Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Foster Care Independence Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM
Subtitle A—Improved Independent Living Program
Sec. 101. Improved independent living program.
Subtitle B—Related Foster Care Provision
Sec. 111. Increase in amount of assets allowable for children in foster care.
Sec. 112. Preparation of foster parents to provide for the needs of children in
State care.
Subtitle C—Medicaid Amendments
Sec. 121. State option of Medicaid coverage for adolescents leaving foster care.
Subtitle D—Adoption Incentive Payments
Sec. 131. Increased funding for adoption incentive payments.
TITLE II—SSI FRAUD PREVENTION
Subtitle A—Fraud Prevention and Related Provisions
Sec. 201. Liability of representative payees for overpayments to deceased recipi-
ents.
Sec. 202. Recovery of overpayments of SSI benefits from lump sum SSI benefit
payments.
Sec. 203. Additional debt collection practices.
Sec. 204. Requirement to provide State prisoner information to Federal and
federally assisted benefit programs.
Sec. 205. Rules relating to collection of overpayments from individuals con-
victed of crimes.
Sec. 206. Treatment of assets held in trust under the SSI program.
Sec. 207. Disposal of resources for less than fair market value under the SSI
program.
Sec. 208. Administrative procedure for imposing penalties for false or mis-
leading statements.
Sec. 209. Exclusion of representatives and health care providers convicted of
violations from participation in social security programs.
Sec. 210. State data exchanges.
Sec. 211. Study on possible measures to improve fraud prevention and adminis-
trative processing.
Sec. 212. Annual report on amounts necessary to combat fraud.
Sec. 213. Computer matches with Medicare and Medicaid institutionalization
data.
Sec. 214. Access to information held by financial institutions.
Subtitle B—Special Benefits For Certain World War II Veterans
Sec. 251. Establishment of program of special benefits for certain World War
II veterans.
Subtitle C—Study
Sec. 261. Study of denial of SSI benefits for family farmers.
TITLE III—CHILD SUPPORT
Sec. 301. Narrowing of hold harmless provision for State share of distribution
of collected child support.
TITLE IV—TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS
Sec. 401. Technical corrections relating to amendments made by the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
1996.
TITLE 
I—IMPROVED 
INDE-
PENDENT LIVING PROGRAM
Subtitle A—Improved Independent
Living Program
SEC. 101. IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) States are required to make reasonable ef-
forts to find adoptive families for all children, in-
cluding older children, for whom reunification with
their biological family is not in the best interests of
the child. However, some older children will continue
to live in foster care. These children should be en-
rolled in an Independent Living program designed
and conducted by State and local government to help
prepare them for employment, postsecondary edu-
cation, and successful management of adult respon-
sibilities.
(2) About 20,000 adolescents leave the Nation’s
foster care system each year because they have
reached 18 years of age and are expected to support
themselves.
(3) Congress has received extensive information
that adolescents leaving foster care have significant
difficulty making a successful transition to adult-
hood; this information shows that children aging out
of foster care show high rates of homelessness, non-
marital childbearing, poverty, and delinquent or
criminal behavior; they are also frequently the target
of crime and physical assaults.
(4) The Nation’s State and local governments,
with financial support from the Federal Government,
should offer an extensive program of education,
training, employment, and financial support for
young adults leaving foster care, with participation
in such program beginning several years before high
school graduation and continuing, as needed, until
the young adults emancipated from foster care es-
tablish independence or reach 21 years of age.
(b) IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM.—
Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677)
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 477. INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to
provide States with flexible funding that will enable pro-
grams to be designed and conducted—
‘‘(1) to identify children who are likely to re-
main in foster care until 18 years of age and to help
these children make the transition to self-sufficiency
by providing services such as assistance in obtaining
a high school diploma, career exploration, vocational
training, job placement and retention, training in
daily living skills, training in budgeting and financial
management skills, substance abuse prevention, and
preventive health activities (including smoking avoid-
ance, nutrition education, and pregnancy preven-
tion);
‘‘(2) to help children who are likely to remain
in foster care until 18 years of age receive the edu-
cation, training, and services necessary to obtain em-
ployment;
‘‘(3) to help children who are likely to remain
in foster care until 18 years of age prepare for and
enter postsecondary training and education institu-
tions;
‘‘(4) to provide personal and emotional support
to children aging out of foster care, through mentors
and the promotion of interactions with dedicated
adults; and
‘‘(5) to provide financial, housing, counseling,
employment, education, and other appropriate sup-
port and services to former foster care recipients be-
tween 18 and 21 years of age to complement their
own efforts to achieve self-sufficiency and to assure
that program participants recognize and accept their
personal responsibility for preparing for and then
making the transition from adolescence to adult-
hood.
