II
Calendar No. 66
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 867
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY 1, 1997
Received
JUNE 2, 1997
Read the first time
JUNE 3, 1997
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
AN ACT
To promote the adoption of children in foster care.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Adoption Promotion Act of 1997’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec.
1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec.
2. Clarification of the reasonable efforts requirement.
Sec.
3. States required to initiate or join proceedings to terminate parental
rights for certain children in foster care.
Sec.
4. Adoption incentive payments.
Sec.
5. Earlier status reviews and permanency hearings.
Sec.
6. Notice of reviews and hearings; opportunity to be heard.
Sec.
7. Documentation of reasonable efforts to adopt.
Sec.
8. Kinship care.
Sec.
9. Use of the Federal Parent Locator Service for child welfare services.
Sec. 10. Performance of States in protecting children.
Sec. 11. Authority to approve more child protection demonstration projects.
Sec. 12. Technical assistance.
Sec. 13. Coordination of substance abuse and child protection services.
Sec. 14. Clarification of eligible population for independent living services.
Sec. 15. Effective date.
Sec. 16. Purchase of American-made equipment and products.
Sec. 17. Criminal records checks for prospective foster and adoptive parents
and group care staff.
Sec. 18. Standby guardianship.
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF THE REASONABLE EFFORTS RE-
QUIREMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(15) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15)) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(15)(A) provides that—
‘‘(i) except as provided in clauses (ii) and
(iii), reasonable efforts shall be made—
‘‘(I) before a child is placed in foster
care, to prevent or eliminate the need to
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remove the child from the child’s home;
and
‘‘(II) to make it possible for the child
to return home;
‘‘(ii) if continuation of reasonable efforts of
the type described in clause (i) is determined to
be inconsistent with the permanency plan for
the child, reasonable efforts of the type required
by clause (iii)(II) shall be made;
‘‘(iii) if a court of competent jurisdiction
has determined that the child has been sub-
jected to aggravated circumstances (as defined
by State law, which definition may include
abandonment, torture, chronic abuse, and sex-
ual abuse) or parental conduct described in sec-
tion 106(b)(2)(A)(xii) of the Child Abuse Pre-
vention and Treatment Act, or that the paren-
tal rights of a parent with respect to a sibling
of the child have been terminated involuntar-
ily—
‘‘(I) reasonable efforts of the type de-
scribed in clause (i) shall not be required
to be made with respect to any parent of
the child who has been involved in subject-
ing the child to such circumstances or such
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conduct, or whose parental rights with re-
spect to a sibling of the child have been
terminated involuntarily; and
‘‘(II) if reasonable efforts of the type
described in clause (i) are not made or are
discontinued, reasonable efforts shall be
made to place the child for adoption, with
a legal guardian, or (if adoption or legal
guardianship is determined not to be ap-
propriate for the child) in some other
planned, permanent living arrangement;
and
‘‘(iv) reasonable efforts of the type de-
scribed in clause (iii)(II) may be made concur-
rently with reasonable efforts of the type de-
scribed in clause (i); and
‘‘(B) in determining the reasonable efforts
to be made with respect to a child and in mak-
ing such reasonable efforts, the child’s health
and safety shall be of paramount concern;’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 472(a)(1)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)(1)) is amended by inserting
‘‘for a child’’ before ‘‘have been made’’.
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SEC. 3. STATES REQUIRED TO INITIATE OR JOIN PROCEED-
INGS TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR
CERTAIN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 475(5) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (C);
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(E) in the case of a child who has not at-
tained 10 years of age and has been in foster
care under the responsibility of the State for 18
months of the most recent 24 months, the State
shall file a petition to terminate the parental
rights of the child’s parents (or, if such a peti-
tion has been filed by another party, seek to be
joined as a party to the petition), unless—
‘‘(i) at the option of the State, the
child is being cared for by a relative;
‘‘(ii) a State court or State agency
has documented a compelling reason for
determining that filing such a petition
would not be in the best interests of the
child; or
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‘‘(iii) the State has not provided to
the family of the child such services as the
State deems appropriate, if reasonable ef-
forts of the type described in section
471(a)(15)(A)(i) are required to be made
with respect to the child.’’.
(b) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—The amend-
ments made by subsection (a) shall apply only to children
entering foster care on or after October 1, 1997.
SEC. 4. ADOPTION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.
(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 473 the following:
‘‘SEC. 473A. ADOPTION INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.
‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Subject to the availability
of such amounts as may be provided in appropriations
Acts, the Secretary shall make a grant to each State that
is an incentive-eligible State for a fiscal year in an amount
equal to the adoption incentive payment payable to the
State for the fiscal year under this section, which shall
be payable in the immediately succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(b) INCENTIVE-ELIGIBLE STATE.—A State is an in-
centive-eligible State for a fiscal year if—
‘‘(1) the State has a plan approved under this
part for the fiscal year;
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‘‘(2) the number of foster child adoptions in the
State during the fiscal year exceeds the base number
of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal
year;
‘‘(3) the State is in compliance with subsection
(c) for the fiscal year; and
‘‘(4) the fiscal year is any of fiscal years 1998
through 2002.
‘‘(c) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State is in compliance
with this subsection for a fiscal year if the State has
provided to the Secretary the data described in para-
graph (2) for fiscal year 1997 (or, if later, the fiscal
year that precedes the 1st fiscal year for which the
State seeks a grant under this section) and for each
succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF NUMBERS OF ADOP-
TIONS.—
‘‘(A) DETERMINATIONS BASED ON AFCARS
DATA.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), the Secretary shall determine the numbers
of foster child adoptions and of special needs
adoptions in a State during each of fiscal years
1997 through 2002, for purposes of this sec-
tion, on the basis of data meeting the require-
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ments of the system established pursuant to
section 479, as reported by the State in May of
the fiscal year and in November of the succeed-
ing fiscal year, and approved by the Secretary
by April 1 of the succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE DATA SOURCES PER-
MITTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997.—For purposes
of the determination described in subparagraph
(A) for fiscal year 1997, the Secretary may use
data from a source or sources other than that
specified in subparagraph (A) that the Sec-
retary finds to be of equivalent completeness
and reliability, as reported by a State by No-
vember 30, 1997, and approved by the Sec-
retary by March 1, 1998.
‘‘(3) NO WAIVER OF AFCARS REQUIREMENTS.—
This section shall not be construed to alter or affect
any requirement of section 479 or any regulation
prescribed under such section with respect to report-
ing of data by States, or to waive any penalty for
failure to comply with the requirements.
‘‘(d) ADOPTION INCENTIVE PAYMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the adoption incentive payment payable to
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a State for a fiscal year under this section shall be
equal to the sum of—
‘‘(A) $4,000, multiplied by amount (if any)
by which the number of foster child adoptions
in the State during the fiscal year exceeds the
base number of foster child adoptions for the
State for the fiscal year; and
‘‘(B) $2,000, multiplied by the amount (if
any) by which the number of special needs
adoptions in the State during the fiscal year ex-
ceeds the base number of special needs adop-
tions for the State for the fiscal year.
‘‘(2) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENT IF INSUFFICIENT
FUNDS AVAILABLE.—If the total amount of adoption
incentive payments otherwise payable under this sec-
tion for a fiscal year exceeds $15,000,000, the
amount of the adoption incentive payment payable to
each State under this section for the fiscal year shall
be—
‘‘(A) the amount of the adoption incentive
payment that would otherwise be payable to the
State under this section for the fiscal year; mul-
tiplied by
‘‘(B) 
the 
percentage 
represented 
by
$15,000,000, divided by the total amount of
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adoption incentive payments otherwise payable
under this section for the fiscal year.
‘‘(e) 2-YEAR AVAILABILITY
OF INCENTIVE PAY-
MENTS.—Payments to a State under this section in a fis-
cal year shall remain available for use by the State
through the end of the succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS
ON USE
OF INCENTIVE PAY-
MENTS.—A State shall not expend an amount paid to the
State under this section except to provide to children or
families any service (including post adoption services) that
may be provided under part B or E. Amounts expended
by a State in accordance with the preceding sentence shall
be disregarded in determining State expenditures for pur-
poses of Federal matching payments under section 474.
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) FOSTER
CHILD
ADOPTION.—The term
‘foster child adoption’ means the final adoption of a
child who, at the time of adoptive placement, was in
foster care under the supervision of the State.
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
NEEDS
ADOPTION.—The term
‘special needs adoption’ means the final adoption of
a child for whom an adoption assistance agreement
is in effect under section 473.
