Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008

Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
October 9, 2008
Emilie Stoltzfus
Specialist in Social Policy
Domestic Social Policy Division

Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
Summary
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(H.R. 6893) is an omnibus child welfare bill designed to ensure greater permanence
and improve the well-being of children served by public child welfare agencies. The
legislation received strong support in Congress and, beyond revising and extending
the Adoption Incentives program, responds to a range of issues and concerns that
have been raised (some for more than a decade) by public child welfare
administrators; youth, adoption, tribal, and child welfare advocates; and by children
and youth who have been (or still are) in foster care. The bill passed the House of
Representatives, by voice vote (under suspension of the rules), on September 17,
2008, and the Senate, by unanimous consent, on September 22, 2008. It was signed
into law by the President on October 7, 2008 (P.L. 110-351).
The final bill represented a compromise between earlier bills acted on in the
House (H.R. 6307) and in the Senate Finance Committee (S. 3038). As enacted, it
revises the Adoption Incentives program and extends its funding authorization for
five years (FY2009-FY2013). It makes significant changes to federal funding for
child welfare programs, which include authorizing new federal support for states that
provide kinship guardianship assistance to eligible children leaving foster care;
expanding eligibility for federal adoption assistance (by phasing out, over FY2010-
FY2018, income and other eligibility criteria that are based on dated cash welfare
program rules); extending, as of FY2011, eligibility for federal foster care assistance
to youth who remain in care beyond their 18^th birthday, up to age 21; and phasing in
additional support to states for child welfare related training. Additionally, the bill
authorizes tribal child welfare agencies, as of FY2010, to directly access federal
funds for foster care, adoption, and guardianship assistance under the Title IV-E
program, provided the tribes meet substantially the same requirements made of states.
The bill also appropriates $15 million in annual funding, for five years, for a new
competitive grant program, Family Connection Grants.
Apart from these financing changes, P.L. 110-351 establishes new requirements
for receipt of federal child welfare funding by public child welfare agencies. These
include several that focus exclusively on the health and education status of children
in foster care and others intended to ensure, or enable, sibling and other kinship
connections for children in, or entering, foster care, and those leaving to adoption or
guardianship. The bill also requires states to make new efforts related to planning for
the transition of older children leaving foster care for independent living and requires
states to inform prospective adoptive parents of foster children of their potential
eligibility for the adoption tax credit (under the federal tax code).
Many of the changes included in the new law are projected by the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) to increase federal spending for child welfare. However, the
increases are projected to be fully offset (over the next five and ten years) by savings
or increased revenues to the federal treasury that CBO expects to be produced by
other changes in the bill (both related and unrelated to child welfare policy). This
report may be updated if warranted by issues related to implementing the new law.

Contents
Overview of the Bill................................................1
Financing Changes.........................................1
New Requirements.........................................2
New and Expanded Assistance or Activities Related to Permanence......3
Permanence via Family Connections...........................3
Permanence via Adoption...................................7
Support for Older Foster Youth and Transition to Independent Living....10
Option to Extend Support for Youth Remaining in Care to Age 21..10
New Transition Planning Requirement........................11
Option to Extend Support for Youth Leaving Care for
Permanent Home After Reaching Age 16..................11
Services For Youth Leaving Foster Care After Reaching Age 16....11
Well-Being of Children in Foster Care............................12
Education Stability and Enrollment...........................12
Health Care Oversight.....................................13
Direct Federal Support to Tribal Programs.........................13
Federal Support for Training and Other Changes....................15
Effective Date...............................................15
Congressional Budget Office Estimates...............................16
Projected Savings and Increased Revenue......................16
Projected Increases in Federal Spending.......................16
Origins of the Enacted Bill and Views.................................17
Congressional Activities.......................................18
HHS Views.................................................19
Bill Advocates and Support.....................................20
Section-by-Section Description of the Bill.............................21
Title I: Connecting and Supporting Relative Caregivers..................21
Section 101: Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment For Children ...21
Section 102: Family Connection Grants...........................23
Section 103: Notification of Relatives.............................24
Section 104: Licensing Standards for Relatives.....................24
Section 105: Authority for Comparisons and Disclosures
of Information in the Federal Parent Locator Service.............25
Title II: Improving Outcomes for Children in Foster Care.................25
Section 201: State Option for Children in Foster Care, and
Certain Children in An Adoptive or Guardianship Placement,
After Attaining Age 18....................................25
Section 202: Transition Plan for Children Aging Out of Foster Care.....26
Section 203: Short-term Training for Child Welfare Agencies,
Relative Guardians, and Court Personnel......................26
Section 204: Educational Stability................................26
Section 205: Health Oversight and Coordination Plan................27
Section 206: Sibling Placement..................................28

Title III: Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Access.......................28
Section 301: Equitable Access for Foster Care and Adoption Services
for Indian Children in Tribal Areas...........................28
Section 302: Technical Assistance and Implementation...............30
Title IV: Improvement of Incentives for Adoption.......................31
Section 401: Adoption Incentives Program.........................31
Section 402: Promotion of Adoption of Children with Special Needs....32
Section 403: Information on Adoption Tax Credit...................32
Title V: Clarification of Uniform Definition of Child and Other Provisions...33
Section 501: Clarification of Uniform Definition of Child.............33
Section 502: Investment of Operating Cash........................33
Section 503: No Federal Funding to Unlawfully Present Individuals.....33
Title VI: Effective Date............................................33

Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(H.R. 6893) is an omnibus child welfare bill designed to ensure greater permanence
and improve the well-being of children served by public child welfare agencies —
especially children in foster care, those who leave foster care in their later teens, and
those who are Indian children. The legislation received strong support in Congress,
and beyond revising and extending the Adoption Incentives program, it responds to
a range of issues and concerns that have been variously raised (some for more than
a decade) by public child welfare administrators; youth, adoption, tribal, and child
welfare advocates; and by children and youth who have been (or still are) in foster
care. The bill passed the House of Representatives, by voice vote (under suspension
of the rules), on September 17, 2008, and the Senate, by unanimous consent, on
September 22, 2008. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October
7, 2008. As enacted, P.L. 110-351 represents a compromise between provisions that
were included in the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship
Support Act of 2008 (S. 3038, introduced by Senator Charles Grassley), as approved
by the Senate Finance Committee on September 10, 2008 (S.Rept. 110-467), and the
Fostering Connections to Success Act (H.R. 6307, introduced by Representative Jim
McDermott with Representative Jerry Weller), as passed by the House on June 24,

2008.¹

Overview of the Bill
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) revises and extends the Adoption Incentives program (under Section
473A of the Social Security Act) for five years, authorizes states to claim additional
federal funds for certain child welfare purposes and adds new requirements for
receipt of federal child welfare dollars. These changes are primarily designed to
better ensure the well-being of children in foster care, to increase support for
permanent living arrangements outside of foster care, to better support the transition
of older foster youth to independent living, and to enable tribes to directly access
federal support for foster care, kinship care, and adoption assistance provided to
Indian children under their authority.
Financing Changes. P.L. 110-351 enacts the broadest changes to federal
financial support for child welfare programs under Title IV-E of the Social Security

¹ For more information on the these earlier bills, see the subsection, “Origins of the Enacted
Bill and Views” later in this report.

Act, since that part of the law was created by the Adoption Assistance and Child
Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272). Among those changes, the bill
^!permits states to claim open-ended federal reimbursement for a part
of all eligible state costs related to providing kinship guardianship
assistance;
^!permits states to claim open-ended federal reimbursement for a part
of the cost of making maintenance payments on behalf of eligible
children who are in foster care beyond their 18^th birthday (until their
21^st birthday), provided those youths are in school, working, or
engaged in a related activity (effective with FY2011);
^!authorizes direct access for tribes to open-ended federal
reimbursement for the costs of operating a foster care, adoption
assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance program on behalf
of children under tribal authority, provided those tribes meet
substantially the same requirements made of states receiving these
funds (effective with FY2010);
^!expands federal support for adoption assistance by de-linking, over
time (FY2010-FY2018), eligibility for that program from income
and other criteria that were a part of the prior law cash welfare
program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); and
^!phases-in (FY2009-FY2013) authorization for states to claim open-
ended federal reimbursement for a larger share of their short-term
training costs for staff of state licensed or approved (private) child
welfare agencies and to receive reimbursement, at this same
increased rate, for eligible short-term training costs of current or
prospective relative guardians and certain court or court-related
personnel who handle child abuse and neglect cases.
In addition, P.L. 110-351 provides $15 million annually (FY2009-FY2013) for
Family Connection Grants to support kinship navigator programs, family group
decision making meetings, intensive family-finding efforts, and residential treatment
centers for families (under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act). And it appropriates
$3 million annually (FY2009 and every succeeding fiscal year) for technical
assistance and implementation grants related to improving outcomes for Indian
children (under Title IV-E).
New Requirements. Apart from expanding child welfare funding options for
states, P.L. 110-351 establishes new requirements for receipt of federal child welfare
funding by public child welfare agencies. The bill requires these agencies (under Title
IV-E or Title IV-B) to
^!provide assurance that each school-age child receiving federal foster
care, adoption, or guardianship assistance is enrolled in school;
^!work with other appropriate public agencies to reduce unnecessary
school moves for all children in foster care and, separately, to
coordinate and ensure access to health care for them, including
mental health services and dental care;
^!make “reasonable efforts” to place siblings together, whether in
foster care, adoption, or guardianship;

^!notify the adult relatives of children entering foster care of their
options to participate in the care and placement of the child;
^!no more than 90 days before a youth’s exit from the foster care
system (due to age rather than placement with a permanent family)
develop with the youth a specific plan for his or her transition to
independent living;
^!negotiate “in good faith” with a tribe in the state that requests an
agreement with the state to receive federal (Title IV-E) funds in
return for that tribe’s administration of some or all of the Title IV-E
foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance
program for Indian children under its authority; and
^!inform prospective adoptive parents of foster children of their
potential eligibility for the federal adoption tax credit.
P.L. 110-351 makes additional child welfare financing, policy, or related
program changes, which are detailed below. Finally, and unrelated to child welfare
policy, it amends the federal tax code’s uniform definition of child (for purposes of
claiming a variety of credits or deductions) and it makes changes to certain
investment rules for the Treasury Department. Those specific policy changes,
together with savings projected from the implementation of guardianship assistance
and the school enrollment requirement, are estimated by the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) to fully offset the federal cost of the increased spending authorized by
the bill over the next 5 and 10 years. All of the child welfare policy changes in P.L.
110-351 are made to programs or parts of the law that are administered by the
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), and are expected to be implemented by ACF.²
This report begins with a more detailed and topical summary of the provisions
of H.R. 6893, as enacted, including some legislative background and context. It
continues by reviewing the cost estimates for the provisions, as projected by CBO,
and then discusses the legislative origins of the enacted bill and Administration views
of provisions included in related predecessor bills (H.R. 6307 and S. 3038). It closes
with a section-by-section description of the bill’s provisions.
New and Expanded Assistance or
Activities Related to Permanence
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) makes a number of financing and policy changes that are designed to
encourage and support children’s placement in a permanent family — whether
through strengthened or re-established connections with biological kin or through
federal support and incentives to support children’s adoption out of foster care.
Permanence via Family Connections. The enacted bill permits states to
claim federal support for kinship guardianship assistance (under Title IV-E of the

² This report seeks to provide a “plain” language discussion of the bill. However, certain
child welfare provisions may be subject to different interpretations. HHS has the authority
to implement these provisions and, in doing this, will interpret their meaning.

