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(1) ADDITIONS TO STATE PLAN.—Section 432
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629b) is
amended—
(A) in subsection (a)—
(i) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and
community-based family support services’’
and inserting ‘‘, community-based family
support services, time-limited family reuni-
fication services, and adoption promotion
and support services,’’; and
(ii) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking
‘‘and community-based family support
services’’ and inserting ‘‘, community-based
family support services, time-limited family
reunification services, and adoption pro-
motion and support services’’; and
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘and
family support’’ and inserting ‘‘, family sup-
port, time-limited family reunification, and
adoption promotion and support’’.
(2) DEFINITIONS OF TIME-LIMITED FAMILY RE-
UNIFICATION SERVICES AND ADOPTION PROMOTION
AND SUPPORT SERVICES.—Section 431(a) of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(7) TIME-LIMITED
FAMILY
REUNIFICATION
SERVICES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘time-lim-
ited family reunification services’ means the
services and activities described in subpara-
graph (B) that are provided to a child that is
removed from the child’s home and placed in a
foster family home or a child care institution
and to the parents or primary caregiver of such
a child, in order to facilitate the reunification of
the child safely and appropriately within a time-
ly fashion, but only during the 15-month period
that begins on the date that the child, pursuant
to section 475(5)(F), is considered to have en-
tered foster care.
‘‘(B) 
SERVICES
AND
ACTIVITIES
DE-
SCRIBED.—The services and activities described
in this subparagraph are the following:
‘‘(i) Individual, group, and family
counseling.
‘‘(ii) Inpatient, residential, or out-
patient substance abuse treatment services.
‘‘(iii) Mental health services.
‘‘(iv) Assistance to address domestic
violence.
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‘‘(v) Services designed to provide tem-
porary child care and therapeutic services
for families, including crisis nurseries.
‘‘(vi) Transportation to or from any of
the services and activities described in this
subparagraph.
‘‘(8) ADOPTION
PROMOTION
AND
SUPPORT
SERVICES.—The term ‘adoption promotion and sup-
port services’ means services and activities designed
to encourage more adoptions out of the foster care
system, when adoptions promote the best interests of
children, including such activities as pre- and post-
adoptive services and activities designed to expedite
the adoption process and support adoptive fami-
lies.’’.
(3) ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(A) PURPOSES.—Section 430(a) of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629(a)) is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘and community-based family
support services’’ and inserting ‘‘, community-
based family support services, time-limited fam-
ily reunification services, and adoption pro-
motion and support services’’.
(B) PROGRAM
TITLE.—The heading of
subpart 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Se-
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curity Act (42 U.S.C. 629 et seq.) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘Subpart 2—Promoting Safe and Stable Families’’.
(c) EMPHASIZING THE SAFETY OF THE CHILD.—
(1) REQUIRING ASSURANCES THAT THE SAFETY
OF
CHILDREN
SHALL
BE
OF
PARAMOUNT
CON-
CERN.—Section 432(a) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 629b(a)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (7);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (8); and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(9) contains assurances that in administering
and conducting service programs under the plan, the
safety of the children to be served shall be of para-
mount concern.’’.
(2) DEFINITIONS
OF
FAMILY
PRESERVATION
AND FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES.—Section 431(a) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is
amended—
(A) in paragraph (1)—
(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting
‘‘safe and’’ before ‘‘appropriate’’ each place
it appears; and
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting
‘‘safely’’ after ‘‘remain’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by inserting ‘‘safety and’’ before
‘‘well-being’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘stable’’ and inserting
‘‘safe, stable,’’.
(d) CLARIFICATION OF MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT
REQUIREMENT.—
(1) DEFINITION
OF
NON-FEDERAL
FUNDS.—
Section 431(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
629a(a)), as amended by subsection (b)(2), is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(9) NON-FEDERAL
FUNDS.—The term ‘non-
Federal funds’ means State funds, or at the option
of a State, State and local funds.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by paragraph (1) takes effect as if included in the
enactment of section 13711 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–33; 107
Stat. 649).
SEC. 306. HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CHILDREN
WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.
Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
671(a)), as amended by section 106, is amended—
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(1) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (20), by striking the period
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(21) provides for health insurance coverage
(including, at State option, through the program
under the State plan approved under title XIX) for
any child who has been determined to be a child
with special needs, for whom there is in effect an
adoption assistance agreement (other than an agree-
ment under this part) between the State and an
adoptive parent or parents, and who the State has
determined cannot be placed with an adoptive parent
or parents without medical assistance because such
child has special needs for medical, mental health, or
rehabilitative care, and that with respect to the pro-
vision of such health insurance coverage—
‘‘(A) such coverage may be provided
through 1 or more State medical assistance pro-
grams;
‘‘(B) the State, in providing such coverage,
shall ensure that the medical benefits, including
mental health benefits, provided are of the same
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type and kind as those that would be provided
for children by the State under title XIX;
‘‘(C) in the event that the State provides
such coverage through a State medical assist-
ance program other than the program under
title XIX, and the State exceeds its funding for
services under such other program, any such
child shall be deemed to be receiving aid or as-
sistance under the State plan under this part
for purposes of section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(I);
and
‘‘(D) in determining cost-sharing require-
ments, the State shall take into consideration
the circumstances of the adopting parent or
parents and the needs of the child being adopt-
ed consistent, to the extent coverage is provided
through a State medical assistance program,
with the rules under such program.’’.
SEC. 307. CONTINUATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADOPTION
ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS ON BEHALF OF CHIL-
DREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS WHOSE INITIAL
ADOPTION HAS BEEN DISSOLVED.
(a) 
CONTINUATION
OF
ELIGIBILITY.—Section
473(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)(2))
is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any child
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who meets the requirements of subparagraph (C), who was
determined eligible for adoption assistance payments
under this part with respect to a prior adoption, who is
available for adoption because the prior adoption has been
dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive parents
have been terminated or because the child’s adoptive par-
ents have died, and who fails to meet the requirements
of subparagraphs (A) and (B) but would meet such re-
quirements if the child were treated as if the child were
in the same financial and other circumstances the child
was in the last time the child was determined eligible for
adoption assistance payments under this part and the
prior adoption were treated as never having occurred, shall
be treated as meeting the requirements of this paragraph
for purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii).’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall only apply to children who are adopted
on or after October 1, 1997.
SEC. 308. STATE STANDARDS TO ENSURE QUALITY SERV-
ICES FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.
Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
671(a)), as amended by sections 106 and 306, is amend-
ed—
(1) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
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(2) in paragraph (21), by striking the period
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(22) provides that, not later than January 1,
1999, the State shall develop and implement stand-
ards to ensure that children in foster care place-
ments in public or private agencies are provided
quality services that protect the safety and health of
the children.’’.
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 401. PRESERVATION OF REASONABLE PARENTING.
Nothing in this Act is intended to disrupt the family
unnecessarily or to intrude inappropriately into family life,
to prohibit the use of reasonable methods of parental dis-
cipline, or to prescribe a particular method of parenting.
SEC. 402. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
Any information required to be reported under this
Act shall be supplied to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services through data meeting the requirements
of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting
System established pursuant to section 479 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679), to the extent such data is
available under that system. The Secretary shall make
such modifications to regulations issued under section 479
of such Act with respect to the Adoption and Foster Care
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Analysis and Reporting System as may be necessary to
allow States to obtain data that meets the requirements
of such system in order to satisfy the reporting require-
ments of this Act.
SEC. 403. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING STANDBY
GUARDIANSHIP.
It is the sense of 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.
SEC. 404. TEMPORARY ADJUSTMENT OF CONTINGENCY
FUND FOR STATE WELFARE PROGRAMS.
(a) 
REDUCTION
OF
APPROPRIATION.—Section
403(b)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(b)(2))
is amended by inserting ‘‘, reduced by the sum of the dol-
lar amounts specified in paragraph (6)(C)(ii)’’ before the
period.
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(b) INCREASE
IN STATE REMITTANCES.—Section
403(b)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(b)(6)) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENT
OF
STATE
REMIT-
TANCES.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount oth-
erwise required by subparagraph (A) to be
remitted by a State for a fiscal year shall
be increased by the lesser of—
‘‘(I) the total adjustment for the
fiscal year, multiplied by the adjust-
ment percentage for the State for the
fiscal year; or
‘‘(II) the unadjusted net payment
to the State for the fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) TOTAL ADJUSTMENT.—As used
in clause (i), the term ‘total adjustment’
means—
‘‘(I) in the case of fiscal year
1998, $2,000,000;
‘‘(II) in the case of fiscal year
1999, $9,000,000;
‘‘(III) in the case of fiscal year
2000, $16,000,000; and