‘‘(3) BASE NUMBER OF FOSTER CHILD ADOP-
TIONS.—The term ‘base number of foster child
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adoptions for a State’ means, with respect to a fiscal
year, the largest number of foster child adoptions in
the State in fiscal year 1997 (or, if later, the 1st fis-
cal year for which the State has furnished to the
Secretary the data described in subsection (c)(2)) or
in any succeeding fiscal year preceding the fiscal
year.
‘‘(4) BASE NUMBER OF SPECIAL NEEDS ADOP-
TIONS.—The term ‘base number of special needs
adoptions for a State’ means, with respect to a fiscal
year, the largest number of special needs adoptions
in the State in fiscal year 1997 (or, if later, the 1st
fiscal year for which the State has furnished to the
Secretary the data described in subsection (c)(2)) or
in any succeeding fiscal year preceding the fiscal
year.
‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For grants under this sec-
tion, there are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999
through 2003.
‘‘(2) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appropriated
under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain avail-
able until expended, but not after fiscal year 2003.’’.
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‘‘(iii) The chairman of the Committee on the
Budget of the House of Representatives shall submit
any adjustments made under this subparagraph to
the House of Representatives and have such adjust-
ments published in the Congressional Record.
‘‘(B) The adjustments referred to in this para-
graph consist of adjustments to—
‘‘(i) the discretionary spending limits for
that fiscal year as set forth in the most recently
adopted concurrent resolution on the budget;
‘‘(ii) the allocations to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives for that fiscal year under sec-
tions 302(a) and 602(a); and
‘‘(iii) the appropriate budgetary aggregates
for that fiscal year in the most recently adopted
concurrent resolution on the budget.
‘‘(C) The adjusted discretionary spending lim-
its, allocations, and aggregates under this paragraph
shall be considered the appropriate limits, alloca-
tions, and aggregates for purposes of congressional
enforcement of this Act and concurrent budget reso-
lutions under this Act.
‘‘(2) REPORTING REVISED SUBALLOCATIONS.—
Following the adjustments made under paragraph
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(1), the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate
and the House of Representatives may report appro-
priately revised suballocations pursuant to sections
302(b) and 602(b) of this Act to carry out this sub-
section.
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the
term ‘adoption incentive payments’ shall have the
same meaning as provided in section 251(b)(2)(I) of
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985.’’.
SEC. 5. EARLIER STATUS REVIEWS AND PERMANENCY
HEARINGS.
Section 475(5)(C) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 675(5)(C)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘eighteen months after’’ and in-
serting ‘‘12 months after’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘dispositional’’ and inserting
‘‘permanency’’; and
(3) by striking ‘‘future status of’’ and all that
follows through ‘‘long-term basis)’’ and inserting
‘‘permanency plan for the child (including whether
(and, if applicable, when) the child will be returned
to the parent, the child will be placed for adoption
and the State will file a petition to terminate the pa-
rental rights of the parent, a legal guardian will be
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appointed for the child, or the child will be placed
in some other planned, permanent living arrange-
ment, including in the custody of another fit and
willing relative)’’.
SEC. 6. NOTICE OF REVIEWS AND HEARINGS; OPPOR-
TUNITY TO BE HEARD.
Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
675(5)), as amended by section 3 of this Act, is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (D);
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (E) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(F) the foster parents (if any) of a child
and any relative providing care for the child are
provided with notice of, and an opportunity to
be heard in, any review or hearing to be held
with respect to the child, except that this sub-
paragraph shall not be construed to make any
foster parent a party to such a review or hear-
ing.’’.
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SEC. 7. DOCUMENTATION OF REASONABLE EFFORTS TO
ADOPT.
Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
675(5)), as amended by sections 3 and 6 of this Act, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (E);
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(G) in the case of a child with respect to
whom the State’s goal is adoption or placement
in another permanent home, the steps taken by
the State agency to find an adoptive family or
other permanent living arrangement for the
child, to place the child with an adoptive family,
a legal guardian, or in another planned perma-
nent living arrangement (including in the cus-
tody of another fit and willing relative), and to
finalize the adoption or legal guardianship are
documented, and such documentation shall in-
clude documentation of child specific recruit-
ment efforts such as the use of State, regional,
and national adoption information exchanges,
including electronic information exchange sys-
tems.’’.
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SEC. 8. KINSHIP CARE.
(a) REPORT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall—
(A) not later than March 1, 1998, convene
the advisory panel provided for in subsection
(b)(1) and prepare and submit to the advisory
panel an initial report on the extent to which
children in foster care are placed in the care of
a relative (in this section referred to as ‘‘kin-
ship care’’); and
(B) not later than November 1, 1998, sub-
mit to the Committee on Ways and Means of
the House of Representatives and the Commit-
tee on Finance of the Senate a final report on
the matter described in subparagraph (A),
which shall—
(i) be based on the comments submit-
ted by the advisory panel pursuant to sub-
section (b)(2) and other information and
considerations; and
(ii) include the policy recommenda-
tions of the Secretary with respect to the
matter.
(2) REQUIRED
CONTENTS.—Each report re-
quired by paragraph (1) shall—
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(A) include, to the extent available for each
State, information on—
(i) the policy of the State regarding
kinship care;
(ii) the characteristics of the kinship
care providers (including age, income, eth-
nicity, and race);
(iii) the characteristics of the house-
hold of such providers (such as number of
other persons in the household and family
composition);
(iv) how much access to the child is
afforded to the parent from whom the
child has been removed;
(v) the cost of, and source of funds
for, kinship care (including any subsidies
such as medicaid and cash assistance);
(vi) the goal for a permanent living
arrangement for the child and the actions
being taken by the State to achieve the
goal;
(vii) the services being provided to the
parent from whom the child has been re-
moved; and
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(viii) the services being provided to
the kinship care provider; and
(B) specifically note the circumstances or
conditions under which children enter kinship
care.
(b) ADVISORY PANEL.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health
and Human Services, in consultation with the Chair-
man of the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives and the Chairman of the
Committee on Finance of the Senate, shall convene
an advisory panel which shall include parents, foster
parents, former foster children, State and local pub-
lic officials responsible for administering child wel-
fare programs, private persons involved in the deliv-
ery of child welfare services, representatives of tribal
governments and tribal courts, judges, and academic
experts.
(2) DUTIES.—The advisory panel convened pur-
suant to paragraph (1) shall review the report pre-
pared pursuant to subsection (a), and, not later than
July 1, 1998, submit to the Secretary comments on
the report.
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SEC. 9. USE OF THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE
FOR CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.
Section 453 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
653) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘or enforcing child custody
or visitation orders’’ and inserting ‘‘or making
or enforcing child custody or visitation orders’’;
and
(B) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking the comma at the end
of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’;
and
(ii) by inserting after subparagraph
(C) the following:
‘‘(D) who has or may have parental rights
with respect to a child,’’; and
(2) in subsection (c)—
(A) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) a State agency that is administering a pro-
gram operated under a State plan under subpart 1
of part B, or a State plan approved under subpart
2 of part B or under part E.’’.
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SEC. 10. PERFORMANCE OF STATES IN PROTECTING CHIL-
DREN.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in con-
sultation with the American Public Welfare Association,
the National Governors’ Association, and persons or orga-
nizations devoted to child advocacy, shall—
(1) develop a set of outcome measures (includ-
ing length of stay in foster care, number of foster
care placements, and number of adoptions) that can
be used to assess the performance of States in oper-
ating child protection and child welfare programs
pursuant to parts B and E of title IV of the Social
Security Act to ensure the safety of children;
(2) to the maximum extent possible, the out-
come measures should be developed from data avail-
able from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis
and Reporting System;
(3) develop a system for rating the performance
of States with respect to the outcome measures, and
provide to the States an explanation of the rating
system and how scores are determined under the
rating system;
(4) prescribe such regulations as may be nec-
essary to ensure that States provide to the Secretary
the data necessary to determine State performance
with respect to each outcome measure, as a condi-
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tion of the State receiving funds under part E of
title IV of the Social Security Act;
(5) on May 1, 1999, and annually thereafter,
prepare and submit to the Congress a report on the
performance of each State on each outcome meas-
ure, which shall examine the reasons for high per-
formance and low performance and, where possible,
make recommendations as to how State performance
could be improved.
SEC. 11. AUTHORITY TO APPROVE MORE CHILD PROTEC-
TION DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
Section 1130(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1320a–9(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘At
least 1 of the demonstration projects approved on or
after October 1, 1997, shall address kinship care.’’.
SEC. 12. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services may, directly or through grants or con-
tracts, provide technical assistance to assist States and
local communities to reach their targets for increased
numbers of adoptions and, to the extent that adoption is
not possible, alternative permanent placements, for chil-
dren in foster care.