Social Security Act), makes other policy changes expected to promote or facilitate
relative placement, authorizes and provides funding for Family Connection Grants,
and requires states to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together.
Kinship Guardianship Assistance. The enacted bill permits states to claim
open-ended reimbursement under Title IV-E for kinship guardianship assistance
provided on behalf of eligible children who leave foster care for placement in a legal
guardianship with a relative. As amended by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of
1997 (ASFA, P.L. 105-89), federal statute defines “legal guardianship” (for purposes
of Title IV-E and Title IV-B of the Social Security Act) as “a judicially created
relationship between child and caretaker which is intended to be permanent and self-
sustaining as evidenced by the transfer to the caretaker of the following parental
rights with respect to the child: protection, education, care and control of the person,
custody of the person, and decisionmaking.”³ States are entitled to claim federal
reimbursement for the cost of providing kinship guardianship assistance payments
on behalf of eligible children at their Federal Medical Assistance Percentage
(FMAP), which may range from a low of 50%, in states with higher per capita
income, to 83%, in those with lower per capita income. States opting to provide such
payments may also claim reimbursement of eligible general administrative costs at
a 50% federal reimbursement rate, and for program-related training costs at 75%
federal reimbursement, (although some of these eligible training costs will initially
be reimbursed at a lower rate; see “Federal Support for Training and Other Changes”
below).
Since the middle 1990s, close to 40 states have implemented some kind of
subsidized guardianship program for children leaving foster care. However, many of⁴
those programs were not statewide and not all have been maintained. Under child
welfare “waivers,” as many as 11 of those states have experimented with subsidized⁵
guardianship programs using federal Title IV-E funds. Some of those earliest
experiments found that providing guardianship subsidies increased exits to
permanence for children in foster care and that on a range of safety and well-being
measures, children placed in subsidized guardianship settings fared at least as well⁶
as did children placed in other permanent settings.
In May 2004, the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care recommended
federal support of subsidized guardianship (under Title IV-E of the Social Security

³ Section 475(7) of the Social Security Act.
⁴ For programs implemented in place as of 2004, see Children’s Defense Fund, State’s
Subsidized Guardianship Laws at a Glance, (October 2004).
⁵ Congress initially granted child welfare “waiver” authority to HHS (P.L. 103-432, 1994)
That authority is currently expired, although some states continued to operate assisted
guardianship programs with Title IV-E dollars under previously approved waivers. As of
September 30, 2008, the seven state believed to have ongoing demonstration projects
(waivers) specifically addressing guardianship were IL, IA, MN, MT, OR, TN, and WI. See
James Bell Associates, “Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations,”
June 2008.
⁶ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Synthesis of Findings, Assisted
Guardianship: Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations, September 2005.

Act) as part of a broader package of child welfare financing reform measures. In July
2007, citing evidence that the subsidies “could help states increase the number of
permanent homes available to African American and other children in foster care,”
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that Congress consider
authorizing federal subsidies for legal guardianship.⁷ In its report approving
guardianship assistance provisions similar to those that became a part of the final
legislation, the Senate Finance Committee cited both the child welfare waivers and
academic research to assert that children in kinship placements, including relative
guardianships, have improved well-being; that guardianship is a good permanency
option for children in foster care; and that provision of a state option to receive
federal support for guardianship assistance under Title IV-E is expected to reduce
federal costs under Title IV-E (by reducing the need for federal reimbursement of
case planning and case review activities on behalf of children moved permanently
from foster care to guardianship).⁸
Changes to Promote or Facilitate Relative Placement. The option to
use federal Title IV-E funds to support children in kinship guardianship is only one
of a number of changes included in P.L. 110-351 that seek to strengthen children’s
connections to their families and to create more opportunity for kinship placements
(whether guardianship or otherwise).⁹ These include
^!a new plan requirement (under Title IV-E) that states “exercise due
diligence” to identify grandparents and other adult relatives of a
child, within 30 days of removing the child from the custody of
his/her parents, and to notify those relatives of the child’s removal
and the relatives’ options for participating in the care and placement
of the child, including information about foster family home
licensing and, as applicable, guardianship assistance;¹⁰
^!codification of existing guidance (regarding a Title IV-E state plan
requirement) that provides that when applying the state’s foster

⁷ Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence
and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care, May 2004, p. 16; U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO), African American Children in Foster Care: Additional HHS
Assistance Needed to Hel States Reduce the Proportion in Care, July 2007, p. 6.
⁸ See S.Rept. 110-467 to accompany S. 3038, p. 5. These reasons are similar to those given
for the creation of the adoption assistance program in 1980 (P.L. 96-272). See U.S.^th^st
Congress, Senate, 96 Congress, 1 session, Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare
Amendments of 1979, S.Rept. 96-336, p. 13 and U.S. Congress, House of Representatives,^th^st

96 Congress, 1 session, Social Services and Child Welfare Amendments of 1979, H.Rept.

96-136, p. 55-56.

⁹ Regarding past legislative actions related to both kinship placement and guardianship
under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, see “Placement with Relatives and^th
Guardianship,” in U.S. Congress, Senate, 110 Congress, 2nd session, Improved Adoption
Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008, S.Rept. 110-467, p. 2-3
[http://frwebga te.access.gpo.gov/cgi -bin/getdoc.cgi ?dbname = 1 10_cong_reports&docid=f
:sr467.110.pdf].
¹⁰ The enacted bill stipulates that this requirement is subject to exceptions due to family or
domestic violence.

family home licensing standards to the home of a relative caregiver,
the state may — on a case-by-case basis and for a specific child only
— waive any “non-safety”licensing requirement;
^!a mandated study and report (by HHS) on the use of licensed and
unlicensed relative foster family homes, including information on
the frequency and kind of non-safety standards waived by states and
recommendations for actions that might increase the number of
children in foster care who are safely placed in licensed relative
foster family homes; and
^!authorization for HHS to make comparisons of names submitted by
child welfare agencies to information in the Federal Parent Locator
System (FPLS), which may aid in identifying or locating relatives.¹¹
Family Connection Grants. Further, the bill establishes a new competitive
grant program, under Title IV-B, Subpart 1 of the Social Security Act named Family
Connection Grants. Under this program, public child welfare agencies (state, local
or tribal), and non-profit private organizations may seek federal funding to help
children — whether they are in foster care or at-risk of entering foster care —
connect (or reconnect) with birth parents or other extended kin. Specifically, the
funds must be used to establish or support one or more of the following:
^!kinship navigator programs, which through information referral
systems and other means, assist kinship caregivers in learning about,
finding, and using programs and services to meet their own needs
and those of the children they are raising;
^!intensive family-finding efforts that use search technology to locate
biological kin of children and then work to reestablish relationships
and to explore permanent family placements for these children;
^!family group decision-making meetings that enable families to
develop plans that nurture children and protect them from abuse and
neglect, and, when appropriate, must safely facilitate connecting
children exposed to domestic violence to relevant services and
reconnecting them with the abused parent; and
^!residential family treatment centers that enable parents and
children to live together in a safe environment for not less than six
months and that provide, onsite or by referral, a full range of services
to meet the needs of the family, including substance abuse treatment,
early childhood intervention, family counseling, mental health
services, medical care, and other services.

¹¹ The FPLS was created initially for child support enforcement purposes and only non-
custodial parents of the child may be identified by name match. However, this information
may also help to locate additional relatives. Under prior law states could seek information
from the FPLS indirectly (through the state child support agency) rather than directly from
HHS. For more information, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Information Memorandum, “Appropriate
Referrals, Requests for Location Services, Child Support Applications, and Electronic
Interface between Child Welfare and Child Support Enforcement Agencies,”ACYF-CB-IM-
07-06 (issued jointly with the Office of Child Support Enforcement), September 7, 2007
[ ht t p: / / www.acf .hhs.gov/ pr ogr ams/ cb/ l a ws_pol i c i e s/ pol i c y/ i m/ 2007/ i m0706.ht m] .

