I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4472 
To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster care maintenance 
payments, a child would have been eligible for aid under the former 
program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children at the time of 
removal from the home. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 
Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster 
care maintenance payments, a child would have been 
eligible for aid under the former program of Aid to 
Families with Dependent Children at the time of removal 
from the home. 
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 ‘‘Look-back Elimination 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) As part of President Franklin Delano Roo-
sevelt’s New Deal, the Social Security Act of 1935 
included the creation of the Aid to Dependent Chil-
dren program as a way to provide Federal support 
to poor children. Over time, this program became 
the Aid to Families with Dependent Children 
(AFDC) program and provided assistance to strug-
gling families for over 60 years. 
(2) Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
provides primary Federal funding for child welfare 
services. Under that part, the Federal Government 
pays a portion of the cost of providing Federal foster 
care and adoption assistance benefits for eligible 
children. 
(3) In 1996, when Congress replaced the AFDC 
program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF) program, Congress also fixed the 
income eligibility requirement for Federal foster care 
and adoption assistance benefits at a level based on 
the income thresholds established by the States 
under their former AFDC programs. This income 
eligibility requirement is now commonly referred to 
as the ‘‘AFDC look-back standard’’. 
(4) At that time, many States had established 
very strict household income requirements in order 
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for children to be eligible for AFDC benefits. As a 
result of this very strict requirement, many children 
in the Federal foster care and adoption assistance 
programs are ineligible to receive a wide range of 
Federal benefits, services, and activities. For exam-
ple, this outdated, restrictive standard prevents the 
State of Georgia from providing assistance to more 
than half of the children in the child welfare system. 
(5) Forced to adhere to a stagnant standard, 
States increasingly struggle to administer Federal 
foster care and adoption assistance programs and 
provide services to those children most in need. As 
inflation increases, fewer children are eligible to re-
ceive Federal benefits, and States struggle to pro-
vide services from other, limited local and State re-
sources. 
(6) Although the AFDC look-back standard still 
applies to the Federal foster care program, the Fos-
tering Connections to Success and Increasing Adop-
tions Act of 2008 completely eliminated the AFDC 
look-back standard in the Federal adoption assist-
ance program in 2018. 
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SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF THE AFDC ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE-
MENT IN THE FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE 
PAYMENTS PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 472(a) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘specified’’ 
and all that follows and inserting ‘‘or caretaker into 
foster care if the removal and foster care placement 
met, and continues to meet, the requirements of 
paragraph (2).’’; and 
(2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 
(b) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 470 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 670) is amended by striking ‘‘who 
otherwise would have been eligible for assistance under the 
State’s plan approved under part A (as such plan was in 
effect on June 1, 1995)’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that— 
(1) the AFDC eligibility requirement for Fed-
eral foster care and adoption assistance benefits 
should be eliminated and replaced with income eligi-
bility standards that are based on modern, balanced 
criteria that treat all children equally; and 
(2) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices should collaborate with Members of Congress 
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