and appropriate care for the child.
‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary
may authorize any State to conduct a demonstration
project designed to determine whether it is feasible to es-
tablish kinship care as an alternative to foster care for
a child who—
‘‘(1) has been removed from home as a result
of a judicial determination that continuation in the
home would be contrary to the welfare of the child;
‘‘(2) would otherwise be placed in foster care;
and
‘‘(3) has adult relatives willing to provide safe
and appropriate care for the child.
‘‘(c) KINSHIP CARE DEFINED.—As used in this sec-
tion, the term ‘kinship care’ means safe and appropriate
care (including long-term care) of a child by 1 or more
adult relatives of the child who have legal custody of the
child, or physical custody of the child pending transfer to
the adult relative of legal custody of the child.
‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—In any demonstra-
tion project authorized to be conducted under this section,
the State—
‘‘(1) should examine the provision of alternative
financial and service supports to families providing
kinship care; and
‘‘(2) shall establish such procedures as may be
necessary to assure the safety of children who are
placed in kinship care.
‘‘(e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may waive
compliance with any requirement of this part which (if ap-
plied) would prevent a State from carrying out a dem-
onstration project under this section or prevent the State
from effectively achieving the purpose of such a project,
except that the Secretary may not waive—
‘‘(1) any provision of section 422(b)(10), sec-
tion 479, or this section; or
‘‘(2) any provision of this part, to the extent
that the waiver would impair the entitlement of any
qualified child or family to benefits under a State
plan approved under this part.
‘‘(f) PAYMENTS TO STATES; COST NEUTRALITY.—In
lieu of any payment under section 473 for expenses in-
curred by a State during a quarter with respect to a dem-
onstration project authorized to be conducted under this
section, the Secretary shall pay to the State an amount
equal to the total amount that would be paid to the State
for the quarter under this part, in the absence of the
project, with respect to the children and families partici-
pating in the project.
‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—A State may use funds paid
under this section for any purpose related to the provision
of services and financial support for families participating
in a demonstration project under this section.
‘‘(h) DURATION
OF PROJECT.—A demonstration
project under this section may be conducted for not more
than 5 years.
‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—Any State seeking to conduct a
demonstration project under this section shall submit to
the Secretary an application, in such form as the Sec-
retary may require, which includes—
‘‘(1) a description of the proposed project, the
geographic area in which the proposed project would
be conducted, the children or families who would be
served by the proposed project, the procedures to be
used to assure the safety of such children, and the
services which would be provided by the proposed
project (which shall provide, where appropriate, for
random assignment of children and families to
groups served under the project and to control
groups);
‘‘(2) a statement of the period during which the
proposed project would be conducted, and how, at
the termination of the project, the safety and stabil-
ity of the children and families who participated in
the project will be protected;
‘‘(3) a discussion of the benefits that are ex-
pected from the proposed project (compared to a
continuation of activities under the State plan ap-
proved under this part);
‘‘(4) an estimate of the savings to the State of
the proposed project;
‘‘(5) a statement of program requirements for
which waivers would be needed to permit the pro-
posed project to be conducted;
‘‘(6) a description of the proposed evaluation
design; and
‘‘(7) such additional information as the Sec-
retary may require.
‘‘(j) STATE EVALUATIONS
AND REPORTS.—Each
State authorized to conduct a demonstration project under
this section shall—
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title IV of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended
(1) in section 422(b)—
(A) by striking the period at the end of the
paragraph (9) (as added by section 554(3) of
the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994
(Public Law 103–382; 108 Stat. 4057)) and in-
serting a semicolon;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as
paragraph (11); and
(C) by redesignating paragraph (9), as
added by section 202(a)(3) of the Social Secu-
rity Act Amendments of 1994 (Public Law
103–432, 108 Stat. 4453), as paragraph (10);
(2) in sections 424(b), 425(a), and 472(d), by
striking ‘‘422(b)(9)’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘422(b)(10)’’; and
(3) in section 471(a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (17);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (18) (as added by section 1808(a) of
the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996
(Public Law 104–188; 110 Stat. 1903)) and in-
serting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by redesignating paragraph (18) (as
added by section 505(3) of the Personal Re-
sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcili-
ation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–193; 110
Stat. 2278)) as paragraph (19).
SEC. 3. NOTICE TO RELATIVE CAREGIVERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(19) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(19), as redesignated by
section 1(b)(3)(C), is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(19) provides that the State shall, with respect
to an adult relative caregiver for a child—
‘‘(A) provide that relative caregiver with
notice of, and an opportunity to be heard in,
any dispositional hearing or administrative re-
view held with respect to the child; and
‘‘(B) give preference to that relative
caregiver over a non-related caregiver when de-
termining a placement for a child, provided that
the relative caregiver meets all relevant State
child protection standards, and that placement
with the relative caregiver would be consistent
with the safety needs of the child.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) takes effect on October 1, 1997.
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