HHS is permitted to award up to 30 new Family Connection Grants each year and
may not award a grant for a period of less than one year nor more than three years.
Grantees are required to provide matching funds equal to no less than 25% of the
total approved grant program costs in years one and two of a grant and no less than
50% in year three. The enacted bill appropriates $15 million for the Family
Connection Grants in each of FY2009-FY2013, of which $5 million must be used
annually to support kinship navigator programs.
Reasonable Efforts to Place Siblings Together. Finally, unless the state
documents that doing so would be contrary to the safety or welfare of a sibling, the
bill requires states (under the Title IV-E state plan) to make “reasonable efforts” to
place siblings together, whether in foster care, kinship guardianship assistance, or
adoption. It further stipulates that, whenever a joint placement is not made, the state
must make “reasonable efforts” to provide for “frequent visitation or other ongoing
interaction” between the siblings, unless the state documents that the facilitated
contact is contrary to the safety or well-being of any one of the siblings.
Permanence via Adoption. P.L. 110-351 also expands eligibility for federal
adoption assistance to children with special needs, revises and extends the Adoption
Incentives program, and requires states to provide information to prospective
adoptive parents concerning the adoption tax credit.
Phasing Out Income Eligibility and Related Rules for Adoption
Assistance. The enacted bill phases out (FY2010-FY2018) the use of income tests
as part of determining eligibility for federal adoption assistance. This change will
provide more federal support to special needs children who leave foster care for
adoption. States must continue to pay a part of the cost of providing this support but
are required to use any state funds that would be saved because of this expanded
federal eligibility for adoption assistance on child welfare purposes.¹²
Federal adoption assistance was established in 1980 (P.L. 96-272) for children
determined by their state to have “special needs.”¹³ The vast majority of these
children, then and now, are children adopted out of foster care. The 1980 law also
stipulated that to be eligible for federal adoption assistance a child must either be
eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or have been removed from the
home of birth parents in which he or she met the income and other eligibility criteria

¹² P.L. 110-351 does not specify how the state’s “savings” are to be determined and it is not
exactly clear how this requirement will be implemented.
¹³ For purposes of the Title IV-E adoption assistance program, to qualify as a child with
“special needs,” the state must have determined that (1) the child cannot or should not be
returned to the home of his/her parents; (2) that there is a factor or condition specific to the
child (such as the child’s age, membership in sibling group, race/ethnicity, medical
condition, or a physical, emotional or mental disability) that makes it “reasonable to
conclude” that the child will not be adopted without adoption assistance or Medicaid.
Further, unless this is not in the child’s best interest (e.g. because of significant bonding
with foster parents), the state must determine that reasonable, but unsuccessful, efforts to
place the child without such assistance have been made. See Section 473(c) of the Social
Security Act.

of the federal cash welfare program (Aid to Families with Dependent Children,
AFDC).¹⁴ AFDC was repealed in 1996 by the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA, P.L. 104-193). However, federal
eligibility for Title IV-E assistance continues to be linked to AFDC eligibility rules
as those rules existed (on July 16, 1996) prior to the program’s repeal. Beginning in
FY2010 (and continuing through FY2018), P.L. 110-351 will phase out this link for
adoption assistance, which the Senate Finance Committee describes as “an
inappropriate eligibility factor for Federal Adoption Assistance.”¹⁵ (As included in
the enacted bill, the revised eligibility rules for federal adoption assistance also
eliminate any income- or resource-related eligibility requirements that apply to
special needs children who have physical or medical disabilities that qualify them for
Supplemental Security Income, SSI.)
The revised eligibility rules will become effective in FY2010, but only for
children who are age 16 or older when their adoption assistance agreement is
finalized. With each new fiscal year, this age will be lowered (by two years) so that
by FY2018 any child with special needs may qualify for federal adoption assistance
under the revised rules. In addition, beginning in FY2010, any child who has been
in foster care for 60 continuous months may qualify for federal adoption assistance
under the revised eligibility rules (regardless of age) and any sibling of a child who
is eligible under the revised rules (whether due to age or length of stay in care) may
also qualify under those criteria. Throughout this eight-year phase-in period, the
eligibility criteria that applied prior to the passage of H.R. 6893, including the link
to AFDC eligibility, will continue to apply to any child who does not qualify for
eligibility determination under the revised rules (at the time his or her adoption
assistance agreement is finalized).
Reauthorization of the Adoption Incentives Program. Apart from the
expanded support for federal adoption assistance, the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 continues incentives to states for
increased adoptions from foster care by revising and extending the Adoption
Incentives program. This program was created by ASFA (P.L. 105-89) and was
initially extended in 2003 by P.L. 108-145. A state earns a bonus for each eligible
adoption out of foster care that is above its baseline number of adoptions. States earn
an award for increases in total adoptions, increases in adoption of older children (age

¹⁴ In certain instances, the home from which the child is removed might also be the home of
another relative caretaker. Regarding the creation and evolution of the link between
eligibility for federal cash welfare assistance, see “Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption
Assistance,” in S.Rept. 110-467, p. 2, accompanying S. 3038.
¹⁵ Many observers and stakeholders also believe this link is inappropriate for determining
eligibility for federal foster care maintenance payments under Title IV-E. However,
consensus on how to change this policy has not been reached. P.L. 110-351 leaves the link
between federal foster care eligibility and the rules of the now repealed AFDC program in
place, and, by making eligibility for federal foster care maintenance payments a pre-
condition of eligibility for federal kinship guardianship assistance, it indirectly establishes
this link with regard to the new kinship guardianship assistance program. For more^th
information on the link, see CRS Report RL34388, Child Welfare Issues in the 110
Congress, especially the section “Delink Foster Care and Adoption Assistance from AFDC
Rules” and Appendix A, by Emilie Stoltzfus.

9 and above) and, they may also receive an award for increases in the number of
adoptions of children with special needs who are under the age of 9. For adoptions
finalized in FY2007 (most recent year for which awards were made), 21states earned
a total of $11.1 million in bonus funds.¹⁶ States are permitted to spend this award
money to provide any service to children or families, including post-adoption
services, that is authorized by the major federal child welfare programs (under Title
IV-B or Title IV-E of the Social Security Act).
P.L. 110-351 continues, through FY2013, the current annual funding
authorization of $43 million for the Adoption Incentive program. It doubles the
incentive amounts states may earn for each increase in the number of older children
adopted from foster care (from $4,000 to $8,000) and for children with special needs,
under age 9, who are adopted from foster care (from $2,000 to $4,000). The incentive
award for any increase in the total number of children adopted from foster care was
not changed and remains at $4,000. The enacted bill also makes other changes to the
incentive structure of the program, which are intended to ensure that states (even
those with declining overall foster care caseloads) continue to have a fiscal incentive
to increase adoptions. These changes include fixing each state’s baseline adoption
numbers at the numbers achieved in FY2007 and allowing (provided sufficient
appropriations) a new incentive payment for states that increase the rate of children
adopted from foster care.¹⁷ To earn an award for an increased rate of adoptions, the
state must increase the share of children adopted out of its foster care caseload (that
is its foster child adoption rate) above the highest such rate it previously achieved,
in any year, beginning with FY2002 and ending with the year just prior to the award
year. The amount of the award is $1,000 times the increased number of adoptions
achieved by the state that are attributed to the increased adoption rate.¹⁸ The increased
incentive payment amounts and the incentives for states increasing the rate at which
children are adopted out of their foster care caseload, will be used to calculate awards
earned by states for adoptions finalized in FY2008. Those awards are expected to be
announced in September 2009. Finally, P.L. 110-351 also ensures that states have a
full 24 months to spend any adoption incentive funding awarded.

¹⁶ These FY2007 award amounts were determined in the last quarter of FY2008. However,
available appropriated funds for Adoption Incentives (just over $9 million) were not
sufficient to provide the full FY2007 award amounts at that time. HHS indicated its intent
to pay a part of the FY2007 awards (roughly 84%) at the end of FY2008 and the remainder
(roughly 16%) at the beginning of FY2009. See Adoption Incentive award history table at
[ ht t p: / / www.acf .hhs.gov/ pr ogr ams/ cb/ pr ogr ams_f und/ adopt _i ncent i ve_hi st or y.ht m] .
¹⁷ In its FY2009 Budget, the Bush Administration proposed fixing the Adoption Incentive
baseline year as FY2007 and increasing award amounts for older and special needs
adoptions. The enacted bill (H.R. 6893) adopted these proposals (although it increased the
award amounts differently), added others (e.g., incentive for increase in rate) but did not
adopt another Administration proposal to limit state use of any earned incentive award funds
for finalizing adoption or other permanency options. For more information see CRS Report^th
RL34388, “Adoption Incentives” in Child Welfare Issues in the 110 Congress, by Emilie
Stoltzfus.
¹⁸ For a description of how to calculate this award see the footnote on this question that is
included under “Section: 401: Adoption Incentives Program,” near the end of the report.

Information on Adoption Tax Credit. As part of supporting the goal of
increasing permanence for foster children through adoption, P.L. 110-351 requires
states (under Title IV-E), to provide notice to any individual who is adopting a child
out of foster care (or who the state learns is considering such an adoption) of the
individual’s potential eligibility for the federal adoption tax credit. The credit is
adjusted annually for inflation and for tax year 2008 equals $11,650 for individuals¹⁹
who adopt children with “special needs.”
Support for Older Foster Youth
and Transition to Independent Living
The Fostering Connections to Success and Improving Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) also seeks to strengthen support for children whose permanency
outcome is “independent living.” These are youth who “emancipate” from foster
care; that is, they are released from state foster care custody because they have
reached the state age of majority (typically age 18) rather than because they have
been placed with a permanent family. At least since the middle 1980s (P.L. 99-272),
Congress has sought to better aid the transition of these youth from foster care to
independent living. With the Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L.
106-169), Congress significantly expanded support for services to youth both before
and after they “age-out” and in 2001 (P.L. 107-133), it authorized funds for
Education and Training Vouchers for these youth. Even so the number of children
leaving foster care via emancipation continues to grow — reaching close to 27,000
youth in FY2006 — and, in general, their school, work, and other important life
outcomes continue to be poor.²⁰
Option to Extend Support for Youth Remaining in Care to Age 21.
P.L. 110-351 takes a new tack in responding to this longstanding concern by
permitting states, as of FY2011, to provide continued federal foster care maintenance
payments on behalf of eligible children even after they have reached their 18^th^th
birthday. Under current law, federal Title IV-E assistance ends with a child’s 18
birthday, (or, possibly, the 19^th if the child is still completing high school).
Specifically, the enacted bill permits states to continue to seek open-ended federal
reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing maintenance payments to eligible^th
children who remain in foster care after their 18 birthday, provided those children
have not yet reached their 21^st birthday and are either enrolled in school, employed
at least 80 hours a month, or participating in an activity designed to promote or
remove barriers to employment. States may exempt a youth from these requirements
so long as the youth has a medical condition making him or her incapable of
participating in the activity, and this incapacity is supported by regularly updated
information in his or her case plan. P.L. 110-351 also permits continued support to
youth in foster care (age 18 or older) who are living independently in a supervised