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(b) LIMITATIONS.—The technical assistance provided
under subsection (a) shall support the goal of encouraging
more adoptions out of the foster care system, when adop-
tions promote the best interests of children, and shall in-
clude the following:
(1) The development of best practice guidelines
for expediting termination of parental rights.
(2) Models to encourage the use of concurrent
planning.
(3) The development of specialized units and
expertise in moving children toward adoption as a
permanency goal.
(4) The development of risk assessment tools to
facilitate early identification of the children who will
be at risk of harm if returned home.
(5) Models to encourage the fast tracking of
children who have not attained 1 year of age into
pre-adoptive placements.
(6) Development of programs that place chil-
dren into pre-adoptive families without waiting for
termination of parental rights.
(c) LIMITATIONS
ON AUTHORIZATION
OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author-
ized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Health and
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Human Services not to exceed $10,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 1998 through 2000.
SEC. 13. COORDINATION OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND CHILD
PROTECTION SERVICES.
Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, based
on information from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration and the Administration
for Children and Families in the Department of Health
of Human Services, shall prepare and submit to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report
which describes the extent and scope of the problem of
substance abuse in the child welfare population, the types
of services provided to such population, and the outcomes
resulting from the provision of such services to such popu-
lation. The report shall include recommendations for any
legislation that may be needed to improve coordination in
providing such services to such population.
SEC. 14. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE POPULATION FOR
INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES.
Section 477(a)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 677(a)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including
children with respect to whom such payments are no
longer being made because the child has accumulated as-
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sets, not to exceed $5,000, which are otherwise regarded
as resources for purposes of determining eligibility for
benefits under this part)’’ before the comma.
SEC. 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this
Act shall take effect on October 1, 1997.
(b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE-
QUIRED.—In the case of a State plan under part B or
E of title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary
of Health and Human Services determines requires State
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in
order for the plan to meet the additional requirements im-
posed by the amendments made by this Act, the State plan
shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the require-
ments of such part solely on the basis of the failure of
the plan to meet such additional requirements before the
1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the
close of the 1st regular session of the State legislature that
begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. For
purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a State
that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of such ses-
sion shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of
the State legislature.
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SEC. 16. PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT AND
PRODUCTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of the Congress
that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and
products purchased with funds made available under this
Act should be American-made.
(b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—In providing financial
assistance to, or entering into any contract with, any en-
tity using funds made available under this Act, the head
of each Federal agency, to the greatest extent practicable,
shall provide to such entity a notice describing the state-
ment made in subsection (a) by the Congress.
SEC. 17. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS FOR PROSPECTIVE
FOSTER 
AND 
ADOPTIVE 
PARENTS 
AND
GROUP CARE STAFF.
Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
671(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (19), by striking the period
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(20) at the option of the State, provides proce-
dures for criminal records checks and checks of a
State’s child abuse registry for any prospective fos-
ter parent or adoptive parent, and any employee of
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a child-care institution before the foster care or
adoptive parent, or the child-care institution may be
finally approved for placement of a child on whose
behalf foster care maintenance payments or adoption
assistance payments are to be made under the State
plan under this part, including procedures requiring
that—
‘‘(A) in any case in which a criminal
record check reveals a criminal conviction for
child abuse or neglect, or spousal abuse, a
criminal conviction for crimes against children,
or a criminal conviction for a crime involving vi-
olence, including rape, sexual or other assault,
or homicide, approval shall not be granted; and
‘‘(B) in any case in which a criminal
record check reveals a criminal conviction for a
felony or misdemeanor not involving violence, or
a check of any State child abuse registry indi-
cates that a substantiated report of abuse or
neglect exists, final approval may be granted
only after consideration of the nature of the of-
fense or incident, the length of time that has
elapsed since the commission of the offense or
the occurrence of the incident, the individual’s
life experiences during the period since the com-
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mission of the offense or the occurrence of the
incident, and any risk to the child.’’.
SEC. 18. STANDBY GUARDIANSHIP.
It is the sense of the Congress that the States should
have in effect laws and procedures that permit any parent
who is chronically ill or near death, without surrendering
parental rights, to designate a standby guardian for the
parent’s minor children, whose authority would take effect
upon—
(1) the death of the parent;
(2) the mental incapacity of the parent; or
(3) the physical debilitation and consent of the
parent.
Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 1997.
Attest:
ROBIN H. CARLE,
Clerk.