I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 671
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to help children
aging out of foster care to make the transition to becoming independent
adults, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the
work opportunity tax credit to include individuals who were in foster
care just before their 18th birthday, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. STARK, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. COYNE, and Mr. JEF-
FERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Commit-
tee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act
to help children aging out of foster care to make the
transition to becoming independent adults, to amend the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the work op-
portunity tax credit to include individuals who were in
foster care just before their 18th birthday, 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 ‘‘Transition to Adult-
hood Program Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. TRANSITION OF FOSTER CHILDREN TO SELF-SUFFI-
CIENCY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 472 of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 672) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(i) Each State with a plan approved under this part
may make foster care maintenance payments (as defined
in section 475(4)) under this part with respect to a child
who has not attained 21 years of age and who would other-
wise be ineligible for such payments by reason of age, but
only if the child—
‘‘(1) is—
‘‘(A) in the process of completing second-
ary education;
‘‘(B) enrolled in an institution that pro-
vides postsecondary education or vocational
training; or
‘‘(C) employed for at least 80 hours per
month; and
‘‘(2) has a case plan which includes a specific
plan for how the child will achieve independent liv-
ing, and which provides for the child to reside in a
setting that promotes personal responsibility and en-
courages self-sufficiency.’’.
(b) PROVISION OF NONRESIDENTIAL SERVICES TO
ASSIST IN THE TRANSITION TO INDEPENDENT ADULT
LIVING.—Section 475(4)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
675(4)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘In the case of a child described in section 472(i), such
term shall also include payments with respect to the child
for programs designed to promote the education, training,
or employment of the child.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on October 1, 1999.
SEC. 3. QUALIFIED FORMER FOSTER CARE RECIPIENTS ES-
TABLISHED AS A TARGETED GROUP FOR
PURPOSES OF COMPUTING THE WORK OP-
PORTUNITY CREDIT FOR EMPLOYMENT OF
CERTAIN NEW EMPLOYEES.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Paragraph (1) of section 51(d)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to mem-
bers of targeted groups) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at
the end of subparagraph (G), by striking the period at
the end of subparagraph (H) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(I) a qualified former foster care recipi-
ent.’’.
(b) QUALIFIED FORMER FOSTER CARE RECIPIENT
DEFINED.—Section 51(d) of such Code (relating to mem-
bers of targeted groups) is amended by redesignating
paragraphs (10), (11), and (12) as paragraphs (11), (12),
and (13), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph
(9) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(10) QUALIFIED FORMER FOSTER CARE RE-
CIPIENT—The term ‘qualified former foster care re-
cipient’ means an individual who is certified by the
local designated agency as—
‘‘(A) having attained age 18 but not age
25 on the hiring date, and
‘‘(B) on the day before attaining age 18
being either—
‘‘(i) a recipient of foster care mainte-
nance payments under a State plan ap-
proved under part E of title IV of the So-
cial Security Act, or
‘‘(ii) in the case of any individual not
described in clause (i), in foster care under
the responsibility of a State.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for
the employer after December 31, 1999.
SEC. 4. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF ASSETS ALLOWABLE FOR
CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.
Section 472(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
672(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘In determining whether a child would have received aid
under a State plan approved under section 402 (as in ef-
fect on July 16, 1996), a child whose resources (deter-
mined pursuant to section 402(a)(7)(B), as so in effect)
have a combined value of not more than $10,000 shall
be considered to be a child whose resources have a com-
bined value of not more than $1,000 (or such lower
amount as the State may determine for purposes of such
section 402(a)(7)(B)).’’.
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION TO PROMOTE
SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF CHILDREN AGING OUT
OF FOSTER CARE.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
establish an action plan to promote collaboration between
programs of the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices and programs of other Federal agencies, including
housing programs, educational programs, and employment
programs, for the purpose of promoting the self-suffi-
ciency of children aging out of foster care.
SEC. 6. UPDATING OF FUNDING FORMULA FOR THE FOS-
TER CARE INDEPENDENT LIVING INITIA-
TIVES PROGRAM.
(a) USE OF UPDATED FOSTER CARE DATA.—Section
477(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677(e)(1))
is amended by striking all that precedes subparagraph (C)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(e)(1)(A) The basic amount for a State for a fiscal
year shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to
the basic ceiling for the fiscal year as the State’s average
number of children receiving foster care maintenance pay-
ments under this part in fiscal year 1996 bears to the
total of the average number of children receiving such pay-
ments under this part for all States for fiscal year 1996.
‘‘(B) The maximum additional amount for a State
for a fiscal year shall be an amount which bears the same
ratio to the additional ceiling for the fiscal year as the
basic amount for the State for the fiscal year bears to
$58,000,000.’’.
(b) FUNDING INCREASE.—Section 477(e)(1)(C)(i) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(e)(1)(C)(i)) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(i) The term ‘basic ceiling’ means $58,000,000
for fiscal year 2000 and each succeeding fiscal
year.’’.
(c) HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION.—Section 474(a)(4)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(4)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(4) an amount equal to the greater of—
‘‘(A) the sum of—
‘‘(i) so much of the amounts expended
by the State to carry out programs under
section 477 as do not exceed the basic
amount for the State for the fiscal year, as
determined under section 477(e)(1)(A);
and
‘‘(ii) the lesser of—
‘‘(I) one-half of any additional
amounts expended by the State for
such programs; or
‘‘(II) the maximum additional
amount for the State for the fiscal
year, as determined under section
477(e)(1)(B); or
‘‘(B) the total amount required to be paid
to the State under this paragraph (as in effect
on September 30, 1999) for fiscal year 1999.’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on October 1, 1999.
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