¹⁹ For more information on the adoption tax credit, see CRS Report RL33633, Tax Benefits
for Families: Adoption, by Christine Scott.
²⁰ For more legislative history on this issue see S.Rept. 110-467, p. 4, accompanying S. 3038
and for a comprehensive look at the issue of youth aging out of foster care see CRS Report
RL34499, Youth Transitioning from Foster Care: Background, Federal Programs, and
Issues for Congress, by Adrienne Fernandes.

setting and it stipulates that HHS must define, in regulation, what qualifies as such
a setting.²¹
New Transition Planning Requirement. Separately, the bill requires each
state (as part of its mandatory case review system) to have a procedure that ensures
every child leaving foster care has a transition plan created on his or her behalf. The
transition plan must be created with the youth by a caseworker and, as appropriate,
other representative(s) of the child — no earlier than 90 days before the child’s 18^th
birthday (or at whatever later age chosen by the state to end foster care assistance).
It must address specific options for the youth with regard to housing, health
insurance, education, local opportunities for mentors and continuing support services,
as well as workforce supports and employment services.
Option to Extend Support for Youth Leaving Care for Permanent
Home After Reaching Age 16. With limited exceptions, monthly federal (Title
IV-E) assistance has not generally been available for a child who has reached his or
her 18^th birthday and who left foster care for a permanent family via adoption or
kinship guardianship. However, P.L. 110-351 permits states, as of FY2011, to choose
to continue federally supported subsidies on behalf of eligible children who leave
foster care after their 16^th birthday for adoption or kinship guardianship so long as
those youth have not yet reached their 21^st birthday, and are enrolled in school,
employed at least 80 hours a month, or participating in an activity designed to
promote or remove barriers to employment. (States may exempt a child from these
school, work or other engagement requirements if the child has a medical condition
that makes him or her incapable of participating in the activity, and this incapacity
is supported by regularly updated information in the child’s case plan.) In addition,
a state is allowed to continue federal adoption assistance or kinship guardianship
assistance up to the 21^st birthday on behalf of any child, regardless of the age at
which the child left foster care, if the state determines that “the child has a mental or
physical handicap that warrants the continuation of assistance.” (This was and
remains true with regard to adoption assistance; P.L. 110-351 will also extend it, as
of FY2011, to kinship guardianship assistance.)
Services For Youth Leaving Foster Care After Reaching Age 16.
Finally, the enacted bill expands the purposes of the Chafee Foster Care
Independence Program to provide that any of the activities or services provided in
support of independent living for youth who are expected to age out of foster care
without a permanent family, may also be provided to youth who leave foster care at
age 16 or older, to either adoption or guardianship. The bill also extends eligibility
for Education and Training Vouchers (which are valued at $5,000 annually and may
be used for the cost of attending college or an equivalent training program) to youth
who leave foster care for guardianship after their 16^th birthday. (Children who leave
foster care for adoption after their 16^th birthday continue to be eligible for these
vouchers as was true under prior law.)

²¹ For additional information regarding living arrangements for older youth, see CRS Report
RL34499, Youth Transitioning from Foster Care: Background, Federal Programs, and
Issues for Congress, by Adrienne Fernandes.

Well-Being of Children in Foster Care
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) makes new requirements of states that focus on ensuring and enabling
stable enrollment in school for children in foster care and on their access to needed
and appropriate health care, including mental health services and dental care. For
more then a decade, the primary goals of federal child welfare policy have commonly
been expressed as achieving safety, permanency, and well-being for children.
However, the health- and education-related requirements included in P.L. 110-351
are among the first federal statutory requirements of child welfare agencies that focus
specifically on the well-being of children in foster care — as distinct from their need
for safety and permanence.²²
Education Stability and Enrollment. Specifically, P.L. 110-351 requires
state child welfare agencies — as part of the Title IV-E case plan requirements that
apply to each child in foster care — to work with relevant state and local education
authorities to ensure that a child remains in the same school in which he or she is
enrolled at the time of foster care placement, or, if this is not in the best interests of
the child, to ensure immediate and appropriate enrollment for the child in a new
school. To help support this requirement, the enacted bill permits states to claim
federal funding for the cost of transporting children to their “school of origin” at the
same reimbursement rate that is provided for foster care maintenance payments.
(That rate ranges from 50%-83%, with states with higher per capita incomes²³
receiving a lower federal reimbursement rate and vice versa.) Separately (under the
Title IV-E plan), P.L. 110-351 requires states to assure that children who have
reached the minimum age for mandatory school attendance in their state, and who are

²² The assertion of safety, permanency, and well-being as primary federal child welfare
policy goals was first introduced by the Clinton Administration as part of implementing new
funding for family preservation and family support services (authorized in 1993 by P.L. 103-
66). Before 2006 then, the sole statutory use of the term “well-being” in Title IV-B and Title
IV-E — and as distinct from safety, permanence or child “welfare” — was a reference added
by that 1993 law as part of the definition of “family support.” (Although it is commonly
cited as establishing safety, permanency, and well-being, as the primary federal child
welfare goals, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (P.L. 105-89, 1997) focused on safety^th
and permanence and did not add the term “well-being” to the statute.) The 109 Congress,
however, added “well-being” to Title IV-B and Title IV-E in several places. Notably, P.L.
109-288 (2006) restated the purposes of Title IV-B, subpart 1 to include “promoting the
safety, permanence, and well-being of children in foster care and adoptive families.” (For
early discussion of “well-being” of children and families as a primary federal child welfare
policy goal see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families, ACYF-PI-94-01, January 18, 1994; Federal Register, October 4, 1994, p.

50646-50673 and Federal Register, November 18, 1996, p. 58657.)

²³ This means states are now statutorily entitled to, in most cases, a higher federal
reimbursement rate for these transportation costs than was permitted by federal guidance
issued on this topic in December 2007. That guidance clarified that states could claim
reimbursement of 50% for these transportation costs. (See U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, Child
Welfare Policy Manual, Section 8.1B, Question 27.)

receiving federal foster care maintenance payments, adoption assistance, or kinship
guardianship assistance, are enrolled in school or have completed high school.
Health Care Oversight. Further (under Title IV-B, Subpart 1), the new law
requires each state to develop a coordinated strategy and oversight plan to ensure
access to health care, including mental health services and dental care, for all children
in foster care. This coordinated strategy and oversight plan must be a collaborative
effort between the state child welfare agency and the state agency that administers
Medicaid (in consultation with pediatric and other health care experts, as well as
experts in, or recipients of, child welfare services). Among other things, the strategy
and plan must outline: a schedule for initial and follow-up health screens; how the
health needs identified by those screens will be monitored and treated; how medical
information for children in care will be updated and appropriately shared; steps to
ensure continuity of health care services; and oversight of prescription medicines.
These new health- and education-related requirements are unique in federal
child welfare policy because they look beyond the safety and permanence needs of
children in foster care and focus instead on measures of well-being that are²⁴
considered relevant to any child in the nation. Safety and permanence are also
critical to the well-being of all children. However, by definition, they are issues of
immediate and special concern for children in foster care. Accordingly, federal child
welfare policy has long focused on ways to better achieve and ensure them. Notably,
the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272) recognized the
critical need for permanence by providing new incentives for case planning for each
child in foster care and by authorizing federal support for adoption assistance to
children leaving foster care. Further, more than a decade ago, ASFA (P.L. 105-89)
asserted the primacy of safety in all child welfare decisions and reinvigorated
attention to permanence for children in foster care by establishing new case planning
and case review timetables and requirements, and by establishing the Adoption
Incentives program.
Direct Federal Support to Tribal Programs
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) seeks to improve the child welfare services and supports available to
Indian children by granting tribes (as of FY2010) the same authority that states have
to seek federal reimbursement of a part of all their eligible foster care, adoption, and
kinship guardianship assistance costs. Indian children may currently be eligible for
Title IV-E assistance if they are in the care and placement responsibility of a state.
However, children under the care and placement responsibility of a tribe may not

²⁴ For many years states have been required to collect “to the extent available and
accessible” the health and education record of each child in foster care (as part of each
child’s case plan) and to take into account the proximity of the school in which a child was^th
enrolled when placing a child in foster care. The 109 Congress enacted two changes that
moved Congress in the direction of the 2008 requirements: (1) it removed the modifying
phrase “to the extent available and accessible,” leaving simply the requirement that states
collect the health and education records of children in foster care (P.L. 109-239), and (2) it
added a new requirement that states must consult with physicians on appropriate care for
children in foster care (P.L. 109-288).

receive this assistance unless the tribe’s responsibility of the child is “supervised” by
the state via a state-tribal cooperative agreement. Explaining their approval of direct
tribal access to federal Title IV-E support — which has been a goal of tribal child
welfare advocates for many years and has been proposed in every Congress since at
least the 105^th (1997) — the Senate Finance Committee stated that “tribes, tribal
consortia, and tribal organizations may provide higher quality and more culturally
appropriate care for Indian children.”²⁵
To receive Title IV-E funds, a tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium²⁶
must submit a plan for approval to HHS and, with specific and limited exceptions,
must meet all the requirements for receipt of this funding “in the same manner” as
they are required of states. The bill also permits tribes (as of FY2010) to apply to
HHS and receive a direct federal allotment of Chafee Foster Care Independence
and/or Education and Training Voucher funds. In addition, it stipulates that current
“cooperative agreements” — agreements between a tribe and state, which permit a
tribe to receive federal Title IV-E funds via the state — must continue unchanged,
unless either party with the right to revoke or change the agreement elects to do so.
P.L. 110-351 provides for calculation of a tribe-specific federal matching rate
for foster care maintenance payments, adoption assistance payments, and kinship
guardianship assistance payments (a “tribal FMAP”). Tribes with an approved Title
IV-E plan are to receive this reimbursement rate directly from the federal
government. If a tribe has a cooperative agreement or contract with a state to
administer Title IV-E payments, that state is to receive reimbursement at the tribal
FMAP for the portion of its Title IV-E foster care maintenance, adoption assistance
or kinship guardianship assistance payments that are made under the state-tribal
agreement or contract. Further, as of FY2010, P.L. 110-351 requires a state to
negotiate “in good faith” with any eligible tribal entity in the state if that tribal entity
requests to enter into an agreement with the state under which the state would
provide Title IV-E funds to the tribe for it to administer all or part of the program on
behalf of children under tribal authority. A state will similarly be required to
negotiate in good faith with any tribal entity in the state that is not receiving a direct
federal allotment of Chafee Foster Care Independence Program and/or Education and
Training Voucher funds and which requests an agreement or contract that would
allow it to receive funds from the state to administer the program(s) on behalf of
Indian children under its authority.
Finally, to help ensure these new provisions result in improved outcomes for
Indian children, the bill appropriates $3 million (for FY2009 and every succeeding
year) for technical assistance to tribes and states and for implementation grants to
tribes that are preparing to submit a Title IV-E plan for approval to HHS. These

