I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3471 
To help children make the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency 
by addressing weaknesses in the implementation of the John H. Chafee 
Foster Care Independence Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 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 
A BILL 
To help children make the transition from foster care to 
self-sufficiency by addressing weaknesses in the imple-
mentation of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independ-
ence Program. 
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 ‘‘Strengthening the 
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 2002, 19,500 youth ‘‘aged out’’ of the 
foster care system. 
(2) In 1999, Congress passed historic legisla-
tion to promote the self-sufficiency of emancipated 
foster youth in the transition to adulthood via the 
John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program 
(Public Law 106–169). 
(3) Assistance provided through the John H. 
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to chil-
dren aging out of foster care is particularly nec-
essary in light of recent studies documenting that 
familial assistance is key to the successful transition 
to adulthood. Research indicates that parents are a 
primary resource for young adults, providing social 
and employment connections, paying for college, and 
giving direct material support for food, housing, and 
education. For example, parents contribute $2,200 
annually to youth between the ages of 18 and 34 in-
clusive. 
(4) Emancipated foster care youth are a par-
ticularly vulnerable population. Studies indicate that 
these youth experience a range of negative outcomes, 
including low employment earnings, poor educational 
achievement, homelessness, and high public assist-
ance. Moreover, 30 percent to 40 percent of youth
in foster care are affected by chronic medical prob-
lems. 
(5) After enactment of the John H. Chafee 
Foster Care Independence Program, the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) found that 40 States 
reported great increases in independent living serv-
ices, more than doubling service provision in many 
States. 
(6) Unfortunately, child welfare experts and the 
GAO have identified weaknesses in the implementa-
tion of the Chafee program, including the following: 
(A) Findings by the GAO that gaps exist 
in the availability of critical services in the 
areas of mental health, mentoring, and housing. 
For example, differing eligibility requirements 
for juvenile and adult mental health systems re-
sulted in many former foster youth losing ac-
cess to important therapy and treatment. 
(B) Findings by the GAO that eligible 
services within and across States vary greatly. 
Within States, discrepancies in service avail-
ability appear due in part to geographic location 
(such as in urban areas versus rural areas) and 
to differing levels of awareness among state and 
local agencies regarding potential resources. Ap-
proximately 1⁄3 of responding States reported 
that they were servicing less than half of eligi-
ble foster youth. Similarly, although 31 States 
provide Medicaid coverage to at least some 
emancipated youth, the percentage of former 
foster care youth who are eligible varied among 
States, from 10 percent to 100 percent. 
(C) Findings by the GAO indicating that 
little information exists to assess the effective-
ness of independent living services. For in-
stance— 
(i) the Child and Family Services Re-
view used to evaluate States child welfare 
systems fails to measure services related to 
former foster care youth sufficiently; 
(ii) the Child and Family Services 
Plan (CFSP) significantly lacks usable 
program information related to inde-
pendent living services; and 
(iii) the Department of Health and 
Human Services has failed to implement 
the National Youth in Transition Database 
to monitor States performance related to 
youth aging out of the foster care system,
as required by the Foster Care Independ-
ence Act of 1999. 
(D) Empirical research indicating that 
children in kinship care receive fewer important 
independent living services compared to children 
in foster care who are not living with relatives, 
particularly in the areas of employment, hous-
ing, financial management, and health/behav-
ioral health. This finding is particularly of con-
cern given that children of color are over-rep-
resented in kinship care situations. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF AVAILABLE SERVICES. 
(a) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—Section 477 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER 
RELATED PROGRAMS.—To improve access to the array of 
services available to youth transitioning out of foster care 
and assist States in leveraging available resources, the 
Secretary shall provide for the efficient distribution 
(through such outlets as the National Resource Center for 
Youth Development) to States and local areas of informa-
tion about Federal programs, other than the program es-
tablished by this section, that may assist youth in their