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A State may apply for
funds from its allotment under subsection (c) for a
period of five consecutive fiscal years by submitting
to the Secretary, in writing, a plan that meets the
requirements of paragraph (2) and the certifications
required by paragraph (3) with respect to the plan.
‘‘(2) STATE PLAN.—A plan meets the require-
ments of this paragraph if the plan specifies which
State agency or agencies will administer, supervise,
or oversee the programs carried out under the plan,
and describes how the State intends to do the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(A) Design and deliver programs to
achieve the purposes of this section.
‘‘(B) Ensure that all political subdivisions
in the State are served by the program, though
not necessarily in a uniform manner.
‘‘(C) Ensure that the programs serve chil-
dren of various ages and at various stages of
achieving independence.
‘‘(D) Involve the public and private sectors
in helping adolescents in foster care achieve
independence.
‘‘(E) Use objective criteria for determining
eligibility for benefits and services under the
programs, and for ensuring fair and equitable
treatment of benefit recipients.
‘‘(F) Cooperate in national evaluations of
the effects of the programs in achieving the
purposes of this section.
‘‘(3) CERTIFICATIONS.—The certifications re-
quired by this paragraph with respect to a plan are
the following:
‘‘(A) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will provide
assistance and services to children who have left
foster care because they have attained 18 years
of age, and who have not attained 21 years of
age.
‘‘(B) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that not more than 30 per-
cent of the amounts paid to the State from its
allotment under subsection (c) for a fiscal year
will be expended for room or board for children
who have left foster care because they have at-
tained 18 years of age, and who have not at-
tained 21 years of age.
‘‘(C) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that none of the amounts
paid to the State from its allotment under sub-
section (c) will be expended for room or board
for any child who has not attained 18 years of
age.
‘‘(D) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will use train-
ing funds provided under the program of Fed-
eral payments for foster care and adoption as-
sistance to provide training to help foster par-
ents, workers in group homes, and case man-
agers understand and address the issues con-
fronting adolescents preparing for independent
living, and will, to the extent possible, coordi-
nate such training with the independent living
program conducted for adolescents.
‘‘(E) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State has consulted
widely with public and private organizations in
developing the plan and that the State has
given all interested members of the public at
least 30 days to submit comments on the plan.
‘‘(F) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will make
every effort to coordinate the State programs
receiving funds provided from an allotment
made to the State under subsection (c) with
other Federal and State programs for youth
(especially transitional living youth projects
funded under part B of title III of the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of
1974), abstinence education programs, local
housing programs, programs for disabled youth
(especially sheltered workshops), and school-to-
work programs offered by high schools or local
workforce agencies.
‘‘(G) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that each Indian tribe in the
State has been consulted about the programs to
be carried out under the plan; that there have
been efforts to coordinate the programs with
such tribes; and that benefits and services
under the programs will be made available to
Indian children in the State on the same basis
as to other children in the State.
‘‘(H) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will ensure
that adolescents participating in the program
under this section participate directly in design-
ing their own program activities that prepare
them for independent living and that the ado-
lescents accept personal responsibility for living
up to their part of the program.
‘‘(I) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State has estab-
lished and will enforce standards and proce-
dures to prevent fraud and abuse in the pro-
grams carried out under the plan.
‘‘(4) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve
an application submitted by a State pursuant to
paragraph (1) for a period if—
‘‘(A) the application is submitted on or be-
fore June 30 of the calendar year in which such
period begins; and
‘‘(B) the Secretary finds that the applica-
tion contains the material required by para-
graph (1).
‘‘(5) AUTHORITY
TO
IMPLEMENT
CERTAIN
AMENDMENTS; NOTIFICATION.—A State with an ap-
plication approved under paragraph (4) may imple-
ment any amendment to the plan contained in the
application if the application, incorporating the
amendment, would be approvable under paragraph
(4). Within 30 days after a State implements any
such amendment, the State shall notify the Sec-
retary of the amendment.
‘‘(6) AVAILABILITY.—The State shall make
available to the public any application submitted by
the State pursuant to paragraph (1), and a brief
summary of the plan contained in the application.
‘‘(c) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount specified
in subsection (h) that remains after applying sub-
section (g)(2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall
allot to each State with an application approved
under subsection (b) for the fiscal year the amount
which bears the same ratio to such remaining
amount as the number of children in foster care
under a program of the State in the most recent fis-
cal year for which such information is available
bears to the total number of children in foster care
in all States for such most recent fiscal year, as ad-
justed in accordance with paragraph (2).
‘‘(2) HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall
allot to each State whose allotment for a fiscal
year under paragraph (1) is less than the
amount payable to the State under this section
for fiscal year 1998 an additional amount equal
to the difference.’’.
‘‘(B) RATABLE
REDUCTION
OF
CERTAIN
ALLOTMENTS.—In the case of a State not de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year,
the Secretary shall reduce the amount allotted
to the State for the fiscal year under paragraph
(1) by the amount that bears the same ratio to
the sum of the differences determined under
subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year as the
amount so alloted bears to the sum of the
amounts allotted to all States not so described.
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A State to which an
amount is paid from its allotment under subsection
(c) may use the amount in any manner that is rea-
sonably calculated to accomplish the purposes of this
section.
‘‘(2) NO
SUPPLANTATION
OF
OTHER
FUNDS
AVAILABLE
FOR
SAME
GENERAL
PURPOSES.—The
amounts paid to a State from its allotment under
subsection (c) shall be used to supplement and not
supplant any other funds which are available for the
same general purposes in the State.
‘‘(3) TWO-YEAR
AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—
Payments made to a State under this section for a
fiscal year shall be expended by the State in the fis-
cal year or in the succeeding fiscal year.
‘‘(e) PENALTIES.—
‘‘(1) USE OF GRANT IN VIOLATION OF THIS
PART.—If the Secretary is made aware, by an audit
conducted under chapter 75 of title 31, United
States Code, or by any other means, that a program
receiving funds from an allotment made to a State
under subsection (c) has been operated in a manner
that is inconsistent with, or not disclosed in the
State application approved under subsection (b), the
Secretary shall assess a penalty against the State in
an amount equal to not less than 1 percent and not
more than 5 percent of the amount of the allotment.
‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DATA REPORT-
ING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall assess a
penalty against a State that fails during a fiscal
year to comply with an information collection plan
implemented under subsection (f) in an amount
equal to not less than 1 percent and not more than
5 percent of the amount allotted to the State for the
fiscal year.
‘‘(3) PENALTIES BASED ON DEGREE OF NON-
COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary shall assess penalties
under this subsection based on the degree of non-
compliance.
‘‘(f) DATA COLLECTION AND PERFORMANCE MEAS-
UREMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with State and local public officials responsible
for administering independent living and other child
welfare programs, child welfare advocates, members
of Congress, youth service providers, and research-
ers, shall—
‘‘(A) develop outcome measures (including
measures of educational attainment, employ-
ment, avoidance of dependency, homelessness,
nonmarital childbirth, and high-risk behaviors)
that can be used to assess the performance of
States in operating independent living pro-
grams;
‘‘(B) identify data elements needed to
track—
‘‘(i) the number and characteristics of
children receiving services under this sec-
tion;
‘‘(ii) the type and quantity of services
being provided; and
‘‘(iii) State performance on the out-
come measures; and
‘‘(C) develop and implement a plan to col-
lect the needed information beginning with the
second fiscal year beginning after the date of
the enactment of this section.
‘‘(2) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 12
months after the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a re-
port detailing the plans and timetable for collecting
from the States the information described in para-
graph (1).
‘‘(g) EVALUATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con-
duct evaluations of such State programs funded
under this section as the Secretary deems to be in-
novative or of potential national significance. The
evaluation of any such program shall include infor-
mation on the effects of the program on education,
employment, and personal development. To the max-
imum extent practicable, the evaluations shall be
based on rigorous scientific standards including ran-
dom assignment to treatment and control groups.
The Secretary is encouraged to work directly with
State and local governments to design methods for
conducting the evaluations, directly or by grant, con-
tract, or cooperative agreement.
‘‘(2) FUNDING
OF
EVALUATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall reserve 1.5 percent of the amount speci-
fied in subsection (h) for a fiscal year to carry out,
during the fiscal year, evaluation, technical assist-
ance, performance measurement, and data collection
activities related to this section, directly or through
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with
appropriate entities.
‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section and for payments
to States under section 474(a)(4), there are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary $140,000,000 for each
fiscal year.’’.
(c) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—Section 474(a)(4) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(4)) is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(4) the lesser of—
‘‘(A) 80 percent of the amount (if any) by
which—
‘‘(i) the total amount expended by the
State during the fiscal year in which the
quarter occurs to carry out programs in
accordance with the State application ap-
proved under section 477(b) for the period
in which the quarter occurs (including any
amendment that meets the requirements of
section 477(b)(5)); exceeds
‘‘(ii) the total amount of any penalties
assessed against the State under section
477(e) during the fiscal year in which the
quarter occurs; or
‘‘(B) the amount allotted to the State
under section 477 for the fiscal year in which
the quarter occurs, reduced by the total of the
amounts payable to the State under this para-
graph for all prior quarters in the fiscal year.’’.
(d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 12 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall issue such regulations
as may be necessary to carry out the amendments made
by this section.
(e) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the
Congress that States should provide medical assistance
under the State plan approved under title XIX of the So-
cial Security Act to 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds who have
been emancipated from foster care.
Subtitle B—Related Foster Care
Provision
SEC. 111. 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)