²⁵ S.Rept. 110-467, accompanying S. 3038, p. 5.
²⁶ The definitions of “Indian tribe” and “tribal organization” included in P.L. 110-351 are
the same as those included in Section 4 of the Indian Self Determination and Education
Assistance Act and generally extend the authority to apply for these funds to all federally
recognized tribes, as well as, the recognized governing body of those tribes. In addition, a
“tribal consortium,” including two or more tribes or tribal organizations acting together,
may apply for direct federal funding under Title IV-E.

implementation grants may be worth as much as $300,000. A tribal entity may
receive this grant only once and it must agree to submit a Title IV-E plan to HHS for
approval no later than 24 months after receiving the grant funding. If the plan is not
submitted within 24 months the tribe must repay the entire grant amount. However,
HHS must waive this repayment requirement if the tribe’s failure to submit it within

24 months was a result of a “circumstances beyond the control” of the tribe.

Federal Support for Training and Other Changes
Over five years, P.L. 110-351 phases in an increased federal reimbursement rate
for states that offer short-term training to workers at private, licensed child welfare
agencies — provided this training is related to the Title IV-E foster care, adoption,
and kinship guardianship program. The enacted bill also permit states to claim Title
IV-E training reimbursement for certain short-term training of current and
prospective relative guardians and for court and related personnel (including
attorneys) who handle child abuse and neglect cases. The bill sets the federal
matching rate for costs of providing short-term training to private agency workers,
current and prospective relative guardians, and for certain court or court-related
personnel handling abuse and neglect cases at 55% in FY2009, rising 5% annually
until it reaches 75% in FY2013. (Title IV-E training costs that were reimbursed at
75% before passage of H.R. 6893 will continue to be reimbursed at that same level
throughout this phase-in period.)
P.L. 110-351 makes several changes that are unrelated to child welfare policy.
These include clarifying the uniform definition of child that is used for a variety of
federal tax code purposes. It also amends the law to permit the Treasury Department
to invest excess operating cash for 90 days in repurchase agreements. These non-
child welfare-related provisions — together with savings projected from the
implementation of kinship guardianship assistance and the school enrollment
requirement — are estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to fully
offset the cost of the bill to the federal treasury over the next five and 10 years.
Finally, the bill prohibits any interpretation of its provisions that would “alter”
any current “prohibitions on Federal payments to individuals who are unlawfully
present in the United States.”
Effective Date
Unless otherwise stipulated, the provisions of the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 became effective on its date of
enactment (October 7, 2008). However, a state may have limited additional time to
comply with any of the new requirements of the bill, if HHS determines that the state
must enact legislation (other than legislation to appropriate funds) in order to meet
that requirement(s). As discussed above, the bill stipulates delayed and/or phased in
effective dates for its provisions related to removing income eligibility criteria from
the federal adoption assistance program (i.e., de-link), extending Title IV-E
assistance to eligible youth beyond age 18, providing direct access to tribal entities
for federal Title IV-E funding, and providing new or increased federal reimbursement
for certain short-term training costs.

Congressional Budget Office Estimates²⁷
Although H.R. 6893, as enacted, authorizes significant expansions in federal
support for state and tribal child welfare programs, CBO projects a combined change
in federal spending and revenues from the overall bill that is roughly budget neutral
over ten years (FY2009-FY2018). Specifically, CBO projects that the bill will
reduce the federal budget deficit by $15 million over those ten years.²⁸ This positive
effect (i.e. reduction in federal budget deficit) is projected to be much larger in the
first five years of the bill’s enactment ($449 million), in part because a number of the
bill’s provisions that are expected to increase federal spending are made effective a
year or two after enactment and because the full effect of other provisions is phased²⁹
in over five or more years.
Projected Savings and Increased Revenue. As interpreted by CBO, four
major provisions of the bill are projected to produce significant savings (and/or
increase revenues) to the federal treasury over five (FY2009-FY2013) and 10
(FY2009-FY2018) years. These are as follows:
^!authorization of federal Title IV-E support for kinship guardianship
assistance (projected to save $60 million over five years and a total
of $791 million over 10 years);³⁰
^!making school enrollment a condition of federal eligibility for foster
care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance under
Title IV-E (projected to save $213 million over five years and a total
of $484 million over 10 years);
^!new authority to the Treasury Department related to investment of
operating cash (projected to save $50 million over five years and a
total of $100 million over 10 years); and
^!changes to the tax code’s uniform definition of qualifying child
($628 million in savings plus $123 million in increased revenue over
five years and a total of $1.402 billion in savings plus a total of
$307 million in increased revenue over 10 years).
Projected Increases in Federal Spending. As interpreted by CBO, seven
major provisions of the bill are projected to have costs to the federal treasury over the
next five (FY2009-FY2013) and 10 (FY2009-FY20018) years. A delayed or phased-

²⁷ Projections in this section are from Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Preliminary
Estimates of Foster Care/Adoption Assistance Draft, September 15, 2008.
²⁸ In the event of a federal surplus, the bill projects an increase in that surplus of $15
million.
²⁹ Over the first five years (FY2009-FY2013), CBO projects that the bill will reduce federal
spending by $326 million, plus increase revenues by $123 million, for a reduction in the
budget deficit of $449 million (or an increase in any budget surplus by that amount).
³⁰ CBO included any expected effect of the policy permitting states to extend federal
eligibility for kinship guardianship assistance to age 21 (for otherwise eligible children
leaving foster care for kinship guardianship at age 16 or older) in this estimate.

in implementation of a number of these provisions helps to reduce their projected
cost during these time periods. These provisions are as follows:
^!annual appropriation of $15 million for Family Connection Grants
(projected to increase federal spending by $59 million over five
years and by a total of $75 million over 10 years);
^!option for states to provide federal Title IV-E assistance up to age 21
for otherwise eligible children remaining in foster care after their
18^th birthday and for those who left foster care for adoption after
attaining age 16 (effective with FY2011 and projected to increase
federal spending by $186 million between that year and FY2013 and
by a total of $735 million between that year and FY2018);
^!expanded child welfare training claims and/or increase in their
federal reimbursement rate (the increased reimbursement rate is
phased in over FY2009-FY2013 and is projected to increase federal
spending by $138 million over those years and by a total of $412
million over the 10-year period);
^!increased oversight of access to health care for children in foster care
(projected to increase federal spending by $75 million over 5 years
and by a total of $150 million over ten years;
^!authority for tribes to apply for and receive direct federal Title IV-E
funding (effective with FY2010 and expected to increase federal
spending by $30 million between that year and FY2013 and by a
total of $237 million through FY2018);
^!annual appropriation of $3 million for technical assistance and
implementation grants related to improving outcomes for Indian
children generally, and implementing tribal access to Title IV-E,
specifically (projected to increase federal spending by $12 million
over 5 years and by a total of $27 million over 10 years); and
^!phase out of income (and related) eligibility criteria for federal
adoption assistance (phase-out begins with FY2010 and is expected
to increase federal spending by $126 million between that year and
FY2013 and by a total of $1.432 billion between that year and
FY2018).
Origins of the Enacted Bill and Views
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(H.R. 6893) was introduced by Representative Jim McDermott, with Representative
Jerry Weller, on September 15, 2008, and passed the House (under suspension of the
rules and by voice vote) on September 17, 2008. The bill then went to the Senate
where it was passed (by unanimous consent) on September 22, 2008. Enacted on
October 7, 2008 as P.L. 110-351, the final legislation represented a compromise
between bills that were earlier acted on by the House and by the Senate Finance
Committee. These bills are the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative
Guardianship Support Act of 2008 (S. 3038) and the Fostering Connections to
Success Act (H.R. 6307). S. 3038 was introduced by Senator Grassley in May 2008,
and the Senate Finance Committee approved the “Chairman’s Mark” version of that

bill on September 10, 2008 (S.Rept. 110-467).³¹ H.R. 6307 was introduced by
Representative McDermott with Representative Weller in June 2008, and it passed
the House on June 24, 2008.³² Both Representative McDermott and Representative
Weller described the final bill, H.R. 6893, as the product of bipartisan and bicameral
legislative work and they cited the importance of Senator Max Baucus and Senator
Grassley in this effort.³³
Congressional Activities
During the first session of the 110^th Congress, the Income Security and Family
Support Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a number of
hearings to review challenges facing the child welfare system overall, and, in
particular, challenges faced by older youth leaving foster care without a permanent
family. Following these hearings, in February 2008, Representative McDermott, who
chairs that subcommittee, introduced the Invest in KIDS Act (H.R. 5466) to address
a number of these challenges.³⁴
Some of the provisions incorporated in H.R. 5466, as well as provisions
subsequently included in S. 3038, H.R. 6307, and ultimately those that were included
in H.R. 6893, were inspired by, or introduced in, other bills during this and earlier
Congresses. From the 110^th Congress, these bills include the Kinship Caregiver
Support Act (S. 661, introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton with Senator Olympia
Snowe / H.R. 2188, introduced by Representative Danny Davis); the Adoption
Equality Act (S. 1462, introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller / H.R. 4091, introduced
by Representative Jim Cooper); the Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Access Act (S.
1956, introduced by Senator Max Baucus / H.R. 4688, introduced by Representative
Earl Pomeroy); the Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act (S. 1512, introduced

³¹ As introduced in May 2008, S. 3038 included provisions primarily related to reauthorizing
the Adoption Incentives program, delinking federal adoption assistance from income and
related eligibility criteria, and supporting guardianship assistance under Title IV-E. The bill
approved by the Senate Finance Committee on September 10, 2008, was the Chairman’s
Mark version of S. 3038 (brought by Senator Max Baucus), which was offered as a complete
substitute to the original bill. The Chairman’s Mark largely maintained the provisions
included in the introduced bill while adding provisions related to direct tribal access to
Title IV-E funding, continued Title IV-E eligibility for youth after age 18, transition
planning for youth leaving foster care, a licensing demonstration project, and others . (See
S.Rept. 110-467.)
³² H.R. 6307 was based in large part on the provision of Title IV of an earlier bill introduced
by Representative McDermott in February 2008, the Invest in KIDS Act (H.R. 5466). The
Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Ways and Means
Committee (Chaired by Representative McDermott) held a hearing in late February 2008
at which it received testimony on the provisions of H.R. 5466. In his prepared opening
remarks, Representative Weller noted certain areas of agreement and disagreement with
H.R. 5466 and asserted that “we should work together to identify provisions that have
bipartisan support so we can get something done this year.”
³³ Congressional Record, September 17, 2008, p. H8317.
³⁴ See CRS Report RL34388, Child Welfare Issues in the 110^th Congress, by Emilie
Stoltzfus.

by Senator Barbara Boxer); and a bill to increase reimbursement under Title IV-E
for short-term training of private agency workers (H.R. 2314, by Representative
Weller).³⁵
HHS Views
In providing its view on aspects of earlier bills (H.R. 6307 and the Chairman’s
Mark of S. 3038), that were subsequently included in the final enrolled bill (H.R.
6893), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) strongly supported
revising and extending the Adoption Incentive program but disagreed with (1) the
specific ways in which states will now be permitted to seek open-ended federal
reimbursement for a part of the cost of providing guardianship subsidies to eligible
children leaving foster care; (2) the creation of Family Connection grants; and (3) the
approach taken in providing access to federal Title IV-E support for tribes.³⁶ In letters
sent to Congress regarding H.R. 6307 and the Chairman’s Mark of S. 3038, HHS,
however, did not provide any specific comments related to the expansion of federal
eligibility for Title IV-E adoption assistance, the option for states to continue
providing federal Title IV-E foster care assistance to eligible youth after their 18^th
birthday, nor regarding the provisions related to increased federal reimbursement for
certain child welfare training costs.
With regard to the state option to provide guardianship assistance under Title
IV-E, HHS wrote: “Moving children to permanent homes as expeditiously as
possible is an important goal. However, we oppose creating a new entitlement under
the title IV-E program for subsidized relative guardians.”³⁷ HHS noted that under the
Child Welfare Program Option it has proposed, states would have the “flexibility to
support guardianship agreements if they choose.”³⁸ HHS also noted its support for

³⁵ See Statement of Representative McDermott, Congressional Record, September 17, 2008,
p. H8317 and Senate Finance Committee, News Release, Statement of Senator Max Baucus,
Chairman, Finance Committee, “Executive Session to Consider Adoption Incentive, Elder
Justice, and Patient Safety Proposals,” September 10, 2008.
³⁶ Letter to Honorable Max Baucus, Chairman, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate,
(including the Department’s views on the Chairman’s amendment in the nature of a
substitute for S. 3038, the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support
Act of 2008), from Mike Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), September 9, 2008; and Letter to Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chairman,
Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, (including the
Department’s views on H.R. 6307, the Fostering Connections to Success Act) from Mike
Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), June 24, 2008.
Both letters were provided to the Congressional Research Services (CRS) by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
³⁷ Ibid. Identical language in both letters.
³⁸ Beginning with its FY2003 budget the Bush Administration has annually proposed the
Child Welfare Program Option. However, no legislative language has been publicly offered
to implement the proposal. According to Budget documents, under this option states could
elect to receive Title IV-E foster care funds as a lump sum (capped) and, further, to use
those funds for the full range of child welfare purposes and in support of any child. For more
(continued...)

direct federal support to tribes for child welfare programs but, again, it preferred the
approach that would be provided to tribes under the Child Welfare Program Option.
(The Bush Administration’s proposed program option would permit federally
recognized tribes to receive child welfare funds from a fixed sum that would be set
aside for that purpose.) The Department wrote that it had “serious concerns” that the
bills would “weaken [child protection] requirements placed on Tribes in comparison
to those placed on States.”³⁹ Finally, in the letter regarding H.R. 6307, HHS pointed
out that the activities allowed under the Family Connection Grants could already be
funded under existing Title IV-B programs (Child Welfare Services, and Promoting
Safe and Stable Families) and also that the Department does not support any new
“authorization of activities outside the President’s Budget.”⁴⁰
Bill Advocates and Support
The act responds to a variety of issues that have been raised for many years (and
some for more than a decade) by public child welfare administrators; child welfare,
youth, adoption, and tribal advocates; and children and youth who have been (or still
are) in foster care; and/or by public child welfare administrators. Enactment of the
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 was urged
by many groups, including a coalition of 581 national, state, and local entities
(representing organizations in all 50 states) that advocate on behalf of children and
youth, as well as by the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and the
Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators.⁴¹

³⁸ (...continued)
information see CRS Report RL34388, Child Welfare Issues in the 110^th Congress,
“Appendix A,” by Emilie Stoltzfus.
³⁹ Language quoted is identical in both letters (see cite above). However, the letter regarding
H.R. 6307 provides examples of specific provisions HHS believes would weaken provisions
for Indian children (alternative background checks for tribes, and broad permission for HHS
to waive Title IV-E requirements if requested by the tribe). Those specific provisions were
not included in the Chairman’s Mark of S. 3038 and, subsequently, were not included in
H.R. 6893, as enacted.
⁴⁰ Family Connection Grants were not authorized in the Chairman’s Mark of S. 3038 and
are not discussed in this letter.
⁴¹ See letters of support inserted in the Congressional Record, September 17, 2008, H8316-
H8317.

Section-by-Section Description of the Bill
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) is divided into six titles, most with multiple sections, and makes the
following changes.
Title I: Connecting and
Supporting Relative Caregivers
Section 101: Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment For
Children
^!Permits states to claim federal reimbursement (under Title IV-E) for
a part of the cost of providing kinship guardianship assistance to
every eligible child who leaves foster care for placement with a
grandparent or other relative who has chosen to become the child’s
legal guardian.
^!Requires that to be eligible for federal kinship guardianship
assistance a child must have been eligible to receive federal foster
care maintenance payments while living for no less then six
consecutive months in the home of his or her prospective relative
guardian (this effectively requires that the prospective relative
guardian has met the state foster family home licensing standards
and prospective foster parent background checks).
^!Stipulates the following additional conditions of federal eligibility
for kinship guardianship assistance: The state must determine that
(1) the child has been removed from his or her home through a
voluntary placement agreement or because a judge found that home
contrary to the child’s welfare; (2) neither being reunited with his or
her parents nor adoption are appropriate permanency options for the
child; (3) the child demonstrates a strong attachment to the
prospective relative guardian and the relative guardian has a strong
commitment to caring permanently for the child; and (4) any child
age 14 or older was consulted before being placed in the kinship
guardianship arrangement.
^!Provides also that the state must have specific background check
procedures for relative guardians, including fingerprint-based checks
of national crime databases and child abuse and neglect registry
checks, which must be conducted before a relative guardian may
receive kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of an
eligible child.

^!Permits states to place a sibling(s) of an eligible child in the same
kinship guardianship arrangement and to make kinship guardianship
assistance payments on behalf of the sibling(s).
^!Establishes that a kinship guardianship assistance payment made on
behalf of an eligible child must not be more than the amount the
child would receive as a foster care maintenance payment if he or
she remained in a foster family home.
^!Ensures continued categorical Medicaid eligibility for children
receiving federal kinship guardianship assistance.
^!Provides that to receive federal reimbursement for kinship
guardianship assistance payments, the state must enter into a
written and binding kinship guardianship agreement with the
prospective relative guardian, which must stipulate that it will
remain in effect without regard to the state in which the relative
guardian lives and must include (1) the amount of, and manner in
which, the kinship guardianship assistance payments will be made
on the child’s behalf, including the manner in which the amount
may, in consultation with the relative guardian, be adjusted
periodically based on the circumstances of the relative and the needs
of the child; and (2) the additional services and assistance the child
and relative will be eligible for under the agreement, including the
procedure the relative guardian may use to apply for additional
services as needed.
^!Entitles each state to claim federal reimbursement for the cost of
providing kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of an
eligible child at the same federal reimbursement rate that is provided
for adoption assistance (i.e., ranges from 50%-83%, based on each
state’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, FMAP); and entitles
state to claim federal reimbursement of 50% for (non-training)
administrative costs related to providing kinship guardianship
assistance to eligible children.
^!Further stipulates that the kinship guardianship assistance agreement
must provide that the state will pay the total nonrecurring expenses
associated with obtaining legal guardianship of the child, or $2,000
of those expenses, whichever is less.
^!For any child in foster care whose permanency plan is placement
with a relative guardian and receipt of kinship guardianship
assistance payments, requires states to describe in the child’s written
case plan the (1) steps the agency has taken to determine that it is
not appropriate for the child to be returned home or adopted; (2)
reasons why a permanent placement in a kinship guardianship
assistance arrangement is in the child’s best interests; (3) reasons for
any separation from siblings during the placement; (4) efforts the
state has made to discuss adoption with the relative foster parent,

