I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3380 
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide Federal 
support and assistance to children living with guardians and kinship 
caregivers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 21, 2005 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
to provide Federal support and assistance to children 
living with guardians and kinship caregivers, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Guardianship Assist-
ance Promotion and Kinship Support Act’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
TITLE I—GUARDIANSHIP ASSISTANCE PROMOTION 
Sec. 101. Findings. 
Sec. 102. Legal guardianship assistance payments for children. 
TITLE II—ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS FOR GUARDIANS AND KINSHIP 
PROVIDERS 
Sec. 201. Authority to use foster care independence program funds to provide 
independent living services, education and training vouchers, 
and room and board for children who exit foster care to guard-
ianship or adoption after attaining age 14. 
Sec. 202. Expansion of definition of family support services to include assisting 
kinship caregivers or guardians in locating and accessing need-
ed services. 
Sec. 203. Flexibility to establish separate standards for relative foster family 
homes. 
Sec. 204. Notice to relatives when children enter foster care. 
Sec. 205. Expansion of eligibility for foster care independence program. 
TITLE III—NAVIGATOR PROGRAM 
Sec. 301. Purpose. 
Sec. 302. Definitions. 
Sec. 303. Grants. 
Sec. 304. Federal share. 
Sec. 305. Applications. 
Sec. 306. Use of grant funds. 
Sec. 307. Administration of the program. 
Sec. 308. Reservation. 
Sec. 309. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE I—GUARDIANSHIP 
ASSISTANCE PROMOTION 
SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) By enacting the Adoption and Safe Families 
Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89) and the Adoption 
Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public 
Law 96–272), the Congress recognized the need to
align Federal incentives with the desired goal of pro-
viding abused and neglected children safe, perma-
nent homes. 
(2) According to the nonpartisan Pew Commis-
sion on Children in Foster Care composed of former 
Members of Congress of both parties and other child 
welfare experts, between 1997 and 2002, adoptions 
increased by 64 percent, and each State, the District 
of Columbia, and Puerto Rico has earned an award 
for increasing adoptions. 
(3) Adoption represents only one avenue to per-
manency for children in the foster care system, af-
fecting only 9 percent of children in foster care in 
2003. Adoption is not a viable option for many chil-
dren in foster care. Children living with relatives are 
less likely to use adoption, and courts explicitly rule 
out this permanency option for thousands of children 
each year. 
(4) Moreover, due to cultural norms, adoption 
is not equally availed by children and families of all 
races and ethnicities. African-American children live 
in kinship care arrangements more than in other 
types of care arrangements and have a lower rate of 
adoption than other children, making reunification
and legal guardianship important permanency op-
tions for this population. 
(5) Reunification and legal guardianship are 
central avenues by which any child in foster care 
may enter stable, caring homes. In 2002, 54 percent 
of children in foster care were reunified with their 
parents and 4 percent obtained legal guardianship. 
(6) Unfortunately, studies show that the focus 
on adoption has had the unintended consequence of 
reducing the likelihood of reunifying children with 
their birth families. 
(7) Moreover, Federal guidelines create a finan-
cial disincentive to legal guardianship because im-
portant Federal support ceases once legal guardian-
ship is established, presenting an overwhelming 
hardship for caretakers given the known health and 
mental health problems of children who have been in 
foster care. Research indicates that 30 to 40 percent 
of youth in foster care experience chronic medical 
problems. 
(8) To help meet the needs of foster children 
with special needs who are adopted, approximately 
$308 per month in Federal funds is provided to 
their adoptive families. The Federal Government 
pays approximately $387 per month to cover all
adoption assistance program costs, including month-
ly payments to families, administration, and train-
ing. 
(9) Remaining in foster care when stable, per-
manent families are available places unnecessary 
burdens on States, caseworkers, and families, requir-
ing regular court appearances, quarterly case re-
views, monthly caseworker visits, and government in-
volvement in routine family activities and decisions. 
(10) Since 1997, many States have developed 
subsidized legal guardianship programs. Empirical 
research demonstrates that this option dramatically 
increases the number of children in permanent 
homes, with the largest reductions in foster care 
caseloads occurring when the Federal Government 
provides the funding and when the financial benefits 
for foster care match those of legal guardianship. 
SEC. 102. LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS 
FOR CHILDREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title IV of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670–679b) is amended by insert-
ing after section 472 the following: