and ends with the fiscal year preceding that 
subsequent fiscal year. 
‘‘(14) OLDER
CHILD
GUARDIANSHIP
PLACE-
MENT
RATE.—The term ‘older child guardianship 
placement rate’ means, with respect to a State and 
a fiscal year, of the children in foster care under the 
responsibility of the State, the percentage who— 
‘‘(A) have attained 9 years of age; and 
‘‘(B) during the fiscal year, became subject 
to an older child guardianship placement. 
‘‘(15) BASE
OLDER
CHILD
GUARDIANSHIP 
PLACEMENT
RATE.—The term ‘base older child 
guardianship placement rate’ means, with respect to 
a State and— 
‘‘(A) fiscal year 2006, the older child 
guardianship placement rate for the State for 
fiscal year 2005; or 
‘‘(B) any subsequent fiscal year, the older 
child guardianship placement rate for the State 
for the fiscal year for which the rate is the 
greatest in the period that begins with fiscal 
year 2005 and ends with the fiscal year pre-
ceding that subsequent fiscal year. 
‘‘(16) REUNIFICATION RATE.—The term ‘reuni-
fication rate’ means, with respect to a State and a
fiscal year, of the children in foster care under the 
responsibility of the State, the percentage who be-
come subject to a reunification during the fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(17) BASE REUNIFICATION RATE.—The term 
‘base reunification rate’ means, with respect to a 
State and— 
‘‘(A) fiscal year 2006, the reunification 
rate for the State for fiscal year 2005; or 
‘‘(B) any subsequent fiscal year, the reuni-
fication rate for the State for the fiscal year for 
which the rate is the greatest in the period that 
begins with fiscal year 2005 and ends with the 
fiscal year preceding that subsequent fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(18) BASE RATE OF SPECIAL NEEDS ADOP-
TIONS THAT ARE NOT OLDER CHILD ADOPTIONS.— 
The term ‘base rate of special needs adoptions that 
are not older child adoptions’ means, with respect to 
a State and— 
‘‘(A) fiscal year 2006, the rate of special 
needs adoptions that are not older child adop-
tions for the State for fiscal year 2005; or 
‘‘(B) any subsequent fiscal year, the rate 
of special needs adoptions that are not older
child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year 
for which the rate is the greatest in the period 
that begins with fiscal year 2005 and ends with 
the fiscal year preceding that subsequent fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(19) RATE
OF
SPECIAL
NEEDS
ADOPTIONS 
THAT
ARE
NOT
OLDER
CHILD
ADOPTIONS.—The 
term ‘rate of special needs adoptions that are not 
older child adoptions’ means, with respect to a State 
and a fiscal year, of the children in foster care under 
the responsibility of the State, the percentage who— 
‘‘(A) are children with special needs; 
‘‘(B) have not attained 9 years of age; and 
‘‘(C) during the fiscal year, became subject 
to a special needs adoption. 
‘‘(20) BASE RATE OF SPECIAL NEEDS GUARD-
IANSHIP PLACEMENTS THAT ARE NOT OLDER CHILD 
GUARDIANSHIP PLACEMENTS.—The term ‘base rate 
of special needs guardianship placements that are 
not older child guardianship placements’ means, 
with respect to a State and— 
‘‘(A) fiscal year 2006, the rate of special 
needs guardianship placements that are not 
older child guardianship placements for the 
State for fiscal year 2005; or
‘‘(B) any subsequent fiscal year, the rate 
of special needs guardianship placements that 
are not older child guardianship placements for 
the State for the fiscal year for which the rate 
is the greatest in the period that begins with 
fiscal year 2005 and ends with the fiscal year 
preceding that subsequent fiscal year. 
‘‘(21) CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.— For pur-
poses of this section, a child shall not be considered 
a child with special needs unless— 
‘‘(A) the State has determined that the 
child cannot or should not be returned to the 
home of his parents; and 
‘‘(B) the State had first determined that 
there exists with respect to the child a specific 
factor or condition (such as his ethnic back-
ground, age, or membership in a minority or 
sibling group, or the presence of factors such as 
medical conditions or physical, mental or emo-
tional handicaps) because of which it is reason-
able to conclude that such child cannot be 
placed with ‘adoptive parents or’ a guardian 
without providing medical assistance under title 
XIX.
‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For grants under sub-
section (a), there are authorized to be appropriated 
to the Secretary $43,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2006 through 2008. 
‘‘(2) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appropriated 
under paragraph (1), or under any other law for 
grants under subsection (a), are authorized to re-
main available until expended, but not after fiscal 
year 2008. 
‘‘(i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may, di-
rectly or through grants or contracts, provide tech-
nical assistance to assist States and local commu-
nities to reach their targets for increased rates of 
adoptions, guardianships, and reunifications for chil-
dren in foster care. 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE 
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The technical assistance 
provided under paragraph (1) may support the goal 
of encouraging more adoptions out of the foster care 
system when adoptions promote the best interests of 
children, and more permanency placements of other 
kinds out of the foster care system when such other
kinds of placements promote the best interests of 
children, and may include the following: 
‘‘(A) The development of best practice 
guidelines for expediting termination of paren-
tal rights. 
‘‘(B) Models to encourage the use of con-
current planning. 
‘‘(C) The development of specialized units 
and expertise in moving children toward adop-
tion, guardianship, or reunification as a perma-
nency goal through the use of established best 
practices in these areas. 
‘‘(D) The development of risk assessment 
tools to facilitate early identification of the chil-
dren who will be at risk of harm if returned 
home. 
‘‘(E) Models to encourage the fast tracking 
of children who have not attained 1 year of age 
into pre-adoptive placements. 
‘‘(F) Development of programs that place 
children into pre-adoptive families without wait-
ing for termination of parental rights. 
‘‘(3) TARGETING
OF
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE 
TO THE COURTS.—Not less than 50 percent of any 
amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (4)
shall be used to provide technical assistance to the 
courts. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF AP-
PROPRIATIONS.—To carry out this subsection, there 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
not to exceed $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2006 and 2007.’’. 
(b) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER AFCARS CAN 
BE USED TO PROVIDE DATA NECESSARY FOR CALCU-
LATING PERMANENCY INCENTIVE PAYMENTS; AUTHOR-
ITY TO PRESCRIBE ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS IF RE-
QUIRED.—The Secretary shall determine whether the sys-
tem established pursuant to section 479 of the Social Se-
curity Act is capable of being used to collect the data nec-
essary to enable permanency incentive payments to be cal-
culated under section 473A of such Act in a timely man-
ner, and if not, the Secretary shall prescribe such regula-
tions as may be necessary to make the system so capable. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2005. 
Æ