and, if adoption is not chosen by the relative foster parent,
documentation of reasons why this is so; and (5) efforts made by the
state to discuss with the child’s parent or parents, the kinship
guardianship arrangement or reasons why the efforts were not made;
and (6) the ways in which the child meets the eligibility criteria for
kinship guardianship assistance.
^!At the termination of any state child welfare demonstration project
(waiver) that is related to guardianship and was authorized by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under
Section 1130 of the Social Security Act, provides that the state’s
costs of providing assistance or services to any child being served
under such a demonstration project, as of September 30, 2008,
continue to be eligible for federal reimbursement under Title IV-E
— but only to the extent that the services and assistance are provided
to such a child under the same terms and conditions that applied
during the demonstration project.
^!Authorizes states to use federal funds under the Chafee Foster Care
Independence Program to provide independent living services and
other supports to youth who — after reaching their 16^th birthday —
leave foster care for adoption or placement in kinship guardianship
and permit youth leaving foster care for kinship guardianship after
reaching their 16^th birthday to be eligible for Education and Training
Vouchers. (Children who leave foster care for adoption after their
16^th birthday continue to be eligible for Education and Training
Vouchers.)
Section 102: Family Connection Grants
^!Appropriates mandatory funding of $15 million (for each of
FY2009-FY2013) for Family Connection Grants (to be awarded on
a competitive basis to public (state, local, or tribal) child welfare
agencies or eligible private, non-profit organizations) for the support
of one or more of the following: kinship navigator programs,
intensive family-finding efforts that utilize search technology to find
biological relatives, family group decision-making meetings, which,
when appropriate, must safely address issues of domestic violence;
and residential family treatment centers that enable parents and
children to live together in a safe environment for no less than six
months and that provide a full range of services to meet the family’s
needs (onsite or by referral), including substance abuse treatment
services, children’s early intervention services, family counseling,
medical and mental health services, nursery and pre-school, and
other services designed to support the family.
^!Requires HHS to annually award no less than $5 million of the
Family Connections Grants funds to support kinship navigator
programs, that, through information referral systems and other
means, assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using

programs and services to meet their own needs and those of the
children they are raising, and promote effective partnerships among
public and private agencies to ensure these kinship caregiver
families are served.
^!Requires HHS to set aside no less than 3% of the total annual
funding for Family Connection grants for evaluation of grantee
activities; and permits HHS to set-aside 2% of total funding for the
grants for technical assistance to grantees.
^!Provides that HHS may make no more than 30 new Family
Connection grants each year; may not award these grants for less
than one year nor more than three years; and that it must provide
75% of the funding for a grantee’s approved program costs in the
first and second year of the grant and 50% in the third year.
^!Renames Title IV-B, Subpart 1 of the Social Security Act (which is
now named “Child Welfare Services”) as the “Stephanie Tubbs
Jones Child Welfare Services Program.”
Section 103: Notification of Relatives
^!Requires states (under Title IV-E), within 30 days of removing a
child from the custody of his or her parent(s) to exercise due
diligence to identify all adult grandparents and other adult relatives
of the child and to provide them with (1) notice of the child’s
removal from parental custody; (2) an explanation of their options
for participating in the care and placement of the child; (3) a
description of the requirements that must be met to be a licensed
foster family home and the additional services and support for
children placed in licensed homes; and (4) if state has opted to
provide kinship guardianship assistance, a description of how the
relative can enter into a kinship guardianship assistance agreement;
this requirement is subject to exceptions due to family or domestic
violence.
Section 104: Licensing Standards for Relatives
^!Codifies (under Title IV-E) existing federal guidance permitting
states to waive “non-safety” licensing standards (as determined by
the state) for relative foster family caregivers, but only on a case-by-
case basis and for a specific child in care.
^!Requires HHS to prepare and submit to the Senate Finance
Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee a report on
licensing of relative foster family homes, including (1) the number
and percentage of children living in licensed relative foster family
homes and those living in unlicensed relative foster family homes;
(2) the frequency with which states grant waivers of “non-safety”

standards and the type of non-safety standards waived; (3) an
assessment of how the use of such waivers have affected safety,
permanence, and well-being outcomes for children in foster care; (4)
a review of any reasons why relative foster family homes may
remain unlicensed despite this waiver authority; and (5)
recommendations for administrative or legislative actions to increase
the share of relative foster family homes that are licensed while
ensuring the safety of foster children and improving their
permanence and well-being.
Section 105: Authority for Comparisons and Disclosures of
Information in the Federal Parent Locator Service
^!Permits state child welfare agencies more direct access to the
Federal Parent Locator Service.
Title II: Improving Outcomes for
Children in Foster Care
Section 201: State Option for Children in Foster Care, and
Certain Children in An Adoptive or Guardianship Placement,
After Attaining Age 18
^!Permits states (as of October 1, 2010) to extend federal (Title IV-E)
assistance to an eligible child after his or her 18^th birthday if the
child is in foster care under the responsibility of the state or if the
child left foster care for federal adoption or guardianship assistance
after reaching his or her 16^th birthday, provided the child has not yet
reached his or her 21^st birthday and is in school, employed (at least
80 hours a month), in another activity designed to promote, or
remove barriers to employment, or is incapable of participating in
any of those activities because of a documented medical condition.
^!Except in the case of the individuals described above, defines the
term “child” as an individual under the age of 18 for all federal
child welfare programs included in the Social Security Act (i.e.,
Child Welfare Services, Promoting Safe and Stable Families, Foster
Care and Adoption Assistance, and Chafee Foster Care
Independence Program).
^!Also permits children in foster care who are age 18 or older to retain
eligibility for federal foster care maintenance payments while living
independently in a supervised setting (as must be defined in
regulations by HHS).
^!Further permits states to continue federal kinship guardianship
assistance up to age 21 for a child who has a mental or physical

handicap that the state determines warrants this continued assistance
(This was previously, and continues to be, the law with regard to
provision of federal adoption assistance.)
^!Prohibits payment of federal kinship guardianship assistance
payments to a relative guardian if the relative guardian is no longer
legally responsible for support of the child (who is under age 18) or
if the state determines that the child is no longer receiving support
from the relative guardian. (This was previously, and continues to
be, the law with regard to adoptive parents and children receiving
federal adoption assistance.)
^!Makes October 1, 2010, the effective date for all the amendments
made in this section (Section 201).
Section 202: Transition Plan for Children Aging Out of Foster
Care
^!Requires states (under Title IV-E) to have procedures to ensure that^th
90 days before a child in foster care reaches his or her 18 birthday
(or 90 days before the later birthday up to which a state elects to
provide Title IV-E foster care assistance), the child’s caseworker
and other representatives (as appropriate) must work with the child
to develop a personal transition plan that includes specific options
on housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities for
mentors and continuing support services, and workforce supports
and employment services.
Section 203: Short-term Training for Child Welfare Agencies,
Relative Guardians, and Court Personnel
^!Allows states to claim federal reimbursement of the costs of
providing short-term training — related to carrying out the Title IV-
E foster care, adoption and kinship guardianship assistance program
— to current or prospective relative guardians, staff of state-
licensed or state-approved (private) child welfare agencies, and for
certain court or court-related personnel handling abuse and neglect
cases.
^!Phases in a 75% federal reimbursement rate for these relative
guardian, private child welfare agency workers, and court or court-
related personnel training claims beginning at 55% in FY2009 and
rising by 5% annually (until the reimbursement rate reaches 75% for
all Title IV-E eligible training costs in FY2013).
Section 204: Educational Stability
^!Restates current requirement (under Title IV-E) that the state must
assure that a child’s foster care placement takes into account the

appropriateness of the child’s current educational setting and the
proximity of that placement to the school in which the child is
enrolled at the time.
^!Requires states to assure that they have coordinated with
appropriate local educational agencies to ensure that the child
remains in the school in which he or she is enrolled at the time of
the placement, or, if this is not in the child’s best interests, to assure
(with the local educational agencies) that the child will be
immediately and appropriately enrolled in a new school with all of
the education records of the child provided to the school.
^!Permits a state to claim federal reimbursement at the state’s Federal
Medical Assistance Percentage or FMAP, which ranges from 50%-
83% based on state per capita income) for the cost of transporting
a child to the school in which he or she was enrolled at the time of
foster care placement.
^!Requires a state to provide assurances that each school-age child
who receives federal (Title IV-E) assistance (whether in foster care,
kinship guardianship or adoption ) is enrolled in school full-time, or
has already completed high school.
Section 205: Health Oversight and Coordination Plan
^!Requires each state (under Title IV-B) — working through the state
child welfare agency and the state agency that administers Medicaid
and in consultation with pediatricians, other health care experts, and
experts in, and recipients of, child welfare services — to create a
plan to ensure oversight and coordination of health care, for
children in foster care; the plan must include a strategy to identify
and respond to the health care needs of children in foster care,
including their mental health and dental health needs, and provide
an outline of (1) the schedule for initial and follow-up health
screens; (2) how health needs identified in these screens will be
monitored and treated; (3) how medical information for children in
care will be updated and appropriately shared, which may include
development of an electronic health record; (4) steps to ensure
continuity of health care services, which may include establishment
of a medical home for every child in care; (5) oversight of
prescription medicines; and (6) how the state actively consults with
and involves physicians and other appropriate medical or non-
medical professionals in assessing the health and well-being of
children in foster care and in determining appropriate medical
treatment for them.
^!Stipulates that this requirement must not be understood to reduce or
limit responsibility of the state Medicaid agency to administer and
provide care and services to children served by the state child

welfare agency under the Child Welfare Services program (Title IV-
B, Subpart 1).
Section 206: Sibling Placement
^!Requires each state (under Title IV-E) to make reasonable efforts
to place siblings removed from their home in the same foster care,
kinship guardianship, or adoptive placement, unless the state can
document that joint placement is contrary to the safety or well-being
of any of the siblings.
^!In the case of siblings who are not jointly placed, requires states to
provide for “frequent visitation or other ongoing interaction
between the siblings,” unless the state documents that this would be
contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings.
Title III: Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Access
Section 301: Equitable Access for Foster Care and Adoption
Services for Indian Children in Tribal Areas
^!Permits (as of October 1, 2009) an Indian tribe, tribal organization,
or tribal consortium with an approved Title IV-E plan to make
claims for federal reimbursement of eligible foster care
maintenance, adoption assistance, or kinship guardianship
assistance payments and for related child placement and
administrative costs (including those for data collection and training)
made on behalf of eligible children who are under tribal
responsibility.
^!For purposes of defining the tribal entities that may apply for direct
federal Title IV-E funding, generally defines “Indian tribe” as any
federally recognized tribe and a “tribal organization” as the
recognized governing body of any such tribe; and describes a tribal
consortium as any two or more Indian tribes or tribal organizations
that together submit a single Title IV-E plan for approval.⁴²
^!With limited and specific exceptions, requires tribes seeking direct
federal support under Title IV-E to meet all the requirements of
Title IV-E “in the same manner” as they must be met by a state
receiving these funds.
^!Provides for calculation of a tribe-specific federal matching rate for
foster care maintenance payments, adoption assistance payments,

