I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3004
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States
to administer qualifying examinations to all State employees with new
authority to make decisions regarding child welfare services, to expedite
the permanent placement of foster children, to facilitate the placement
of foster children in permanent kinship care arrangements, and to require
State agencies, in considering applications to adopt certain foster chil-
dren, to give preference to applications of a foster parent or caretaker
relative of the child.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 9, 1997
Mrs. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. MANTON, and
Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act
to require States to administer qualifying examinations
to all State employees with new authority to make deci-
sions regarding child welfare services, to expedite the
permanent placement of foster children, to facilitate the
placement of foster children in permanent kinship care
arrangements, and to require State agencies, in consider-
ing applications to adopt certain foster children, to give
preference to applications of a foster parent or caretaker
relative of the child.
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 ‘‘Omnibus Foster Care
Improvement Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT STATES ADMINISTER QUALI-
FYING EXAMINATIONS TO ALL STATE EM-
PLOYEES WITH NEW AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS 
REGARDING 
CHILD 
WELFARE
SERVICES.
Section 474 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
674) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) The Secretary may not make a payment to a
State under subsection (a) for any calendar quarter begin-
ning after the 18-month period that begins with the date
of the enactment of this subsection, unless the State has
in effect procedures to ensure that, before the State pro-
vides to a prospective child welfare decisionmaker the au-
thority to make decisions regarding child welfare services,
the individual must take and pass an examination, admin-
istered by the State, that tests knowledge of such subjects
as child development, family dynamics, dysfunctional be-
havior, substance abuse, child abuse, and community ad-
vocacy. As used in the preceding sentence, the term ‘pro-
spective child welfare decisionmaker’ means an individual
who, on the date of the enactment of this subsection, does
not have any authority to make a decision regarding child
welfare services.’’.
SEC. 3. PROCEDURES TO EXPEDITE THE PERMANENT
PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 474 of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 674), as amended by section 2 of this Act,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) The Secretary may not make a payment to a
State for a calendar quarter under subsection (a) unless
the State has in effect procedures requiring the State
agency, at the time a child is removed from a home and
placed in foster care under the supervision of the State,
to locate any parent of the child who is not living at the
home, and evaluate the ability of the parent to provide
a suitable home for the child.’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) of this section shall not apply with respect to
any child who, on the date of the enactment of this Act,
is in foster care under the supervision of a State (as de-
fined in section 1101(a)(1) of the Social Security Act for
purposes of title IV of such Act).
SEC. 4. PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN IN PERMANENT
KINSHIP CARE ARRANGEMENTS.
(a) STATE OPTION TO DEEM KINSHIP PLACEMENT
AS ADOPTION.—Section 473(a) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(7) If a State places a child (who has been in foster
care under the supervision of the State) with a blood rel-
ative of the child or of a half-sibling of the child, and
transfers legal custody of the child to the relative, pursu-
ant to a written agreement, entered into between the State
and the relative, that contains provisions of the type de-
scribed in section 475(3), then, at the option of the State,
for purposes of this part—
‘‘(A) the placement is deemed an adoption;
‘‘(B) the initiation of the proceeding to so place
the child is deemed an adoption proceeding;
‘‘(C) the relative is deemed the adoptive parent
of the child;
‘‘(D) the agreement is deemed an adoption as-
sistance agreement;
‘‘(E) the payments made under the agreement
are deemed to be adoption assistance payments; and
‘‘(F) any reasonable and necessary court costs,
attorneys fees, and other expenses which are directly
related to the placement or the transfer of legal cus-
tody and are not in violation of State or Federal law
are deemed nonrecurring adoption expenses.’’.
(b) CONSIDERATION OF KINSHIP PLACEMENT OP-
TION AT DISPOSITIONAL HEARING.—Section 475(5)(C) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(C)) is amended by inserting
‘‘should be placed with a relative of the child as provided
in section 473(a)(7),’’ before ‘‘should be placed for adop-
tion’’.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL FUNDS FOR FOSTER CARE AND ADOP-
TION 
ASSISTANCE 
AVAILABLE 
ONLY 
TO
STATES THAT REQUIRE STATE AGENCIES, IN
CONSIDERING 
APPLICATIONS 
TO 
ADOPT
CERTAIN FOSTER CHILDREN, TO GIVE PREF-
ERENCE TO APPLICATIONS OF A FOSTER
PARENT OR CARETAKER RELATIVE OF THE
CHILD.
Section 474 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
674), as amended by sections 2 and 3 of this Act, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec-
tion, the Secretary may not make any payment to a State
under this section, for any calendar quarter ending after
the 5-year period that begins with the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection, unless the State has in effect laws
and procedures requiring a State agency to complete the