(1) IN GENERAL.—The Higher Education Act 
of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K 
(20 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FAMILY LAW, DE-
PENDENCY, AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS AT-
TORNEYS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
courage qualified individuals to enter and continue em-
ployment as family law, dependency, and domestic rela-
tions attorneys. 
‘‘(b) LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 
‘‘(1) LOAN
FORGIVENESS
AUTHORIZED.—The 
Secretary is authorized to forgive, in accordance 
with this section and the agreement described in 
subsection (e), the student loan debt of an eligible 
borrower in the amount specified in subsection (d) 
and for the period specified in such agreement. 
‘‘(2) METHOD
OF
LOAN
FORGIVENESS.—To 
provide the loan forgiveness authorized in paragraph 
(1), the Secretary is authorized to carry out a pro-
gram— 
‘‘(A) through the holder of the loan, to as-
sume the obligation to repay a qualified loan 
amount for a loan made under part B of this 
title; and 
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‘‘(B) to cancel a qualified loan amount for 
a loan made under part D of this title. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to provided loan forgiveness under this section to 
any individual who— 
‘‘(1) is employed full-time as a family law, de-
pendency, or domestic relations attorney; and 
‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 
borrower seeks forgiveness. 
‘‘(d) LOAN FORGIVENESS AMOUNT.—The Secretary 
may, from funds appropriated under subsection (l), forgive 
the loan obligation of an eligible borrower in accordance 
with such terms, limitations, and conditions as may be 
mutually agreed upon by such borrower and the Secretary 
in the agreement described in subsection (e), except that 
the amount paid by the Secretary under this section shall 
not exceed— 
‘‘(1) $6,000 in any calendar year for any bor-
rower; or 
‘‘(2) $50,000 in the aggregate for any bor-
rower. 
‘‘(e) LOAN FORGIVENESS AGREEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 
shall not provide loan forgiveness to an eligible bor-
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rower unless the borrower enters into a written 
agreement with the Secretary which provides that— 
‘‘(A) the borrower shall remain employed 
full-time as a family law, dependency, or domes-
tic relations attorney for a period of service 
specified in the agreement (but not less than 3 
years), unless involuntarily separated from that 
employment; 
‘‘(B) if the borrower is involuntarily sepa-
rated from the employment described in sub-
paragraph (A) on account of misconduct, or vol-
untarily separates from that employment, be-
fore the end of the period specified in the agree-
ment, the borrower shall repay the Secretary 
the amount of any benefits received by such 
borrower under this section; 
‘‘(C) if the borrower is required to repay 
an amount to the Secretary under subpara-
graph (B) and fails to repay such amount, a 
sum equal to such amount shall be recoverable 
by the Government from the borrower (or such 
borrower’s estate, if applicable) by such method 
as is provided by law for the recovery of 
amounts owing to the Government; 
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‘‘(D) the Secretary may waive, in whole or 
in part, a right of recovery under this sub-
section if it is shown that recovery would be 
against equity and good conscience or against 
the public interest; and 
‘‘(E) the Secretary shall provide loan for-
giveness under this section for the period of the 
agreement, subject to the availability of appro-
priations. 
‘‘(2) AGREEMENT RENEWAL.—Upon completion 
by an eligible borrower of the period of service re-
quired under the agreement described in paragraph 
(1), the Secretary may renew such agreement with 
the eligible borrower for a successive period of serv-
ice to be specified in the renewed agreement (which 
may be less than 3 years). 
‘‘(f) REPAYMENTS BY BORROWERS.—Any amount re-
paid by, or recovered from, a borrower (or a borrower’s 
estate) under subsection (e)(1)(B) shall be credited to the 
appropriation account from which the loan forgiveness 
amount involved was originally paid. Any amount so cred-
ited shall be merged with other sums in such account and 
shall be available for the same purposes and period, and 
subject to the same limitations (if any), as the sums with 
which the amount was merged. 
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‘‘(g) APPLICATION FOR LOAN FORGIVENESS.—An el-
igible borrower desiring loan forgiveness under this section 
shall submit a complete and accurate application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(h) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall provide loan 
forgiveness under this section on a first-come, first-served 
basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. 
‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 
issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
the provisions of this section. 
‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed to authorize the refunding of any repayment 
of any loan made by a borrower prior to the date on which 
the Secretary entered into an agreement with the borrower 
under subsection (e). 
‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—In this section the term ‘family 
law, dependency, or domestic relations attorney’ means an 
attorney who works in the field of family law, dependency, 
or domestic relations, including juvenile justice, truancy, 
child abuse or neglect, adoption, domestic relations, child 
support, paternity, and other areas which fall under the 
field of family law, dependency, or domestic relations law 
as determined by State law. 
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‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 
(2) CANCELLATION OF LOANS.— 
(A) AMENDMENT.—Section 465(a)(2)(F) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1087ee(a)(2)(F)) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘, or as a full-time family law, dependency, 
or domestic relations attorney (as defined in 
section 428L)’’ after ‘‘agencies’’. 
(B) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The amendment 
made by this paragraph shall apply to— 
(i) eligible loans made before, on, or 
after the date of enactment of this Act; 
and 
(ii) service as a family law, depend-
ency, or domestic relations attorney that is 
provided on or after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
(C) 
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in 
this 
paragraph shall be construed to authorize the 
refunding of any repayment of a loan made by 
a borrower prior to the date on which the bor-
rower became eligible for cancellation under 
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section 465(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)). 
(c) GAO STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study that com-
pares States with respect to each of the following: 
(A) The legal representation provided for 
children. 
(B) Children’s participation in their own 
cases. 
(C) Preparation of dependency court 
judges. 
(D) Case tracking and performance meas-
urement. 
(E) Statewide collaborative foster care 
councils. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General shall submit to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary of the House of Representatives a written re-
port that contains the results of the study required 
by paragraph (1). 
(d) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO 
COURT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPROVED CHILD OUT-
COMES.—It is the sense of the Congress that State judicial 
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leadership should use the measures of court performance 
described in section 13712(b)(2) of the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (as amended by subsection (a) 
of this section) to ensure accountability by every court for 
improved outcomes for children, and to inform decisions 
about allocating resources across the court system. 
(e) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO 
THE ORGANIZATION OF STATE DEPENDENCY COURTS.— 
It is the sense of the Congress that State courts should 
be organized to enable children and parents to have legal 
representation and participate in a meaningful way in 
their own court proceedings. 
(f) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO 
BUILDING
THE POOL
OF ATTORNEYS QUALIFIED
TO 
HANDLE CASES
IN DEPENDENCY COURTS.—It is the 
sense of the Congress that law schools, bar associations, 
and law firms should help build the pool of qualified attor-
neys available to children and parents in dependency 
courts. 
(g) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO 
TRAINING, CASELOADS, AND COMPENSATION OF ATTOR-
NEYS FOR CHILDREN.—It is the sense of the Congress 
that attorneys for children should have adequate training, 
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reasonable caseloads, and receive reasonable and adequate 
compensation. 
Æ 
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