⁴² The specific definitions of “Indian tribe” and “tribal organization” are as those terms are
defined in Section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

and kinship guardianship assistance payments (a “tribal FMAP”);
provides that tribes with an approved Title IV-E plan receive this
reimbursement rate directly from the federal government; also
provides that if the tribe has a cooperative agreement or contract
with a state to administer IV-E payments, the federal government
must pay the state the tribal matching rate for the payments made
under that agreement.
^!Stipulates that any currently existing cooperative agreement or
contract entered into between a tribe and state for the administration
or payment of funds under Title IV-E must remain in effect after the
enactment of this bill, subject to the right of either party to revoke or
modify the terms of the agreement or contract, and, further, that
states and tribes may continue to enter into agreements or contracts
under Title IV-E.
^!Permits tribal entities seeking to administer independent living
services for eligible Indian children and youth to apply to HHS for
an allotment of funds under the Chafee Foster Care Independence
Program (and/or for an allotment of Education and Training Voucher
funds); and provides that successful tribal applicants are to receive
an allotment amount(s) out of the state’s allotment for the
program(s) that is based on the share of all children in foster care in
that state who are under the authority of that tribal entity.
^!Stipulates specific parameters within which tribes with an approved
Title IV-E plan may (for a limited time — unless extended by
regulation or law) claim federal reimbursement, under that plan, for
in-kind expenditures from third-party sources; requires HHS (no
later than September 30, 2011) to issue regulations related to this
kind of Title IV-E claiming by tribes.
^!Requires (as of October 1, 2009) a state, under its Title IV-E state
plan, to negotiate in good faith with any tribal entity in the state that
seeks an agreement with the state to administer all or part of the
Title IV-E program on behalf of the Indian children who are under
the authority of the tribal entity; and similarly requires as of that date
a state, under the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, to
negotiate in good faith with any tribal entity in the state that does not
receive a direct federal allotment of Chafee funds if that tribal entity
seeks an agreement or contract with the state to administer,
supervise, or oversee the program on behalf of eligible Indian
children under the tribal entity’s authority.
^!Require HHS, in consultation with tribal entities and affected states,
to issue interim final regulations no later than October 7, 2009, to
implement the tribal access provisions; provides further that these
regulations must ensure that a transfer of responsibility for the
placement and care of a child from a state child welfare agency to a
tribal child welfare agency effects neither the child’s eligibility for

Title IV-E or Medicaid nor the services or payments provided to the
child under those parts of the law; (adds that the regulations must
ensure this is the case whether the child is transferred to a tribe that
is operating its program under an approved Title IV-E plan or under
a cooperative agreement with a state).
^!Makes October 1,2009 (first day of FY2010) the effective date for
most provisions in this section (Section 301). However,
requirements in this section related to HHS regulations and certain
“rules of construction” were effective with the date of enactment,
October 7, 2008.
Section 302: Technical Assistance and Implementation
^!To improve services and permanency outcomes for Indian children
and their families, requires HHS to provide technical assistance to
tribes and states regarding tribal administration of child welfare
programs and required state-tribe interactions related to serving
Indian children; and implementation grants to tribes that are
preparing a Title IV-E plan for approval, which must not be valued
at more than $300,000 and must be used to develop data collection
systems, cost allocation plans, agency and tribal court procedures
necessary to meet the case review requirements, or any other costs
attributable to meeting any other requirement necessary for approval
of a Title IV-E plan.
^!Stipulates that an implementation grant must only be made to a tribal
entity one-time and that as a condition of receiving the grant the
tribal entity must agree to repay the total amount of the grant if it
does not submit a Title IV-E plan to HHS for approval within 24
months of receiving the funds; (the repayment requirement must be
waived by HHS if “circumstances beyond the control” of the tribe
prevent its submission of a plan within 24 months).
^!Appropriates $3 million annually (beginning with FY2009) for this
technical assistance and implementation grants and permits HHS to
provide this assistance and service either directly or through a grant
or contract with a public or private organization knowledgeable in
Indian tribal affairs and child welfare.

Title IV: Improvement of Incentives for Adoption
Section 401: Adoption Incentives Program
^!Extends funding authority for Adoption Incentives for five years
(FY2009-FY2013) at $43 million annually; resets the base number
of adoptions a state needs to finalize to earn an incentive award (in
each of FY2008-FY2012) to the number it finalized in FY2007;
raises the incentive amount available for an increase in the number
of older child adoptions (from $4,000 to $8,000) and for special
needs (younger than age nine) adoptions (from $2,000 to $4,000);
continues prior law incentive payment amount of $4,000 for increase
in overall number of children adopted from foster care; and ensures
that states have 24 months to spend any Adoption Incentive awards
earned.
^!Requires that any appropriated Adoption Incentive funds not needed
to make awards for an increase in the number of adoptions
finalized, must be paid as incentive awards for any state that
increases the rate at which children are adopted from foster care; to
earn this award for adoptions finalized in any of FY2008 through
FY2012 a state must achieve a “foster child adoption rate” that
exceeds its previous “highest ever foster child adoption rate”
(beginning with FY2002); the amount of the award is $1,000 times
the increased number of adoptions achieved by the state that are
attributed to the increased adoption rate.⁴³

⁴³ To calculate the number of adoptions that are attributed to an increase in the adoption rate
you must know the state’s “foster child adoption rate” in the award year, the number of
children in the state’s foster care caseload on the last day of the fiscal year just prior to the
award year, and the state’s “highest ever foster child adoption rate.” A state’s foster child
adoption rate must be determined by dividing the number of foster child adoptions finalized
in the state in a given fiscal year by the number of children in that state’s foster care
caseload on the last day of the previous year. For example, if a state finalizes 150 adoption
during FY2008 and on the last day of the previous fiscal year (September 30, 2007) it had
1,500 children in foster care then the state’s foster child adoption rate for FY2008 is equal
to 10%. That state earns an award for adoptions in FY2008 if this foster child adoption rate
(10%) is above its “highest ever foster child adoption rate” — meaning the best foster child
adoption rate the state has ever previously achieved beginning with FY2002. For example,
if the highest ever foster child adoption rate the state in the example above had achieved
before FY2008 was 9%, then for FY2008, the state’s adoption incentive award amount
based on the rate increase would be calculated as follows: Multiplying that highest ever rate
(9%) by the 1,500 children in care on the last day of the fiscal year prior to the award year
(September 30, 2007), subtracting this number 135 from the actual foster child adoptions
achieved by the state in FY2008 (150) and multiplying the difference (15) by $1,000 for the
award amount ($15,000). (The state’s “highest ever foster child adoption rate” for FY2009
would be increased to 10%.)

Section 402: Promotion of Adoption of Children with Special
Needs
^!Phases in (based on age, length of stay in care and membership in
sibling group) elimination of all income, resource, and family
structure tests associated with eligibility for federal Title IV-E
adoption assistance, including such tests that were established as
part of the prior law cash aid program, which was known as Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).
^!Begins the phase in of these revised adoption assistance eligibility
criteria in FY2010 for any child who is age 16 or older at the time
his or her adoption assistance agreement is finalized (in that or a
later year) and gradually lower this age, until FY2018, when the
new eligibility rules will apply to a child of any age.
^!Provides that as of FY2010 the revised adoption assistance eligibility
criteria also applies to any child who has been in care for 60, or
more, consecutive months at the time the adoption assistance
agreement is finalized, without regard to the child’s age at that time.
^!Further stipulates that as of FY2010 the revised adoption assistance
eligibility criteria also apply to any child who is a sibling of a child
for whom the new eligibility rules are effective (whether because of
that child’s age or length of stay in care), provided that the sibling
will be placed in the same adoptive home as the child for whom the
new eligibility rules apply.
Section 403: Information on Adoption Tax Credit
^!Requires states to provide information to individuals who are
adopting a child from foster care, and to those who the state learns
are considering such an adoption, of their potential eligibility for the
federal adoption tax credit.

Title V: Clarification of Uniform Definition of Child
and Other Provisions
[Sections 501 and 502 in this Title are not a part of federal child welfare policy but
are changes made to other parts of federal law, including the tax code, to offset costs
of increased federal child welfare spending authorized in the previous titles of the
enacted bill.]
Section 501: Clarification of Uniform Definition of Child
^!Clarifies the uniform definition of qualifying child under the Internal
Revenue Code (1) for purposes of the dependency exemption, the
child credit, the earned income credit, the dependent care credit, and
head of household filing status, to ensure that such an individual is
unmarried and is younger than the taxpayer claiming the individual
on his/her tax return; (2) for purposes of the child credit, provide that
a qualifying child must be the dependent of the taxpayer claiming
the credit; and (3) provide that if a taxpayer claiming a qualifying
child is not the parent of the individual so claimed, he or she must
have an adjusted gross income that is higher than either of the
child’s parents.
Section 502: Investment of Operating Cash
^!In addition to the current investment options, permits the Treasury
Department to invest excess operating cash for 90 days in repurchase
agreements.
Section 503: No Federal Funding to Unlawfully Present
Individuals
^!Prohibits any interpretation of the bill that would “alter” any current
“prohibitions on Federal payments to individuals who are unlawfully
present in the United States.”
Title VI: Effective Date
Unless a different date is stipulated in the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, the effective date of the amendments made by the
bill is October 7, 2008 (date of its enactment); for any state, permits a time-limited
exception to the effective date of any requirement added by this bill (under Title IV-B
or Title IV-E) if HHS determines that the state must enact legislation (other than
legislation to appropriate funds) to comply with a new requirement.